John Steinbeck: Seeking The Heart Of America

John Steinbeck had a long and varied career as an American writer, but was best known for his Great Depression era novel, The Grapes of Wrath. I know the film and story line very well, but must confess that I never read the book from cover to cover. In high school, Of Mice and Men was required reading, and I found great pleasure in reading Travels With Charley: In Search of America on my own shortly after its publication in 1962.

Steinbeck, who was born in Salinas, California, on this day in 1902, was a keen participant-observer of 20th century America in general and the California experience in particular. His work earned him a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. These days, I don't think students - and teachers - of American history and culture give him the credit and attention he deserves. 

If you don't know Steinbeck or want to know more about him and his world start with an electronic visit to the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Better yet, plan a visit next time you find yourself in the San Francisco area. From Salinas it's a short drive to Monterey Bay and the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium. Located on a site made famous in Steinbeck's novel, Cannery Row, it's a "must see" exposure to the coastal environment and marine biology the author revered, enjoyed, studied, and interpreted. 

Cannery Row, Monterey, California, 1945

Sources:

Photos and Illustrations:

Steinbeck portrait, Nobel Foundation

Marian Anderson: A Song For Freedom

Marian Anderson Portrait, 1940             Carl Van Vechten

When Marian Anderson passed away in 1993 at the age of 96 the world lost one of the finest voices of the 20th century. She swept to international fame in 1939 with a public performance at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) had denied her the opportunity to perform in their venue, Constitution Hall, because she was black. The decision didn't sit well with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who sat on the national board of directors of the DAR. Mrs.Roosevelt intervened and helped arrange one of the iconic events of our time.

Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia on this day in 1897.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Anderson portrait, Carl Van Vechten Collection, Library of Congress

George Washington's Birthday

On February 22, 1732 - February 11 according to the Old Style calendar - a son, George, was born to Augustine Washington and his wife, Mary Ball Washington, on their plantation on Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He would grow up to become a soldier and statesman as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first President of the United States under the United States Constitution.

In 1747, when Washington was 15 years old, he accompanied his friend, George William Fairfax, on a surveying expedition to the Virginia - now West Virginia - frontier and the headwaters of Patterson Creek, a tributary of the South Branch of the Potomac River. I got to know over 1500 feet of Patterson Creek intimately over the span of a quarter century. It  was a great source of recreation, leisure, study and contemplation and a powerful force in shaping my future. I learned of Washington's trip there long after my family sold its interest in the property but my topophilia for the place remained strong. I still think about my response to being on that creek bank and suddenly seeing  a teenage boy and his cousin both in colonial dress and slogging midstream around the bend. The creek still speaks our  imaginary conversation as its waters tumble through the shallows. 

Learn more about the young adventurer who became the father of his country at the following sources:

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Valley Forge National Historical Park

Independence National Historical Park

George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, Museum, and Gardens

Washington Monument

George Washington Masonic Memorial

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

embossed postcard from the OTR family archives

George Washington's Unbirthday

Regardless of what you may hear on the street today's holiday commemorates Washington's birthday. As the official federal government page states, "This holiday is designated as "Washington’s Birthday" in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law."

At one time the nation had a Washington's Birthday holiday on February 22, the actual day of the man's birth, but that changed in 1971 when the "Monday holiday rule" took effect. The rule was a postlude to a torturous twenty year saga of federal bickering, ineptitude, and state's rights issues over the national failure to honor our presidents, especially Abraham Lincoln, with their very own holiday. The fallout left us with what is in reality a Washington's Unbirthday holiday and a three-day weekend. Honest Abe didn't make the official cut.

That said, American capitalists, never keen to let a good shopping opportunity pass, liked the idea of a President's Day, especially one that could be stretched over a full week . They saw the advantage of the patriotic fervor generated by matching silhouettes of Lincoln - log cabins - and Washington - axes and cherries - positioned over merchandise and big red signs reading "SALE." The concept caught on. Today, about all Americans have left with the third Monday in February is the opportunity to buy stuff, mostly stuff they don't need. On the federal level, this not only leaves us with nothing for Old Abe but also nothing for the other presidents save George and his big unbirthday.

So what is one to do? 

Perhaps it's best to forget the issues of a misnomer and the neglected presidents and return to Lincoln and Washington as our February presidents. And they have more in common as presidents who share the quality of American exceptionalism, a term we've been hearing more often these days as the republic drifts ever deeper into its golden years.  

I elected some years ago to honor these gentlemen on their respective birthdays and celebrate this floating federal holiday with an Old Fashioned and the pop and crack of a perfect fire. The drink describes its retired historian/geographer rather well these days. It also aids his conversations with the faces in the fire as they help him organize a tribute post to George Washington that will appear on his birthday, February 22.

Sources

Text:

federal holiday quote, opm.gov/policy-data-oversight

 

Here's A Victory Over Progressivism Just About Every American Can Celebrate

Between 1920 and December 1933 there was a great reform across the United States. It wasn't quite the reform the progressive movement expected.

Today we commemorate the passage of the Blaine Act in 1933. This brief piece of legislation began a year-long process of conventions among the states to adopt an amendment to end the debacle we know as Prohibition. Granted, overindulgence in alcohol was a national issue by the Gilded Age. At the same time, I doubt few liberals would have expected the degree of lawlessness that engulfed American society as a result of their best intentions. Indeed, a year before the Blaine Act, John D. Rockefeller wrote this appraisal:

When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.

And here's a photo of The Honorable John J. Blaine, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, who was responsible for not only writing the act bearing his name but also the 21st Amendment that officially repealed Prohibition.

I would suggest a toast this evening to Blaine and his realistic response to moral folly. Oh that we should have such wisdom today!

The New York Times front page from February 17, 1933

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

The New York Times, rarenewspapers.com
Blaine, public domain photo, bioguide.congress.gov

Text:

Rockefeller quote, "Twenty-first amendment to the United States Constitution," wikipedia.com, reference 3, "Letter on Prohibition - see Daniel Okrent, Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, New York: Viking Press, 2003. (pp.246/7)."

Rhapsody In Blue Premiere, 1924

"The King of Jazz," Paul Whiteman, a strong-willed innovator and perfectionist became the most popular band leader in the U.S. during the Roaring Twenties. He encouraged many talented artists and composers through his interest in fusing jazz with other musical styles. Furthermore, he appreciated experimental music and sponsored several concerts featuring new compositions and artists. For one of these concerts he asked his friend and collaborator, George Gershwin, to compose a "jazz concerto." Although faced with a short performance deadline, Gershwin reluctantly agreed. In two weeks, he completed the new piece and entitled it Rhapsody in Blue. After two weeks of orchestration and eight days of rehearsal, Whiteman premiered the piece at the Aeolian Hall in New York in February 12, 1924 with Gershwin at the piano. The performance certainly enhanced Whiteman's reputation but more importantly it affirmed Gershwin place as a leading American composer.

Cover of original sheet music of the two-piano version

There is no recording of the premiere but the bandleader and composer did appear in a memorable performance of Rhapsody in Blue in the 1930 film, King of Jazz. The film itself is an important piece of cinema history. Here is the sequence:

Gershwin was born in New York in 1898. He went on to become perhaps the most beloved American composer of the first half of the last century through his many compositions for the musical stage, the concert hall, and what has become known as the Great American Songbook. Gershwin's appeal comes in part from his colorful and lively incorporation of jazz motifs in all his music. He died in 1937 with what could only be called a wonderful career ahead of him. I often imagine what he could have brought to us had he lived. As for Rhapsody in Blue it seems as fresh today as it did in 1924 ranking among the most popular of concert titles in orchestra repertoires around the world.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

cover photo, fair use under copyright law of the United States; wikipedia entry, Rhapsody in Blue

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, was born on this day 209 years ago at Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Today, his grand marble likeness gazes down on millions of visitors drawn to his memorial on the Mall in Washington.

As visitors climb the marble steps, pass marble columns, and enter the chamber of the Lincoln Memorial, they are awestruck by Daniel Chester French’s enormous marble statue of Abraham Lincoln. To what part of the Georgia marble figure is the eye drawn first? Possibly, the serious look on Lincoln’s face will remind the visitor of the critical time of Civil War through which the president guided our nation. Maybe the reeds wrapped together in the arms of Lincoln’s chair will prompt the visitor to remember the way that Lincoln wanted to keep us bound together as one nation.

If you want to settle into an evening with Lincoln and his age, your choice of titles will number in the thousands and in a variety of media. I am inclined to recommend Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years. It is available as a one-volume abridgement of the original six-volume version of the biography. Not always accurate, not always "organized" as a traditional biography, Sandburg tells the story of Lincoln in the same manner a wise elder would deliver oral histories to those who wonder who they are and what they may become.  It's romantic, rich, warm, organic, meandering, sometimes stormy, sometimes calm. I think the approach works well because the Lincoln story is in so many respects the American story. Also keep in mind that although well-known as a poet Sandburg soon was revered in the U.S. as a poet/writer for the people once the first volumes appeared . With that in mind, I believe Old Abe would have been proud to select a writer of popular history and culture as his official biographer.

Abraham Lincoln Photo Portrait, early 1865                                    Alexander Gardner

As you can see from the photo below, Lincoln and I go way back. That picture was taken during the spring of 1952 during my first visit to Washington. It began a long association with Old Abe and his American experience that peaked during the last thirty years of my career. What an honor it was to know him well and work to preserve his story for future generations visiting our national parks. For more about Abe Lincoln's early years at Sinking Spring and Knob Creek farms visit the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park website.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Lincoln photograph, Gardner collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abraham Lincoln statue, commons.wikimedia.org
Lincoln Memorial personal photo 1952, author's archive

Text:

Quotation, National Park Service, Lincoln Memorial webpage, www.nps.gov/linc

Today Is Candlemas, The Festival Of Light Entering The World

Around our house on February 2 the words of Robert Herrick's (1591-1674) poem, Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve, have special meaning. 

Down with the rosemary, and so

Down with the bays and mistletoe;

Down with the holly, ivy, all,

Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas Hall.

The words remind that we have stretched this joyous Christmas holiday to its limit. As much as we love the season it does come to an end in the church calendar. And so today the last of the Christmas decorations have come down from the walls, doorways and mantel to be stored for next season. We'll build a fire in the den fireplace tonight but it will seem naked without its trimmings of red, green, gold and glass. But there will be light and warmth, both spiritual and physical, as this joyous Christmastide - the liturgical seasons of Christmas and Epiphany - comes to an end.

Readers undoubtedly will hear something about groundhogs today. They are less likely to learn that February 2 marks a Christian festival day. It is known in the western Catholic tradition as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin or Candlemas, and more often in the Protestant world simply as The Presentation of Our Lord.

Presentation illustration from the Mugni Gospels, Armenia, ca. 1060

The festival marks the fortieth day following the birth of Jesus. Under Mosaic law, it was a day for temple rites completing the purification of a woman following childbirth. It was also the day to present the firstborn son for redemption in the rite of pidyon haben.

The Candlemas tradition emerges from Luke 2:22-39 where Simeon prays over Jesus with words that would become known as the Song of Simeon or Nunc Dimittis:

In peace, Lord, you let your servant now depart 

according to your word. 

For my eyes have seen your salvation, 

which you have prepared for every people,

a light to lighten the Gentiles 

and the glory of your people Israel.

Beginning around the third century following the birth of Jesus, the blessing of candles and their procession about the church on this feast day became a symbol of Jesus as the light of the world. The practice did not emerge in the western church for at least another seven hundred years.

This day has other interesting attributes in addition to the end of Christmastide. It is also the mid-point of Winter, a cross-quarter day filled with pagan traditions symbolizing fire and the "return of the light"



Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Yerevan, Armenia