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Entry bubble Celebrating African-American History Month: Hometown Heroes

By: Jake | February 11, 2008 | Category: General

 Richmond Skyline

February is African-American History Month and I thought in order to celebrate I would list some famous African-Americans from my hometown of Richmond, VA. Feel free to list who you think are important African-Americans from your hometown in the comments.

  • Maggie Walker became the first woman to charter a bank in the United States when she chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 and ran it until 1929. The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site at her former Jackson Ward home is operated by the National Park Service.
  • Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was a legendary tap dancer who, despite racial tensions, earned top dollar on the vaudeville circuit in the early 1900's and crossed over to the silver screen to star beside Shirley Temple in the 30's. A statue of him stands in Richmond where in 1933 he saw two children scurry across a busy highway and donated money to the city to install its first traffic light.
  • Arthur Ashe became the first African-American male tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament. Ashe also championed the cause to end apartheid in South Africa and raised awareness about AIDS in an unfortunate way- after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. A statue of Ashe was erected on Richmond's Monument Avenue in his honor.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: black   history   jake   month  

 

Entry bubble Exploring Pocahontas and Native American History Month

By: Jake | November 12, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

November marks American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month. In existence since 1990, the goal is to recognize the intertribal cultures and to educate the public about the heritage, history, art, and traditions of the American Indian and Alaska Native people.

The legend of Pocahontas saving Captain John Smith from execution, to me, is one of the most fascinating stories of all time. I think this is because a) I grew up in the Tidewater Virginia area near the site of the Citie of Henricus where Pocahontas met John Rolfe, whom she would eventually marry and b) I find the mystery of what actually happened interesting.

The legend is based on Smith's version of the story, which he recounted back in Great Britain years after the incident. He said that Chief Powhatan's tribe was about to execute him when Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, ran in and cradled his head to protect him. Powhatan stopped the execution and the rest is history. While some historians think Smith's story is legit, some assert that what Smith witnessed was a ritual.

Most interesting to me is how some Native American tribes beg to differ. In 1995 an animated version of the Pocahontas legend was released and it motivated the Powhatan Renape Nation to give their take on the legend. The Powhatan Renape Nation says the rescue never happened, and that Smith's earlier accounts of his peaceful stay with the Powhatan Nation contradict his later accounts. They believe that Smith, who was broke later in life, made up the story afterwards to promote himself.

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: american   americans   culture   history   indians   native   pocahontas  

 

Entry bubble Perfect Sound Forever

By: Jake | October 01, 2007 | Category: Fun

On Saturday I saw Thurston Moore perform his new solo album in Washington, D.C. Moore is better known for being the leader of Sonic Youth and I saw Sonic Youth perform their 1988 album “Daydream Nation” in July.

A 33 album playing on a record player

“Daydream Nation” is one of 225 recordings in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The National Recording Registry was created by the National Recording Preservation Act in 2000 “to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The National Recording Preservation Board chooses which recordings are to be submitted every year. They have chosen things you’d expect to see (or hear) such as the “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. and President Roosevelt’s address to Congress after Pearl Harbor and things you wouldn’t expect such as recordings of Asian Elephants by Katharine B. Payne and various popular rock, rap and country albums.

The coolest thing about this registry is that the board accepts recording nominations from the public year round. A recording has to be 10 years old and can’t be a video recording to be nominated. I looked over the list to see if there is anything “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” that I would nominate and found they really do have a lot covered. Most major historical events I thought of I witnessed on television so they’re not eligible.

Of course one major historical event they don’t have is the first Federal Citizen Information Center campaign “Happy Facts” from 1973, but I'm not too certain it would make the review board's cut. The government still uses radio and television campaigns, but has expanded to use podcasts and blogs to distribute information these days.

While historical event sound recordings were a challenge for me, I had no problem thinking of three albums to put on the list. Suggest your own sound recordings in the comment section so we can discuss them.

“Remain in Light”-Talking Heads (1980)
“Ride the Lightning”-Metallica (1984)
“Slanted and Enchanted”- Pavement (1992)

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: congress   government   historical   history   information   library   music   preservation  

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