Welcome to new followers. I try to keep the politics at a minimum since we've got enough of Grandpa Mushbrain totalitarianizing his way into every area of our lives. I post mostly history, with a bit of writing for good measure. But I'll always have space to advocate for expanded #publicgoods!

Gorgeous sunset in my neighborhood tonight, with gratuitous rainbow. Tomorrow always brings hope.

There are quite a few more untold/little told stories like this. Daisy Lampkin, great friend and political ally of Bethune, for example:

Beautiful night at the old ballpark:

On July 3, 1925, Daisy Lampkin was elected to the presidency of the National Colored Republican Conference after the untimely death of Dr. George E. Cannon. Thus one more executive burden encroached on her resume, adding to her service as organizer of the Nat. Assoc. of Colored Women’s Clubs and

I have to jump on here to note that Horne spent her formative years in Pittsburgh, where she learned her music. Here two shots of Horne at Pittsburgh's famed Loendi Club, and one at the Stanley Club. Though younger, Horne became good friends with Daisy Lampkin, subject of my current work. . . .

Today is Popsie's third birthday. Isn't she a pretty girl?

My office. Can't complain.

Great movie. It belongs to Michael Lonsdale:

1/4 I'm AWOL from #HATM tonight, but I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to introduce folks to western PA's great African American suffragist, Ms. Daisy Lampkin. Lampkin became president of the local Lucy Stone League in 1912, then parlayed that notoriety into significant . . .

It is surely not the most damning evidence of our fall from republican virtue over the last century, but do take a moment to compare the Times Square-tinsel, red light district display of this joker's medals against the two most distinguished military leaders of the twentieth century:

Popsie likes to suck on her MilkBones for a little while. I don't know why.

It's a strange world we live in, where things often don't seem real unless they've been represented or replicated in the virtual world. Mom died well before the internet became a fact of our lives. You can Google "Gail Margery Lee," and you get no hits. Her invisibility . . .

Virtually within my lifetime:

She exchanged the photos as her tastes matured. But she had a soft spot for Hollywood stars like the Lane sisters, Ginger Rogers, Deanna Durbin, Ray Milland, Norma Shearer, Anna May Wong, Greta Garbo, and Sonja Heine. Many of her photos remain on the wall to this day, preserved in tragic posterity.

Anne Frank kept photos and postcards affixed to her wall in the Secret Annex. Portraits figured prominently. She displayed photos of the Dutch and English royal families, and other models and celebrities. One wonders how she imagined those lives intersecting with her own, there in cramped hiding.

Wendell Smith was portrayed by Andre Holland in the film "42," alongside the great Chadwick Boseman. For those who may not be aware, Jackie Robinson's widow, the luminous Rachel Robinson, is still alive and with us at the age of 103. The past isn't over, it's not even past, someone once said . . .

Daisy was at this time the vice-president of the Courier, enjoying a very close working relationship with the owner/publisher of the Courier, her friend Jesse Vann (Jesse and Daisy flanking a gentleman at a promotional event).

The Courier maintained an active sports department, which enjoyed connections throughout the black sporting world (Courier sports editor Bill Nunn meets with Smith [back to camera], Gus Greenlee, owner of the Negro League's Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Satchell Paige. Fifth man unidentified). . . .

Robinson had been recommended to the Dodgers as part of an ongoing campaign by a sportswriter for the Pittsburgh Courier, Wendell Smith. . . .

Here, probably sometime in the early 1950s, Daisy meets with Jackie Robinson:

🧵Today is the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in major league baseball, 1947. One of the great joys in my Daisy Lampkin project is the discovery of fascinating linkages she maintained throughout black America, some direct and many indirect. . . .

Today on the blog I reflect on expertise, and the slow accumulation of pre-existing knowledge that serves as the foundation for something new: www.fractalpast.com/blog/picking...

Do you know who this handsome chap is? We'll be taking a closer look at William Walker, the famous filibuster, and more like him, in my upcoming module on early US diplomatic history. For now, read about the filibusters in this brief blog post: www.fractalpast.com/blog #UShistory

We are ride or die with Coach Staley

The Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the sexiest material object ever crafted by the hand of human. I will not be taking questions at this time.