A SHIP REVEALED

Four years ago, while excavation was taking place at the World Trade Center site, a curved piece of wood was noticed sticking out of the ground.

There were archaeologists on site during the excavation to monitor the grounds for any potential finds. I don’t think they expected to find anything quite like this however.

Click on the photo to see the rest of the pictures at CNN

The ship was found about 22 feet below ground south of where the World Trade Center once stood.

The land was river bottom and the ship is believed to be a Hudson River Sloop of Dutch design used to carry people and cargo over the shallow, rocky water.

For whatever reason it was sunk and eventually covered over with trash and fill materials that were used to extend the Manhattan shoreline.

They were even to identify the wood that was used to make this ship as being from colonial-era Philadelphia.

Seriously. There is a Tree Ring Research lab at Columbia University and they can tell where and when the wood was taken. In this case it is an old growth forest in the Philadelphia area cut down about 1773. Seriously…..again….

Imagine what we are covering up today that may be found hundreds of years from now. Sadly I don’t think it is anything good.

 

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW

How many of you grew up watching Soul Train or American Bandstand?

Did you race home from school to catch the “cool” kids bustin’ a move to the latest hot bands?

Did you practice those moves until you could boogie with the best of them? Did you wish you were doing the Soul Train Boogie Walk?

WERE YOU EVER ON ONE OF THOSE SHOWS YOURSELF?  My brother in law was on Bandstand once. I wish I had a video of that one.

One of my favourite TV shows that was on from 2002 to 2005 was American Dreams where the main character, a young girl played by Brittany Snow, used to go to Bandstand every day after school.The music for Bandstand was recreated using current bands portraying the originals. The soundtrack was fabulous. This show was also a great history lesson for us showing what the race riots were all about. I was very sad to see it go.

So what are your Bandstand or Soul Train memories? The host of Soul Train, Don Cornelius, sadly shot himself last night at the age of 75.

OUT OF THE CLOSET

I just heard about the museum in San Antonio, Texas that took down a wall and found a bunch of historical items in the closed closet. 
There were roughly 200 items in there. 

 Not the actual photos.

There was a bible printed in the 1600s. 
There are various items relating to the civil war era including a letter written by Joseph Wood to his sister in 1861 about the Confederate troops taking over San Antonio. 

U. S. Grant

 Not the actual photo

Also in the closet were World War II posters, including some from Canada and the Philippines, and a rare group of Japanese posters, a Union officer's photo album with family papers and images of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Photos of the Alamo, local missions and street scenes of San Antonio from the 1920s also were found.
They don't know why the closet was closed off but they are going through the library meeting minutes to see if they can find out whose brilliant idea it was to hide this stuff away.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debcll/4102584182/

Not my closet. No really it isn't.

One day someone will have to sort through all my special stuff in my closets...and drawers...and shelves...and counters. I wonder if they will view it with the awe and delight that I am sure the workers in San Antonio did when they found their treasure.

This post will also be on my other blog.

F.W. WOOLWORTH

A blast from the past for sure. Don't long for the good old days and those prices too quickly though because the average yearly income in 1957 was $3641.72 and in 2009 it was $41,334.97 so I think it is all relative.

If you liked a post please click on the SU button to stumble it.

THANK YOU ALICE PAUL

I watched a movie the other night that I found so disturbing yet exhilarating. It was called Iron Jawed Angels and starred Hilary Swank.

I know you have heard of Susan B. Anthony but have you heard of Alice Paul?
Hilary played the lead character of Alice Paul. For those of you who have never heard of her you owe her a debt of thanks. It was the work of her and others like her who fought almost to the death for the right to vote for women. Alice Paul was born in 1885 to a Quaker family in New Jersey. The Hicksite Quakers believed in equality for the genders and working for the betterment of society. Education for both sexes was important.

Alice's mother, Tacie, took her daughter to meetings of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her mother made a big impact on Alice and she quoted her mother's saying "When you put your hand to the plough, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row."

Alice had graduated first in her class at a Hicksite school in New Jersey. She then went on to Swarthmore College. Her grandfather Judge William Parry was one of the founders of the co-ed school back in 1864. She had quite a rough time fighting for us eventually ending up in prison with many of her like minded cohorts. She was part of a hunger strike that led to the tortuous force feeding by shoving tubes down their throats and pouring in raw eggs.

President Wilson backed down in 1917 and labeled it a war measure announcing how much the women helped the country during war. Two years later the 19th Amendment was passed by Senate and went to ratification.

The deciding vote in 1920 was cast by the youngest memeber of the Tennessee assembly who was ready to vote against the women when he received a telegram from his mother advising him otherwise.

Womens Equality day was on August 26th. I am sorry I missed it but better late than never. Just ask Alice Paul. 1885-1977
For more information and history on Alice Paul go to the website here.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS - OR NOT

Image via Wikipedia

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.
Ah, the good old days. Life was simpler and...
The year is 1909, one hundred years ago. Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :

• The average life expectancy was 47 years.
• Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
• There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
• The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
• The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.
• The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist earned $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.
• Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard.'
• Sugar cost four cents a pound.
• Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
• Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering the country for any reason.
• Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

• The American flag had 45 stars.
• The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!
• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
• There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
• Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
• Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health'
• Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
• There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. (I suspect there were more but many were never reported to any national data collection organization)

I would like to say that in my own family research the life span is much higher, as it has been in my work on other trees and my transcription of many censuses and death records. I dispute that fact.

Image by phonogalerie.com via Flickr