I have begun to wonder if historians, or at least history students, don’t suffer from a similar problem to that experienced by medical students. Medical students often start to self-diagnose with various ailments during the course of their studies, especially when confronted with list after list of symptoms. They find themselves ticking off symptoms and…… Continue reading Historical Hypochondria
Category: Era
What you save
I declared my undergraduate major in History on the first day of classes of my sophomore year of college, September 2001. A handful of days later, what might have been an ordinary Tuesday became a historic event. I knew it was going to be what children in the next generation would ask me about, saying…… Continue reading What you save
History in Films: X-Men First Class
Tonight I saw the movie X-Men First Class. What follows are some thoughts about the use of history in the film, all put behind a tag so that those who haven’t seen the film can keep themselves spoiler-free if they want to. Before the cut, I want to state for the record that I am,…… Continue reading History in Films: X-Men First Class
Living with Hurricanes at the Louisiana State Museum
Last month I was in New Orleans for a joyful family occasion, and I had the chance to see a new exhibit at the Presbytere building of the Louisiana State Museum titled Living With Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond. I was intrigued by the exhibit to see how a museum in the heart of an affected…… Continue reading Living with Hurricanes at the Louisiana State Museum
Knights in armor and men with gonnes
Every year in the spring, my friends who are historical reenactors go to two events: Military Through the Ages, at Jamestown (MTA), and Marching Through Time, at MariettaHouse Museum in Maryland (MTT). Although the two events are quite different in scale and outward tone, the basic concept is the same. Groups that interpret military companies or troops from…… Continue reading Knights in armor and men with gonnes
Organizing the revolution
My alarm clock wakes me with the voices of the BBC World Service every weekday morning. These past few days, the news has been full of the tumult in Egypt, Tunis, and elsewhere in their region. This morning I heard that the Egyptian government had shut down the phone and internet networks; a reporter or…… Continue reading Organizing the revolution
11 September
This day had a huge impact on my undergraduate life. 2001 was the beginning of my sophomore year of college, in New York State, only about 2 hours by train from New York City. My parents and sister were in northern Virginia. When I finally understood the scale of what had happened, I knew it…… Continue reading 11 September
My Grandfather
My paternal grandfather died on Saturday. He turned 87 at the beginning of this month. I’m doing my best not to focus on the loss, on the fact that (more than likely) whoever I marry will never have met my wonderful grandfather, and think instead about what time I did have with him. After all,…… Continue reading My Grandfather
One man’s past is another man’s present
The last two days I have heard things on the local NPR station which very clearly brought to my attention how things I consider to be very much The Past are still The Present for others. The first was not a full story, but the lead for a story later on (which I didn’t hear).…… Continue reading One man’s past is another man’s present
Change vs. Exchange
I am reading the Baron Montlezun’s Voyage fait dans les années 1816 et 1817: de New-Yorck à la Nouvelle-Orléans, et de l’Orénoque au Mississippi, although only the part about his visit to Orange County, Virginia (perhaps I might read the rest later). He had a conversation with President Madison, at the latter’s house, where they…… Continue reading Change vs. Exchange