On this day in 1789, George Washington delivered the first Presidential Inaugural Address.
George Washington’s first inauguration took place at Federal Hall in New York City, where the first Congress was assembled. Keenly aware of the momentousness of the occasion, Washington accepted the Presidency and spoke of his determination to make the American experiment a success. All eight pages of the speech delivered to Congress are in George Washington’s own clear and distinctive handwriting.
Here are images of the opening of George Washington’s first inaugural address, April 30, 1789; and a portrait of President Washington hanging in the Oval Office of the White House, 11/5/1946. ID #199469
(via todaysdocument)
Source: archives.gov
Warning, this post kinda sounds like an infomercial. You’ve been warned!
The Song of America project compiles 50 songs from throughout US history into a 3 disk collection. The songs are all covers of historical songs. So while not being primary documents, they do provide a really neat way to blend the past with contemporary forms of music. The collection is diverse, including songs such as “Lakota Dream Song” and “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”. It also includes “hits” from America’s past such as “The Star Spangled Banner”, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and ”Over There”.
Proceeds from the collection are donated to The Center for American Music, National History Day, and Folk Alliance. But, for people on a budget, the tracks can be found on Spotify (a free, legal music service).
For more information and purchasing information I suggest checking out the Song of America website here!
Source: Spotify!
Websites For Historians: DocsTeach
DocsTeach is a project of the U.S. National Archives. It’s primary audience is for educators, but don’t let this stop you from exploring it if you’re not an educator! This tool is fantastic for gaining experience with primary documents. As you can probably imagine, the National Archives are HUGE! DocsTeach gathers important documents of various eras so that users with little expertise in navigating the regular National Archive site can quickly find what they’re looking for. My favorite part of DocsTeach is their Activities section. They turn the documents into games for students (or nerdy people like me) to play around with. As a visual learner myself, I know the value in seeing things in order to make greater connection to the material! The Activities section allows users to make their own games or use one of the prefabricated options.
Of Another Fashion: I found this Pan Am Airlines promotional photo (ca. 1956) in Christine...
I found this Pan Am Airlines promotional photo (ca. 1956) in Christine Yano’s new book on the history of Nisei stewardesses called Airborne Dreams (Duke University Press, 2011). Yano argues that “Japanese American (and later other Asian and Asian American) stewardesses [as they were called in the 1950s] gave Pan Am the ‘look’ of exotic cosmopolitanism” while at the same time gave Asian American women “tremendous exposure to a larger world far beyond their local upbringing. Working for Pan Am as a flight attendant became an education for these women in cosmopolitanism and gendered service.”
Source: ofanotherfashion
Source: Flickr / lizindc
Source: outofprintclothing
The first episode of Crash Course: World History is about the Agricultural Revolution (and double cheeseburgers). I hope you like it and share it with your friends and/or teachers and/or students. I AM VERY NERVOUS AND EXCITED.
These little videos are the cutest ever.
Source: fishingboatproceeds
Source: say-anything-is-a-real-girl
Books Currently Cluttering My Room:
Ranked from most important (top) to least important (bottom).
- Out of Place by Edward W. Said
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Though the library only had the huge Library of America edition).
- Dresden 1945: The Devil’s Tinderbox by Alexander McKee
- Among the Dead Cities by A.C. Grayling
- Major Problems in American Popular Culture edited by Kathleen Franz & Susan Smulyan
- The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
- The Bomb by Howard Zinn
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- Eragon by Christoper Paolini
- The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
- Best American Comics edited by Alison Bechdel
*Not pictured despite it being #2 of the importance ranking is Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima.
Everything above The Bomb I am reading for various classes.
