Grant's Tomb: This Date in History
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donbosco
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Speaking of Politics...
The clipping here is from April 19, 1978 and refers to the votes on the Panama Canal Treaty by North Carolina’s two U.S. Senators - Democrat Robert Morgan, a Yes, and Republican Jesse Helms, No. That April ‘78 vote assured the neutrality of the canal and pledged that the U.S. would not interfere in the internal affairs of the nation of Panama.
The day of that vote I had a Political Science seminar taught by Professor Federico Gil. I was a junior struggling to keep up in the heady stuff being discussed in that class. UNC was a leader globally at the time in Latin American Studies. Very specifically the course was ‘Latin America in World Affairs.” Most of y’all must have been acquainted with the college lore of the late instructor, i.e., students wait 5 minutes for a tardy graduate teaching assistant, 10 for an assistant prof, 15 for an associate, and 20 for a full professor.
That day, Dr. Gil was still not there at the 20 minute mark. So respected was he that no one left. His expertise in international relations was globally renowned and smart, open-minded public servants, business people, and other scholars sought out his counsel. Expertise was many years away from the shunning currently the standard operating procedure among modern Conservative politicians. Professor Gil was the very definition of erudite. His classes were brilliantly executed and every student, even those ‘in-over-their-heads’ such as I, worked our hardest to keep up.
When he did arrive, over half an hour late, he apologized and thanked us for staying. He explained that he had been delayed by a phone call from a North Carolina Senator seeking advice on the Panama Canal vote. Which of our two had sought out the expert needed no explanation.
The clipping here is from April 19, 1978 and refers to the votes on the Panama Canal Treaty by North Carolina’s two U.S. Senators - Democrat Robert Morgan, a Yes, and Republican Jesse Helms, No. That April ‘78 vote assured the neutrality of the canal and pledged that the U.S. would not interfere in the internal affairs of the nation of Panama.
The day of that vote I had a Political Science seminar taught by Professor Federico Gil. I was a junior struggling to keep up in the heady stuff being discussed in that class. UNC was a leader globally at the time in Latin American Studies. Very specifically the course was ‘Latin America in World Affairs.” Most of y’all must have been acquainted with the college lore of the late instructor, i.e., students wait 5 minutes for a tardy graduate teaching assistant, 10 for an assistant prof, 15 for an associate, and 20 for a full professor.
That day, Dr. Gil was still not there at the 20 minute mark. So respected was he that no one left. His expertise in international relations was globally renowned and smart, open-minded public servants, business people, and other scholars sought out his counsel. Expertise was many years away from the shunning currently the standard operating procedure among modern Conservative politicians. Professor Gil was the very definition of erudite. His classes were brilliantly executed and every student, even those ‘in-over-their-heads’ such as I, worked our hardest to keep up.
When he did arrive, over half an hour late, he apologized and thanked us for staying. He explained that he had been delayed by a phone call from a North Carolina Senator seeking advice on the Panama Canal vote. Which of our two had sought out the expert needed no explanation.
The Ghost of Richard Nixon wishes he was POTUS today.
#OTD 1994 Richard Nixon Died.
Robert “Too Liberal for North Carolina” MorganSpeaking of Politics...
The clipping here is from April 19, 1978 and refers to the votes on the Panama Canal Treaty by North Carolina’s two U.S. Senators - Democrat Robert Morgan, a Yes, and Republican Jesse Helms, No. That April ‘78 vote assured the neutrality of the canal and pledged that the U.S. would not interfere in the internal affairs of the nation of Panama.
The day of that vote I had a Political Science seminar taught by Professor Federico Gil. I was a junior struggling to keep up in the heady stuff being discussed in that class. UNC was a leader globally at the time in Latin American Studies. Very specifically the course was ‘Latin America in World Affairs.” Most of y’all must have been acquainted with the college lore of the late instructor, i.e., students wait 5 minutes for a tardy graduate teaching assistant, 10 for an assistant prof, 15 for an associate, and 20 for a full professor.
That day, Dr. Gil was still not there at the 20 minute mark. So respected was he that no one left. His expertise in international relations was globally renowned and smart, open-minded public servants, business people, and other scholars sought out his counsel. Expertise was many years away from the shunning currently the standard operating procedure among modern Conservative politicians. Professor Gil was the very definition of erudite. His classes were brilliantly executed and every student, even those ‘in-over-their-heads’ such as I, worked our hardest to keep up.
When he did arrive, over half an hour late, he apologized and thanked us for staying. He explained that he had been delayed by a phone call from a North Carolina Senator seeking advice on the Panama Canal vote. Which of our two had sought out the expert needed no explanation.
donbosco
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The Voice. (hear it at the link below) I have only heard in retrospectives but I remember him spoken of with reverence by my father who was very pro-democracy and even more anti-authoritarian like so many in his now-forgotten generation—the one that wrestled fascist dictators to the ground and crushed them in Germany and Italy. In our most recent times some brave members of a much maligned profession have followed along his path. We should be thankful for for journalists like this and recognize their work in a measure based on the ire they draw from the shysters, seditionists, and nattering anti-democracy nabobs of our time. Edward R. Murrow seems to have been hated by just the right folks. A hit dog does yell the loudest. #OTD (April 24) in 1908 Edward R. Murrow was born near Greensboro. He grew up in Washington state. His WW2 CBS radio reports from Europe were historic. On his ‘50s TV program ‘See It Now’ he brought down Red-baiting GOP Sen.McCarthy in ‘54.
Please watch that moment at this link:
Read more here: Edward R. Murrow, Legendary Journalist
“Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves…” Act 1, Scene 2, “Julius Caesar”
Please watch that moment at this link:
Read more here: Edward R. Murrow, Legendary Journalist
“Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves…” Act 1, Scene 2, “Julius Caesar”
donbosco
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#OTD (April 27) in 1897, which would have been Ulysses S. Grant’s 75th birthday (he died in 1885), his tomb on #RiversideDriveNYC was dedicated. The location in New York City was controversial as both military parks and Washington D.C. were believed more appropriate by many. Grant himself had nixed those ideas however by his romantic insistence that Julia, his wife, be buried beside him.
Grant (and Julia) preferred that New York City be their final resting place. They actually lived at No. 3 East Sixty-sixth street beginning in 1881. (Read here: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/.../the-lost-u-s... ) As many know, the Grants were ruined financially in 1884, the victims of a Ponzi Scheme. Profits from his memoir managed to keep them solvent in his final year and helped to keep his wife and family comfortable. The General died of throat cancer just over a year later.
As per their wishes the mausoleum is the final resting place of he and Julia. A design by John Hemingway Duncan was chosen in a competition. Duncan based it on the Temple at Halicarnassus of Persia — now Iran, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (see below, bottom right-facing, for a sketch of that now long-gone structure). While the dedication #OTD (April 27) in 1897 was a huge event, the fund-raising efforts were not always smooth and brought forward both regional and class-based enmities.
In fact, the monument has seen rough times during its 129 year ‘life.’ Having fallen into disrepair, The Works Project Administration (WPA) of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal restored and improved the monument - there are busts of five of Grant's generals...William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. McPherson, and Edward Ord installed inside by the Federal Artists Project and many infrastructural additions both cosmetic and fundamental were added.
Despite the monument’s placement in the care of the National Parks Service in 1958, in the 1970s graffiti as well as squatting along the exterior of the structure made it unsightly and even dangerous. Overall New York City itself was in similarly dire straits - #RiversideParkNYC was a rough and mainly off limits area. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the monument, and the area was reclaimed. Today when in NYC I walk with Prince and Maxie in this area daily (even nightly), and literally circling “Grant’s Tomb” is part of our regimen. I admire the structure for its solid but fluid lines. It has a timeless quality and diagonally across from the towering Riverside Church we find ourselves sandwiched by two of the more impressive edifices, though I fear, less recognized, in The City. The dogs only see the squirrels and rats in truth but I do try my best to look up. The structure itself does remind me, as a born and bred southerner who was treated to the barrage of Lost Cause propaganda from my earliest memory, that the country has an incredibly divisive history and that I am living through a time of deep division and cultural civil war as well. When I do look up I see on the tomb inscribed Grant’s epitaph: “Let us have peace.” I have to add though...not at the cost of permitting fascism, racism, and regression to win the day.
Amen.
The photographs below: Top left-facing is a photograph of the dedication ceremony. Top right-facing, a shot from 1917. Bottom left-facing is a snap by me from Sakura Park.
Grant (and Julia) preferred that New York City be their final resting place. They actually lived at No. 3 East Sixty-sixth street beginning in 1881. (Read here: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/.../the-lost-u-s... ) As many know, the Grants were ruined financially in 1884, the victims of a Ponzi Scheme. Profits from his memoir managed to keep them solvent in his final year and helped to keep his wife and family comfortable. The General died of throat cancer just over a year later.
As per their wishes the mausoleum is the final resting place of he and Julia. A design by John Hemingway Duncan was chosen in a competition. Duncan based it on the Temple at Halicarnassus of Persia — now Iran, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (see below, bottom right-facing, for a sketch of that now long-gone structure). While the dedication #OTD (April 27) in 1897 was a huge event, the fund-raising efforts were not always smooth and brought forward both regional and class-based enmities.
In fact, the monument has seen rough times during its 129 year ‘life.’ Having fallen into disrepair, The Works Project Administration (WPA) of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal restored and improved the monument - there are busts of five of Grant's generals...William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. McPherson, and Edward Ord installed inside by the Federal Artists Project and many infrastructural additions both cosmetic and fundamental were added.
Despite the monument’s placement in the care of the National Parks Service in 1958, in the 1970s graffiti as well as squatting along the exterior of the structure made it unsightly and even dangerous. Overall New York City itself was in similarly dire straits - #RiversideParkNYC was a rough and mainly off limits area. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the monument, and the area was reclaimed. Today when in NYC I walk with Prince and Maxie in this area daily (even nightly), and literally circling “Grant’s Tomb” is part of our regimen. I admire the structure for its solid but fluid lines. It has a timeless quality and diagonally across from the towering Riverside Church we find ourselves sandwiched by two of the more impressive edifices, though I fear, less recognized, in The City. The dogs only see the squirrels and rats in truth but I do try my best to look up. The structure itself does remind me, as a born and bred southerner who was treated to the barrage of Lost Cause propaganda from my earliest memory, that the country has an incredibly divisive history and that I am living through a time of deep division and cultural civil war as well. When I do look up I see on the tomb inscribed Grant’s epitaph: “Let us have peace.” I have to add though...not at the cost of permitting fascism, racism, and regression to win the day.
Amen.
The photographs below: Top left-facing is a photograph of the dedication ceremony. Top right-facing, a shot from 1917. Bottom left-facing is a snap by me from Sakura Park.