The World and All That is in It

Good evening America,

I trust that Christmas went well. Today’s post is the first of 2011. Last year was quite eventful, and here’s to another productive twelve months.
This week’s topic is the story of one society’s quest to bring the world into the living rooms and libraries of America. A group, organized in 1888 in Washington, D.C., that began with 165 members and a small, erratically published newsletter, growing to include pictures, maps, and all sorts of stories. This little group, a geographical society that was run by men who weren’t experts, wasn’t for the people who really knew about the subject. It was for everyone who wanted to learn.

About what, though? The founder of the group was asked. What did geography entail? When Alexander Graham Bell (yes, that Alexander Graham Bell) was asked what the purpose of the society was, he replied “The World and all that is in it is our theme, and if we can’t find anything to interest ordinary people in that we’d better shut up shop.”
The society I’m talking about is the National Geographic Society, based in Washington, D.C., and famous all over the world. The NGS has organized expeditions all over the earth, and has reported back to society about the findings. It is through the pages of the National Geographic magazine, world-renowned for the writing and photographs that have brought the world to America.

National Geographic is important because it has brought about an interest in geography and history, and has inspired scores of armchair adventurers to learn about the world. In the Cold War, National Geographic strove to remain neutral when it came to the countries behind the Iron Curtain. Many reporters around the globe have been saved by the Society and the proof the magazine offers.
So what’s so great about National Geographic?

The Afghan Girl

In 1984, this picture appeared on the cover of National Geographic, instantly becoming one of the most well-known photographs of the magazine’s history, and one of the most well-known in the world.

Her green eyes stare at us from across the globe, a Pashtun  girl caught between the Russian-supported Communists and the American-supported mujaheddin.  She didn’t even know that the picture had been the cover of National Geographic, or that it had become one of the most famous photographs ever taken, until nearly twenty years later. The picture is still haunting, even after 2002, when through retina scans she was identified.  She’s still called “The Afghan Girl.”

The famous picture of the Afghan Girl gives us just a glimpse into another world, that of a refugee from the Americans and the Russians. She reminds us, as she stares from the cover, of humanity, and proves what Alexander Graham Bell said, one hundred years before- ‘The world and all that is in it.”

It is the world that National Geographic brings to life- the land, sea, air, and the animals and people that the world encompasses.

What do we learn from National Geographic and the Society? To have a sense of wonder and an urge to explore what the world has to offer. To learn about other cultures, and the animals we share the world with. National Geographic has brought to life the very real turmoil of the world, as in the case of the Afghan Girl and the creation of new countries like Bangladesh. Besides the harsh realities of the world, National Geographic has stood for the love of the world and a desire to reach the ends of the earth, and further in the pursuit of knowledge.

So thanks to the National Geographic Society for opening the world.

Lesson Seven- The Strenuous Life

Good evening America,

Is it already time for a new post? Seems just yesterday I was writing about Gershwin… It’s time for another lesson. Tonight’s guest is a President of the United States- not just any President, but one of our greatest.

He practiced Judo, rowing, rock climbing, and loved football. He finished the Panama Canal, became President after an assassination, charged San Juan Hill, was Undersecretary of the Navy, wrote books, survived an assassination attempt, played with his kids, hunted, had a toy named for him. All before breakfast.

Theodore Roosevelt was an unlikely candidate for an adventurer- as a child, he suffered from asthma. He was bookish. But he was the number one adventurer to occupy the White House. In fact, it was during his presidency that the White House was first officially called that. He hated to be called Teddy, and wanted to be called TR instead. He loved the outdoors and the wonderful things that America had to offer. At the time of his administrations, though, businessmen were taking over the best parts of America. Niagara Falls, one of the most spectacular sights in North America, was partly owned by a private party, which had put a fence up on the American side, obscuring the waterfall… needless to say, TR was not impressed. this was a time before most of these sights were common knowledge. Now everyone in America is familiar with the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t so in TR’s time. Sights like Zion Canyon, Devil’s Tower and Niagara Falls were a once in a lifetime thing, if you ever got there.
TR signed into law the bill that Created the National Parks. In doing so, he saved some of the greatest scenes in the world for posterity.

Theodore Roosevelt was an enthusiastic man who loved to do everything and try new things. He was the first president to ride in a car, fly in a plane, and one of the first to be heard on recording. He traveled the world, but knew that some of the greatest adventures can be right here. He was far-sighted, and he was also active. Literally.

Remember I said that he had asthma as a boy? Well, he could have stayed inside, never did anything, and been weak and nowhere near as inspiring. That would have been easy. Or he could have just stuck with the books and never went on any of his own adventures. That would be easy, too. However, Theodore Roosevelt never did what was easy. He loved the challenges that life presented- and advocated what he called “The Strenuous Life” – working hard and living life to the fullest. Even when he himself was shot by a would-be assassin, he went on to read his 50-page speech (which, by the way, helped to stop the bullet), then go to the hospital.

Theodore Roosevelt was a fascinating president. He was an adventurer that just happened to have a desk job, and we can learn a couple of things from him- like the importance of conservation- loving the gifts that America has to offer. He also teaches us that it’s important to be active- adventures are not just for books. Learning is a never-ending experience, and TR knew this.

By creating the National Parks, TR saved America for all who love canyons, mountains, trees, and animals. He reminded us of yet another facet of America. Thanks, TR!

Lesson Six- Rhapsody In George

Good evening, America

You probably have heard of George Gershwin- the most popular American composer of all time. His partnership with his brother Ira made them the most successful songwriters of their time. George Gershwin started out as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and writer, for both the Alley and Broadway. His big break came with the publishing of the 1919 hit “Swanee,” written with Irving Caesar.

George’s most famous work is probably Rhapsody In Blue, which was commissioned by Paul Whiteman, the famous bandleader. It changed the public and the critical view of Gershwin, quickly becoming one of Gershwin’s most popular pieces. But it wasn’t as easy as that. In fact, the young George Gershwin didn’t know that he was supposed to write Rhapsody.

In January of 1924, George, Ira, and B.D deSylva (with whom they had written ‘I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise’) were playing pool. Well, true to form, while George and deSylva, or ‘Buddy,’ as he was known to friends, played pool, Ira sat reading the paper. Ira brought to George’s attention that there was an article saying that Paul Whiteman, the band leader and a friend of the Gershwins, was giving a concert. The part that had interested him was that it said that George Gershwin, the composer, was composing a new jazz concerto for the concert.

This was news to George. He had never composed a concerto, which is a piece of music for an orchestra and a soloist, usually a piano. George, quite confused, went to talk to Whitefield and find out what was going on. Whitefield convinced George to write the concerto, and George began. On the way back to New York from Boston after overseeing the production of one of his musicals, he wrote some of it on a train, inspired by the rhythmic beat of the train wheels. This, combined with the Jewish music he was familiar with and the jazz that was popular, was written into a concert piece. In about ten days, he finished writing his jazz concerto.

All he had left to do was give it a name and perform it. George considered calling American Rhapsody. Ira, who was much keener on words, recommended calling it something else. He told George about the paintings of Whistler that he had just seen at an art show. Whistler had the interesting style of naming his paintings after colors, such as Nocturne in Black and Gold and Arrangement in Black and Grey No. 1, better known as Whistler’s Mother. Ira suggested that the composition be called Rhapsody in Blue, as the music used what were called ‘blue notes.’

It was George’s moment, the night of February 12th. Paul Whiteman’s ‘Experiment in Modern Music’ wasn’t going as well as he had imagined. There were no new songs- in fact, several of the songs
performed were several years old. The audience was growing restless and several members were getting ready to leave. George stepped out, nervous but handsome and stylish as ever, and sat down at the piano. The clarinetist played a now famous glissando, and the rest is music history. The music clip here features Gershwin himself playing piano.

Rhapsody in Blue is an American classic- a picture of the country and its people in music, an innovative piece that helped make jazz acceptable. As Gershwin said, “My people are American. My time is now.” His music shows that.

The lesson to be learned? Being ready for anything is a mainstay of the American psych. The dedication and enthusiasm that George Gershwin showed in writing and then performing his Rhapsody is an American ideal- being ready to take any challenge, no matter how unexpected, and doing your best. George was talented and hardworking, and won international acclaim through these traits. He loved America, and set it to music. In doing this, he opened another door of understanding into the American spirit.

Thanks, George, for writing America’s music, and showing us how to be ready to rise to the challenge.

Lesson Four- Rocking the Vote. Litterally.

Good evening, America

Here we are again, October. Almost to the midterm elections. There’s always a lot of articles and literature on being an informed voter, and I hate to add to it all, but I wanted to tell the story about Jamison Shoemaker, who was responsible for electing Madison Marsh who elected… Chances are, you have already heard that story, or a list of “one vote” stories. Originally, I wanted to tell you about the importance of getting out and voting, but the stories are told so often that they are cliche, and anyway, none of them really are true. As a blogger/historian trying to save America, I’ll dispel some of these myths and show how we must be informed.

One vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England

One vote caused Charles I of England to be executed

One vote gave America the English language instead of German

One vote brought Texas into the Union in 1845

One vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic in 1875

One vote gave Adolf Hitler leadership of the Nazi Party in 1923

These are all false.  When the British Parliament dissolved itself, there was no vote taken. That is the true side of the Oliver Cromwell story. On the subject of King Charles I,  59 commissioners signed the warrant for his execution. That’s not exactly one vote. There weren’t any votes involved.

It doesn’t stop there. The story about Texas is really famous (Especially if you listen to the Focus on the Family drama Adventures in Odyssey), but the thing about the one vote isn’t true.  The US Congress annexed Texas by two votes- and then it had to be ratified by Texas itself. The German story is based on a real question- not the official language of an entire country, but putting legal documents into German in an area of Virginia.

Back to Europe- France doesn’t check out, either, because of the dates. France wasn’t a monarchy then. When Hitler became dictator of the Nazi Party in 1921 (Not 1923), it was by a margin of 553 to one, not exactly the one-vote margin. And that was after Hitler left. He was voted back into the party, on his terms.

Now don’t get me wrong. Voting is a great thing. It is what separates us from Communism and other totalitarian states.  We have the right to have a say, no matter what your party or issue.  The question is, do we need all those stories like above to get us to vote? If we rely only on the stories for proof that a vote is worth something, then the stories (no matter how false) work. It gives us a feeling of patriotism. But really, as Americans, we should be informed enough to know how to vote, know why we vote, and have a personal belief that your vote has an impact.

November 2nd is Election Day.  No doubt you will receive some list like this in your email inbox.  Just remember to check your facts. If we really respect the vote, then we will respect it because we have faith in the process and in democracy.

So rock the vote, America. Litterally.

(The author would like to thank snopes.com for helping in the research of these myths.)

 

 

Lesson Three- The Names of the Forgotten

Good morning America,

A few weeks ago my mother asked my father to stop at a display on the grounds of the high school. it was a traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.. I have to say it made me think.

My father was more or less in the Vietnam War. He was drafted but went into the Air Force, and sent to Korea. He took high school French for nothing, apparently. My Dad never seems to me to be a typical American view of a veteran. So what, it wasn’t the Civil War or WWII.

The Wall that Heals was quite a great display. It was set up on the lawn of the high school (where my mother went, during the Vietnam War). Lots of people were there. I heard one woman talking on the phone to someone, saying that she brought the kids to see the Wall, even though they didn’t understand it.

I don’t understand it.

A docent of sorts walked up to my Dad and I and asked if we had any questions. We didn’t. My Dad served in this war as a radio repairman with the F-4D Phantom and I have read a lot on the Cold War. After the man had walked away, I leaned over to my father and said “I have just one question: Why?”

It’s not an easy question to answer. My father agreed. “Why?” Why did we send so many of our children to a country we had never heard of to see them killed on the news? What kind of country would do that- not the America that I love, right? Why did LBJ try to create the Great Society, stamp out poverty in America, and even compulsively turn off every light bulb in the White House while he spent millions every day on a war that was costing the country more than money?

What did the Vietnam War accomplish? Riots, hippies, the peace movement (forever connecting peace with hippies), confusion, the horrible effects of Agent Orange, and the first generation to truly lose faith in the government. What were we doing over there? Trying to stop the spread of Communism. That’s why we were fighting the Viet Cong. Well, it didn’t work. Communism would not be dealt the blow we had planned, nor did the Evil Empire, the Soviet Union, recede until the early 1990s.

It cost more than we can think of. The Vietnam War was a center of American political and journalistic life for a decade. It cost the lives of 58,000 young men. I sometimes look back and wonder what Walter Cronkite thought, delivering the news. Those kids were your sons, husbands, brothers, friends. Now most of them are names on the Wall, forgotten.

I never knew any of them. Dad did. America did. Now I wonder who they were. I saw a man whose last name was Sherlock. Did he like Sherlock Holmes? Was a John Anderson who was one of the last to die anything like my friend, another John Anderson? What about them? What were these 58,000 young men like? Did one love history, and his barracks mate love math? How many spoke French- the language in Vietnam? How many had friends or family at home like me and my friends? I keep wondering about those kids. That’s what they were. America’s children, sacrificed on the cold alter of a god whose purpose will never be fully revealed.

John Kerry once said “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” It is a strange thought. At the beginning of the Wall, there is a notice as to the chronology of the names. It says “In the order they gave their lives.” I asked my father if it was still “giving your life” in a war you were forced into in a country you had never heard of in a cause that was futile. In America we hold sacrifice highly. We honor the sacrifice made by the soldiers to defend our freedom. We talk about sacrifice as if it were the highest goal in life- after all, He sacrificed Himself for us. What was accomplished in Vietnam? Nothing but the deaths of 58,000 who shouldn’t have died. It wasn’t like the Civil War, or the World Wars. Those had to be fought.

Vietnam certainly teaches some lessons- One is about the names. There were a lot of kids who saw that memorial, and the real one in Washington, who have no idea what Vietnam was. Most adults don’t, either. I think that, some forty years after sending them to die, the least we can do is remember the names of the Forgotten. Every year memories fade- we may not remember the names, but we can never forget why they’re gone.

Lesson Two- Norman Rockwell’s America

Good evening, America,

Did it ever exist? I mean, the America Norman Rockwell illustrated. We’re all familiar with the funny, poignant works that show an idealistic America- the simple humor of the 1940s and 1950s. Most think that while the paintings are great, the America that he put down on canvas never existed.

Americans today live in a very different world than Rockwell painted. A world of iPods, Obamacare battles, tea parties, mosques and Rush Limbaugh. Norman Rockwell didn’t paint anything like these. His was a world where people worked (instead of being on welfare for life), where nobody thought about the cholesterol and trans fats in the burgers at the local diner, kids played games that were not video, and the Four Freedoms existed without question.

Is this all good ole’ days speculation- a world that never existed? Is it possible that Rockwell’s world existed then, and still lives now?

Believe it or not, if we look close enough, the World of Rockwell still exists. We just don’t want to see it. We’re too harried in our world of big business, politics, and life in general to notice… well… life. We’re too obsessed with the thought that the government will take away our freedoms that we forget to enjoy them. The man in the picture of freedom of speech is not afraid that the government is going to send KGB agents after him. The children in the painting of freedom form fear are tucked in by their parents. the fear is not of government takeover or there not being any money left for them in their future, but the more immediate fear of World War Two.

We’re to quick to assume that the world he painted was not real, even then. The times that he depicted were not as tranquil as we think they were. However, cynicsm does not work in history.

Norman Rockwell’s illustrations remind us of what matters in life- our families, homes, country. He painted everything in the life of Americans, from war, freedom, the joys of childhood, and did it in a charming way. Everyone in America knows his style. Rockwell didn’t just illustrate these subjects- one of his greatest paintings was called “The Problem We All Live With,” which was about racism and integration. An illustration of “Thanksgiving,” an Italian girl and the kindness of some soldier to her sticks with me. Rockwell illustrated our country, our times, and our lives. What we can learn from him is what America is. All thanks to that skinny kid with the pipe.

Lesson One- Sufferin’ Till Suffrage

Last month was the 90th Anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, the amendment that gave women the right to vote. It was an important event, but one that I never really thought about. I love history, especially American, and I like that time period, but I never really thought about the women who fought to give people like me the right to vote. I owe it to them that I can plan to go to law school and do whatever I want to. It just took decades, marches, hunger strikes, and a lot of pain to get there.

My focus on history is usually military- from Julius Caesar to Ulysses S. Grant to Dwight D. Eisenhower. I never was really interested in women’s studies, but now I really regret that to me, Susan B. Anthony was just a coin. Sylvia Pankhurst? Was she a spy in WWII? Naw. Now I realize that there is a lot we can all learn from the examples of the brave women who put their collective foot down.

The first thing we can learn is about goals- The suffragists in America and suffragettes in England had a goal in mind- the right to have a say in their governments and to get paid for the work they did. They set that goal and fought for it. If they had not had one destination in mind, they wouldn’t have been able to get past minor problems. They knew that securing their children’s future was more important than other things.

Endurance- It’s pretty awful, reading about what people did to the suffragists. Some women went on hunger strikes, and were force-fed in prisons, which was painful and degrading. They were ridiculed, usually by men but also by women who didn’t agree with them. It was all enough to make anyone give up. I mean, is it really that worth it if you and a few like-mindeds are alone in the fight? Is it worth the pain and degradation to have a say in your country, and get paid for taking on the jobs of men absent due to the Great War? I bet a lot of women asked themselves this. Endurance is being able to take on what comes, like a long bike ride, a run, or a competition for Kung Fu. All the women who fought for the right to vote, like Sylvia Parkhurst and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, fought long and hard. They never gave up just because they were unpopular or things got hard They held on tooth and nail, knowing that they had to survive. Giving up was no good. They showed incredible audacity, and we all can learn from this. The problems we face may not be as big, but no problem created by man cannot be solved by man.

Gratitude- As I said, I never thought about those women very much- I thought more about soldiers and sailors and generals who won the Civil War, the Great War, WWII. After all, they gave the last full measure to to the country’s survival, and in the case of the World Wars, the world. I suppose that it’s easy to be ungrateful for the work of the people who fought for the right to vote- throughout America’s history, there have been numerous things that have prevented people from voting- gender, race, age. Every citizen of this country has the right to vote, but it’s been a hard fight. We all should remember these fights. So a lesson we can learn from this is gratitude- to the people who stood up when common sense and justice was being ignored.

Thanks, ladies.