The Pacific Northwest: Far Away, but Not Untouched by the Civil War
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The Civil War in the Pacific Northwest? Not as intense, but no part of the country was immune.
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Made My Deadline: Here's How
/I mostly use this blog to talk about aspects of Julia Wilbur's life and times. However, may people have asked me about meeting the deadline for my book (forthcoming from Potomac Books, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press.) The deadline for my book came and went on July 1.
Read MoreJulia Wilbur's Alexandria: The "Slave Pen"
/On the first morning after the Union occupation of Alexandria, May 22, 1861, Michigan troops came upon what had been a flourishing slave-trading establishment on Duke Street, less than a mile from the Potomac River.
Read MoreJulia Wilbur's Alexandria
/My friend Mary visited from Connecticut and asked for a tour of Julia Wilbur sites in Alexandria. (She is a fellow history nut, writer, and great friend, as I am not sure who else would indulge me on a hot summer day!) We didn't have much time, but off we went to some of the spots on a map I built:
Read MoreBIO Thoughts
/This past weekend, I attended the annual conference of the Biographers International Organization (BIO, nice play on words), held in Richmond. A day of great sessions by experts in the craft.
Read MoreCivil War Medicine: Surgeon Training
/One of the many things I learned this week from Von Barron, aka Captain Turner Kitt, was that no surgeon working in the field, north or south, lasted all four years of the Civil War.
Read MoreSave Our Ship!
/Early port-improvers used whatever materials they had available--including pieces of "trash" ships, a recent find a few months ago at 220 South Union Street, future site of the Hotel Indigo.
Read MoreMary Surratt and Julia Wilbur
/Mary Surratt and Julia Wilbur never met, and certainly would not have gotten along if they had. But both had to figure out how to survive in what could be an unfriendly world for a woman on their own.
Read MoreSpeak, Sister!
/Music and storytelling were a huge part of the 19th century...
Read MoreLast Mercy Street Episode
/No word yet on Mercy Street returning next year. A few points from the last episode:
Read MoreCemeteries in Old Alexandria
/Last night's episode of Mercy Street included a poignant scene in which the Green and Fairfax families attempted to bury Tom Fairfax. No matter one's sympathies, seeing a funeral disrupted at gunpoint was not pleasant.
Read MoreHarriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Two Other "Heroines"
/With my own research in mind, I can't resist proposing Julia Wilbur and Harriet Jacobs as two other real-life heroines of Mercy Street.
Read MoreMansion House Hospital Today
/As you have watched "Mercy Street," have you wondered whatever happened to Mansion House Hospital?
Read More"Contrabands" in Alexandria
/One of Mercy Street's characters with perhaps the most compelling back story (not that we know much of it, at least not now) is Aurelia, the African American laundress who is victimized by the brutish steward, Mr. Bullen. I don't remember if they specifically refer to her as a "contraband," but I know the word came up during the program. Here's a little background.
Read MoreWhat did you think of "Mercy Street?"
/The first episode of the PBS drama "Mercy Street" aired last night. Mansion House Hospital was noisy, chaotic, and rather dark.
Read More220 South Union
/At 220 South Union Street, right off the Potomac River at the corner with Duke Street, a Hotel Indigo will replace a shipping terminal. Archaeologists have been peeling back the layers.
Read MoreFast Forward to LBJ
/What else could LBJ have accomplished if not for the Vietnam War? Perhaps the same could be said for Lincoln...or maybe Lincoln became great because of the war. I will leave that for others to debate.
Read MoreDecember 6, 1865: 13th Amendment
/We are now on a new round of "150th" anniversaries--the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. At a National Archives program earlier this week, the presenters focused on on "The 13th Amendment at 150."
Read MorePresentation in Special Collections
/Last Saturday, I spoke about Julia Wilbur and Civil War Alexandria in the Special Collections Branch of the Alexandria Library.
Read MoreEric Foner on Reconstruction
/To kick off the D.C. Historical Studies conference, historian Eric Foner spoke to a very full auditorium at the National Archives last night on "Reconstruction and the Fragility of Democracy."
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