Prologue: Pieces of History

Fifty years ago last week, John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon to become the nation’s 35th President. The 1960s were a significant changing of the guard in U.S. leadership and also in how Americans chose their leader. During the 1960 debates between the two candidates, Americans for the first time could tune in and watch [...]

Yesterday was Veterans Day, and many of my friends on Facebook posted tributes to their family and friends, usually mentioning their grandfathers who fought in World War II. Now, World War II was over 60 years ago, but I personally know WWII vets—my own grandfather and great-uncle. And my father knew family members who were [...]

To all who serve and all who served, thank you.

Today Part Two of “Discovering the Civil War” opens at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The exhibit is divided into a few sections, the last of which is entitled “Endings and Beginnings,” a reference to the end of the Civil War and the start of Reconstruction. As to the beginning and the end of [...]

History is full of strange coincidences, and the Civil War is no exception. In the 1950s, Stefan Lorant was researching a book on Abraham Lincoln when he came across an image of the President’s funeral procession as it moved down Broadway in New York City. The photo was dated April 25, 1865. At first it [...]