From Horrible to Hopeful

Luray, VA

American slavery was, of course, a horrible institution. Here we have what is said to be a slave auction block, where enslaved people were displayed for potential buyers. 

The Narrative of Bethany Veney is a short and fascinating [online] autobiography of an enslaved woman who lived in the area and faced auction but managed to avoid being sold into a new (and potentially worse) situation.

Read the text on Historical Marker Database.

We can find a more hopeful piece of Luray history on West Main Street. The Andrew Jackson school was built for Black students a century ago. It now serves as a recreation center for the community and also has a museum that’s open on Saturday afternoons.

The school was not named for President Andrew Jackson; it was named after a local Black businessman. This was a Rosenwald school, one of over 5000 schools built in the south with support from communities and Julius Rosenwald in partnership with Booker T. Washington. It functioned as a school until 1959.

Hearts and Power

Seen in a Flower Shop Window

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate. For those of us who don’t, today is also the birthday of the great Frederick Douglass. 

Born into slavery In 1818, Douglass managed to get an education in spite of a system that forbade him to do so. He devoured a textbook on speeches called “The Columbian Orator.” This is one of the reasons that he became a great public speaker and writer. His autobiography is amazing.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”   ― Frederick Douglass

Charlie and a Story Trail

Seven Bends State Park

These pictures are from two weeks ago on the Hollingsworth side of the state park. Charlie and I went for a walk along the Shenandoah River. Story Trail signs had been installed, telling a new chapter of the adventures of two dogs at the park.

Sharing with Mosaics / Shadow Shot / Sunday Best

The final shots are from Hollingsworth Road after we left the park.

Recently Lost

Over the past two weeks, I have been saddened by death notices for several fine people. A few of my fellow bloggers may remember Connie Biltz. She stopped blogging some years ago, but I continued to follow her on Facebook. She was a published poet.

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, we lost a couple of men who shared their extensive knowledge over the years. Rob Simpson taught photography and natural history at Lord Fairfax Community College (now called Laurel Ridge). I took a couple of workshops in nature photography with Rob, and also a semester in photo marketing. Along with his wife Ann Simpson, Rob authored a number of books on our national parks and wildflowers, beautifully illustrated with photographs. If you have browsed the bookstores at Shenandoah National Park, you have probably noticed some of his books.

Jim Moyer was also a writer and educator, although he might not have referred to himself as one. I learned from his articles on Winchester history and George Washington. He was active with the French and Indian War Foundation, and participated in reenactments from that time period. He was always willing to smile when I took his picture

These were all good people who generously shared their time and skills. We are fortunate that they left us their writings and other contributions. 

Thank you.

New Bookstore Opens in Woodstock

Bonfire Bookstore and Yarnery

As you can see from the reflection, the bookstore is across the street from the old courthouse. A small yarn shop is incorporated into the bookstore.

 

I had heard that there was a mural in the store, but at first I didn’t see it. Then I noticed this huge cabinet with the doors open.

Of course! This is the entrance to the children’s section. The wardrobe is a literary reference to a children’s classic.

And there’s Aslan!

Monday Murals / Mosaics

I did not read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was a child. It existed, but I don’t think it became popular in the States until a little later. My daughters read it so I heard about it. 

Another clever touch is wallpaper made of actual pages from books. Overall, it’s a pleasant place to shop.

A Loyal Following

On Thursday, I went to the funeral of Charles Poland, a beloved history teacher, who passed away at the age of 90. I wrote about him on Tuesday and have mentioned him many times over the years. The funeral was in Purcellville, not far from where my sister used to live. Then we formed a car caravan and rode out to Ebenezer Cemetery in Bluemont.

The ride felt familiar although most of the territory was new to me. Our field trips with Dr. Poland were carried out in a similar way: car following car down rural roads into the middle of nowhere. We passed homes and farms. At one point I thought I heard goats and glanced over and saw some standing on top of a car in a farmyard! 

Finally we reached a country cemetery, which seemed poetically appropriate. Dr. Poland often ended his tours at a cemetery where Civil War soldiers were buried, where he would discuss the losses of whatever campaign we were studying. Even though he made a career teaching and writing about the Civil War, he made sure we understood that it was a terrible and wasteful war. 

I picked out three more pictures from past tours to show you. The first one amuses me because group members are studying a map after we took a wrong turn near Cold Harbor. That rarely happened because Dr. Poland and his wife Betty drove the routes on a previous weekend to plan all the stops. He’s second from left in the picture.

When I first started taking his classes in 1989, I feared getting separated from the group because we had no cell phones or GPS. We only had small sketched-out maps, not to scale, and verbal directions. I only got hopelessly lost one time and that was in Newport News. 

I took these classes for 23 semesters, typically in the spring. It took eight years to complete all the eastern campaigns, and at that point I thought I was done, but a classmate called me and ask me to go again because he often rode with me and was afraid of getting lost by himself. So I did the whole series again, and then there were additional semesters covering specialized topics like guerrilla warfare and Civil War hospitals.  So I kept going until Dr. Poland retired. I loved these trips.

I wasn’t the only regular. There were people who started the courses before I did and kept on going almost until the end. This sort of travel could be strenuous so adult students sometimes found it became too hard to keep doing. Quite a bit of walking was required, and I remember getting exhausted.

(The CDP Theme is Shadows. Also Sharing with Shadow Shot Sunday.)

Dr. Poland usually wore a hat, and I quickly learned that it was important to have one for sunny afternoons. I also learned to carry sunscreen, water, snacks, and insect repellent. 

Today’s final photo is from 2009. It was a pleasure to see some of my old classmates at the funeral, and they were in this Appomattox photo: Jon and Sheryl W., Pam, John B., plus Martha and Betty. 

Notes: My Civil War Field Trips website was about these tours. Eventually I gave it up for the easier task of blogging.

I also wrote book reports for homework and turned them into reviews on Amazon, which was known mostly as a bookstore in those days. This started my hobby of writing reviews, which I still do.

Dr. Poland recently completed a book on Animals in the Civil War. I have ordered a copy.

The Playground at Riley Park

Usually when I take Charlie to W.O. Riley Park, we go to the arboretum area to walk. Last week I had a couple of books to drop off at the little free library, so we went to the upper area where the playground is.

We found a chalkboard with a colorful collage on each end. 

Mosaic Monday

The book box/free library was also brightly decorated.

Witch hazel was blooming. It is known as one of our few trees that blossom in the winter. 

Charlie found a water fountain with a ground level basin for pets.

Blog Post #8700

Farewell to Blog2Print

A change has come to the way that I preserve my blog posts. I have an album or two for every year of blogging, but the company that prints them is going out of business. Blog2Print is having a final sale so I ordered a book for the first four months of this year. I will look for another publisher because I use these books as a combination of photo album and journal.

I began blogging in June 2005 so it's been almost 19 years.  At first, I did not post every day, but once I started doing that the books became bigger. In 2015 I had to split the year’s posts into two books because there was a limit on the number of photos they would print in a single volume.

The books are expensive, especially since I order hardcover ones. But I watched for sales and took advantage of 30%-off deals. An old-fashioned photo album wasn’t cheap either; the cost was just spread out more because we would get our rolls of film printed one or two at a time and then buy an album to put them in. Most of those old albums eventually deteriorated and pictures started falling out or fading. The color photos faded more than black-and-white, and sometimes I copy them and use software to turn them into black-and-white images, sharpening and increasing the contrast so they look fresher. 

Here’s a glimpse of my 2006 album. My dogs then were Guppy and Benny. 

Do you print your blog? Do you keep a backup somewhere? Do you print your photos and keep them in envelopes? 

I have boxes of envelopes of photos, and shelves full  of these boxes. For a long time I had most of my pictures printed, but I stopped pasting them in albums long ago. I only print a fraction of them now. I keep telling myself that I’m going to go through the old ones and throw out half of them, but it isn’t a high priority.

Another New Little Free Library

Edinburg, VA

This book sharing box is in Edinburg Town Park. It was an Eagle Scout project with support from the VFW and VECCA. There weren’t many books in it so maybe I should contribute a few from my collection.

Water H2O Thursday / Skywatch 

I happened to notice that the sky was reflected in a puddle in the parking lot. Also, you can see the mountains through the trees.

Book Banners Roil Front Royal

"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show its own shame."
~ Oscar Wilde

A group of so-called religious parents are threatening the funding of Samuels Public Library. They insist that books that they deem unsuitable for children must be removed, and the board of supervisors is listening to them, and may withhold funding that the library needs to continue operating.

When I lived in Warren County, I used that library frequently. It is a very nice modern library, and I still drop in there occasionally.

Another group has formed to save the library without banning books. The library staff has done their job in evaluating all the children's books to make sure they are wholesome enough for the intended age group. They want all children to feel welcome, so they included selections such as a book telling the true story of a baby penguin who was adopted by two male penguins. Zealots fear this story might "groom" children to accept same-sex couples. 

Local Article: royalexaminer.com/warren-county-holds-library-funds-amidst-book-collection-controversy/

The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/02/virginia-public-library-defund-republican-lgbtq-books

One advocate for the library pointed out that in Virginia, “Pornography in libraries is illegal… if they find pornography in the library, they should take their evidence to the sheriff’s office and have the librarian arrested. But they won’t do that because there is no pornography in the library.”

You may remember that I recently told the story of how Front Royal got the nickname Helltown long ago,  due to the brawling and other misbehavior that broke out when boatmen came ashore for whiskey and entertainment. Today this mostly charming town suffers from culture clash. It is on the edge of the northern Virginia suburbs, and old-timers feel the threat of over-development and some recall the displacement suffered by their great grandparents when they lost their homes so the national park could be built for city folks. Add to that the discomfort that many people feel when faced with social change and the unending friction of religious differences, and you wind up with disagreements.

I believe that the library will survive. Most people in Warren County appreciate the library. County supervisors need to refuse to be bullied by narrow-minded people.