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Free “Liberty or Death” Reenactments this summer at St. John’s Church!
Starting Memorial Day weekend and running until Labor Day weekend in September, free reenactments of Patrick Henry’s famous speech will be shown every Sunday at 2:00pm. The event itself is free, but donations are encouraged. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis, and reservations may be made for groups of ten or more.
Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity!
In case you needed more reasons to love Church Hill. We’ve got the whole founding fathers thing on lockdown as well.
Seriously though, if you haven’t seen the reenactment, go. You’re just sitting in the church and these guys in stellar period garb come in and sit amongst you (I think Thomas Nelson was in my row last time I went). It’s not just the Patrick Henry speech, but a whole portion of the Virginia Convention (the meeting at which the speech was delivered). Provides a lot of context that we don’t usually think about when we hear those famous lines and take them for granted.
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I noticed (and immediately loved) these row houses one night while walking around Capitol Square. Neat to see them written up on Architecture Richmond and also interesting to see that the architect was the same guy who designed the “birdcage” (James Monroe’s tomb) at Hollywood Cemetery.
(via Morson’s Row)
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As West Grace Street goes under yet another transformation, allowing this era to leave its mark, let’s not forget the past
And let’s not forget Exile, where I bought my first pyramid spikes as a teenager.
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ERMAHGERD. Look at it.
truebluemeandyou: “I Am Who They Were” Necklace by Artist Ashley Gilreath 2011. Reblogging because I am going to make this on a much smaller scale by using dollhouse frames/bezels and taken apart lockets (I could also make the frames by making a polymer clay mold). I would then print out photos on transparency paper (which I use all the time in my collages). *Another cheap gift idea I’ve done - print out a high contrast black and white photo on transparency paper and use neon green, white, or whatever color you want to back it with.
“I Am Who They Were” Necklace by Artist Ashley Gilreath 2011. Read the history behind this amazing piece and see more photos at Ashley Gilreath here. Ms. Gilreath created this necklace by casting dollhouse frames in silver and bronze and printing family portraits directly onto microscope glass.
(via alwaysmidnightrva)
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In the next few days, most of you will be sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal with your families. But did you know that a woman named Sarah, a president named Abe, and events that transpired over 200 years after the first Thanksgiving feast helped establish the holiday we now celebrate?
Better get your history on this Thanksgiving, y’all.
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“Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione (1837–1899), better known as La Castiglione , was an Italian aristocrat who achieved notoriety as a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France. The Countess was known for her beauty and her flamboyant entrances in elaborate dress at the imperial court.
For four decades she directed Pierre-Louis Pierson to help her create 700 different photographs in which she re-created the signature moments of her life for the camera.”
(Source: retronaut.co)
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Our mini-vacation this year: to the Virginia Beach area for brick house history, breweries, and beach walks. More here.
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The Dancing Marquess
Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey (16 June 1875 -14 March 1905), styled Lord Paget until 1880 and Earl of Uxbridge between 1880 and 1898, was a British Peer who was notable during his short life for squandering his inheritance on a lavish social life and accumulating massive debts. Regarded as the “black sheep” of the family, he was nicknamed “the dancing marquess” for his habit of performing “sinuous, sexy, snake-like dances”.
This is the kind of thing I think about whenever some new pop star is trying to be all “shock me shock me shock me with that deviant behavior.” History FTW.
(via edwardianpromenade)
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The Twentieth Century: Cities, Cars, and Civil Rights
A really great, broad look at the 20th century, from the Virginia Historical Society. I for one am glad that Rt. 1 has been upgraded from being a mud pit.
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Antikamnia calendars
Louis Crucius (or Crusius) completed the necessary requirements to graduate as a pharmacist in 1882 and a doctor in 1890 in St Louis, Missouri. While he was studying he worked in a pharmacy and made humorous sketches that were placed in the window of the store. Although he gave most of his drawings away, Crucius sold a number of them to the Antikamnia (‘opposed to pain’) Chemical Company which had been established in St Louis in 1890. They produced antikamnia medicines containing the coal tar derivative, acetanilid, an anti-fever drug with pain relieving properties somewhat related to paracetamol, but which would be later shown to be a toxic compound not to mention addictive. Antikamnia was mixed with substances like codeine and quinine to enhance the pain relieving effects. 30 of the Crucius ‘dance of death’-inspired drawings were used to make 5 years worth of Antikamnia Chemical Company calendars - between 1897 and 1901. They had a fairly aggressive marketing campaign in which the calendars (aimed at the medical fraternity) as well as postcards and sample packs were distributed to doctors in the United States and overseas.
(via quarrystepper)
