The Salem Witch Trials Memorial

July 22, 2015, 9:50 am

Massachusetts, Essex County, Salem

In 1692, nearly two hundred people in the Salem area were accused of witchcraft, then considered a crime. Twenty of the accused were tried and executed – victims of fear, superstition, and a court system that failed to protect them.

This memorial was created to honor the memory of these twenty victims and to remind us of the enduring lessons of human rights learned from the tragedy of the witch trials. It was designed by architect Jim Cutler and artist Maggie Smith and dedicated in 1992 by Elie Wiesel.

Every year the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice is given to an individual or organization that speaks out and takes action for human rights and social justice. The first award was presented to GregAlan Williams at the 1992 dedication.

Only if we remember will we be worthy of redemption. – Elie Weisel

Sidebar:
In Remembrance
Hanged, June 10, 1692
Bridget Bishop, Salem

Hanged, July 19, 1692
Sarah Good, Salem Village
Rebecca Nurse, Salem Village
Susannah Martin, Amesbury
Elizabeth Howe, Ipswich
Sarah Wildes, Topsfield

Hanged, August 19, 1692
George Burroughs, Wells, Maine
John Proctor, Salem Village
John Willard, Salem Village
George Jacobs, Andover
Martha Carrier, Andover

Pressed, September 19, 1692
Giles Corey, Salem Farms

Hanged, September 22, 1692
Martha Corey, Salem Farms
Mary Easty, Topsfield
Alice Parker, Salem
Ann Pudeator, Salem
Margaret Scott, Rowley
Wilmot Redd, Marblehead
Mary Parker, Andover

Captions:
Please treat this sacred space, its walls and walkways, with respect and care.
Photos: Tina Koutsos-Jordan & Carolyn McGuire

(Civil Rights • Colonial Era • Notable Events) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Bartlett Veterans Memorial

July 22, 2015, 9:58 am

≫ Next: Aaron Greeley / St Cosme Line Road

≪ Previous: The Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Tennessee, Shelby County, Bartlett

Lest we forget. Erected by citizens of Bartlett to those who served their country in time of need.

(Military) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Aaron Greeley / St Cosme Line Road

July 22, 2015, 10:02 am

≫ Next: Trailblazers

≪ Previous: Bartlett Veterans Memorial

Michigan, Wayne County, Allen Park

Aaron Greeley In 1796, when the United States occupied Michigan, there existed many conflicting land claims along the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. Congress in 1806 created a Board of Land Commissioners to adjust these claims. Aaron Greeley, an experienced surveyor, was appointed in 1808 to map this area. On April 23, 1812, Congress validated these claims as surveyed by him.

St. Cosme Line Road Southfield Road in this area was known for many years as the St. Cosme Line Road. This marker stands near the end of the northern boundary of a large tract of land, extending to the Detroit River, which was granted to Pierre Lawrence St. Cosme in 1776 by the Potawatomi Indians.

(Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Trailblazers

July 22, 2015, 10:13 am

≫ Next: First Methodist Meeting Place In New Hampshire

≪ Previous: Aaron Greeley / St Cosme Line Road

Pennsylvania, Dauphin County, Harrisburg

The second Bethel AME Church opened on Short Street on November 24, 1839. Bethel’s first pastors-Reverend Levin Lee (ca. 1833-1843), Reverend T.M.D. Ward (1843-1845), and Reverend Abraham Cole (1846-ca.1854) --- each helped increase interest in the Bethel Church. The church operated a Sabbath school and, in the church basement, a library.

In August 1847, the men of Bethel helped inaugurate the Brotherly Love Lodge (Odd Fellows). Eleven years later, on September 29, 1858, the Brotherly Love Lodge became the first Odd Fellowship in the United States to apply for and receive a Ruth Degree Warrant, granting the colored women of the Miriam Household of Ruth, No. 1.

The church endured many difficult times at this location. In 1847, Bethel brethren protected Frederick Douglass while a vicious mob hurled stones at him after he spoke at the Dauphin County Courthouse with abolitionist William Lloyed Garrison. During the 1840s and 1850s, Bethel Church members formed a vigilance committee against kidnappers of runaway slaves.

On February 22, 1861, Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President-elect Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known.

The men and women of Bethel met at the church on January 15, 1863, to draft a public statement explaining the Black community’s position on President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

“We would have preferred that the proclamation should have been general instead of partial,” they proclaimed. However, the public statement expressed the colored community’s endorsement of citizenship. “We are well aware that freedom and citizenship are attended with responsibilities, and that the success or failure of the proclamation depends entirely upon ourselves, as public sentiment will be influenced…by our correct deportment and moral standing in the community.”

(Inscriptions under the images-from left to right, top to bottom)
*This is a view of the Short Street Bethel AME after it was sold to the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company. The church is turned to separate it from the structures added later by the new owner.
* Above, left: Location of the Bethel AME Church, Short Street, Harrisburg map, 1880. *Above right; same location, current map.
*The article above was published in the Harrisburg Telegraph on January 14, 1863.
*February 22, 1861 Bethel Church member Jacob T. Cumpton used his horse-drawn carriage to take President Abraham Lincoln out of Harrisburg after news of an assassination plot became known.
*”To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”-Frederick Douglass.
*Harrisburg 1855: Arrow shows approximate location of the Bethel AME Short Street site.

(Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Churches, Etc.) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

First Methodist Meeting Place In New Hampshire

July 22, 2015, 10:16 am

≫ Next: Bradley Law Office

≪ Previous: Trailblazers

New Hampshire, Cheshire County, Chesterfield

In 1772 "the people called Methodist" held their first religious meeting in this state on the James Robertson farm, 1.2 miles north of here, on Christian Street, with Philip Embury as the preacher. On June 20, 1803, Francis Asbury spoke here using as his text: "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

(Churches, Etc. • Colonial Era) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Bradley Law Office

July 22, 2015, 10:22 am

≫ Next: Parson Capen House

≪ Previous: First Methodist Meeting Place In New Hampshire

Vermont, Windham County, Westminster

Prominent nineteenth century political leader and lawyer, William Czar Bradley (1782-1867) practiced in this building from 1802 until 1858 when he retired. He was a member of the VT Legislature, the Governor’s Council, & U.S. Representative to Congress (1813-15 & 1823-27). As agent for the U.S. under the Treaty of Ghent, he established the boundary between Maine and Canada. William C. Bradley’s law office building, and its untouched collection of furnishings, manuscripts, and books were willed in 1908 to the State of Vermont by his granddaughter, Sarah Bradley Willard. For the following 65 years her grandson, William Bradley Willard, who maintained a life interest in the property, cared for the office until it was opened to the public.

(Notable Persons • Politics) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Parson Capen House

July 22, 2015, 2:34 pm

≫ Next: Battle of Opelousas

≪ Previous: Bradley Law Office

Massachusetts, Essex County, Topsfield

One half mile west of here is the Parson Capen House. Built in 1683 for the minister and a fine specimen of domestic architecture of the Puritan century. Now the home of the Topsfield Historical Society.

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Battle of Opelousas

July 22, 2015, 2:48 pm

≫ Next: Irish of the American Civil War Monument

≪ Previous: Parson Capen House

Louisiana, Saint Landry Parish, near Opelousas

Here, on October 21, 1863, during the Great Texas Overland Expedition, Union troops under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks, forced Confederates, under Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, to evacuate Opelousas and move his defensive line 7 miles north. 12 days later, Taylor reclaimed Opelousas and pushed Banks south, ending Banks' 1863 campaign to capture Texas.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Irish of the American Civil War Monument

July 22, 2015, 7:11 pm

≫ Next: Hogan Building

≪ Previous: Battle of Opelousas

Ireland, Connacht, County Sligo, Ballymote

We sent you our starving and our evicted
you gave them freedom and opportunity
1861-1865
You sounded the call of arms
We answered with loyalty and courage
We gave service, limb and life

To the honour and lasting memory of Irish emigrants and People of Irish heritage who served and died during the American Civil War
Dedicated on May 9th 2015 the 150th anniversary of the end of the War
By
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, T.D.
In the presence of
His Excellency, Kevin F. O'Malley, United States
Ambassador to Ireland

P.O'DOWD Bunninadden

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Hogan Building

July 22, 2015, 7:19 pm

≫ Next: Nurse's Quarters

≪ Previous: Irish of the American Civil War Monument

California, Sonoma County, Sebastopol

Hogan Building
Petaluma & Santa Rosa R.R.
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
1903

(Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Nurse's Quarters

July 22, 2015, 7:22 pm

≫ Next: Officer's Quarters

≪ Previous: Hogan Building

New Mexico, Lincoln County, Fort Stanton

This building was constructed in 1940 on the site of building 11 (formerly barracks and then the original tubercular hospital). While it does not match the style or construction of most of the original fort buildings, it does reflect the Territorial design of historic New Mexico. This large building was used as a dormitory to house single nurses working at the hospital.

‘Having contracted tuberculosis in Iowa and being hospitalized myself, I welcomed the opportunity to serve my fellow T.B. patients as a nurse at the Fort Stanton Hospital.’

Lola Hulbert Spragg, Registered Nurse

Marker photo caption: Nurse’s quarters ‘day room’ under construction.

(Forts, Castles • Science & Medicine) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Officer's Quarters

July 22, 2015, 7:26 pm

≫ Next: Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site

≪ Previous: Nurse's Quarters

New Mexico, Lincoln County, Fort Stanton

This building was constructed in 1883 of adobe. It was designed to house two officers and their families. During the hospital years, it was used as doctor’s housing, boasting two finely appointed apartments.

What a privilege it was to be stationed at this high facility. Only doctors were sent there who had pulmonary disease, and so were not required to work very hard. The cool air, the beautiful starlit nights, the riding horses, the mountain trails, the cattle, the wild game, the trout fishing, victory gardening, the golf course and many other forms of recreation available were all a joy I shall never forget.

Dr. Albert C. Rood, 1944

(Forts, Castles • Science & Medicine) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site

July 22, 2015, 7:31 pm

≫ Next: The Black Watch Monument

≪ Previous: Officer's Quarters

Wyoming, Platte County, near Guernsey

Three panels are found at the Park Kiosk near the parking lot.

The Trail West
During the mid-1800s, more than 500,000 pioneers journeyed west. Never more than a rocky, rutted trail, the road west began in Missouri, crossing the plains before entering Wyoming along the North Plate River. Travel became more difficult, upon reaching Wyoming, as the terrain changed from the wide-open plains to the rugged, arid landscape typical of the west. The westward migration by wagon trains dwindled with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. However, the trails continued to be used by local travelers, ranchers herding stock, and the military.

California Trail (1841-1868)
Discovery of gold in California started one of the largest mass migrations west. In 1849, more than 30,000 "Forty-Niners" traveled west in search of wealth. This trail closely followed the same path as the Oregon Trail through southern Wyoming to Fort Bridger, and then turned southwest toward the central valleys of California.

Oregon Trail (1843-1868)
This 2,000-mile trail is a tribute to the human spirit. People from all walks of life sold most of their possessions, piled what was left in a wagon and journeyed west. In search of a better life, they headed to Oregon, first for fur, then as missionaries, and finally for farmland.

Mormon Pioneer Trail (1846-1868)
Seeking religious freedom, Brigham Young led 148 followers of Mormonism into the western wilderness. The 1,400-mile trek began in Nauvoo, Illinois and continued across Nebraska and southern Wyoming - before coming to an end near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Over the next 20 years, more than 70,000 Mormons made this journey.

Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site

Although many remnants of the Oregon Trail exist in Wyoming, the four-foot deep tracks in the sandstone ridge above are among the best-preserved ruts along the route west. This site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

Maps of the historic site and other Oregon Trail sites in Wyoming

A Difficult Journey
Early pioneers, driven by a quest for fertile farmland, riches, or religious freedom, ventured by wagon and on foot across trails to settle the American West. The cross-county journey took four to six months to complete and was filled with danger and hardship. Accidents, disease and provision shortages took the lives of many emigrants along the way.

Preserved in Stone
Thousands of travelers struggled through this winding, rocky terrain before making camp just west of this point. Evidence of their passage is clearly visible at the crest of the hill, where deep ruts cut by the wheels of countless wagons are preserved in the soft sandstone.

Dangerous Crossing
While the North Plate River was a critical source of water for emigrants and their livestock, it posed a barrier to overland travel. Untamed by dams, the river could be swift and dangerous. It was easier to traverse the rugged landscape than to risk fording the river.

(Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

The Black Watch Monument

July 22, 2015, 7:56 pm

≫ Next: The Concrete Central Elevator

≪ Previous: Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site

United Kingdom, Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh

AM FREICEADAN DUBH

To the Memory of
Officers
Non- Commissioned Officers & men of
THE BLACK WATCH
Who fell in the South African War
1899-1902

Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

The Concrete Central Elevator

July 22, 2015, 9:12 pm

≫ Next: The American Elevator

≪ Previous: The Black Watch Monument

New York, Erie County, Buffalo

Image Source: Historic American Engineering Record. Jet Lowe, photographer, 1994.

The Concrete Central Elevator is located between the Buffalo River and the track of the former New York Central Railroad. It is the furthest upstream of any elevator along the Buffalo River. The elevator was financed by Eastern Grain Mill & Elevating Company, and designed by Harry Wait, engineer of the Monarch Engineering Company of Buffalo.

The elevator, built in five sections from 1915 to 1917, is a quarter of a mile long. It was the largest transfer elevator in the world upon its completion. Its 268 bins could store 4.5 million bushels of grain. The Concrete Central was the only elevator able to simultaneously unload three lake freigher, load four canal boats, and load up to 85 rail cars.

The elevator was sold to the Continental Grain Corporation in 1944, and remained a functioning transfer elevator until 1969. Subsequently, it was used to store surplus grain, and closed in 1973.

(Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

The American Elevator

July 22, 2015, 9:32 pm

≫ Next: The Cargill Superior Elevator

≪ Previous: The Concrete Central Elevator

New York, Erie County, Buffalo

Image Source: Historic American Engineering Record. Jet Lowe, photographer, 1985.

The American Elevator was the first reinforced concrete grain elevator built on Buffalo's waterfront. It was designed and built by the James Stewart Company for the American Malting Company in 1906. It was constructed using slip form construction method. Slip form construction is performed by continuously pouring concrete into a form as it is slowly raised. Herry Wait desgned an addition to the American Elevator in 1933.

The elevator was used to support malt production for beer until 1921, when the elevator and its owner fell victim to Prohibition. The elevator was then purchased by the Russell-Miller company and used to supply wheat for their new flour mill. In 1954, the Peavey Corporation purchased the elevator and mill. They retained control until 1982, when the elevator was acquired by ConAgra.

The elevator has two marine legs; one stationary and one moveable. The original leg featured a rope driven power tranmission system, an example of a once important, little known system that is now obsolete.

(Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

The Cargill Superior Elevator

July 22, 2015, 9:48 pm

≫ Next: The Electric Elevator Annex

≪ Previous: The American Elevator

New York, Erie County, Buffalo

Image Source: Historic American Engineering Record. Jet Lowe, photographer, 1990.

The Superior Elevator, as it was originally known, was built in 1915 by the Monarch Engineering Company for the Husted Milling Company. A.E. Baxter was the supervising engineer. It was built to replace an earlier concrete elevator that was destroyed by an explosion. During the elevator's construction, the Husted Milling Company became the Superior Elevating Company. The Superior was the first elevator in Buffalo built in the winter, rather than during the more favorable summer building season.

The elevator was expanded in 1919, and again in 1925. Cargill Corporation purchased the elevator in 1939, and used it as a transfer point between reat Lakes shipping and railroad lines to New York. Cargill Corporation continued to use the elevator as a grain storage facility until the 1960s, when the Saint Lawrence Seaway rendered its Buffalo location obsolete.

In 1953, the American Society of Civil Engineers selected the Cargill Superior Elevator as one of seven Western New York Engineering landmarks.

(Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

The Electric Elevator Annex

July 22, 2015, 10:04 pm

≫ Next: Omaha la Sanglante - Bloody Omaha

≪ Previous: The Cargill Superior Elevator

New York, Erie County, Buffalo

Image Source: Historic American Engineering Record. Jet Lowe, photographer, 1994.

The oringinal Electric Elevator, built in 1897, was one of the first elevators to use electricity as a power source. The original construction consisted of nineteen freestanding cylindrical steel bins capable of holding nearly two million bushels of grain.

In 1938, the Cargill Corporation bought the elevator from the Great Eastern Corporation. In 1940, with demand for grain storage high, the six million bushel concrete elevator annex was constructed. From outside, the annex resembles conventional cylindrical bins. However, the interior is divided into just six interior storage halls separated by a central row of fifteen cylindrical bins. The grain was piled inside and moved by power shovels into tunnels below. This design was a radical departure from conventional storage practice, and provided storage at a cost of only eight cents per barrel, less than half the cost of a conventional elevator.

Cargill continued to use the elevator for the next two decades, eventually closing it in 1968. The original steel bins were demolished in 1984, leaving only the annex.

(Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Omaha la Sanglante - Bloody Omaha

July 22, 2015, 10:14 pm

≫ Next: Médiathèque Jean Falala

≪ Previous: The Electric Elevator Annex

France, Basse-Normandie, Calvados Départment, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer

En Français:
Le 6 Juin 1944, sur Omaha Beach, les Américains avaient prévu d'occuper une espace 25 km (16 miles) de long sur 10 km (6 miles) de profondeur, mais le soir, seule une zone de 8 km de long sur 2 km de large était tenue au prix d'un sacrifice humain très lourd : environ 1 200 GIs tués ou disparus, des milliers de véhicules perdus (chars, half-track, jeep, canards, camions…).

Côté allemand, le nombre de morts est difficile à évaluer : peut-être 400 pour environ 2 000 hommes présents.

La tête de pont a permis en quelques mois le débarquement de 500 000 hommes, 100 000 véhicules et 1 300 000 tonnes de munitions et d'approvisionnements divers, faisant d'Omaha le plus grand port européen.

L'enlèvement des vestiges du port artificiel, 150 000 tonnes de ferrailles, a occupé plusieurs entreprises jusque dans les années 50. Aujourd'hui reposent encore en mer de nombreuses épaves et pontons souvent visibles à marée basse.

English:
On 6 June 1944, on Omaha Beach, the Americans had planned to occupy an area 25 km (16 miles) long and 10 km (6 miles) deep, however by that evening, a zone just 8 km (5 miles) long and 2 km (1.2 miles) wide was held, at the cost of a great many lives : around 1,200 GIs had been killed or had disappeared, and thousands of vehicles had been lost (tanks, half-tracks, jeeps, ducks, trucks etc.).

The number of deaths on the German side is difficult to assess. Probably around 400 of the 2,000 men there were killed.

The bridgehead allowed 500,000 men, 100,000 vehicles and 1,300,000 tons of various supplies to land in a few months, making Omaha the largest harbor in Europe.

It took several companies up until the 1950s to remove the 150,000 tons of scrap metal that were the remains of the artificial harbor. Today, several wrecks and pontoons remain in the sea, and they are often visible at low tide.

(War, World II) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Médiathèque Jean Falala

July 22, 2015, 11:19 pm

≫ Next: Cavalcade du sacre des rois de France

≪ Previous: Omaha la Sanglante - Bloody Omaha

France, Champagne-Ardenne, Marne, Reims

La Médiathèque Jean Falala est le principal établissement du réseau de lecture publique de la Ville de Reims. Elle constitue, avec la bibliothèque Carnegie, l'une des douze "bibliothèques municipales à vocation régionale" de France. Construit par l'architecte Jean-Paul Viquier avec une ossature mètallique et une importante surface vitrée, le bâtiment a ouvert en mai 2003. Il abrite, sur 6 500 m² et cinq niveaux accessibles au public, plus de 130 000 documents en prêt, des espaces d'exposition et un auditorium. L'entrée est libre et gratuite.

Built by Jean-Paul Viguier and opened in 2003, the Cathedral Media Library boasts a total of 6,500 m² of public reading areas. It also features exhibition areas and an auditorium. Admission is free.

English translation:
The Jean Falala Media Library is a principal part of the public library network for the city of Rheims. Together with the nearby Carnegie Library, they make up one of twelve "municipal libraries with a regional scope" of France. Built by the architect Jean-Paul Viquier, it includes a metal frame and a large glass area. The building opened in May 2003. It houses over 6,500 m² on five levels accessible to the public, more than 130,000 documents available, exhibition spaces and an auditorium. Admission is free.

Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

↧

Latest Images