Category Archives: family history

To Ben on Father’s Day, 2020: “Ben as Dad”

Posted on June 17, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: I guess that, as a historian who is “retired but not shy,” I’ve spent lots of time over the past decade looking back, on my career as a History teacher and on the road that led me there. It … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, Education, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized | Tagged American Dad, American History and Culture, Ben Lamplugh, family history, Father's Day, Historical Reflection, history, Newark (Delaware), Retirement | 2 Comments

The Year of Ben (2019-2020); and a decade of “Retired But Not Shy” (2010-2020)

Posted on June 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: Americans tend to focus on anniversaries that end in “0.” For example, married couples usually regard their tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, etc., anniversaries as more important than the others. And I guess that’s true of the few bloggers who managed … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Education, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, memoir, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Memories of Betts on Mother’s Day

Posted on May 10, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: The is a re-post of last year’s Mother’s Day offering, honoring my late mother. Except for removing last year’s date from the title and adding this explanatory note, the post is the same as in 2020. If you did … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir | Tagged American History and Culture, family history, Historical Reflection, history | Leave a comment

Ben, An American Dad, 1921-1986, Part VII: Legacies

Posted on May 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: Although I’m sure he never understood it, Ben Lamplugh was a member of the so-called “Greatest Generation.” These were the American men and women who answered their country’s call in the wake of Pearl Harbor and did their parts–overseas … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, Education, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized | Tagged American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, education, Historical Reflection, history, Newark (Delaware), Retirement | 6 Comments

“But You Get What You Need”: One Historian’s “Contingent” Career, Part 2

Posted on April 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: When I began teaching at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta in the autumn of 1973, I didn’t anticipate staying for the long term. Surely something better (i.e., a college teaching post) would come along? But no: instead, I found … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Books, Education, Elective History Course for 9th and 10th Graders, family history, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History graduate school, History Teaching, memoir, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Sun Belt, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, education, Emory University, family history, Georgia History, Graduate Education, Historical Reflection, history, History Curriculum, History Teaching Career Retrospective, Prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching History, WP Longform | 12 Comments

Ben, An American Dad, 1921-1986, Part VI: A Dad Alone, 1964-1986

Posted on March 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: The events of the summer of 1964 [see here] put an end to Betts and Ben Lamplugh’s marriage and shattered their family: Betts’ bus trip to Newark; Ben’s angry phone call later that day; and Betts’ refusal either to … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, Education, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Newark (Del.) High School Class of 1962, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, education, family history, Historical Reflection, history, History Teaching, Newark (Delaware), Retirement, Teaching, Teaching History | 4 Comments

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”: One Historian’s “Contingent” Career, Part 1

Posted on February 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[Note: Since I was first introduced to it, I’ve loved the term contingent to describe event(s) in history that suggest there is no single unstoppable, ideological wave moving humanity in some preordained direction (e.g., democracy, Christianity, Marxism, progress, the Enlightenment). … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Delaware, Education, family history, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History graduate school, History Teaching, memoir, Newark (Del.) High School Class of 1962, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, Vietnam War | Tagged American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, education, Emory University, family history, Georgia History, Graduate Education, Historical Reflection, history, History Teaching, History Teaching Career Retrospective, Newark (Delaware), Prep school teaching, Prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Teaching History | 4 Comments

Ben, An American Dad, 1921-1986: Part V: Memories of Ben, as “Dad” (2019)

Posted on January 2, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: It’s not normal for me to wax retrospective on Father’s Day, but every so often I do. 2019 was one of those years. I had begun work on this blog series about my father, Ben Lamplugh, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Cold War, Delaware, Education, Episcopal Church, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Uncategorized | Tagged "fatherhood in post-World War II U.S., "post-World War II American history, American History, American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, Cold War, education, family history, family memoir as a historical source, Historical Reflection, history, Newark (Delaware) | 4 Comments

Ben, an American Dad, 1921-1986, Part IV: Postwar America, 1946-1964

Posted on January 1, 2020 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: When Ben Lamplugh returned home early in 1946, he found himself in a house full of women: Betts and her son Rus were living with her sister Gertie, Gertie’s daughter Lynn, and two boarders, the England sisters, in an … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Cold War, Delaware, family history, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Uncategorized | Tagged American History, American History and Culture, family history, Historical Reflection, Newark (Delaware), Post World War II United States, WP Longform | 4 Comments

Ben: An American Dad, 1921-1986, Part III, World War II

Posted on December 1, 2019 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: This installment in a series about my father’s life and his role as an “American Dad” takes him, his wife, and, eventually, their first child, through the end of the Second World War (For earlier posts, go here and … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, Education, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Research, Retirement, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, education, family history, Graduate Education, Historical Reflection, history, Retirement, WP Longform | 4 Comments