Treaty of Paris (1783): An Honorable Peace
Treaty of Paris (1783): An Honorable Peace By Donna K. Keesling Two hundred and forty years ago this month, the American Revolution officially came to an end when British and [...]
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09, 2023
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09, 2023
What’s ahead for History Camp and The Pursuit of History and how you can be involved
What's ahead for History Camp and The Pursuit of History and how you can be involved Next year is the 10th anniversary of History Camp. We had the first [...]
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08, 2023
Rapidan Camp: President Hoover’s Rustic Retreat
Rapidan Camp: President Hoover’s Rustic Retreat By Donna K. Keesling Beginning with George Washington, presidents of the United States have sought a place to temporarily retreat from many of the [...]
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07, 2023
Drive-In Theaters: Movie Night Under the Stars
Drive-In Theaters: Movie Night Under the Stars By Donna K. Keesling “Here the whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are apt to be” said Richard Milton [...]
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06, 2023
Great Camps of the Adirondacks: A Grand Life in the Wilderness
Great Camps of the Adirondacks: A Grand Life in the Wilderness By Donna K. Keesling In the late 19th century and early 20th century, wealthy families vacated their New York [...]
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05, 2023
Federal Writers’ Project: Chronicling American Life During the Great Depression
Federal Writers’ Project: Chronicling American Life During the Great Depression By Donna K. Keesling During the Great Depression, as many as one out of four Americans were without work. Through [...]
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04, 2023
Freedmen’s Bureau – Bringing Freedpeople to Full Citizenship
Freedmen’s Bureau – Bringing Freedpeople to Full Citizenship By Donna K. Keesling On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" [...]
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03, 2023
Innovation in History: Revolutionary Narratives
To 2026 or not to 2026? That is the question… With the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution approaching, many historians, teachers, historic sites, and museums are considering how to [...]
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03, 2023
The Statue of Liberty – A Universal Symbol of Political Freedom and Democracy
The Statue of Liberty – A Universal Symbol of Political Freedom and Democracy By Donna K. Keesling You probably know her as the Statue of Liberty or Lady Liberty, but [...]
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02, 2023
Fresnel Lenses: Illuminating the Seacoast
Fresnel Lenses: Illuminating the Seacoast By Donna K. Keesling From the earliest times, man attempted to light the shoreline so that seagoing vessels would have a safer passage. But it [...]
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12, 2022
Radio City Music Hall – “The Showplace of the Nation” Turns 90
Radio City Music Hall – “The Showplace of the Nation” Turns 90 By Donna K. Keesling In late 1929, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. decided to build a complex of [...]
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11, 2022
Tutankhamun: 100 Years Since Carter’s Wonderful Discovery
Tutankhamun: 100 Years Since Carter’s Wonderful Discovery By Donna K. Keesling When British archaeologist Howard Carter declared that he saw “wonderful things” when he peeked into the tomb of Tutankhamun, [...]
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10, 2022
Valley Forge: A Place of Transformation for the Continental Army
Valley Forge: A Place of Transformation for the Continental Army By Donna K. Keesling In Dember of 1777, the Continental Army established its winter encampment in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Historian [...]
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09, 2022
Pullman – America’s First Planned Industrial Community
Pullman – America’s First Planned Industrial Community By Donna K. Keesling What comes to mind when you hear the word “Pullman?” Do you think of elegant railway sleeper cars from [...]
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08, 2022
The WASP – First American Women to Fly for their Country
The WASP – First American Women to Fly for their Country By Donna K. Keesling In the late summer of 1942, twenty-eight experienced civilian women pilots volunteered to ferry aircraft [...]
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07, 2022
Innovation in History
Dr. Robert Krim’s work over the past 20 years has been focused on Boston’s four centuries innovation. He worked with a team to establish a very broad organization – The [...]
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07, 2022
Chautauqua Institution: A Model for Life-Long Learning
Chautauqua Institution: A Model for Life-Long Learning By Donna K. Keesling Founded in 1874 as a summer assembly to train Sunday school teachers, Chautauqua Institution evolved into an active community [...]
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06, 2022
Camp David – The Presidential Retreat
Camp David – The Presidential Retreat By Donna K. Keesling The president of the United States lives a very public life, especially when he is at the White House. Each [...]
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05, 2022
Fred Harvey: Defining Hospitality in the American West
Fred Harvey: Defining Hospitality in the American West By Donna K. Keesling Fred Harvey, a nineteenth century entrepreneur in the hospitality industry is credited with standardizing food service along the [...]
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04, 2022
USS Constitution Proves Its Mettle
USS Constitution Proves Its Mettle By John Allison It took Naval Constructor George Claghorn and his crew of shipwrights three tries to launch the USS Constitution. On a cold October [...]
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03, 2022
Commanding USS Constitution
Commanding USS Constitution By Donna K. Keesling USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat and is the oldest sailing vessel worldwide that can still sail under her own [...]
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02, 2022
Friendship 7: NASA’s First Manned Orbital Spaceflight
Friendship 7: NASA’s First Manned Orbital Spaceflight By Donna K. Keesling Sixty years ago, on February 20, 1962, an Atlas 6 rocket was launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station [...]
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01, 2022
Towns of the Swift River Valley – Lost to the Quabbin Reservoir
Towns of the Swift River Valley – Lost to the Quabbin Reservoir By Donna K. Keesling Four towns – Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott – were incorporated in the Swift [...]
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12, 2021
2021 Highlights and Accomplishments
2021 Highlights and Accomplishments 2021 was an exciting year and included the launch of our first all-day online History Camp America; 50 online, free History Camp Discussions with historians [...]
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12, 2021
Sparrows Point: From Steelmaking to Distribution Center Hub
Sparrows Point: From Steelmaking to Distribution Center Hub By Donna K. Keesling In the mid to late 1800s, the railroad industry was laying new tracks and spurring industrial growth in [...]
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11, 2021
Operation Torch: Striking Back in North Africa
Operation Torch: Striking Back in North Africa By Donna K. Keesling “You have embarked for distant places where the war is being fought.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote these words [...]
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10, 2021
The Gettysburg Address Still Resonates Today
The Gettysburg Address Still Resonates Today By John Allison Why should we care about the Gettysburg Address? Lincoln wasn’t the keynote speaker at the dedication of the National Cemetery on [...]
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10, 2021
Still Searching for the “Lost Colony”
Still Searching for the “Lost Colony” By Donna K. Keesling “CRO” and “CROATOAN,” carved into a tree and a post were the only clues that Englishman John White found when [...]
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09, 2021
The Battle of Gettysburg – Crucial Turning Point
The Battle of Gettysburg – Crucial Turning Point By Donna K. Keesling The town of Gettysburg, in southcentral Pennsylvania, was laid out with two hundred and ten lots by James [...]
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08, 2021
Celebrating the Smithsonian Institution’s 175th Anniversary
Celebrating the Smithsonian Institution’s 175th Anniversary By Donna K. Keesling On August 10, 2021, the Smithsonian Institution celebrated its 175th anniversary. You probably know the Smithsonian by its many artifacts [...]