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Home BlogPage 9

THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN: Carl Schurz (March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906)

Brass Castle Arts March 3, 2011 March 3, 2011Uncategorized 0

This week celebrates the 182nd anniversary of the birth of Carl Schurz.  The name of Carl Schurz means little to most Americans today, but one hundred years ago, it was synonymous with integrity. This German immigrant advised presidents from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt, and his power and public voice were…

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Wallace A. Rayfield, black architect (1874?-1941)

Brass Castle Arts February 28, 2011 February 28, 2011Uncategorized 0

 This day, February 28, marks the 70th anniversary (1941) of the death of Wallace Augustus Rayfield, an Alabama architect of local reknown, although now mostly forgotten. He is the first black architect in Alabama to practice professionally, and the second black architect in the United States to practice professionally. Not…

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JIM LIMBER (1858? – ?) Black Orphan in the Confederate White House

Brass Castle Arts February 20, 2011 February 20, 2011Uncategorized 0

Jim Limber – James Henry Brooks On February 15, 1864, Varina Davis, the First Lady of the Confederacy, while conducting errands in Richmond, witnessed a small black boy being severely beaten by a black woman. Mrs. Davis, known for her kindness and concern for the welfare of others, drove away…

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: His Ancestry and The Extinction of His Line

Brass Castle Arts February 14, 2011 February 14, 2011Uncategorized 0

Abraham Lincoln was born 202 years ago on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, and died in Washington, DC, on April 15, 1865, the victim of an assassin’s bullet. In his professional portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln, my husband Phillip often is asked if any…

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DELMONICO’S FIRST OPENS – Early February 1827

Brass Castle Arts February 6, 2011 February 6, 2011Uncategorized 0

5th Ave & 44th St location – 1897-1923 On February 2, 1827, Swiss immigrants Giovanni Del-Monico and his brother Pietro Antonio Del-Monico paid $312.50 to rent a quarter-house at No. 23 William Street in New York City.  Sandwiched between the business district and the dwellings of most New Yorkers, the…

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We’re All In The Same Boat – er, Sleigh?

Brass Castle Arts January 30, 2011 January 30, 2011Uncategorized 0

Deep snow of January 2011 This is a poor substitute for the blog posting that I didn’t write last week. Most of you around the country know why. It’s the same reason you didn’t read it. We’ve all been outside, shoveling snow. How about you? Have you dug out enough…

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Death of 10th President John Tyler

Brass Castle Arts January 21, 2011 January 21, 2011Uncategorized 0

JOHN TYLER (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) During this week in history, John Tyler, 10th President of the United States, died on January 18, 1862.  In his day, his opponents dubbed him “His Accidency” or “The Accidental President” because he was the first president to sit in the…

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Lincoln appoints William Seward as Secretary of State – Jan. 10, 1861

Brass Castle Arts January 11, 2011 January 11, 2011Uncategorized 0

WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD (May 16,1801 – Oct. 10, 1872) On January 10, 1861, 150 years ago this week, William Henry Seward of Auburn, New York, was named Secretary of State in president-elect Lincoln’s Cabinet.  Seward is best known for his service under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson and for his management…

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General Tom Thumb (Jan. 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883)

Brass Castle Arts January 5, 2011 January 5, 2011Uncategorized 0

This week, I share my birthday (January 4) with Louis Braille (1809) who developed a system of reading for the blind, actress Jane Wyman (1914), Sir Isaac Newton (1643), and General Tom Thumb, born Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838).  P. T. Barnum & General Tom Thumb Charles Sherwood Stratton’s parents lived…

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Grace Bedell (1848-1936)

Brass Castle Arts November 1, 2010 November 1, 2010Uncategorized 0

What ever became of Grace Bedell, the 11-year-old girl who proposed to Lincoln that whiskers would improve his chances for election? Grace Greenwood Bedell was born 162 years ago this week, in Albion, NY, on November 4, 1848, to Norman and Amanda (Smiley) Bedell.  Norman was a carriage- and stove-maker. …

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