“Turn right on Highway 20, and go about a half mile. When you come to the Taco Bell, take a left.” My co-worker may as well have given me directions to Mars. What was she talking about? Taco Bell? Did our town have a Taco Bell? Although I had lived here for a couple of … Continue reading Then and Again
History
Seizing the Moment
If the news articles about Rishi Sunak becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom would only add a simple graphic, we would not need to read the entire story. At a glance, we would see which boxes are checked. Among other bits of trivia, most of the reports point out that he is … Continue reading Seizing the Moment
An odd old book
Buying books is one of the pleasures of doing research. Of course I use digital resources, and visit libraries and archives, but sometimes there is a book that I want to hold in my hands and refer to over and over again. As I delved into the history of colonial America and Georgian England for … Continue reading An odd old book
Hulks in Charlestown Harbor
Des Barres, Joseph F. W. (Joseph Frederick Wallet), 1722-1824; Published 1780 (London); LOC# gm71000644 After abandoning Philadelphia to the Americans in 1778, the British shifted their focus to the South. By the middle of May 1780, they had secured a decisive victory in Charlestown, South Carolina, with the surrender of the Continental Army and Patriot … Continue reading Hulks in Charlestown Harbor
St Patrick’s Day musings on the Tower of London
Church of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London©Roxane Gilbert Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487-1534) has the dubious distinction of being the first prisoner to be buried in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula after being incarcerated and dying in the Tower of London. Upon his father’s death in … Continue reading St Patrick’s Day musings on the Tower of London
Roxane Gilbert 