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Pullman Porters (02/10)
Clarence King presented himself to Ada Copeland as Pullman porter James Todd with good reason; at the turn of the 20th twentieth century, only black men were hired as sleeping car porters. Introducing himself as a man of this profession would leave no doubt of his race, regardless of the color of his skin.
Traditional Recipes for Preserving the Sweetness of Summer (02/10)
Jane Fielding's home and family are the center of My One Hundred
Adventures. Her mother's inventive, fresh cooking, the gathering of fresh
sea food, berries and greens, and the calm fellowship the Fieldings enjoy at
mealtimes sustain and fortify Jane as she greets each new adventure. Jane's
mother preserves the sweetness of summer...
Acromegaly (02/10)
Truly Plaice, the protagonist of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, is
referred to as a 'giant' even as a child. It is not until mid-way through the
book that a physician provides the name of the disease that afflicts her:
Acromegaly.
Acromegaly comes from the Latin acron, for extremity, and megas,
meaning large. It was ...
A Beginner's Guide to Tall Ships (02/10)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy takes place almost entirely aboard an immense
sailing ship (aka 'tall ship') with seven decks and five sails, similar, albeit perhaps on a grander scale, to those one might envision in use during the 18th
century. Although the book is set in a fantasy world, Redick references familiar
ship types and crew ...
Listening to and Looking at Pakistan (01/10)
This book is Uzma Aslam Khan's third novel. One of her goals as a woman and a Pakistani is to undo formulaic assumptions about her homeland as well as to aid in the struggle for self- ownership, self-representation, and intellectual recognition of women. She writes passionately about this purpose in her essay, '
Women and Fiction Today.'
...
A Short History of Archeology (01/10)
The fictional John Somerville's interest in archeology was typical for his time. Most so-called archeologists of the period were, like him, self-taught because there were virtually no academic courses offered. Additionally, his desire to secure a rich benefactor to fund his excavations was standard operating procedure in the field; for ...
Cooking by Feel (01/10)
Although Lillian calls her cooking classes 'The School of Essential Ingredients' and has been asked what those are, she doesn't keep a list of them, nor are any of her recipes written down. While she does acknowledge that baking requires a more carefully balanced set of ingredients (she also believes that couples should make their own ...
China's The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution (01/10)
China's Cultural Revolution, which Chairman Mao Zedong formally announced in
1966, was a reaction to his earlier attempt, known as 'The Great Leap Forward', to increase China's economic base by moving the country away from its agrarian economy to an industrialized one using the massive supplies of cheap humans rather than expensive ...
Missing Children (01/10)
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
posts the following U.S. Department of Justice statistics on
taken
children:
- 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year
period of time (approximately 2,185/day), but the majority of these were quickly found.
- 203,900 children were the victims of ...
The Story of Stamps (01/10)
Great Britain's 'Penny Black' plays a significant role in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. It was the first stamp, first issued on May 6, 1840. It cost one penny, was printed in black, and bore the profile of Queen Victoria. For the next 60 years (until her death in 1901), Queen Victoria's portrait was the only subject allowed on ...
A Short Biography of Rasputin (11/09)
Rasputin's role within St. Petersburg's high society is detailed throughout
the first section of Sashenka.
Gregori Yefimovich Rasputin was born in a small village in Siberia in 1864 or
1865. At the age of 18 he was sent to a monastery, possibly as a penance for a
minor theft. He returned a changed man, and embarked on the life ...
Everett vs. Chomsky (11/09)
In Don't Sleep, There are Snakes, the elephant in the room—or rather, the elephant in the Amazonian jungle—is the noted American linguist, Noam Chomsky. To put it far too simply, Chomsky and Everett are feuding over which has supremacy in linguistics: genetics or culture, nature or nurture.
Chomsky's theory of universal ...
Dog Training Methods & The Seeing Eye (11/09)
Edgar Sawtelle would not have much to say—or sign—to the Dog Whisperer. Cesar Millan, the star of 'The Dog Whisperer' on the National Geographic Channel, is known for his 'pack-oriented' philosophy, which traces canine behavior back to their survival instinct for living in highly organized packs led by a single, strong leader. ...
Spy Agency Acronyms (11/09)
Like many spy thrillers, The Spanish Game is awash in an alphabet soup of acronyms. Below is a brief translation for the uninitiated.
MI5: 'Military Intelligence, Section 5.' Formed in 1909, MI5is a UK counter-intelligence and security agency which concentrates its efforts mainly on security issues within the UK (approximately equivalent...
Apartheid (11/09)
Apartheid (meaning separateness in Afrikaans*) was a system of legal
racial segregation enforced by the National Party government of South Africa
between 1948 and 1990.
The new system was a way for the white Afrikaner National Party to ensure
their control over both South Africa's economy and social structure. The key was
white ...
The Salem Witch Trials (11/09)
From June through September of 1692, fourteen women and five men were hanged
in Salem Village on charges of witchcraft, and Martha Carrier was among them.
Nearly 150 men, women, and children were imprisoned, and an unknown number
perished while they languished in crowded jails for months until the trials were
brought to an end. ...
"Crimes of the Century" (11/09)
Tacking down a precise date for when the term 'Crime of the Century' was first
utilized is not easy, but most scholars would attach the name of Jack the Ripper
to the creation of that notorious slogan. The killing spree in 1888 that resulted in the deaths of at least five accountable victims and possibly ten more was never solved, but...
Norse mythology and Runes (11/09)
Norse mythology is the best preserved version of Germanic paganism,
sharing the same essential pantheon with Anglo-Saxon mythology. Both have
their roots in a hypothetical Indo-European mythology that is believed to be at
the root of most pre-Christian religions in Europe and India (including
Hinduism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism) ...
The Vidocq Society (11/09)
'Legend has it that if you give Vidocq two or three of the details
surrounding a given crime, he will give you back the man who did it---before
you've had time to blink. More than that, he'll describe the man for you, give
you his most recent address, name all his known conspirators, tell you his
favorite cheese. So compendious is...
The WPA's American Guide Series (11/09)
State by State was inspired by the American Guide Series, a project that grew out of The Federal Writers Program (FWP). FWP was established in 1935 as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The FWP employed over 6000 Depression-era writers, editors, historians, researchers,...
The Stanley Internment Camp (11/09)
Although Elizabeth does not talk about her experience in a Japanese internment camp during World War II except to mention that her parents died there, its memory definitely colors her feelings about Hong Kong. While we do not know for sure, it seems likely that the camp she was interned in was the Stanley Civilian Camp - a non-segregated ...
S&H Green Stamps (10/09)
Chances are if you’re under 40 you might not remember S&H Green Stamps, but since I’m one step over that hill, I clearly remember licking those sticky little stamps and dreaming of all the possibilities they held as I carefully pasted them onto the enticing matching rectangles. For those of you who can recall pressing those ...
A Short History of Kenya (10/09)
The Republic of Kenya is located on the eastern coast of the African continent (
map).
It is approximately 225,000 square miles (580,000 square kilometers), with a
population of 38 million people (2008). The official languages are English &
Swahili, and Nairobi is its capital city. Primary exports include coffee and
tea.
The ...
World Expositions (10/09)
Although the first world exposition officially occurred in
1851 in London, enormous get-togethers were nothing new. Expositions
originate from markets in medieval times, where masses of people would converge
at major commercial route city centers. Lyons, Frankfurt, and Leipzig were
particularly noted for their early markets. ...
Britain & The USA in World War II (10/09)
Very often a parent gives life to a rebellious child and the two of them
engage in a lifelong love-hate relationship - until, for health or other
reasons, that parent needs help. At that point the prodigal child often returns
to step in at the parent's hour of need; though not always without a little
coaxing. Such was the case ...
