Caught Out of Time

(NYTimes) One hundred and fifty years after the Civil War, historians have the benefit of a perspective not accessible in earlier remembrances. One interesting angle is to look at older histories of the war, tracing its place in our national consciousness and rediscovering details that take on new relevance today.
Fifty years ago, as the Civil War centennial got underway, Robert Penn Warren wrote of the struggle as if it were an ancient epic, one that “affords a dazzling array of figures, noble in proportion yet human, caught out of Time as if in a frieze, in stances so profoundly touching or powerfully mythic that they move us in a way no mere consideration of ‘historical importance’ ever could.”
It seems impossible that voices from what Warren calls our “Homeric period” could survive into the age of audio recording, yet a small number have. The perspective on the Civil War that might seem most elusive is in fact the most tangible: that of enslaved children. Thanks to the Work Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project, and the careful stewardship of the Library of Congress, voices of onetime slaves who lived well into the 1930s are now just a few clicks away. Continued

Photo: PP78.47 – Slave house on Webster land (Route 136 between Calvary and Cresswell), Harford Co., Mason. Neg Z8.467.B6; dup/copy neg Z6.1550.B6. (Maryland Historical Society)

The Long Island Express

On September 21, 1938, a Category 3 hurricane nicknamed “the Long Island Express” hit New England. Some 600 people died, and property damage was extensive. One witness described the scene in his Massachusetts community:

By Chrismus! Wasn't that hurricane a lulu? I was settin here readin when I noticed it was gettin so damn dark. I couldn't see… I looked out the winder and saw our big tree going over as easy as you please — not all at once, but little by little. I watched it down and said that I bet the one in front wouldn't go for that was stronger. Then I saw one of our garage doors spinning by the winder and right across the street on to Doctor Brown's lawn. Somehow it got going on its edge like one of them straw hats we used to wear, and it was certainly making time. - Library of Congress

Independence Day in the 1870's

In an American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 interview, Miss Nettie Spencer remembered the Fourth as the "big event of the year. Everyone in the countryside got together on that day for the only time in the year." She continued,

There would be floats in the morning and the one that got the [girls?] eye was the Goddess of Liberty. She was supposed to be the most wholesome and prettiest girl in the countryside — if she wasn't she had friends who thought she was. But the rest of us weren't always in agreement on that…Following the float would be the Oregon Agricultural College cadets, and some kind of a band. Sometimes there would be political effigies.

Just before lunch - and we'd always hold lunch up for an hour - some Senator or lawyer would speak. These speeches always had one pattern. First the speaker would challenge England to a fight and berate the King and say that he was a skunk. This was known as twisting the lion's tail. Then the next theme was that any one could find freedom and liberty on our shores. The speaker would invite those who were heavy laden in other lands to come to us and find peace. The speeches were pretty fiery and by that time the men who drank got into fights and called each other Englishmen. In the afternoon we had what we called the 'plug uglies' — funny floats and clowns who took off on the political subjects of the day…The Fourth was the day of the year that really counted then. Christmas wasn't much; a Church tree or something, but no one twisted the lion's tail. - Library of Congress

Lewis Museum plans fifth-anniversary party

(Baltimore Sun) Baltimore's Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture is planning a weeklong celebration of its fifth anniversary June 20-27. The events, announced at an afternoon news conference attended by Gov. Martin O'Malley and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, include two days of family activities, theatrical performances, an oral history workshop and a day of free admission June 25. All events will be held at the museum, at Pratt and President streets. Continued

The last 100 children of Civil War soldiers fading fast

(Scripps Howard) Jim Brown grew up in the Civil War's shadow, listening to stories of the fighting from a father who lived it.
"He was in it from the beginning at Manassas to the end at Appomattox," Brown said. "He'd be amazed to see the changes today."
At 98, Brown's part of an exclusive group -- the surviving children of Civil War soldiers, removed by a single generation from the nation's bloodiest conflict. Continued

Harnessing history after snow melts

(Baltimore Sun) So you lived through the great snow of 2010. But will you remember it by anything other than a blinding snapshot of white?" All of this will be ephemera and will disappear unless there's some effort to collect it and institutionalize it," said Maryland archivist Edward C. Papenfuse, who's pushing for an electronic archive. "It's very important from the standpoint of understanding community history." Not to mention personal history. Continued

Photo: Port Deposit ice gorge, 1910.

The National Day of Listening

(StoryCorps) On the day after Thanksgiving, set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood.
You can preserve the interview using recording equipment readily available in most homes, such as cell phones, tape recorders, computers, or even pen and paper. Our free Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide is easy to use and will prepare you and your interview partner to record a memorable conversation, no matter which recording method you choose.
Make a yearly tradition of listening to and preserving a loved one’s story. The stories you collect will become treasured keepsakes that grow more valuable with each passing generation. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress