Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 127

TODAY in HISTORY: Roger Williams and San Francisco

It is one of those curious coincidences of American history. But on this date–October 9th– Roger Williams, a dissident preacher, was "banned from Boston" (in 1635) and Junipero Serra dedicated Mission Dolores in what would become San Francisco (in 1776).

Separated by more than century and a continent, they might seem like unconnected events. But these are two extraordinary moments in the history of a so-called "Christian nation" and –more to the point– its treatment of Native Americans.

Born i...

The World is a Pear: Columbus Day

"In fourteen hundred and ninety-two/Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
We all remember that. But after that basic date, things get a little fuzzy. Here's what they didn't tell you–
Most educated people knew that the world was not flat.
Columbus never set foot in what would become America.
Christopher Columbus made four voyages to the so-called New World. And his discoveries opened an astonishing era of exploration and exploitation. His arrival marked the beginning of the end for tens of millions...

Don't Know Much About Truman Capote

"Oh my, it's fruitcake weather!"

It's not the first line many people associate with Truman Capote, born September 30, 1924 in New Orleans. But it is in one of my favorites, A Christmas Memory, a 1956 short story originally published in Mademoiselle.

This Depression-era story of a young boy and his favorite aunt making holiday fruitcakes is far removed from the author's most famous work– the book that made "true crime" a literary genre.

"Nonfiction novel"—it may sound like an oxymoron, but...

Don't Know Much About Faulkner

Yesterday Fitzgerald. Today Faulkner. This American master was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897.

The past is never dead. It's not even past.

History haunts the present in William Faulkner's novels, as this famous line from Requiem for a Nun (1951) suggests. Faulkner's great novels focus on the decline of the southern aristocracy in and around the fictional town of Jefferson. He invented old Mississippi families like the Compsons, the Bundrens, the Sutpens, and the...

Don't Know Much About F. Scott Fitzgerald

Born September 24, 1896: F. Scott Fitzgerald in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was named Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald after the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, a distant relative of his mother's.

It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire.

In his work and his life, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) captured the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. Against a backdrop of bright lights, jazz and liquor (lots of liquor), such novels as This Side...

Banned Books Week

Each year, the American Library Association and other groups mark Banned Books Week during the last week in September. This year it begins Saturday September 26 and continues through October 3.

In a time when some American parents don't want their children to hear the President of the United States give a speech on education values, the importance of this reminder of the right to free expression and the value of THINKING is more urgent than ever,

Where are they pulling books out of libraries...

TODAY IN HISTORY: The Fugitive Slave Act

Congress, in its infinite wisdom, often makes bad law. Today is a reminder of that fundamental truth.

When: On September 18, 1890, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slave owners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to other states.

Why: The Fugitive Slave Act was part of a larger "Compromise of 1850," intended to settle the question of extending slavery into new territories and avoid breaking apart the Union. (Guess what? It didn't work.)

What: Under the law, aid to escaping...

A Tale of Two Libraries

The headline was a shocker.

All Free Library of Philadelphia Branch, Regional and Central Libraries Closed Effective Close of Business October 2, 2009

I read about the possible closing of the Philadelphia Free Library –in the city where Benjamin Franklin helped invent the public library in 1731—with shock, sadness, and dismay. And more than a little anger.

Angry that a nation so dependent upon free expression, learning, technology, information and access pays lip service to these ideals but ...

Don't Know Much About the Birmingham Bombings

September 15, like September 11, deserves to be remembered. On this day in 1963, a murderous bombing took the lives of innocent Americans –four children. The terrorist bombers were also Americans –members of the Ku Klux Klan. In recording the bombing 20 years later, Howell Raines once wrote,

In the mindlessness of its evil, the 16th Street bombing was also the most heinous act of the era.

When In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963.
Where The 16th Street Baptist Church in...

TODAY IN HISTORY: Birth of an Anthem

It was September 13, 1814, American was at war with England for the second time since 1776. Francis Scott Key was an attorney attempting to negotiate the return of a civilian prisoner held by the British who had just burned Washington DC and had set their sights on Baltimore. As the British attacked the city, Key watched the naval bombardment from a ship in Baltimore's harbor. In the morning, he could see that the Stars and Stripes still flew over Fort McHenry.

But here's what they didn't...