Brian Tomlin | November 19, 2012
Cooking even a “simple family dinner” in the 1860s was a very heavy duty process. Factory produced canned goods and prepared ingredients were not widely available or of reliable quality until the end of the century, and the typical working conditions in the 1860s kitchen were quite basic, even in affluent homes. Families tended to be larger as […]
Brian Tomlin | November 6, 2012
Lincoln is an upcoming 2012 biographical war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln’s life. The timing of the film’s release coincides with 150th anniversary of the days […]
Brian Tomlin | November 5, 2012
Voter Rights and the Election of 1862 As we prepare for this year’s election day, it is enlightening to look back 150 years and see what the issues were in 1862. The mid-term elections in 1862 brought the Republicans serious losses due to sharp disfavor with the Lincoln Administration over its failure to deliver a speedy […]
Brian Tomlin | October 22, 2012
Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in North Carolina in 1813. Her mother died when she was six, her father when she was 13. Her mistress/owner taught her to read and write. When the kindly mistress died, Harriet is willed to the woman’s three year old niece, and went to live with a Dr. Norcom […]
Brian Tomlin | September 24, 2012
Several times during the year, the U.S. National Park Service holds fee free days where visitors can visit the national parks without paying the daily use fee. This coming Saturday, September 29, is one of those days, in conjunction with celebration of National Public Lands Day. More than 170,000 volunteers are expected at more than […]
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