clair057

When I was high school there was this girl a couple of years older than me who wore pink every chance she got. We were required to wear school uniforms, but had the choice of adding jewelry and scarves in order to feed the need to be unique and different. I threw my identity out for others to see by using an antique men’s collar bar to pin various handkerchiefs to the lapel of my “required” navy blazer. I alternated between a handkerchief my mother had brought back from a trip to the Caribbean and one that belonged to my great grandmother I had found languishing in a drawer at my grandfather’s. But this acquaintance of mine absolutely adored pink…..she accessorized with all things pink that she could get away with and constantly announced to anyone, much like Shelby Eatenton in the movie Steel Magnolias , that “pink was her signature color.” Unfortunately my friend and even the character of Shelby Eatenton can’t exactly corner the market on credit regarding the signature pink line bec...

Around my house the Great Awakening is when Dear Daughter is roused each school day morning. We yell…we cajole…we holler something akin to the Rebel Yell. Nothing meets us but dead silence. We bang the wall. Finally and faintly we hear, “I’m up!” Of course, that’s not the end of it – we will have to repeat the exercise at least four times for her to be truly up, and I’m never at ease until I see she has finally made her way down the steps. It is a cross we bear as parents of a teenager, I guess……among many other crosses. In history the Great Awakening refers to periods of great religious revival in our nation. The approximate years for the first Great Awakening occurred from the 1730s to the 1760s, and the movement mainly consisted of changes regarding how pastors approached the delivery of their sermons moving from a heavy dose of theology to more of an appeal to the emotions and practical application. While it is easy to discuss the attacks on religion today we need to remember that ...

Well, I’m waiting….I know they have been placed in the mail but haven’t seen an image of this year’s White House Christmas card…..yet. I know I won’t be getting one from the Obamas, but many people will be finding a card from the White House in their mailbox this week. For the last three years I’ve mentioned the card here at History is Elementary and published an image at American Presidents . While we are waiting for this year’s card to arrive here are some links to past postings regarding the White House Christmas card: 2008…. here and here 2007… here and here 2006… here and here I hope to be able to post the image of the 2009 card in the next few days. Stay tuned!

It was just another Sunday…..but it turned out to be a day that would live in infamy. Today we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor. Follow this link to my postings regarding Pearl Harbor.

History is jam packed with moments…..moments great and small. For someone like me they are all equally intriguing….all equally important though some actually get a little more play in the classroom than others. If I had to ask you about your top ten list for events in American History more than likely we would all have varying lists with a little overlap. I’m sure that most of you would include events from the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, the Boston Massacre, or even Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. My events would be a little more obscure (for some)….Shay’s Rebellion, the inception of The Manhattan Project, the Election of 1800, the March on Washington Movement (1941-1947), or the Battle of Fallen Timbers. I could go on and on and on with my list…… The folks over at Online School recently alerted me regarding their post titled One Hundred Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube . Their list includes moments involving war, presidential inaugurations, assass...

Quick! Dig down deep into that creaky file cabinet in your mind and pull out the folder labeled “Vikings” and name a few of the more famous ones for me. I’ll wait. No, not the football team. There should be another folder there for the OTHER Vikings. You know, the Norsemen who were explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates. There you go. That’s it. Wow, that folder hasn’t seen the light of day in…..well, just blow the dust off it and open it up. So, what have you got? Erik the Red Leif Ericsson ….son of Erik the Red Canute (Knut or Cnut) Sweynsson….better known as Canute the Great ….King of England, etc. Those are usually the top three names I get. Most of the time folks just give me Erik and Leif. What about Thorfinn Karlsefni? Yep, you are so very right. Who in the heck is Thorfinn Karlsefni? Well….here goes…. 1. Thorfinn was a Norse merchant who followed Leif Ericsson’s route seven years later.…around 1010 AD…to North America. 2. While on a trading trip to Greenland Thorfinn met ...

Halloween night Mr. EHT and I received a phone call that every parent dreads…one from a stranger identifying himself as an EMT. My mind worked furiously to comprehend what he was saying, but all I wanted to say was, “Surely sir, you have the wrong number.” He just kept rattling off information ---he was with my daughter, there had been an accident, he and his wife ( a nurse) had been driving by, he assured me they would stay by Dear Daughter’s side until she was in the ambulance. Ambulance?????? I finally got the words out…..”Is she….is she ok?” The voice on the other end of the phone said, “Yes, she’s complaining (hmmmm…….complaining….that’s good, I thought) of back and neck pain, and they have her on a backboard to stabilize her until they can see what is causing her pain. After arriving at the hospital, Mr. EHT and I discovered barring any findings from the x-rays, Dear Daughter was just very scared and hurting from the slam of the airbag deploying and the strain against the seatbel...