Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land. Sharecropping occurred extensively in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). The South had been devastated by war; planters had ample land but little money for wages or taxes. At the […]
You’ve probably heard the story of the robbers, Bonnie and Clyde, but have you ever heard of the Blonde Bandit? This story reminds me of the play and movie Chicago. In February 1930, twenty-year-old Sally Joyce Richards, branded the “Blonde Bandit,” was found guilty of first-degree robbery and sentenced to twenty years to life in […]
I can understand now why they thought it was the end of the world – sitting in the dark for hours, day after day – it’s hard to imagine Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma drought farmers. “Nothing to do. These fellers,” said one of them, “are goin to stay right here till they dry up […]
Alabama contributing author, Clifford Dobyns provides a history on the bugle call Taps. “TAPS” by Clifford Dobyns My brother, Kenley died in April 2008 at the age of 77. At his funeral, a pastor other than my brother’s pastor told me that my brother was the most outstanding Christian that he knew in the entire […]
Indiana is the 38th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States. Indiana is the least extensive state in the contiguous United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. The song Sweet Indiana Home below was recorded in 1922 by Aileen Stanley – composed by Walter Donaldson, conducted by Rosario Bourdon […]
During the 17th century, much of the land in Tidewater Maryland was patented in huge tracts to the first settlers. The acreage of these often being more than one family could farm, they were divided into smaller tracts during the 18th century. On these parcels, the colonial planters built their homes, usually dwellings of frame […]
This may be the earliest film of a baseball game made in May 20, 1898 by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. from the Library of Congress. Notes about the film state: Photographed from one camera position behind home plate, the film shows a baseball game in progress. The action includes two players running toward the camera; […]
Below is a film on the massive internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. The film tries to reassure the viewer that the conditions in the camps are not too “soft” — that the Japanese Americans there have to work hard and actually provide for many of their own needs, costing […]
(Hurricane season is upon us. Imagine not having a warning system like we do today. This film remind are a good reminder why we should pay heed to all weather warnings.) In the 1930’s, several hurricanes hit the East Coast of America causing devastating damage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4w24sRoJ7s Seven Superstorms of the Northeast: And Other Blizzards, Hurricanes & […]
Do you remember what you were doing on the evening of January 23, 1961? Probably not. If you lived in North Carolina, or for that matter on anyway on the eastern seaboard you were probably not aware of the catastrophe taking place in the skies above your head and the site is marked by the […]
