Category Archives: History

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

Reflections on The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and His Legacy, 2020: Darkness/Light, Hate/Love

Posted on January 19, 2020 by

[NOTE: Since 2012, I have observed the annual holiday in honor of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a post on this blog. This year, I’d like to offer once again a few reflections on Dr. King and … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Teaching, memoir, Popular Culture, Prep School, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on January 2, 2020 by

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

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

Posted on January 1, 2020 by

[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 , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on December 1, 2019 by

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

Ben: An American Dad, 1921-1986, Part II: The Wedding Photograph

Posted on November 1, 2019 by

[Note:  When we three Lamplugh siblings gathered at Judy’s home to remember our late mother, Elsie Elizabeth (“Betts”) Lamplugh, a couple of years ago, Judy had a surprise for us:  She had retrieved, and then had reproduced, a wedding picture … Continue reading →

Posted in Delaware, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Research, Retirement, Rick Lamplugh, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ben: An American Dad, 1921-1986, Part I: Introduction: “The only father we had”

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

[Note:  Between 2017 and 2019, I published here a series of posts based on the writings of my late mother, Elsie Elizabeth (Betts) Lamplugh (1923-2013).  Betts’ writings included a brief history of her Dobson-Knighton family and, more importantly, a memoir … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delaware, family history, genealogy, Historical Reflection, History, memoir, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments