Announcements
As the Board of Governors began its June meeting, they got a call from
Mark Domowne with some suggestions for their agenda. Mark remarked
that he was in Minnesota with a client but was ``about to take off.''
He hoped to make the meeting. Everyone rolled their eyes. was Mark
losing it? At 7:45, two hours after his call, Mark appeared. He
solved the board members' bafflement by explaining that his Minnesota
client flew him back to LaGuardia's Marine terminal at about 1800 mph
in a Russian MIG, which he had bought from Moscow two years ago for
$50,000. It seems that the client is a former Navy jet pilot who
loves mach 2 speeds.
Who says Round Tablers are fuddy-duddies stuck in the past?
At its June meeting, the Board of Governors nominated two new members,
Peter Ford and Lee Wittenberg. The Board also nominated Chairman Dave
Jacobs and Treasurer Jim Davis for another term, praising both for
their dedication and leadership. Dues will remain at $25.00.
Treasurer Davis reported a healthy surplus in our checking account.
He added that he hoped members would continue to give something extra
for our speaker's fund. About half the members already do this. You
don't have to wait until the dues notices arrive. Send us a few
dollars by way of saying thank you for a particularly good speaker!
Your chairman was recently forced to write to Connecticut
Magazine to correct an error about one of his favorite
Revolutionary characters, David Bushnell, inventor of the first
submarine. In an article on Westbrook, Bushnell's birthplace, the
author remarked that Bushnell's Turtle attacked a British ship in New
York harbor only to discover it had a steel hull!. Your chairman
pointed out that steel hulls were about a hundred years in the future
-- and Bushnell's attack failed either because the ship's bottom was
copper sheathed or because he unluckily made contact with the ship's
rudder bar, which was made of lead.
Anderson House, headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati, has
become one of the better (and lesser known) tourist stops in the
nation's capital. The Cincinnati have spent millions restoring the
magnificent mansion on Connecticut Avenue to its turn of the century
splendor. A&E Television has done show on it. The Washington
Post has published a story, accompanied by dazzling
photographs.
The house includes a Revolutionary War museum with an interesting
collection of swords, guns and other memorabilia. The library is a
treasure trove of rare books on the Revolution. In November they will
begin featuring an exhibit on New York in the Revolution, sponsored by
the New York State Society. Anderson House is open 1-4, Tuesdays
through Saturdays. The library is open 10-4, Monday through Friday,
by appointment.
Round Tablers who want a special Revolutionary treat should subscribe
to John Hayes' new series, Liberty Belles. (For those with short
memories, John is the head of Saddlebag Press and a leading authority
on the cavalry of the Revolution.) John is alternating Belles with
his cavalry installments and the latest one is a wow. It is about handsome
Major Aquila Giles of Maryland who was captured while leading a
foraging party outside Valley Forge.
Paroled on his promise not to escape from British occupied New York
and Long Island, Giles fell in love with beautiful, witty Eliza
Shipton. She was living at the home of William Axtell, a wealthy New
Yorker who had houses in Flatbush and on Broadway in Manhattan and
commanded a loyalist militia regiment, the Nassau Blues. Axtell
strongly disapproved of the romance, and thereby hangs the tale.
For those who want to read more, write to: John T. Hayes, Saddlebag
Press, 6848 N W 25 Way, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33309.
Okay, this one you can label only in New York. To pick up where we
left off in June -- you are standing on top of the highest hill in
Fort Greene Park, admiring the great column of the Prison Ship
Martyr's Monument. As you look around, you can see the rolling
parkland and the towers of the Manhattan Bridge, with the Empire State
Building just to the bridge's right. If you are ready to walk away --
don't.
About 70 yards due west of the Martyr's Monument is a stone-paved set
aside. In the middle of that is a 4'x6'x1" bronze plaque. His
Majesty Juan Carlos, King of Spain, dedicated this huge chunk of metal
during our bicentennial. It pays tribute to the memory of the
thousands of Spaniards who fought for American freedom. This includes
an unknown number of men who are resting under the Martyr's Monument.
Ye Olde Maven has been expounding on the plaque to the folks at the
Old Stone House in J.J. Byrne Park. He has been urging them to
include it in their exhibit next year on ethnic and racial groups who
are not usually included in the traditional telling of our
Revolutionary story. (Unless you've already read Tom Fleming's
Liberty! The American Revolution or saw the PBS-TV
series of the same title.)
Having gotten this far, ye maven decided to check up on the plaque.
You know what he saw in that stone bed? A 4'x6'x1" hole. Either the
good folks at the Parks Department are doing us proud and cleaning it
up -- or be on the lookout for a couple of big lugs (hopefully with
hernias) who stole our history.
Those of us who visited Independence Hall prior to 1976 can fondly
remember seeing the Liberty Bell. Placed on the ground floor of the
bell tower, persons viewed it in small groups, standing around it or
above it on the tower's staircases. It was a cramped but totally
inspiring experience as you listened to the park ranger, and ran your
hand over and through the bell.
All that changed for the bicentennial. Wishing to accommodate the
expected multitudes, the National Park Service built a pavilion in
front of Independence Hall to enable more people to view the bell.
Although no longer in its historic home, the sight of the stately Hall
behind the bell seemed to satisfy everyone.
Until now, that is. Behind the Hall now rise two modern office
buildings, which spoil the historical experience. So what to do? The
National Park Service wants to build a new site for the bell with an
interpretive center and a National Constitution Center, which will
supposedly create a more a appropriate view of Independence Hall. The
cost: approximately $215 million, and as Peter Jennings says: ``It's
your money!.''
Rather than return the Liberty bell to its rightful home in
Independence Hall, the NPS seems to be on an eternal quest for the
perfect camera angle. it makes one think that the Liberty Bell is not
the only thing in Philadelphia that's cracked.
The Big Apple also has its own ``strange but true'' story. It seems
that one James E. Gillihan, an historian(?) and appraiser from New
Harmony, Indiana, recently donated eight bluish beads to the Crazy
Horse Memorial in South Dakota. Mr. Gillihan claims that these beads,
which had purportedly been handed down through generations of native
Americans, were among the trinkets used by Peter Minuit to purchase
Manhattan! This observer wonders if Mr. Gillihan also has the deed to
the Brooklyn Bridge.
June's Movie Answers:
- Johnny Tremayne
- Drums Along the Mohawk
- The Howards of Virginia
- The Devil's Disciple
- John Paul Jones
- America
- The Scarlet Coat
- 1776
- Jefferson in Paris
- Revolution
In honor of the ARRT's 40th anniversary, we present the Fraunces
Tavern Quiz.
-
What famous New Yorker originally constructed the Fraunces Tavern
building as his residence in 1719? (A Manhattan street is named after
him.)
-
By what two names was Pearl Street originally known?
-
What was the name first chosen by Samuel Fraunces for his tavern in
1762?
-
What role did Fraunces Tavern play in the Federal Government when New
York City served as our first capital?
-
In 1904, the tavern was purchased for an ``informed restoration'' in
lieu of demolition. Who purchased the building and who did they hire
as their architect?
- (Extra Credit) In 1958 how much did the ARRT
charge for annual dues and how much did members pay for a dinner?
Ed Milanese joined the Round Table last year. His business card
described him as a naturalist and historian with a special interest in
Brooklyn. But he was much more. Ed was a driving force in the
operations of the Society of Old Brooklynites, the Bay Ridge
Historical Society and the Fort Hamilton Historical Society, as well
as the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Perhaps most important, he was a
founder and board member of the First Battle Revival Alliance. Through
his efforts, the Old Stone House, site of the stand of Smallwood's
Marylanders at the Battle of Long Island, was preserved. The
building, now part of the Historic House Trust, has been converted
into an excellent museum and interpretive center, and the Alliance
conducts a full historical and educational program. Ed will be
missed by all of us who knew him and treasure history and historic
preservation.
According to Rules of Civility, a book that George
Washington earnestly studied as a youth, here is how we should conduct
ourselves.
-
Being set at meat, scratch not, neither spit, cough or blow your nose,
except there's a necessity for it.
-
Take no salt or cut bread with your knife greasy.
-
If you soak bread in the sauce, let it be no more than what you put in
your mouth at a time, and blow not your broth at the table, but stay
till it cools of it self.
-
Put not your meat to your mouth with your knife in your hand, neither
spit forth the stones of any fruit pye upon a dish, nor cast anything
under the table.
-
Put not another bite into your mouth full; neither gaze about you
while you are a drinking.
-
Drink not too leisurely nor yet too hastily. Before and after
drinking, wipe your lips; breathe not then or ever with too great a
noise, for it's uncivil.
-
Cleanse not your teeth with the table cloth, napkin, fork, or knife,
but if others do it let it be done with a pick tooth.
-
Rinse not your mouth in the presence of others.
The Round Table's favorite television show, Liberty! The
American Revolution is being broadcast in six installments on
England's Channel 4, starting September 19. There was a bit of a
tussle over using the title. They wanted to change it to
Revolution! But they were finally persuaded to stick
with the original. That should mean trans-Atlantic sales for Tom
Fleming's companion volume.
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