An unconventional use of blog space — the rough draft of my hypertext nonfiction, “Being Cenantua”

It’s most certainly a work in-progress, but for what it’s worth, I’m opening access to my hypertext nonfiction, ”Being Cenantua.” Personally, I consider the site currently on par with a construction site in an early stage (READER BEWARE — there are “dead links.” O.K., by definition, they don’t necessarily qualify as “dead links,” the hyperlinked pages just haven’t [...]

“Recalling” Ford’s Theatre - a personal indulgence in Civil War “memory”

I didn’t learn about Edwin Arthur Emerson until about a year or so ago. I think the thing that most intrigued me was that, while I had been fascinated with the soldier family members who had served in the war, I did not realize that I had a family member present, on stage, on the [...]

Bidding farewell to Major Dundee

Pausing briefly in my postings about the Shenandoah Valley, I wanted to reflect a bit on the death of Charlton Heston. After hearing the news, my immediate memories were of The Ten Comandments (ranking first), Planet of the Apes, Midway, El Cid, Gray Lady Down, and a vague memory of Soylent Green (and, of course, the NRA). While I enjoyed most [...]

Ready for the “Spring Campaign”

A little off course from Civil War memory today, but then again, maybe not. When I walked outside this morning, I was struck by the wonderful warmth of springtime. We’re supposed to climb to 70 degrees today (but drop to the 50s again tomorrow, darn it!) This is the type of weather, at this time [...]

Reflections on Hewitt’s statements about the “Lost Cause”

I found Hewitt’s comments about the Lost Cause while surfing the Web a couple of years ago and they have lingered with me ever since. I know that there were many in the North who wanted severe policies when it came to dealing with the postwar South. Despite what some have to say about reconstruction, [...]

“Building blocks” of Civil War “memory”

In yesterday’s post I mentioned some personal connections to the Civil War. Specifically, I recounted a story that I had learned, not through family stories but through a newspaper clipping that I found in scanning through the records of the Page News & Courier (Luray, Virginia). Reflecting on this, and since I am quite interested [...]

More evidence to chip away at the myth of Confederate nationalism

After exchanging a couple of e-mails with a friend last night, I mentioned a genealogical website that I thought looked like it had potential. I gave the trial version of Footnote a try about a month or so ago, but it seemed to have slow response time (it may have had something to do with [...]

More puzzlements over Civil War “memory”

I’ve written about how I am puzzled over the way that those with no familial connections whatsoever have found ”sympathetic connections” with one side or another in the Civil War. I’ve also written about how a person, descended from a Union soldier, had been left with a legacy of forgotten family participation in the war. However, today, I [...]

A growing obsession with the development of Civil War “memory”

There are a fair number of people today who write of the issues they have with Civil War “memory.” Obviously, I consider myself among that lot (my obsessiveness with the abuses reminds me of the way that Lynn Truss has issues with punctuation and addresses them in Eats, Shoots and Leaves). However, I find myself [...]

Reflecting on my own “memory” of the Civil War

There are some wonderful blogs out there that reflect on contemporary issues of Civil War memory and there are even rants of disgust over the way that Civil War memory has been distorted. While I tinker around a bit with my own thoughts on Civil War memory, I think it would be a great idea [...]