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Museum Advocacy: The Federal Level

It’s advocacy time. The State legislature buildings are open. Given the uncertainty due to COVID regarding the opening dates, some of the in-person efforts have been curtailed or have migrated to virtual this year. In this blog, I will review a federal level museum advocacy program. I next will propose a federal level history advocacy […]

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Shakespeare and Indians

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” These words uttered to Paul Newman in the movie Cool Hand Luke (1967) have become part of American folklore. They attest among other things the challenge in effective communication. As anyone who writes or speaks in public (and even in private settings) knows that while you know […]

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History Scholars versus David McCullough: The American Revolution

The post continues the examination of the multi-authored section of the Journal of the Early Republic (JER 41 Summer 2021) dedicated to David McCullough’s The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. This new feature called Critical Engagements represents an attempt by the Society of Historians of the Early […]

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Lafayette’s Final Visit to New York

This post is the last on Lafayette’s travels to New York State. For the earlier posts go to: The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready? Lafayette in New York Bicentennial: His Second Trip Lafayette in New York: The Third of Four Trips In this trip, he once again makes use of the new-fangled steamboat to […]

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If Journals Were Online, There Would be No Vaccine

Remember the office water cooler? The office water cooler holds a special place in American lore. It is the place where people who work together in person (remember that?) gather together to share stories, news, and gossip. The sharing may be about a TV show from the night before, a sports or news event, or […]

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Lafayette in New York: The Third of Four Trips

The third of Lafayette’s trips into New York differed from his first two trips. In those, New York City had served as his base: first along the Boston Post Road to New England and second up the Hudson River to Albany/Troy. The third occurred after he undertook a long junket across the United States. He […]

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Lafayette in New York Bicentennial: His Second Trip

Lafayette’s second trip in New York was in a different direction.  In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the first trip. He left New York and followed the Boston Post Road to Boston and the interior of New England. In this blog, I provide the stops on his second […]

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Lafayette in New England Bicentennial: His Second Trip

Lafayette made two trips to New England during his 1824-1825 visit. In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the 1824 visit. In this blog, I provide the stops on his 1825 visit. As you see, the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit in 2025 coincides with the 250th anniversary of […]

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Should Chief Daniel Nimham Be Honored or Erased?

Chief Daniel Nimham was the last grand Sachem of the Wappinger Confederacy. While Nimham and other Wappingers fought against the French in the French and Indian War, their lands [in what became] Putnam County [NY] were usurped by Adolph Philipse. In 1766, Nimham traveled to England to challenge these fraudulent land titles in the British […]

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