Category Archives: History

Jim Crow and his Minions–the New South, the Lost Cause, and Confederate Monuments: a Review

[Note:  2020 has rapidly become a “Year of Discontent” in the United States.  The coronavirus–and our government’s seeming inability, or unwillingness, to bring it under control–has produced much of the pervasive anger and frustration currently testing the strengths of the … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on August 1, 2020 by | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

4th of July Oratory in Antebellum Georgia–In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 32

Posted on July 1, 2020 by

 4th of July Oration, Hawkinsville, Georgia, 1838—Dr. William Germany (excerpts) [Milledgeville Federal Union, August 14, 1838] [Note: Over the past few years, I have tried to show how Georgians celebrated the Fourth of July before the Civil War.  (See, for … Continue reading →

Posted in 4th of July, American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Current Events, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on June 17, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on June 1, 2020 by

[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, Mother’s Day, May 10, 2020

Posted on May 10, 2020 by

As I was walking with my Willowy Bride this morning (after attending “virtual” church), I had an epiphany of sorts.  It struck me that, now that my mother, Elsie Elizabeth “Betts” Lamplugh (1923-2013) is gone, Mother’s Day for me is … Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on May 1, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The King Assassination, Fifty-Two Years On

Posted on April 4, 2020 by

[NOTE:  For those of us of a certain age, the year 1968 was a terrible year; pick your horror, and you could find it there.  The Tet Offensive; the decline of public support in the United States for what was … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Dr. Martin Luther King, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, Martin Luther King, memoir, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on April 1, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

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

Posted on March 1, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on February 1, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments