Historical Figures

Today is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charlie Ebbets, former owner of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers.

I was reading an article in The New York Times today: “No Casual Fans At World Series of Baseball Trivia.” The article was about the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), which has a membership of 6,000 baseball geeks, and its annual convention.

Today’s New York Times reports that the Obamas’ have made their choices, from several Washington museums, of the art that will be hanging in the White House during their occupancy. Take a look at the slide show of some of the highlights--two paintings by George Catlin and the patent model for Samuel Finley Breese Morse’s telegraph.

I have long-known the story of Samuel Chester Reid (1783-1861).

Today is the 70th anniversary of the premier of “The Wizard of Oz,” the legendary movie starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Bi

The 150th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry is just a few weeks away.

 I happened to be reading New York Magazine yesterday and came across an interview with actor Alec Baldwin.

I recently vacationed in Spring Lake, New Jersey, along the Jersey shore. A very nice little town. On a quiet morning, we walked over to the local historical society. And, there it was: an oar from the S.S. Morro Castle, the great luxury passenger ship that caught fire off Asbury Park on September 8, 1934, then ran aground just feet from the Asbury Park beach. In all, 135 of the 549 people aboard the ship were lost.

A couple of months ago, I did a cemetery tour for the Bayport Heritage Association. It was quite an interesting experience with a very enthusiastic group. One of the pleasures of doing tours for such groups is my opportunity to learn from them. Though I’ve been doing tours of Green-Wood since 1990, I can only fit so much into my brain.