This morning I attended the re-opening of the train station/post office in the tiny little zipcode that houses the historic site where I work. I was excited partly because the building has been wonderfully restored, partly because I no longer have to drive to the nearby tiny town to check my PO box, and partly…… Continue reading Mail by Train
Author: Megan
Material Culture online
One of the sessions I attended today at THAT Camp was on material culture (led by my friend Arden Kirkland – see her blog post and webgroup). This is something I’ve given passing thought to, or tangentially considered, but never thought of seriously on it. What I said in the session was that, for me,…… Continue reading Material Culture online
Quick thoughts after THATCamp Day 1
Spent today having good conversations and listening to good conversations at THAT Camp. The twitter buzz on the camp hashtag (#thatcamp) has been pretty busy; one of the points which kept coming up in twitter was how conversations kept coming back to tools more than implementations. My thought, in the final session I attended today,…… Continue reading Quick thoughts after THATCamp Day 1
Sanctuary
Yesterday’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC is distressing not only because of the hatred and willful ignorance which seems to have driven the shooter, but because of its location. We think of museums as safe places. They aren’t necessarily apolitical – in fact they can be the focus of political action or…… Continue reading Sanctuary
County Planning Meeting – WalMart and Wilderness
Tonight, for better or worse, I am attending the Planning Commission meeting for Orange County, Va.* I have read the staff report regarding MalWart’s request for permission to build on the edge of the county, and the conditions for approval. I do not want the WalMart in this county. I object to it on social,…… Continue reading County Planning Meeting – WalMart and Wilderness
An Interesting Read
The Celebrated Mrs. Woffington has brought my attention to a book titled The Garden Cottage Diaries: My Year in the Eighteenth Century . The author not only spends a year living as though in the 18th century, she does so in Scotland. This is definitely going on my to-read list!
Quote from Miss Ann Maury, March 9, 1832
Miss Ann Maury was born and raised in England to an English mother and an American father. James Maury, her father, was consul at Liverpool from 1790 to 1829. She kept a diary, and part of it has been published, from the 1830s after her family moved (back) to the United States. She writes that…… Continue reading Quote from Miss Ann Maury, March 9, 1832
Marriage, economy, community
On the drive into work on Friday, my local NPR station had a story on Governor Kaine disucssing the econonmy (sadly, the station isn’t very good about posting stories on its web site). Apparently, Gov. Kaine made a statement that one way to improve the economy would be to raise the marriage rates to where…… Continue reading Marriage, economy, community
The concept of personal space
I have never studied this formally, either from the perspective of a sociologist or historian, but I often find myself thinking about how quickly we (generic Americans and Europeans) have come to believe that our concept of “personal space” and housing are absolute, when in fact the way we live has changed in the past,…… Continue reading The concept of personal space
Quote on History
“Human nature is the same in every age if we make allowance for the difference of customs & Education, so that we learn to know ourselves by studying the opinions and passions of others” -William Bradford (paraphrasing Hume) in a letter to James Madison, October [1772], original in the collection of the Historical Society of…… Continue reading Quote on History