The History Around Us
As I settled deeper and deeper into the healing relaxation of acupuncture, the air in the tiny therapy room chilled and the walls faded away. I was suddenly outside, standing in front of a house. It was a grand house,
Each Time I Cast My Ballot
The War of 1812 is not as well known as the American Revolution. England didn’t want to give up its American colonies, so thirty years after she lost them, she tried to retake them. The English attacked from Canada, from
My Grandmother, the Feminist
She was already quite elderly when I was born, so I only knew my grandmother as the sweet, loving and encouraging Grandma with the houseful of books, magazines and newspapers and my favorite candy always in the candy dish. I
Malachi Francis
On this 4th of July, I’m honoring the service of our Revolutionary War ancestors, including my great-great-great-great-grandfather Malachi Francis. He was born April 21, 1764, in Halifax Co., VA, and enlisted as a private on April 1, 1777, just before
A Lifelong Dedication to Voting
As we inch our way through this election season, one that is particularly tainted with extremism, intolerance and hate, I keep thinking of my father, Lee Ellis Dowell. He served in WWII and stood up against that very kind of extremism,
Pace Yourself, It’s Gonna Be a Long Day
The rural farming area in Kentucky where I am from had been very diverse in my grandparents’ time and before. All that had changed when I was growing up; by then, there was only one Black person living in the
An Unexpected Diversity
As soon as I pulled the old photo out of the box the other day, I remembered it and the day, decades before, that my aunt first showed it to me. We had been going through old family photos and
Elisha Warden
Elisha Warden, my great-great-great-great-grandfather and one of my Revolutionary War ancestors, in 1776, at the age of 15, served in the Reg. Virginia Militia under Captain Thomas Pollard on an expedition to protect General Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon from destruction by the British.
When Did Prosthetics First Appear
As you write your historical fiction piece, have you wondered when prosthetics first appeared? Could they be referenced in your, say, 1665 novel? Yes, they go back 3,000 years and more. Ancient Prosthetics
Digital Age, Let Me Introduce You to the Stone Age
Our history is a history of arcs and circles. We are brought back over and over to things that became irrelevant or obsolete or disfavorable, but were given new life by an new intersection of those arcs and circles. Charge Your