Santa Fe Photographs

Finally, the photographs I took last week in Santa Fe have been posted. There are five sets. Below is one of the photographs, followed by links to all five sets. I have added what information I have to the photographs, and you can see that if you click "Show Info" at the top when the slide show opens.



Architecture - Santa Fe

Loretto Chapel/Miraculous Staircase

San Miguel Church

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Santa Fe Sculpture

Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pagent

For anyone who missed it, here is a three minute montage from today's Jubilee Pageant on the Thames River. If only Canaletto hadn't died almost 250 years ago, he would have been able to paint one amazing picture.

The Resolute Desk

This is a marketing video, but it has some very interesting history of the Resolute Desk that now occupies the Oval Office. Who knew that the door on the desk that John John was famously pictured climbing through was originally installed to hide FDR's leg braces.

Titanic Photos

The Guardian has a great set of historic photos of the Titanic, marking the 100th anniversary of it's sinking.


Photos: The Sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic

Route 66 Remembered

From the Denver Post's Plog, a collection of photographs marking the 85th anniversary of U.S. Route 66.

Captured: The 85th Anniversary of U.S. Route 66

Lady LIberty Turns 125

The Denver Post's Plog has a set of over 100 photographs covering the the Statue of Liberty's history, beginning with it's construction by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's, up through yesterday's anniversary of President Grover Cleveland's dedication of the statue on October 28, 1886.


The 125th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty

Photographs of the Civil War

From the Daily Beast, a set of the photographs from the Civil War, including the photo below of Thaddeus Lowe, who pioneered the field of aerial reconnaissance.

Photos from the Civil War

The Berlin Wall

Today marks 50 years since the Berlin Wall went up. Until it's opening in 1989, the wall separated East Germans, and West Germans. Today several sections of the wall are in the Newseum, in Washington, D.C. It is a very interesting exhibit. I saw it a couple weeks ago. Maybe I will go back some time with my camera, and take photographs to post. Here is a video from the Newseum that includes the sections of the Wall they have.

I will also use this as an excuse to plug one of my favorite films, The Lives of Others. Set behind the Wall in 1984, I did a July 10, 2010 post on this film.

Samuel Pepys & the Debt

Under the category of some things never really change, a quote from Samuel Pepys' Diary of February 26, 1666. At this time England was at war with the Dutch and the a French. Pepys was responsible for "victualing" the Navy, and Parliament was not very agreeable to actually appropriating funds to do this. So here was the situation:

went into the Parke, and meeting Sir Ph. Warwick took a turne with him in the Pell Mall, talking of the melancholy posture of affairs, where every body is snarling one at another, and all things put together looke ominously. This new Act too putting us out of a power of raising money. So that he fears as I do, but is fearfull of enlarging in that discourse of an ill condition in every thing, and the State and all.

The good news is that England survived this, and almost 350 years later still survives. So there may be hope yet.

Royal Faberge Collection

The Royal Faberge collection is exhibited at Buckingham Palace. Curator Caroline De Guitaut talks about the items in the collection and how it was put together.

Sisters of Fortune

A video of Jehanne Wake discussing her recent book, Sisters of Fortune: America's Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad. An interesting account of the granddaughters of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and once the wealthiest man in Maryland. Initially raised in Maryland, three of the four sisters spent most of their adult lives in England. Despite the fact that they were from primitive America, they soon integrated into the upper reaches of British society. On a more parochial note, Catonsville is located on the estate that Charles Carroll bought for their parents.

Dumbarton Rock

A video of Dumbarton Rock in Scotland.

In the 1703 Ninian Beall was granted 795 acres on the hill over looking Rock Creek, and the Potomac River. He named this estate the Rock of Dumbarton, presumably because the view of river from this hill reminded him of the view of the Clyde River from Dumbarton Rock, in his native Scotland.

Beall had an adventurous journey from his homeland to what was then Maryland. In Scotland he fought for the Royalist forces against Oliver Cromwell. He fell prisoner to Cromwell's Army in 1650, was sentenced to five years servitude, and shipped to Barbadoes. In 1652 he was then shipped on to Maryland, to finish his sentence. From here he went on to acquire 1,000's of acres, including a large chunk of what is now Washington, DC. Much of the land was granted to him in return for his services fighting the Indians. More Information here

My apartment building stands on ground that was once part of the Rock of Dumbarton Estate. So here is where it all started.

The St Cuthbert Gospel

A video on the British Library's purchase of the St. Cuthbert Gospel of St. John. Dating from the 7th century, it is the oldest known European book still totally intact with the original binding. I doubt that anyone will ever pay millions of dollars for a 1,000 year old ebook, in fact I doubt that any ebooks last 1,000 years.

Khipu

A very interesting article from Slate about Khipu, the ancient Peruvian system of "writing" with knotted strings.

Questioning the Inca Paradox

Happy Birthday St. Basil's

Today is the 450th anniversary of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, having withstood Napoleon's onslaught, and the Communist Party. Named for St. Basil, an eccentric religious fanatic, who was one of the very few Muscovites who dared criticize Czar Ivan the Terrible. To mark the occasion here is a video with exterior and interior shots of the Cathedral.

The Great Silence

I recently read The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Age by Juliet Nicolson. The book covers the impact that WWI had on British culture and society, through the stories of individuals from many different walks of life. A lot of the stories deal with changes in the status of women and the servant class, as well as threats to the Monarchy, and the importation of Jazz music from America.

Of course the overriding theme is the tremendous amount of grief that everyone had to deal with after the death or disfigurement of 100,000's of men.

The book concludes on November 11 ,1920—two years after the armistice—with the burial of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Below is a film of that actual event.

The Olson House

A story from boston.com. The Interior Department announced that the Olson House has been named a National Historic Landmark. The house is known from one of the most recognizable paintings of the 20th Century, Andrew Wyeth's work Christina's World.

Wyeth touch puts site in pantheon

150 Years Ago in Baltimore

Today marks 150 years since four Baltimore Police Commissioners were arrested, and the city put under Federal Control, in order to suppress seditious activity by the always unruly citizens of Mobtown.

From Abraham Lincoln's papers:

Balto July 1st 1861.

Major Gen'l Banks this morning caused to be arrested Howard Gatchell Hinks and Davis four of the Police Commissioners and they are now confined in Fort McHenry-- The cause of their arrest as stated in proclamation just issued is that the Head Quarters under the charge of the Board when abandoned by the officers resembled in some respects a concealed arsenal. They continued their sessions daily after public recognition and protest against the suspension of their functions. After a forced and unwarrantable construction of former proclamation they declared the Police law suspended and the Police officers put off duty intending to leave the City without any police protection. Refused to recognize the officers appointed by the Provost Marshal and held subject to their orders the old police armed for same some purpose not known to the Government and in consistinconsistent with its peace and security. The military were ordered into the City and now occupy some of the most prominent points. The ordinary municipal affairs are not to be interfered with. The news from Fortress Monroe is unimportant four secession pickets were arrested and are detained at the Fort.

Marriot Boswell

This eventually resulted in the federal occupation of Federal Hill with cannons trained on the city, as shown in this photograph.

Billy the Kid for $2.3 Million

A tintype of Billy the Kid, has sold for $2.3 Million, including seller's fee. This is the only authenticated photographic image of him.

Here is an article on the sale, and below is a video of the auction.

Indian\Settler Conflicts

A post on two books I have recently read about the conflict between white settlers and native Americans.

Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment, by Kevin Kenny, covers the conflicts that finally pushed the Indians out of Pennsylvania. Penn, a Quaker, was determined to live peaceably with the native Americans. He would only allow settlement on land that he had previously purchased from the Indians. This was partially to prevent conflicts, and partially so he could control the growth of settlements. Penn's heirs rejected his Quakerism, and over the years Quaker influence waned as many Scotch-Irish Presbyterians migrated into Pennsylvania. Prompted by the belief that the land was being "wasted" by the native American, and that it should rightfully be taken by Christians, the Indians were brutally dispossessed, and eventually pushed out of Pennsylvania.

The book also covers one of the most intriguing incidents in American History, the war between Connecticut and Pennsylvania in the last half of the 1700's. Deciding that Connecticut was running out of room, a group of men from that state decided that they should just take part of northern Pennsylvania. The conflict that ensued lasted for years, and was not settled until after the American Revolution.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne, is set in Texas, and the Great Plains. The book is structured around the events that resulted from the 1836 Commanche kidnapping of nine year old Cynthia Ann Parker in a raid on her families Texas settlement. Parker assimilated into the Commanche tribe, married a prominent leader and bore three children, before she was then kidnapped back by the whites. (These events were the real life inspiration for the John Wayne's 1956 film, The Searchers.)

Parker's eldest son Quanah was left behind during her second kidnapping, and he went on to become one of the most influential Commanches, leading resistance to white take over of the Plains. Quanah retained his influence after the Commanches were settled to a reservation, but by this time his mother had died, so he was never to see her again.

Here is clip of the author discussing the book.