Tag: U.S. History

War of the Rebellion: Official Records...

When Did the Events of 1861-1865 Become “The Civil War”?

August 20, 2013

Over the weekend the always-interesting blog Disunion (hosted by the New York Times website) posted “The Name of War,” in which Georgetown University history professors Chandra Manning and Andrew Rothman tracked the evolving answer to a seemingly obvious question: What did Americans call the war fought between the Confederacy and Union from 1861 to 1865? … More When Did the Events of 1861-1865 Become “The Civil War”?

Joyce Kilmer in U.S. Army uniform

“I think that I shall never see…”: Joyce Kilmer as War Poet

July 30, 2013

Just over 6000 American soldiers are buried outside the French village of Fère-en-Tardenois, at Oise-Aisne Cemetery. The most famous was killed by a German sniper ninety-five years ago today: a sergeant in the New York National Guard named Joyce Kilmer. So we were informed by the cemetery superintendent when our group visited Oise-Aisne last January … More “I think that I shall never see…”: Joyce Kilmer as War Poet

"America" in 1922 Rodeheaver hymnal

“Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 3)

July 18, 2013

By far the most popular American patriotic hymn is Samuel Francis Smith’s “America,” appearing in over 1600 of the hymnals indexed at Hymnary.org — nearly four times as many as Katharine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful” and Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” five times more than Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner.” And … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 3)

1860 version of "The Bright Flag of America"

“Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 2)

July 15, 2013

I’m still researching an answer to last Monday‘s closing question: why is it that so many hymnals don’t include popular patriotic hymns? As a placeholder, though, I thought it might be fun to share a rare evening post spotlighting a few songs in this genre that just never found an audience. (Here again, relying on … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 2)

"America" in "The Choir" (1833)

“Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 1)

July 8, 2013

Which patriotic hymns are most popular? Have they changed over time? Researching an Independence Day post in which I didn’t exactly gush with enthusiasm at the inclusion of patriotic songs in American hymnals, I discovered Hymnary.org, “a comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals” supported by the Hymn Society, Calvin College’s Institute of Christian Worship, and … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 1)

Union dead at Gettysburg

Gettysburg’s 150th Anniversary

July 1, 2013

7/1/13 – In this morning’s post I focused on a famous European battle that started on July 1st, but of course, today also marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the central battle of the U.S. Civil War: Gettysburg. I posted some links on that battle and its commemoration over at our department blog.

Bethel Gen Ed Pillars

Curriculum and the Health of the Humanities

June 28, 2013

A brief follow-up to Tuesday’s post, “The Humanities in Crisis, or Not“… Historian Ben Schmidt (by way of journalist Jordan Weissmann) argued that any fear that the humanities (history, philosophy, literature, languages) are in crisis should be tempered by the reality that (aside from an outlying boom that peaked in 1966) those disciplines have about … More Curriculum and the Health of the Humanities