Finding Balance

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

For years, I’ve had a fascination with the outlaw Jesse Woodson James (1847-1882). Was he the Robin Hood some people claimed  or was he a cold-blooded murderer and thief? (He didn’t rob from the rich and give to the poor as it was rumored at the time. He lined his own pockets.)

I’ve visited his home in Kearney (Clay County) MO three times, his grave in the Mount Olive Cemetery (also in Kearney) twice, and the Clay County Saving Association in Liberty, MO which he robbed. It was the site of the first daylight armed bank robbery in peacetime. I also saw his home in St. Joseph, MO where Jesse was assassinated by Robert Ford   who shot him in the back while he was either dusting or adjusting a picture frame. Ford wanted to collect the $5,000 reward offered by then Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden.

Jesse and his brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. After the war, they became members of various gangs that robbed stagecoaches, banks and trains. Jesse was the most famous of the James-Younger gang who tried to rob a bank in Northville, Minnesota in Sept. 1876.

After Jesse was killed in 1882, he was buried on the family farm. Later, his body was removed to Mt. Olive Cemetery. Rumors surfaced that he was alive and living in the west under an assumed name. There was always a question over the years whether it was actually Jesse’s body buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery in Kearney, MO. In 1995, Jesse’s body was exhumed. It was found that the DNA of the body was consistent with the DNA of the living relatives of Jesse James. The remains were re-interred once again, under the name “JESSE JAMES.”

At the time of his death, Jesse was married to his childhood girlfriend Zerelda and had a son and a daughter.

Questions about Adolf Hitler (seen in photo with Benito Mussolini) and his sexuality have swirled for years. There has been much speculation and controversy. Some historians have argued that Hitler was either homosexual or bisexual. Others say that he was asexual. In Walter C. Langer’s  1943 A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend,  researchers performed a “psychological analysis” to understand Hitler and his motivations. The book  contains  an OSS report that states Hitler was “an impotent coprophile  (a person with a liking/fondness in the paraphilia  involving sexual pleasure from feces)  with a possible homosexual streak”.

Historian Lothar Machtan states in his book The Hidden Hitler that Hitler was homosexual, based on his experiences in Vienna and his adult relationships with Ernst  Rohm (Roehm), Ernst Hanfstaengl and Emil Maurice. A 2002 book The Pink Swastika  (a book that discusses  the alleged homosexuality found in the Nazi party) by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams dealt with similar topics. In 1934 Ernst Roehm, the head of the Nazi SA  who thought to be the true power behind Hitler (and a known homosexual) was executed along with many supporters by Hitler loyalists. Roehm offered Hitler his first job as a political spy. This purge known as the Night of the Long Knives helped Hitler ensure his supremacy in the Nazi party. After the death of Roehm, Hitler ordered the registration of all homosexuals  and revised the code on homosexuality. Anyone convicted under the code was required to wear a pink triangle.  Convicted homosexuals who were thought to be “curable” were sent to concentration camps, were isolated and labeled with the  pink triangle. It’s been estimated that up to 15,00 men were placed in these camps.

The Nazi Party tried to erase many of Hitler’s past activities (they destroyed his massive police records) including the 5 months he spent at a men’s hostel known as “a hub of homosexual behavior”.

The only woman Hitler married was Eva Braun. They fist met when Eva was 17. On April 29, 1945 they were married in a civil ceremony. Within 40 hours they followed through on their suicide pact. Eva was 33 and Adolf was 56.

No matter what kind of car you have, car donations are worth their weight in gold when donated to the Purple Heart Veterans. Congress established the Military Order of the Purple Heart over 75 years ago to help veterans who received the Purple Heart after being wounded in combat. It provides free assistance to veterans including advice for compensation claims and benefits.

Vehicle donations fund and support offices around the country that provide assistance in finding housing, dealing with burial or death benefits and finding employment for veterans.  On local and national levels, car donations  fund and support veteran advocacy work.  There are also outreach programs to help keep disabled veterans  aware of their entitlements. The Purple Heart  (501 c3) donate car program is non-profit so participants receive a full IRS tax deduction.  Trucks, RVs and boats are also welcome and the vehicle will be towed at no expense to the owner if necessary. Their web site is user friendly and answers any questions you might have about the program.

Rumors have abounded for years that President Abraham Lincoln may have been homosexual. Others say he had four children so how could he be gay? Was Lincoln Gay? by Richard Brookhiser and The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by C.A. Tripp address Lincoln’s relationships. Tripp says that Lincoln’s relationships with women were invented by biographers or were botched relationships.

One of Lincoln’s associations has been under scrutiny for years. Joshua Speed was a young store owner who lived with him for many years after Lincoln moved to Springfield, Ill.  Lincoln and Speed shared a double bed in Speed’s store for four years. Before that, in 1831, when Lincoln was in New Salem, Ill, he met Billy Greene who coached him in grammar. They shared a narrow bed and it was said that “When one turned over the other had to do likewise.”

In 1832, Lincoln boarded in a New Salem tavern and had a relationship with the owner’s daughter, Ann Rutledge, who died three years later of malaria and typhoid. In 1836, Lincoln courted Mary Owens but she broke off the relationship. Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842 and they had four children.

For eight months in 1862-1863, Capt. David Derickson (who was married twice and fathered 10 children) led the brigade that guarded Lincoln at the Soldier’s Home in D.C. When Mrs. Lincoln was absent he frequently spent the night sleeping with Lincoln in the same bed. His unofficial bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon often slept outside of Lincoln’s bedroom at the White House and was not at Ford’s Theater the night Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

source:gayheroes.com

Without an address plaque many important buildings could easily be passed by. Houses with historical significance either because of the importance of the person who lived there or the  importance  of an event that occurred there are usually well marked. One of the first major efforts to preserve historic houses was undertaken in 1858 with the restoration of Mt. Vernon, home of President George Washington. It was  felt that the preservation of  his home was vital so that future generations could see a house that played an important part in history through the events that took place there and learn  about the people who lived there.  A plaque was placed there and  as with most home restorations  the plaque was paid for by private funds.

Historic districts often make use of a lighted address plaque to denote points of interest. New Orleans is famous for it’s sightseeing especially around the French Quarter and Jackson Square and everything is well marked. A  city known for it’s  “visitor friendly”   atmosphere has excellent  street signs and building plaques help people see places and things they might not have noticed otherwise. Following the devistation  caused by  Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans  has been re-building to get back to the historical venue it once was.

A very unusual historic house is “The Narrowest House“  located in Greenwich Village. There’s no lawn marker  as it’s only 10′  wide and was built in 1873. It’s official address is 75 1/2 Bedford Street (located between #’s 75 and 77). It was the residence of several famous people including Margaret Mead and poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Throughout it’s many renovations, it still remains at  1500 square feet with 3 floors and a basement combined. The last time the house was for sale was at a price of $2.7 million.  Another famous house is the Vanderbilt Marble House that was built by William Vanderbilt and given as a birthday gift to his wife. It has 500,000 cubic feet of white marble. Seven years after the house was built, they divorced.

The Acropolis in Athens Greece is the best known acropolis in the world. It’s on a flat-topped rock raising 490′ feet above sea level and is made up of many buildings including The Temple of Nike and the Parthenon.

In November 2008, I had an opportunity to visit the Acropolis while I was in Athens. As I stood at the bottom of the hill and looked up at this exquisite structure, I saw very little. After finding out the the only way to the top is on foot (what: no elevator/escalator? How barbaric!) I decided to pay EURO 12 (approx. $19.00 US) for the privilege of having the pain associated with getting to the top.

What an unbelievable experience! You can stop anywhere you want on the way up to rest or see that different structures and temples that make up the Acropolis. Everything is well marked. Even the things that no longer exist are marked to indicate where they were. One fabulous sight on the southern slope, which is dedicated to the domestic arts, is The Oreon of Herodes Atticus. It was at this site that Yanni, a self-taught keyboardist, composer and native Greek performed.

When I finally arrived at the top, after many starts and stops, it was like stepping back in time. The columns lay where they fell many centuries ago and I could see the area as it had originally been laid out. I could walk around and picture life at that time.

Signs along the way said “Please don’t touch the marble”. An understandable request, but was I going to honor it after dragging myself up this giant hill? Those who know me, know the answer to that question!!

Joan Baez is of Mexican, English and Scottish descent. Her professional career began at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Joan is a song writer/singer and her traditional folk ballads and blues are usually sung to her own accompaniment on guitar. She introduced Bob Dylan (who was less well know) to her audiences.

Joan focused her attention on the Viet Nam War and the Civil Rights Movement and combined her music and activism. She appeared at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in upstate New York which increased her national and international fame. Baez was always an advocate for the things she believed in and one of the things she was aware of was ecology and global warming in the early 1980’s. The words to her song ‘Warriors of the Sun” (which she wrote and performed) speaks clearly of this awareness. I would urge you to listen to her musical version of the following song which is more powerful than just reading her words.

We are the Warriors of the Sun
We are the Warriors of the Sun

If it’s true about no more water but the fire next time
Will the children of the eighties be ashes or live to their prime
If we don’t heed reasonable people and their warnings of days to come
We’ll all be incinerated Warriors of the Sun

We’ll be there to feed the hungry and to tend to the sick
We’ll be there when the night gets black and the going gets thick
We’ll be there to carry your feeble, your hopeless and your weary ones
We are the Warriors of the Sun

The black angel of Memphis is by our side
He walked and he talked in truth until the day that he died
He said, “It ain’t what you can do for me, ah, but what can I do for thee?”
And he took us to the mountaintop and he set us free

We are the Warriors of the Sun
We may be crazy
And it may be our final run
We are the Warriors of the Sun

Everybody knows that the whale is smarter than we
Probably that’s why we call him the king of the sea
We’re killing everything on dry land, why don’t we just let the fishes be
Some of us are Greenpeace Warriors of the Sea

We are the Warriors of the Sun
We are the Warriors of the Sun
We are the Warriors of the Sun
We are the Warriors of the Sun

According to legend Gibraltar (sometimes called the Pillar of Hercules), which is located on the southern tip of Spain, will remain British as long as there are apes. Currently there are about 250 apes living on the rock and they are the only ones living in the wild in Europe. The British conquered the rock in 1704. Spain tried to recapture the sovereignty of Gibraltar until 1713 when it surrendered the fortress to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht after the War of Spanish Succession.

To visit Spain and not go to Gibraltar is to miss a fabulous opportunity for fun, adventure and a chance to get really close to nature. I’m glad I did it !!! It was one of the funniest experiences I’ve ever had.

The apes are not confined and are free to roam. Tourists are told not to touch them as they may become aggressive. As you walk around, so do they apes. They are adorable to watch. The young ones like to slide down vehicle windshields and sleep on the wipers. The apes will fight to hang onto side-view mirrors. When a vehicle drives away, it goes slowly as there are still usually 10-15 apes on the top, hood and hanging onto the outer mirrors. Eventually the apes hop off.