Prologue: Pieces of History

Researching in original records often provides the researcher with surprises. Usually the surprise takes the form of an unknown letter, a reference to your topic in an unexpected place, or a lead that directs you to a new set of records to mine. Once in a great while, the surprise is something no one could [...]

Today in 1860, 169 delegates convened in Columbia, South Carolina, to discuss the fate of their state. The decision was unanimous: South Carolina would secede from the Union. Declared in a terse four paragraphs, the Declaration of Secession set out that the question of slavery would not be decided in Congress, but in combat. We, [...]

While the holiday season is a time for togetherness and reflection, some holiday posters leave you wondering, “did Santa just threaten me?” Yes, even bearded Old St Nick was recruited during World War II to keep the war factories churning, but what was intended as a rallying cry for safety instead appears like a masked threat: If you [...]

Carolyn Grey, you hit our funny bone hardest last week, when you added a snappy caption to a Civil War telegraph snipper. While we’re not sure whether Apple will be rolling out the iPole anytime soon (though ostensibly it would have fewer ‘dropped’ calls than the iPhone, har har). The real story behind this photo has everything [...]

After more than 40 years of research and more than 14,000 documents, new discoveries are being made as scholars at the George Washington University continue to collect every scrap of paper associated with the First Congress of the United States. The First Congress adopted the Constitutional amendments that are known today as the Bill of [...]