Phil Feller
@philfeller
IT professional and scholar of 19th century American political culture. Currently working on a microhistory of the 1855 Know Nothing triumph, part of a project exploring the continuation of antebellum republican thought into the Progressive Era.
Mary Gautier was a revelation; we’re so glad that you had her as an opening act. It was also fun to hear “No Children” and “This Year” with a string accompaniment!
The house I owned in Troy, NY, was briefly shown in two Gilded Age Scenes. The RPI fraternity I played hockey for also shows up in period dramas (beginning with The Age of Innocence and including The Gilded Age). Troy was used as a location for The Time Machine when I lived there.
Somewhat less egregious than the SSA email, Dr. Oz wants to be my mental exercise partner:
On the way from Lancaster to Philadelphia I stopped in Christiana to see if there is any public commemoration of the 1851 Resistance, a major act opposing the Fugitive Slave Act. I found a rather odd interpretation, including the statement that a slave catcher “died for law.” 🗃️
I’m in Lancaster this weekend, rather than at SHEAR, and took the opportunity to visit the new Stevens and Smith Center. I particularly liked the way that it contextualized Stevens’ life in Lancaster and presented Smith as a political actor in her own right. 🗃️ stevensandsmithcenter.org
I always visit Douglass’s grave when back in my home town, and Juneteenth was the obvious day to go this time. 🗃️
It’s also good if you like to see King John humiliated. The use of the garderobe is illustrated using him.
I realized when preparing the paper that I presented yesterday at APHC that it involved at literal panic at a Lyceum. I briefly spoke about how a young men’s Lyceum responded politically to a local financial panic that bankrupted potential employers.
Having a great time at APHC and looking forward to my presentation tomorrow. It’s been great to hear the presentations this morning and meet other 19th century political historians. @adamrothman.bsky.social was gracious enough to lie and say that I held my own in wordplay.
Does it deliberately echo the Meusse-Argonne American Memorial at Montfaucon?
Wyna Liu finally has a badge that recognizes my quest for reverse rainbows.
Have any #skystorians come across the phrase “principles of ‘93?” An 1854 announcement for a Connecticut Young Men’s Institute newspaper described it as devoted to those principles. Is it Jeffersonianism?
Do any historians know what type of certificate would possibly be useful for a voter in a 1853 Connecticut election? It’s far too early for it to have been a birth certificate, and a naturalization certificate seems unlikely to be important for Whig voters after 1852. 🗃️
I came across a CT newspaper account of the 1851 Christiana Resistance during my research. An organized group of free and formerly enslaved Blacks fought off an attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, blowing a horn to summon reinforcements. 1/3 🗃️
I’m in Lancaster, PA, for the weekend, and I discovered that our Airbnb has a famous neighbor. #skystorians
Oddly, wargamers knew this in the early 1970s. I dug out my copy of Panzerblitz to confirm my memory that 1944 German leg infantry units in the game used wagons for some of their transport.
I was at Guilford Courthouse this past weekend, and I had a pleasant conversation with the rangers, including thanking them for the way that the park has updated its interpretation in the visitors’ center exhibit.