Nashville, Tennessee has been called the Athens of the South since the mid 19th century. In a part of the country which at the time, wasn’t renowned for educating its citizens, Nashville could boast not only a public school system, but several colleges and universities as well. By century’s end, Belmont University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, […]
Daily Life of the American Colonies: Spoons
We don’t give a lot of thought to our silverware, a part of our daily life our ancestors didn’t take for granted A quick history of spoons and status in colonial era Dutch and English New York, at Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Daily Life of the American Colonies: The Role of the Tavern in Society
I’m no stranger to taverns, and if I lived in the days of colonial America, it’s a safe bet I’d be found in one of the colonial inns that still dot the east coast. In fact, you still can when I have a chance. In the century or so leading up to the Revolution, colonial taverns […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: The Cooper Shop at Old Sturbridge Village
I’m from the midwest, where for the most part, people are friendly. Outgoing even. If you meet a person outside in the dead of winter, you’re likely to find yourself standing out in the cold, talking about how cold it is. While visiting the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm Manor House in Newbury, Massachusetts, I found myself in a […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: Clothes on the Line
Some things we took for granted, and among them was drying clothes on a clothes line. Certainly not the speediest method, but there’s a charm to the process that isn’t matched by a dryer. Time didn’t seem as pressing back then. People had patience. Our lives weren’t timed in fifteen minute increments. When you hang […]
Revolutionary War Battlefields: Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts
The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, was the site of the first real skirmish of the American Revolution. Earlier on the morning of April 19, 1775, British soldiers opened fire on a company of militia down the road in Lexington, but that hardly qualifies as a skirmish. The colonial militia at Lexington didn’t intend […]