Today in History – February 22

George Washington, the first president of the United States, was born on February 22, 1732. His birthday is celebrated as a federal holiday in the United States along with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on “Washington’s Birthday” — the Monday before Washington’s birthday and after Lincoln’s February 12 birthday.

George Washington, First President of the United States. Gilbert Stuart, artist; Pendleton’s Lithography, 1828.Popular Graphic Arts. Prints & Photographs Division

How do we really know when George Washington was born? Tobias Lear, Washington’s secretary and close friend, gave the world a clue. Lear lived with George and Martha Washington at Mt. Vernon, and he helped the Revolutionary War general organize his papers. On February 14, 1790, Lear wrote that the president’s “birth day” was on the 11th of February Old Style, referring to the Julian Calendar. Washington was born twenty years prior to the 1752 introduction of the Gregorian Calendar (intended to more accurately reflect a solar year). When the Julian Calendar was “corrected” to the Gregorian Calendar, February 11 became February 22.

Tobias Lear to Clement Biddle, February 14, 1790. Image 207, Series 2, Letterbooks 1754-1799: Letterbook 16, Nov. 17, 1788 – Oct. 3, 1790. George Washington Papers. Manuscript Division

George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. When his father died in 1743, young George was sent to live with relatives first at Ferry Farm and later at Mt. Vernon, the estate of his elder half-brother Lawrence. The first president of the United States was self-educated, privately tutored, and homeschooled by his father and his brother Lawrence for eight years. This constituted his “formal” schooling.

A county surveyor and colonial activist, he later became a delegate to the Continental Congress and was commissioned as commander-in-chief of revolutionary America’s armed forces, a position that John Hancock had hoped to assume. George Washington was elected president of the United States in 1789 and reelected in 1792. His expanded remarks, after taking the oath of office in 1793 set a precedent for future presidential inaugural addresses.

George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789. George Washington Papers. Manuscript Division

A copy of Washington’s First Inaugural Address is available in the Letterbooks series in the George Washington Papers where it can be viewed along side a transcript of the speech.

Letters were an important form of communication in eighteenth-century America. So important were they that individuals like George Washington kept letterbooks, large bound volumes used to retain copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence. In this letter to the Continental Congress, General Washington reports on the Battle of Brandywine. It is one example of Washington’s voluminous correspondence. The Introduction to the Index to the George Washington Papers, describes their provenance and publication history.

Tomorrow is Your Excellency’s birthday anniversary, I propose to celebrate it, in a great ball which I give on that account.

Letter, Jean B. Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau to George Washington, February 10, 1782. Series 4, General Correspondence, 1697 to 1799. George Washington Papers. Manuscript Division

On February 10, 1782, the comte de Rochambeau wrote Washington of his intention to give a ball the following day to celebrate Washington’s birthday. On February 23, 1782, Washington wrote Rochambeau a letter in which he thanked the comte for honoring him in this way.

What kind of dances did the guests enjoy at Washington’s birthday ball? To form an idea of the type of dance that was performed during the American colonial period, see the essays on baroque and late eighteenth-century social dance in the special presentation on the history of dance accompanying An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490 to 1920.

View video clips of dancers performing dance figures typical of this period by browsing the collection’s Video Directory.

Guests at Rochambeau’s ball would have been familiar with French, Italian, and English masters of social dance. Included in the collection are eighteenth-century dance manuals in these languages, such as Alexis Bacquoy-Guédon’s Méthode pour Exercer l’Oreille (1785), Gennaro Magri’s Trattato Teorico-prattico di Ballo (1779), and an anonymous English manual, The Gentleman & Lady’s Companion (1798). By the 1790s, Americans such as M. J. C. Fraisier and Asa Willcox were publishing their own collections of dances.

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Today in History – February 21

On February 21, 1972, Richard M. Nixon arrived in China for an historic eight-day official visit. He was the first U.S. president to visit the People’s Republic of China since its founding in 1949.

Richard M. Nixon… Official White House photograph, [between 1969 and 1974]. Chronological List of Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents of the United States: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress. Prints & Photographs Division

The meeting between Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai resulted in the Shanghai Communique, a pledge to set aside differences, especially on Taiwan, and to begin the process of the normalization of relations.

The United States began to take an active interest in establishing political and economic ties with China in the nineteenth century. After Japan attempted to invade China in 1894-95, Russia, France, Germany, and Great Britain sought to protect their interests in that country by carving the nation into spheres of influence. The U.S., an important power in the Pacific as a consequence of its 1898 victory in the Spanish-American War, attempted to prevent this division with the formulation, in 1899 and 1900, of what came to be known as the Open Door policy. This policy proposed both to ensure all nations equal trading privileges in China and to protect Chinese sovereignty.

Peking – Inside View of Gateway Leading toward the Emperor’s Palace. William Henry Jackson, photographer, Sept. 1895. World’s Transportation Commission. Prints & Photographs Division

For an overview of Sino-American relations, as well as information about many other aspects of Chinese history, see China: a country study, part of a series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division (FRD) of the Library of Congress. See also the Division’s Country Profile: China, summarized information on that country’s historical background, society, government and politics, and more.

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Florida House OKs ballot measure to limit school board terms

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A proposal to limit elected school board members in Florida to eight consecutive years took a step closer Thursday to appearing on the November ballot.

The referendum attempt required a three-fifths majority and garnered a 79-39 vote margin in the Republican-controlled chamber. The vote was mostly along party lines.

But the measure faces a more uncertain future in the state Senate, where Democrats who oppose the measure could have the necessary votes to block the proposal from making it onto the ballot.

Because it would be a referendum, the measure would not require review by the governor to advance onto the ballot.

If approved by both the House and Senate, the referendum would appear on the November ballot and would need to be approved by at least 60 percent of voters.

The measure would bring school boards in line with most statewide elected officials, including the governor and members of the state Legislature — all of whom face term limits.

But opponents argued that voters already have the ability to term-limit incumbents through existing access to the ballot box.

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Black Violin’s Impossible Tour features BCPS Students Performance Takes Place on Friday, February 21

Black Violin’s Impossible Tour features BCPS Students Performance Takes Place on Friday, February 21

 

– Excellent Photo/Video Opportunity –

WHO: Hip hop duo Black Violin with students from Bethune Elementary School, Lake Forest Elementary School, North Andrews Gardens Elementary School and Walker Elementary School

WHAT: The award-winning Black Violin’s classically trained string instrumentalists Wil B. and Kev Marcus, who both graduated from Dillard High School, invite elementary school students to perform on stage with them as part of their Impossible Tour.

WHERE:  Broward Center for the Performing Arts

Au-Rene Theater

201 SW 5th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

WHEN: Friday, February 21, 2020, beginning at 8 p.m.

(Student performances during the concert take place at approximately 9 p.m.)

WHY: Bethune Elementary, Lake Forest Elementary, North Andrews Gardens Elementary and Walker Elementary are Broward TurnAround Arts schools. Turnaround Arts Schools integrate arts into core content classrooms, align strategies with the District and have artists working with the schools. 

Students performing in Black Violin’s Impossible Tour were also previously chosen to perform with the duo at the grand opening of the REACH at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Media is invited to cover this event.

 

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ABOUT BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

“Committed to educating all students to reach their highest potential.”

Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth-largest school district in the nation and the second largest in the state of Florida. BCPS is Florida’s first fully accredited school system since 1962. BCPS has nearly 270,000 students and approximately 175,000 adult students in 241 schools, centers and technical colleges, and 89 charter schools. BCPS serves a diverse student population, with students representing 204 different countries and 191 different languages. To connect with BCPS, visit browardschools.com, follow us on Twitter @browardschools, on Facebook at facebook.com/browardschools.com and download the free BCPS mobile app.

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Today in History – February 20

Comic actor Joseph Jefferson, one of the best-known American stage personalities of the nineteenth century, died in Palm Beach in 1905. Born into a family of actors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 20, 1829, Jefferson achieved one of his first major successes in 1858 in Tom Taylor’s Our American Cousin. (While Jefferson was not appearing in Our American Cousin at the time, this popular play was on stage at Ford’s Theatre the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.) Jefferson is best remembered for his portrayal of Rip Van Winkle in an Americanized version of a German folk tale popularized by Washington Irving in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1819-20). Jefferson took this play on the road for years after he originated the role, and became known throughout the United States for his portrayal.

Joe Jefferson [seated in front] at Palm Beach, Fla. c1904. Detroit Publishing Company. Prints & Photographs Division
Joseph Jefferson [Rip Van Winkle]. Paris: Imp. Lemercier & Cie [189-]. Posters: Performing Arts Posters. Prints & Photographs Division

The first American theaters were built in the eighteenth century in Williamsburg, Virginia, (1716) and in Charleston, South Carolina, (1730). Many theater groups of that period were itinerant. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, there were many established theaters throughout the country and American actors were making a name for themselves on both sides of the Atlantic. Three of the most famous of Jefferson’s contemporaries were Edwin Booth, son of native Englishman Junius Brutus Booth and brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth—himself an actor of some note, Charlotte Cushman, and Edwin Forrest,  who was known for his vocal power and athleticism on stage.

Edwin Booth, American actor…. [Boston: T.R. Burnham, photographer, ca. 1865]. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. Prints & Photographs Division
[Junius Booth,…in theatrical costume]. Studio of Mathew Brady, ca 1844-1852. Daguerreotypes. Prints & Photographs Division
[Charlotte Cushman, half-length vignetted portrait, facing right]. [ca. 1855]. Daguerreotypes. Prints & Photographs Division
Edwin Forrest, head-and-shoulders portrait… Studio of Mathew Brady, ca 1844-1860. Daguerreotypes. Prints & Photographs Division

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Today in History – February 19

Novelist Carson McCullers (1917-67), noted for her exploration of the dilemmas of modern American life in the context of the twentieth-century South, was born on February 19, 1917, in Columbus, Georgia.

Carson McCullers, Carl Van Vechten, photographer, July 31, 1959. Van Vechten Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

Her first novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, published in 1940, delves into the lives of four isolated individuals—an adolescent girl, an embittered radical, a black physician, and a widower who owns a cafe—struggling to find their way in a small Southern town during the Great Depression. McCullers explored similar themes in later works such as The Ballad of the Sad Café and The Member of the Wedding. Her work is generally considered to be part of the Southern gothic school of writing, which includes writers such as William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Truman Capote.

McCullers’ writing was shaped by her childhood in Columbus, Georgia. Located at the falls of the Chattahoochee River in the western part of the state, in its early years, Columbus boasted a thriving textile industry, powered by the river, Because of its position on the river, Columbus also served as an important port city and a regional center of commerce before railroads supplanted rivers as major transportation routes. During the Civil War, it was an important supply center for the Confederacy. Columbus remains one of the largest textile centers in the South.

As the Chattahoochee crosses the fall line at Columbus, Georgia, it falls 125 feet within 2 1/2 miles producing a potential energy of between 66,000 and 99,000 horsepower. That water power made Columbus one of the leading industrial centers within the South, attracting investors and entrepreneurs. As early as 1828 the river powered a grist mill and by the 1840s it supplied power for several textile mills. By 1880 Muscogee h. p. per sq. mile was greater than any other county south of New York. Conversion of that power to electricity began with arc lighting in 1880…

Water Power Development at the Falls of the Chattahoochee, (Page one of the drawings pages). Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey. Prints & Photographs Division

Perspective Map of Columbus, Ga., County Seat [of Muscogee Cou]nty, 188[6]. H. Wellge, mapmaker; Beck & Pauli Lith. Co.; Milwaukee: Henry Wellge & Co., 1886. Cities and Towns. Geography & Map Division

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Today in History – February 18

The mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered control of the city to Union Brigadier General Alexander Schimmelfennig at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 18, 1865. With commanding General William T. Sherman’s arrival imminent, evacuation of the city began on February 17 and continued through the early morning hours of February 18. The city had been under siege since July 10, 1863.

A City of ruins, —silent, mournful, in deepest humiliation…The band was playing ‘Hail, Columbia,’ and the strains floated through the desolate city, awakening wild enthusiasm in the hearts of the colored people…

A Northern reporter’s description of Charleston, South Carolina, on February 18, 1865. Cited in Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, by E. B. Long with Barbara Long. (New York: Doubleday, 1971), 640.

Charleston, S.C. St. Michael’s Church. George N. Barnard, photographer, April 1865. Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. Prints & Photographs Division

From the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, to passage of the First Ordinance of Secession on December 20, 1860, South Carolina played a leading role in events leading up to the Civil War. Personified by John C. Calhoun, South Carolina’s long-time senator, the state traditionally defended slavery and states rights. When Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in April 1861, few could have been surprised that events in South Carolina would push the nation into civil war.

Charleston, S.C. View of ruined buildings through porch of the Circular Church (150 Meeting Street). George N.Barnard, photographer, April 1865. Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. Prints & Photographs Division

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Today in History – February 17

On February 17, 1801, the House of Representatives, breaking a tie in the Electoral College, elected Thomas Jefferson president of the United States. Jefferson’s triumph brought an end to one of the most acrimonious presidential campaigns in U.S. history and resolved a serious Constitutional crisis.

U.S. Capitol paintings. Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, close-up, painting in U.S. Capitol I. Theodor Horydczak, photographer, circa 1920-1950. Horydczak Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

Democratic-Republican Jefferson defeated Federalist John Adams by a margin of seventy-three to sixty-five electoral votes in the presidential election of 1800. When presidential electors cast their votes, however, they failed to distinguish between the office of president and vice president on their ballots. Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each received seventy-three votes. With the votes tied, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives as required by Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. There, each state voted as a unit to decide the election.

Still dominated by Federalists, the sitting Congress loathed to vote for Jefferson—their partisan nemesis. For six days starting on February 11, 1801, Jefferson and Burr essentially ran against each other in the House. Votes were tallied over thirty times, yet neither man captured the necessary majority of nine states. Eventually, Federalist James A. Bayard of Delaware, under intense pressure and fearing for the future of the Union, made known his intention to break the impasse. As Delaware’s lone representative, Bayard controlled the state’s entire vote.  On the thirty-sixth ballot, Bayard and other Federalists from South Carolina, Maryland, and Vermont cast blank ballots, breaking the deadlock and giving Jefferson the support of ten states, enough to win the presidency.

Jefferson was inaugurated on March 4, 1801. Ratified in 1804, the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution provides that electors “name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President.”

Just three years after his vice-presidential inauguration, Aaron Burr shot and fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Hamilton, a longtime political antagonist of both Burr and Jefferson, played a key role in breaking the deadlocked presidential election in Jefferson’s favor.

Aaron Burr. Second Vice-President of the United States. 1836. Popular Graphic Arts. Prints & Photographs Division

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Today in History – February 16

Congregationalist missionary the Reverend Cushing Eells was born in Massachusetts on February 16, 1810. Eells founded Whitman College External in Walla Walla, the oldest educational institution in Washington State, when the Washington Territorial Legislature granted a charter to the Whitman Seminary on December 20,1859. He named the school in honor of fellow missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who were killed by Native Americans in 1847. The Whitmans were pioneers who helped open the Oregon Territory to U.S. settlement.

Wheat Farm, Walla Walla, Washington. Russell Lee, photographer, July 1941. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs. Prints & Photographs Division

In 1836, the Whitmans founded a mission among the Cayuse Indians at Waiilatpu, seven miles west of present-day Walla Walla. In addition to evangelizing, the missionaries established schools and gristmills and introduced crop irrigation.  However, their work advanced slowly, jeopardizing funding. In 1842, in response to a letter ordering the Whitmans to leave Waiilatpu, Marcus Whitman journeyed East and convinced the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to continue supporting the work of the mission. Returning the following year, he joined the “Great Migration of 1843”—approximately 1,000 settlers traveling to Oregon Territory. Without Whitman’s aid the caravan might not have reached its goal.

With the sudden influx of settlers, tension between Native Americans and the pioneers escalated. Trouble erupted in 1847 when a measles epidemic killed a disproportionate number of Native American children. A practicing physician, Whitman was accused of using magic to eliminate Native Americans in order to make way for new immigrants. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and twelve other settlers were killed by Cayuse warriors on November 29, 1847. Known as the Whitman Massacre, this event precipitated the Cayuse War—a conflict that lasted until 1850.

Indian women and priest at Pala Mission, group portrait, photograph. Pala Indian Reservation, California, June 4, 1939. California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell. American Folklife Center

Between 1769 and 1823, Spanish Catholics established twenty-one missions among California Indians. Catholic missionaries competed for conversions among the Cayuse in the 1840s.

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