History | dual personalities

Wednesday optimism check

by chuckofish

np1-02-normandy-landing-beaches

“No matter how bad things got, no matter how anxious the staff became, the commander had to “preserve optimism in himself and in his command. Without confidence, enthusiasm and optimism in the command, victory is scarcely obtainable.” Eisenhower realized that “optimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction.” He learned that a commander’s optimism “has a most extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact. With this clear realization, I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory—that any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.”

–Stephen E. Ambrose, D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches

Leadership 101, guys. Now, go out there and SMILE!

8 Comments

“Drawing no dividend from time’s to-morrows”*

by chuckofish

Today in 1921 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated by President Warren G. Harding at Arlington Cemetery.

And today is Veterans Day. So we remember American veterans, known and unknown.

Guy Russell Chamberlin and Arthur Newell Chamberlin at home in Burlington, Vermont pre-WWI

Here’s to two brothers who went to war–one came back and the other did not.

We’ll toast our grandfather Arthur and his brother Guy, our father Newell, all our other ancestors who served their country, and indeed, all veterans.

O Lord God of Hosts, stretch forth, we pray thee, thine almighty arm to strengthen and protect the [military] of our country. Support them in the day of battle, and in the time of peace keep them safe from all evil; endue them with courage and loyalty; and grant that in all things they may serve without reproach; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

–BCP, 1928

Let’s all take a moment.

*Siegfried Sassoon, “Dreamers”

2 Comments

October 28, 2015

As the French would say, “de trop”*

by chuckofish

Fifty years ago today, the Gateway Arch was “topped off” when the final section was inserted on October 28, 1965.

Hubert Humphrey, V.P. of the U.S., watched the proceedings from a helicopter which hovered nearby. The ceremony had been postponed, so I guess the President was busy.

Today there will be a celebration, but it seems to me, it is being downplayed. Cupcakes will be served.

Anyway, the Gateway Arch (630-foot, 192 m) in Saint Louis is the nation’s tallest monument and has welcomed visitors for fifty years with its iconic, awe-inspiring shape. As envisioned by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, the Arch represents the westward expansion of the United States and typifies “the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a latter day to strive on other frontiers.”

Pretty cool.

I was in the fourth grade at the time and I honestly have very little memory of the proceedings. Now a project to renovate the arch grounds is underway and will, we hope, be completed by 2017. Stay tuned.

*Cole Porter, You’re the Top

6 Comments

October 15, 2015

“The Blue and the Gray collided one day”*

by chuckofish

The Battle of Glasgow was fought 151 years ago on October 15, 1864 in and near Glasgow, Missouri as part of Gen. Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition during the Civil War. A Union garrison of 800 men was located in Glasgow, under the command of Colonel Chester Harding. The size of the Confederate forces was reported as being between 1,500 and 1,800 troops.

General Sterling Price

Although the battle resulted in a Confederate victory and the capture of significant war material, it had little long-term benefit as Price was ultimately defeated at Westport a week later, bringing his campaign in Missouri to an end.

Glasgow is halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, about 35 miles north of Columbia. Early in its history, Glasgow was a mecca of commercial activity, shipping vast quantities of hemp and tobacco from its steamboat port. Glasgow now ships large quantities of corn by river barge and rail line. Shipping by river is still possible because Glasgow is one of the few towns left with its commercial business district right on the river bank. Many river towns were left stranded, miles from the fickle path of Missouri River.

It definitely looks like a place to add to the itinerary of my imagined car trip to Kansas City!

*Eugene Field

5 Comments

October 8, 2015

Home, home on the range

by chuckofish

The OM and I have been watching Longmire, season 4 on Netflix for several days in a row.

We have enjoyed it a lot, but then it ended precipitously after only 10 episodes. Now we will have to wait until they come up with season 5 to see what happens. That is the trouble with binge-watching one show.

Modern problems.

Anyway, all of this Longmire viewing with its myriad plots and sub-plots involving Native Americans leads me to my next subject.

Did you know that Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday celebrated in various places in the U.S.? It was begun as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, which, as you know, is coming up next week. The purpose of the day is to promote “Native American culture” and to commemorate the history of Native American peoples. At least four states do not celebrate Columbus Day (Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota) with South Dakota officially celebrating Native American Day instead. Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate the day “Native American Day” or name the day after their own tribe.

Well. I would just as soon celebrate Native American Day as Columbus Day, but I would no doubt do it by watching John Wayne movies or something equally offensive to Indians. (Not that it should be.)

Another way to celebrate would be to head out to Kansas City to see the ten decorative panels which were installed on the new Red Bridge in Kansas City in 2011. Each panel represents an individual who has ties to the area as part of the Three Trails Crossing during the westward expansion of the 1800s. (The area around Red Bridge is historically significant as the crossing at the Blue River was the only location where the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trail intersected. From approximately 1821 to 1880 it is estimated that thousands of travelers crossed the Blue River near the current bridge.) It is a very ethnically-diverse group and the Native American represented is my great-great-uncle, John Prowers’s, wife, Amache Ochinee Prowers! Pretty cool, right?

Amache is usually recognized as someone who bridged the two cultures–Indian and white–successfully. As I have noted previously, she and John had nine children together who, it would appear, were whole-heartedly welcomed into the mainstream of Colorado society. You can’t believe everything you see in the movies.

Someday I will head out to K.C., but not this weekend. I don’t even get Columbus Day off, so what am I talking about?

3 Comments

September 25, 2015

True glory

by chuckofish

On this day in 1580 Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the Earth.

Can you even imagine such a thing? In the sixteenth century?

Drake’s expedition was the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580, and was the first to be completed with the same captain and leader of the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation. (Ferdinand Magellan died in the Philippines and the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation did not make it up to North America.)

Yes, Sir Francis Drake was quite a guy. Why, I ask, didn’t they make a movie about him starring Errol Flynn?

Well, according to IMDB.com, there is a movie called Seven Seas to Calais (1962) starring Rod Taylor as Drake, which was Italian-produced and originally called “Il dominatore dei 7 mari”.

In this dubious flick “Sir Francis Drake goes on an expedition to the New World and steals gold from the Spaniards. After making a daring getaway, he returns to England where he protects Queen Elizabeth I from a network of spies who are plotting to overthrow her.” You can see the whole movie on Amazon and I may have to check it out this weekend.

Meanwhile, let us not forget that there is a new show debuting on Sunday night starring Don Johnson.

I’m sure it is terrible, accent on really bad, but I have to give it a try. I mean c’mon. Don Johnson.

I will close with this great prayer by Drake which I know I have quoted before, but it certainly bears repeating:

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the waters of life,  having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity,  and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas,  where storms will show your mastery,  where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.  We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes,  and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.  This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ. ”

Have a great weekend!

4 Comments

September 16, 2015

This is cool

by chuckofish

Did you read about the Battle of Britain commemorative “flypast“?

The 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain was marked yesterday (September 15) by the largest flypast of Spitfires since World War II. There was also a service at St Paul’s Cathedral. Prince Harry was supposed to take part, flying in a two-seater Spitfire from Goodwood Aerodrome in West Sussex, but he gave up his seat to a 95-year old veteran. Hats off to Harry, who by the way, was celebrating his 31st birthday!

BBC News

Anyway, this would have been something to see, right?

The Queen watches the flypast from Buckingham Palace balcony (Mirror)

And oh look, it’s another Total Lacrosse video with the boy!

Let’s not forget that today is also the day the Pilgrims set sail for America in the Mayflower in 1620.

“The Embarkation of the Pilgrims” (1857) by the American painter Robert Walter Weir in the Brooklyn Museum

A toast to those brave souls and a poem:

From my years young in days of youth,
God did make known to me his truth,
And call’d me from my native place
For to enjoy the means of grace.
In wilderness he did me guide,
And in strange lands for me provide.
In fears and wants, through weal and woe,
A pilgrim, past I to and fro.

–William Bradford

Have a great day! Learn something new and smile at someone!

6 Comments

August 25, 2015

Onward, Christian soldiers

by chuckofish

Today is the feast day of Saint Louis, King of France, not only on the R.C. calendar but our own Anglican liturgical calendar. I can’t imagine why.

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270) was crowned King of France at the age of 12 and reigned until his death.

Louis IX by El Greco–His mother thought he was handsome.

A devout Catholic, he is the only canonized king of France. According to Wikipedia, he was raised by his mother who trained him to be a great leader and a good Christian. She used to say:

I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin.

Well, okay then. In turn, he wrote to his own son:

My dearest son, you should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin.

At this point I have to ask myself, What is a mortal sin anyway?

The answer is, of course, extremely complicated. Mortal sins–not to be confused with venial sins or “grave matter”–are wrongful acts that condemn a person to Hell after death if unforgiven. By the way, Mortal Sins should not be confused with the Seven Deadly Sins, which are not necessarily Mortal Sins. They are sins that lead to other sins.

Got that? Well, if you ask me, old King Louis seems to have been a bit obsessed with all this sinning. In fact, he wore a hair shirt most of the time and allowed himself to be scourged regularly, lest he enjoy Life too much.

Anyway, Louis established a hospital, was friends with fellow saint-to-be Thomas Aquinas, and took part in two Crusades, which were both total failures. But by all accounts he was a holy guy and so we Episcopalians have this prayer for him today:

O God, who didst call thy servant Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst give him zeal for thy Church and love for thy people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FYI: We have a pretty cool state of Louis IX in Forest Park here in the flyover town named after him. It has stood atop Art Hill since an unveiling ceremony on Oct. 4, 1906. The statue was inspired by the popularity of a similar statue made of reinforced plaster that was outside the 1904 World’s Fair at the main gate, at Lindell and Union boulevards. The original statue became popular as a place to meet and caught the eye of newspaper illustrators and cartoonists as a symbol of the fair. The committee that ran the fair presented the $42,000 bronze version as a gift to the city during its cleanup of the park.

Over the years Saint Louis’ sword has been broken or stolen a number of times. It was replaced in 1970, 1972, 1977 and 1981. Stealing, and later returning, the sword was considered a rite of passage for students in the engineering program at Washington University. Oh, those crazy engineers!

Be fruitful in good works, but enjoy the day!

4 Comments

August 18, 2015

“No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809).

You probably know that he was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and is best known as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

He was the one played by Fred MacMurray in the movie The Far Horizons (1955). Charlton Heston played Clark. All very impressive. But did you know that he had a near-death experience with a grizzly bear? Well, he did.

On their famous expedition, Lewis and Clark and their men had several hair-raising encounters with bears. After awhile Lewis began referring to the bears respectfully as “gentlemen.” On June 14, 1905 Lewis had his own encounter with a grizzly on the Yellowstone River.

He had just shot a buffalo and was watching it die when he realized that a grizzly had crept up on him “within 20 steps.” He described the encounter: “I drew up my gun to shoot, but at the same instant recolected that she was not loaded…it was an open level plain, not a bush within miles…I had no sooner terned myself about but he pitched at me, open mouthed and full speed, I ran about 80 yards and found he gained on me fast, I then ran into the water…about waist deep, and faced about and presented the point of my espontoon, at this instant…he sudonly wheeled about as if frightened, declined the combat on such unequal grounds, and retreated.” Shaken, Lewis waded out of the river, speculating on the bear’s motivation for sparing him. He concluded that its reasons were “misterious and unaccountable.”**

I say old Meriwether Lewis deserves a birthday toast tonight. At the very least. But while I’m at it, I think he deserves a better monument.

This “national monument” in Hohenwald, TN (where he died/was murdered/committed suicide) does not seem to be quite enough somehow. What is the cylinder thing anyway? It looks like a smokestack.

I should think they could have done better in 1848.

*Isaac Newton

**Lewis and Clark Across the Divide by Carolyn Gillman

5 Comments

July 15, 2015

Till hill and valley gaily, gaily ring

by chuckofish

Back on July 2 I failed to note that “three prophetic witnesses” were recognized with a feast day on the Episcopal calendar. They are Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden and Jacob Riis.

Washington Gladden (February 11, 1836 – July 2, 1918) you will recall, was a Congregational minister and early leader in the Social Gospel movement, whose ministry “was dedicated to the realization of the Kingdom of God in this world. Gladden was the acting religious editor of the New York Independent, in which he exposed corruption in the New York political system. Gladden was the first American clergyman to approve of and support labor unions. In his capacity as Vice President of the American Missionary Association, he traveled to Atlanta where he met W.E.B. Dubois and he became an early opponent of segregation.” (Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music)

He was also a graduate of Williams College, class of 1859.

While at Williams, Gladden wrote its alma mater song, “The Mountains.”

“I had been wishing that I might write a song which could be sung at some of our exhibitions,” wrote Gladden in his memoirs, “and one winter morning, walking down Bee Hill, the lilt of the chorus of “The Mountains” came to me. I had a little music-paper in my room in the village, and on my arrival I wrote down the notes. Then I cast about for words to fit them, and the refrain ‘The Mountains, the Mountains!’ suggested itself. I wrote the melody of the stanza next and fitted the verses to it. . . . That it would . . . become the accepted College Song, I could not, of course, have imagined.”

The Mountains

O, proudly rise the monarchs of our mountain land,
With their kingly forest robes, to the sky,
Where Alma Mater dwelleth with her chosen band,
And the peaceful river floweth gently by.

CHORUS
The mountains! the mountains! we greet them with a song,
Whose echoes rebounding their woodland heights along,
Shall mingle with anthems that winds and fountains sing.
Till hill and valley gaily, gaily ring.

Beneath their peaceful shadows may old Williams stand,
Till suns and mountains nevermore shall be,
The glory and the honor of our mountain land,
And the dwelling of the gallant and the free.

I have fond memories of singing this rousing song while a student there in the mid-1970s. Check it out:

Have a great Wednesday!

3 Comments

dual personalities

Category: History

January 13, 2016

Wednesday optimism check

by chuckofish

November 11, 2015

“Drawing no dividend from time’s to-morrows”*

by chuckofish

October 28, 2015

As the French would say, “de trop”*

by chuckofish

October 15, 2015

“The Blue and the Gray collided one day”*

by chuckofish

October 8, 2015

Home, home on the range

by chuckofish

September 25, 2015

True glory

by chuckofish

September 16, 2015

This is cool

by chuckofish

August 25, 2015

Onward, Christian soldiers

by chuckofish

August 18, 2015

“No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.”*

by chuckofish

July 15, 2015

Till hill and valley gaily, gaily ring

by chuckofish