A Usable Past

My friend Kelly, another graduate student in gender history, sent me this article on women who fought in the Civil War as soldiers.

Disguised as a man (left), Frances Clayton served many months in Missouri artillery and cavalry units. (By courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library)

Though the army at the time denied the existence of women participating in the army as soldiers, new evidence suggests that these women did exist, and were known to army officials.

Discharge document for a soldier with “Sextual incompatibility.” (NARA, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780′s—1917, RG 94)

Learn more at the National Archives and Record Administration website, or find the article in NARA’s journal, Prologue Magazine, “Women Soldiers of the Civil War” by DeAnne Blanton, Spring 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1.

Less digital history and more digital future, but cool nevertheless.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has recently acquired a new beast for its “collection” (can we call it that?): a Giant Pacific Octopus. So far, this octopod is only a mere 3 pounds, hardly fitting for its name (according to the press releases, at this point in time it is too early to designate a gender to the octopus, though they suspect this is a male. I prefer to think that the Smithsonian is making a political statement about the constructions of gender. Or that perhaps in the mollusk kingdom, being agendered is where it’s at.). But soon the octopus will grow up to 13 times in size its CURRENT size, making this species of invertebrate the “giant panda” of the sea. The only octopus at the National Zoo, this one will provide visitors and scholars with the opportunity to study one of the most interesting eight-sticky-suction-cup-adorned-armed creatures, ever.

You can watch the octopus live on the octopuscam!

Check out the National Women’s History Museum‘s newest online exhibit, Claiming Their Citizenship: African American Women from 1624-2009.

American history is broken down into 14 distinct eras, from the colonial period through the Civil War and Reconstruction, and through the 20th century’s wars, depressions, and social justice movements. Most of the women you would expect to see are here, including Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lou Hamer.

The site also includes a number of lesser-known figures, including Maggie Mitchell Walker, the first female president of a bank (in Richmond!), gold Olympic medalist Wilma Rudolph and Bessie Coleman, the first licensed African American aviator.

The site also features a pretty comprehensive timeline of Black American women’s history, and their Additional Resources page is a great place to start looking for sources in Black women’s history (I personally highly recommend Paula Giddings’ When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America as an introduction to this history.) Enjoy!

All images from LIFE Magazine.

Town on the Move
Heimann worked on Los Angeles, Portrait of a City for two years, poring over images in collections housed in California, New York, Philadelphia , and London, as well as his own celebrated, private collection of ephemera. Pictured: The intersection of Spring and First Streets looking south, c. 1902.

Cable Railroad
The opening of the Downey Avenue Cable Railroad, at present day Broadway near Second Street, June 2, 1889.

Dapper in San Pedro
A San Pedro bar, c. 1905.

Fading Grandeur
Pictured: La Fiesta de Las Flores parade on First Street, 1903. In the 1870s, Mexicans — who had been so dominant, or at least had played a central role, in building Los Angeles — became a minority in the general population. “Development,” Heimann points out, “was a magnet for people from, say, the Midwest. The sort of parade seen here was, by the early 20th century, an Anglo attempt to celebrate the city’s deeply Hispanic past with a a faux Mexican Spanish fiesta. The message was, pay tribute, but don’t mingle.”

Orson Welles on the Air
Before the television became a fixture in every home, Americans gathered ’round the radio for their entertainment, to hear thrilling stories and wacky jokes and toe-tapping tunes. Among the best radio entertainers of his time was actor Orson Welles, who was so convincing during his stylized 1938 reading of H.G. Wells’ aliens-on-Earth story The War of the Worlds that his rapt, terrified audience believed the fiction to be true. No other star caused such hysteria, of course, but everyone who was someone in the ’30s, ’40s, and early ’50s spent a little time in a radio booth…

Frank Sinatra Gets Comfortable
The Chairman of the Board hangs his blazer on the mike stand.

Lucille Ball on CBS’ Radio Show ‘Suspense’

Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn on the Air

Julie Andrews, Age 14, on BBC Radio

Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby Duet

Harry Belafonte Sings ‘Close Your Eyes’

Dean Martin Croons

Jane Wyman and Jimmy Stewart Have Chemistry

They’re With the Band
Comedian Jack Benny, director/actor Dick Powell, comedian Ken Murray, Bing Crosby (on the drums), bandleader Tommy Dorsey, and actress Shirley Ross treat listeners to a jam session.

I think it’s pretty awesome that Secret uses their new commercial, “Let Her Jump,” to bring up this issue of sex discrimination in the Olympics. The video uses
film footage from the 1924 Olympics (the scenes of which are stunningly beautiful) to illustrate how archaic the decision of the ruling committee is to ban women ski jumpers in the 2010 games is, and ending with the message that after nearly 100 years of a men-only policy on ski jumping in the Olympics it’s time for change. It’s one thing to have men’s and women’s teams to allow for differences in their physiques, but to not have a team for women to compete altogether? It’s 2010 and we are better than that. (This history of discrimination against women athletes is not lost in the past, either. According to Wikipedia, women were prevented from jumping in the Nordic World Ski Championships until the 2009 games.)

The juxtaposition of the past and the present in this is so great – it’s such an effective way to communicate the absurdity of this situation. Lindsey Van and all of her teammates who are fighting to end the sex ban on ALL Olympic sports are amazing women doing great work. The world is watching.

Here’s to seeing them compete in 2014!

Hipster Puppies picked my friend Kevin’s rocktastic pup Falcor as the Hipster Puppy of the Day!

Congrats, you hip, hip beast.

Possession of a Stolen Shovel

There is a film that stole my heart when I was a wee lass, and every time I’ve seen it since my love for it grows exponentially.

That film is Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude. Bud Court, Ruth Gordon, and Cat Stevens create a world full of wonder, life, protests, suicide, homoeroticism, death, vaginal art, police chases, fields of flowers, hari kari, and stolen shovels that will make…you want…to vomit.

Black Panthers

One of the greatest uses of the Web 2.0, in my opinion, is to share historic videos and films. For those who prefer to learn through visual media, these videos are instantly accessible on YouTube and can bring us deep into the issues at hand.

Some of my favorite areas to research on YouTube (as in my own scholarship) are issues of race, gender, class and sexuality in mid-20th century social activism. Here are a few of the gems I’ve found:

The controversy surrounding Angela Davis at UCLA can be found here.

Feminist cigar commercial from 1971:

Fun video of women’s liberation posters from 1960: