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The Extraordinary Life of Pauline Cushman: Actress, Spy, and Brevet Major
Pauline Cushman, born Harriet Wood in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1833, led a remarkable life that intertwined theater and espionage. Her mother was French, her father a Spanish merchant with a lineage allegedly linked to one of Napoleon’s soldiers. As a young girl, her...
April Fools Day
Happy April Fools Day Everyone loves a good April Fools joke even during the Civil War. Published in April 2, 1864, in Harper’s Weekly, Thomas Nast's drawing titled 'The First of April, 1864' is a mix of jokes, making fun of the Civil War, and commenting on...
Sullivan Ballou’s Last Letter
On this Valentine's Day, we remember the eloquent words of Major Sullivan Ballou whose last letter was written to his wife leading up to the battle at First Bull Run and found on his dead body after the battle. Sullivan Ballou was a prosperous attorney at the...
William Henry Johnson – Abraham Lincoln’s Valet
On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln's visit to Gettysburg was a whirlwind affair, lasting just 24 hours, yet packed with a relentless schedule. Despite retiring to bed late, Lincoln rose early on the 19th, embarking on a guided tour of the battlefield. The pivotal...
Thomas Nast’s Christmas Eve
Thomas Nast created “Christmas Eve” for Harper’s Weekly in which he portrayed a wife separated from her soldier husband on Christmas Eve 1862. The sketch shows a family split apart by the Civil War. It is also one of the earliest images of Santa, in a sleigh, being pulled by reindeer.
The Story of ‘Jingle Bells’ by Oliver Ditson
One of the cherished tunes that fills the air during the Christmas season originated not as a holiday anthem but as a humorous ditty performed in minstrel shows in the 1850s. “Jingle Bells” is among the most popular American songs of all time. Although it is strongly...
Thanksgiving in 1865
The following woodcut by Winslow Homer depicts the inaugural celebration of Thanksgiving as an official national holiday in the aftermath of the Civil War. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as a nationally recognized holiday, marking this...
The History of Thanksgiving in the United States
The History of Thanksgiving in the United States In the early days of the United States, Thanksgiving was declared by Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison, but it was primarily observed on a state or territory level in the following years....