I wonder what it feels like to have a famous ancestor. Some of my ancestors were left on the other side of the Atlantic and the ones who came over on the boat lived ordinary lives in places like Schenectady and Cleveland. No one made it to The President’s Gallery by Madame Tussauds as did […]
abolition
History books lie
“Women never did anything important. If they had it would be in the history books.” So claims the father-in-law of National Women’s History Museum founder Karen Staser. Can you imagine spending holidays with that guy? Still, he’s not alone. Most Americans grow up thinking men built the country single-handed, since women and their accomplishments are […]
How writers get ideas
Ideas for my historical novels grew out of my employment as a journalist–or, more exactly, from the places my job as magazine writer and editor took me. One of those places was Seneca Falls, NY, where I traveled to write a town profile for a regional magazine. I toured Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s house, visited the […]
Slavery continues despite war, amendment
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. While the war was fought over a fusion of slavery and states’ rights issues, slavery didn’t end in the United States until December 1865 with passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Or did it? Consider these current event stories: Green […]
