The Warmabool Standard (Australia): DNA key to World War I mystery
STAN Turner grew up knowing little about his uncle who was killed in World War I — but 95 years later, the former VicRoads worker may now hold the key.
Today DNA from Mr Turner will be taken to England as part of a search by the Australian and British governments to identify hundreds of soldiers found in the German-dug mass graves at Fromelles.
Last year 75 of the 250 were identified from the battle in Northern France on July 19, 1916.
Mr Turner, named after his uncle Stanley Turner, said that to have confirmation that his uncle was killed at Fromelles would provide peace of mind and an end to the mystery.
“All that we really knew was that he was lost in action,” he said.
“I don’t know much. He was in his 20s when he was killed.
“He went to Gallipoli and was wounded in his thigh but survived which was a rarity.
“My dad was in France waiting to go to Gallipoli when his brother was wounded.
“The only record we have is that he didn’t come back.”
Mr Turner, from Dennington, said if the DNA matched and his uncle was buried at Fromelles, he and his family would head to the site to pay their respects.
“I’m nervous waiting for the results but I’m still absolutely rapt,” he said.
“Dad was in World War I and World War II. He never really talked about his brother.
“He once told a story how he was in the trenches in France and his mate was buried up to his waist. He stopped to help him but the man just said ‘leave me, my legs are gone’.
“After I agreed to do the test I thought, hold on, maybe you should do my brother, but I was the one they selected from the family tree.”
Mr Turner’s DNA will be picked up by UK company LGC Forensics services in England.
He said he expected to hear back from the company in the new year.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Charles Evans Hughes Focus of "The Contenders"
Go to the link to view the video.
From C-Span: Charles Evans Hughes Focus of "The Contenders"
Washington, DC
Friday, December 23, 2011
This reair of "The Contenders" looks at the election of 1916 and explore the life, times, legacy, and relevancy today of Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican Party nominee in 1916, who served two terms on the Supreme Court, the second time as Chief Justice, two terms as Republican Governor of New York, and Secretary of State in the Harding and Coolidge administrations.
Helping us to understand Hughes, the 1916 election, his career in politics and his crucial time as Chief Justice during the New Deal years are: former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, David Pietrusza, author of “1920: The Year of Six Presidents” and Bernadette Meyler, Cornell Law School Professor.
We’ll also see and listen to Hughes, and hear from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on the legacy of Hughes as Chief Justice.
For more information on the series and our Contenders, go to www.c-span.org/thecontenders - where you’ll find videos, biographical information, election results, helpful links, and more on each of the 14 featured in the series.
From C-Span: Charles Evans Hughes Focus of "The Contenders"
Washington, DC
Friday, December 23, 2011
This reair of "The Contenders" looks at the election of 1916 and explore the life, times, legacy, and relevancy today of Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican Party nominee in 1916, who served two terms on the Supreme Court, the second time as Chief Justice, two terms as Republican Governor of New York, and Secretary of State in the Harding and Coolidge administrations.
Helping us to understand Hughes, the 1916 election, his career in politics and his crucial time as Chief Justice during the New Deal years are: former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, David Pietrusza, author of “1920: The Year of Six Presidents” and Bernadette Meyler, Cornell Law School Professor.
We’ll also see and listen to Hughes, and hear from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on the legacy of Hughes as Chief Justice.
For more information on the series and our Contenders, go to www.c-span.org/thecontenders - where you’ll find videos, biographical information, election results, helpful links, and more on each of the 14 featured in the series.
23 December 1917
From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle: 23 December 1917 - Bozeman boy on ship San Diego
"Oscar Reiss, a former student at the Montana State College, has returned to the United States on the American battleship San Diego. Reiss has a very interesting story to tell of his experiences on the Atlantic Ocean. He has crossed the ocean twice and tells of thrilling adventures with submarines.
"Reiss was on the battleship San Diego and Nov. 24 it was off the French shore accompanied by six torpedo boats. They ran into a submarine zone and almost immediately encountered a submarine. They saw a torpedo coming directly at them and were forced to change the course of the boat in order to miss it. The torpedo went past them and missed them by about 15 yards. The next day out they caught the submarine and sunk it, making prisoners of its crew.
"Reiss is enthusiastic over the navy and likes the work very much. The work in the submarine zone is very thrilling and the men have many experiences; many of which the people at home do not hear until the men are on leave to relate their experience. The battleship San Diego is one of the lighter cruiser type used in transport work."
"Oscar Reiss, a former student at the Montana State College, has returned to the United States on the American battleship San Diego. Reiss has a very interesting story to tell of his experiences on the Atlantic Ocean. He has crossed the ocean twice and tells of thrilling adventures with submarines.
"Reiss was on the battleship San Diego and Nov. 24 it was off the French shore accompanied by six torpedo boats. They ran into a submarine zone and almost immediately encountered a submarine. They saw a torpedo coming directly at them and were forced to change the course of the boat in order to miss it. The torpedo went past them and missed them by about 15 yards. The next day out they caught the submarine and sunk it, making prisoners of its crew.
"Reiss is enthusiastic over the navy and likes the work very much. The work in the submarine zone is very thrilling and the men have many experiences; many of which the people at home do not hear until the men are on leave to relate their experience. The battleship San Diego is one of the lighter cruiser type used in transport work."
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
'The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War:' A book review
From New Jersey.com: 'The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War:' A book review
The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War
Peter Englund
Alfred A. Knopf, 512 pp., $35
Reviewed by Jonathan E. Lazarus
The Great War … the War to End All Wars. How hollow the characterizations rang for both the survivors and the millions of dead, diminished or disfigured.
What began in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and ended with an armistice on Nov. 11, 1918 — the famous 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — served as a prelude for the larger conflagration 21 years later. But to those who lived through it, World War I was beyond a baptism of fire. It was the passing of the old order; the coarsening of manners and restraint; the end of battlefield chivalry in the age of the tank and machine gun; a loss of respect for national and military leaders, and a disillusionment with the governing theologies of the day.
In the hands of Swedish historian and war correspondent Peter Englund, the microworlds of 20 of those profoundly affected by the conflict emerge in sharp focus through the clever, compelling format of profiling their stories in the present tense, interlayering them by date and allowing the unfolding chronology to show the progression of war weariness from year to year.
Englund has chosen his dramatis personae wisely, if not in politically correct fashion. They include men and women from all the combatant nations, serving in every far-flung theater. Most survive; one as an amputee, several as emaciated POWs. Only a very few find the fighting exhilarating. Just two Americans are represented, the famous neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing and a New Yorker who volunteers for the Italian army. A British aid worker and a German seaman stand out as the only overtly racist entries. Rafael de Nogales, a Venezuelan cavalryman serving in the Ottoman army, seems the most quixotic. And Andrei Lobanov-Rostovsky, a Russian officer, faces down mutineers.
But for all of them, the sensations are similar. Their war worlds expand and contract at the same time. And all admit being demeaned by their powerlessness to influence the events and circumstances thrust on them. Englund’s substantial contribution to the World War I canon is keeping the generals and politicians substantially sidelined in “The Beauty and the Sorrow” and letting those literally in the trenches tell their stories.
The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War
Peter Englund
Alfred A. Knopf, 512 pp., $35
Reviewed by Jonathan E. Lazarus
The Great War … the War to End All Wars. How hollow the characterizations rang for both the survivors and the millions of dead, diminished or disfigured.
What began in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and ended with an armistice on Nov. 11, 1918 — the famous 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — served as a prelude for the larger conflagration 21 years later. But to those who lived through it, World War I was beyond a baptism of fire. It was the passing of the old order; the coarsening of manners and restraint; the end of battlefield chivalry in the age of the tank and machine gun; a loss of respect for national and military leaders, and a disillusionment with the governing theologies of the day.
In the hands of Swedish historian and war correspondent Peter Englund, the microworlds of 20 of those profoundly affected by the conflict emerge in sharp focus through the clever, compelling format of profiling their stories in the present tense, interlayering them by date and allowing the unfolding chronology to show the progression of war weariness from year to year.
Englund has chosen his dramatis personae wisely, if not in politically correct fashion. They include men and women from all the combatant nations, serving in every far-flung theater. Most survive; one as an amputee, several as emaciated POWs. Only a very few find the fighting exhilarating. Just two Americans are represented, the famous neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing and a New Yorker who volunteers for the Italian army. A British aid worker and a German seaman stand out as the only overtly racist entries. Rafael de Nogales, a Venezuelan cavalryman serving in the Ottoman army, seems the most quixotic. And Andrei Lobanov-Rostovsky, a Russian officer, faces down mutineers.
But for all of them, the sensations are similar. Their war worlds expand and contract at the same time. And all admit being demeaned by their powerlessness to influence the events and circumstances thrust on them. Englund’s substantial contribution to the World War I canon is keeping the generals and politicians substantially sidelined in “The Beauty and the Sorrow” and letting those literally in the trenches tell their stories.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Marconi Station exhibit open at Sippican Historical Society
Sippicane, Maryland
From Sippican Vilage Soup: Marconi Station exhibit open at Sippican Historical Society
Marion — The Sippican Historical Society's new exhibit, "The Marion Marconi Station," is now open.
Marion was once home to the world's largest and most powerful wireless telegraph station, built in 1914 by the pioneering Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. The Marion installation boasted fourteen towers, each standing more than 400 feet tall. The station was designed to handle all transatlantic radio traffic, communicating directly with another high-powered wireless plant in Norway.
So impressive was the station at the time of its installation, it was referred to as "one of the wonders of the twentieth century.”
The Marion station made several historically notable radio contacts—twice with Admiral Richard Byrd during his Arctic expeditions, with Col. Charles A. Lindbergh and his wife on flights over the Atlantic and Europe, and routinely with the Graf Zeppelin en route between Berlin and South America.
Marion was the sending station for long-wave transmissions of weather information; Chatham on Cape Cod was the receiving station. At 300 kilowatts output, the Marion station's power plant was the most powerful of its day.
During World War II, U.S. armed forces - including the Army, Navy, and Air Force - used the station. All that remains of the elaborate antenna array today is a fragment of one of the three 300-foot short-wave towers that were erected in the station's later years; the others were dismantled in 1960.
The exhibit can be viewed during the Sippican Historical Society Museum’s normal business hours, which are Wednesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Admission to the Museum is free.
For more information, call (508)748-1116 or email info@sippicanhistoricalsociety.org.
From Sippican Vilage Soup: Marconi Station exhibit open at Sippican Historical Society
Marion — The Sippican Historical Society's new exhibit, "The Marion Marconi Station," is now open.
Marion was once home to the world's largest and most powerful wireless telegraph station, built in 1914 by the pioneering Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. The Marion installation boasted fourteen towers, each standing more than 400 feet tall. The station was designed to handle all transatlantic radio traffic, communicating directly with another high-powered wireless plant in Norway.
So impressive was the station at the time of its installation, it was referred to as "one of the wonders of the twentieth century.”
The Marion station made several historically notable radio contacts—twice with Admiral Richard Byrd during his Arctic expeditions, with Col. Charles A. Lindbergh and his wife on flights over the Atlantic and Europe, and routinely with the Graf Zeppelin en route between Berlin and South America.
Marion was the sending station for long-wave transmissions of weather information; Chatham on Cape Cod was the receiving station. At 300 kilowatts output, the Marion station's power plant was the most powerful of its day.
During World War II, U.S. armed forces - including the Army, Navy, and Air Force - used the station. All that remains of the elaborate antenna array today is a fragment of one of the three 300-foot short-wave towers that were erected in the station's later years; the others were dismantled in 1960.
The exhibit can be viewed during the Sippican Historical Society Museum’s normal business hours, which are Wednesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Admission to the Museum is free.
For more information, call (508)748-1116 or email info@sippicanhistoricalsociety.org.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Canada: NBers in Wartime exhibit opens
From the New Brunswick Times & Telegraph: NBers in Wartime exhibit opens
The stories of New Brunswickers during the First and Second World Wars are told in a travelling exhibit now on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
New Brunswickers in Wartime, 1914-1946 features the personal stories of individuals who served in uniform or in wartime industries, and those who supported the war from home.
It also examines the people's readjustment to civilian life at war's end. Organized and first presented by the New Brunswick Museum, the exhibition was adapted by the War Museum for its presentation in Ottawa.
"We are very pleased to work in partnership with the New Brunswick Museum to bring this important exhibition to Canada's capital," said Mark O'Neill, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, which operates the Canadian War Museum.
"The unique experiences of citizens of New Brunswick also shed light on the experiences of all Canadians in wartime."
The exhibit tells the stories of New Brunswickers like five Carty brothers, who all served in the air force; Medric Leblanc of Rogersville, a member of the First Special Service Force; Margaret Pictou Labillois from Eel River Bar First Nation; and Alice Murdoch, who entertained troops during the Second World War. These captivating stories - heroic, amusing, brave, sad, celebratory and moving - will bring to life ordinary people and these extraordinary times.
"We are proud to share the stories of the citizens of New Brunswick," said Minister Trevor Holder, New Brunswick Minister of Wellness, Culture and Sport and Tourism and Parks.
"We hope that it will be as appreciated by visitors to the Canadian War Museum as it was by all those who viewed it in New Brunswick," said Jane Fullerton, CEO of the New Brunswick Museum.
New Brunswickers in Wartime, 1914-1946 features more than 300 artifacts and archival items from 45 lenders. Adaptations by the War Museum include the addition of original works of art from the War Museum's Beaverbrook War Art Collection and a closer look at some of the personal stories highlighted in the exhibition.
The New Brunswick Museum originally organized the exhibition in 2005 to commemorate the Year of the Veteran and the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It has been well received by museum audiences in Saint John, Moncton and Edmundston. This will be its first presentation outside New Brunswick. The exhibition will run in Ottawa until April 9, 2012, Vimy Ridge Day.
The stories of New Brunswickers during the First and Second World Wars are told in a travelling exhibit now on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
New Brunswickers in Wartime, 1914-1946 features the personal stories of individuals who served in uniform or in wartime industries, and those who supported the war from home.
It also examines the people's readjustment to civilian life at war's end. Organized and first presented by the New Brunswick Museum, the exhibition was adapted by the War Museum for its presentation in Ottawa.
"We are very pleased to work in partnership with the New Brunswick Museum to bring this important exhibition to Canada's capital," said Mark O'Neill, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, which operates the Canadian War Museum.
"The unique experiences of citizens of New Brunswick also shed light on the experiences of all Canadians in wartime."
The exhibit tells the stories of New Brunswickers like five Carty brothers, who all served in the air force; Medric Leblanc of Rogersville, a member of the First Special Service Force; Margaret Pictou Labillois from Eel River Bar First Nation; and Alice Murdoch, who entertained troops during the Second World War. These captivating stories - heroic, amusing, brave, sad, celebratory and moving - will bring to life ordinary people and these extraordinary times.
"We are proud to share the stories of the citizens of New Brunswick," said Minister Trevor Holder, New Brunswick Minister of Wellness, Culture and Sport and Tourism and Parks.
"We hope that it will be as appreciated by visitors to the Canadian War Museum as it was by all those who viewed it in New Brunswick," said Jane Fullerton, CEO of the New Brunswick Museum.
New Brunswickers in Wartime, 1914-1946 features more than 300 artifacts and archival items from 45 lenders. Adaptations by the War Museum include the addition of original works of art from the War Museum's Beaverbrook War Art Collection and a closer look at some of the personal stories highlighted in the exhibition.
The New Brunswick Museum originally organized the exhibition in 2005 to commemorate the Year of the Veteran and the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It has been well received by museum audiences in Saint John, Moncton and Edmundston. This will be its first presentation outside New Brunswick. The exhibition will run in Ottawa until April 9, 2012, Vimy Ridge Day.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
How fast a submarine sinks in 600 feet of water
From Sign On San Diego: How fast a submarine sinks in 600 feet of water
Dec. 17: In 1917, Submarine F-1 sank off the coast of Point Loma after colliding with another submarine during maneuvers by three U.S. subs that were training on the surface as fog set in. Death was supposed to be a continent away during World War I, but 19 sailors perished that day. The commander and four others on the bridge escaped, but the sub plummeted to the bottom of the sea in 10 seconds. No effort was ever made to raise the submarine because it sank to a depth of 600 feet. The submarine was found and filmed by a U.S. Navy oceanographic research ship looking for a plane that crashed in 1972.
Dec. 17: In 1917, Submarine F-1 sank off the coast of Point Loma after colliding with another submarine during maneuvers by three U.S. subs that were training on the surface as fog set in. Death was supposed to be a continent away during World War I, but 19 sailors perished that day. The commander and four others on the bridge escaped, but the sub plummeted to the bottom of the sea in 10 seconds. No effort was ever made to raise the submarine because it sank to a depth of 600 feet. The submarine was found and filmed by a U.S. Navy oceanographic research ship looking for a plane that crashed in 1972.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Concert sings of peace on Earth during World War I Christmas truce
From Dec 7 (In-Forum, Fargo-Moorehead): Concert sings of peace on Earth during World War I Christmas truce
MOORHEAD – When the vocal group Cantus steps on stage tonight at the Hansen Theatre at Minnesota State University Moorhead, it will deliver a history lesson as much as a concert.
The Minneapolis-based group, with members of Theatre Latté Da, present “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.” As the title indicates, the piece of musical theater tells of a holiday cease-fire between British, French and German troops during the first year of World War I.
The historical event is often overlooked and seemed to be out of public consciousness until depicted in the French movie, “Joyeux Noël” in 2005. And now it might be in vogue; in November the Minnesota Opera premiered its own re-telling, “Silent Night.”
“I think it is great this story is being told in as many ways as it is,” says Cantus baritone Matthew Tintes. “I wasn’t aware of this story until I joined Cantus (in 2009).”
News of the truce was kept from the media due to national leaders fearing the public would cool on the war effort if they saw opposing forces being friendly.
But accounts in soldiers’ journals and letters home give the script much of its narrative and dialogue.
As stories go, troopers in trenches along the Western Front started singing holiday tunes on Christmas Eve. The other side responded from opposing trenches with their own song and relations warmed to the point of an unofficial truce called until the end of Christmas Day. In some parts along the battle line, the cease-fire lasted a week.
“The story of the truce is almost unbelievable that it could’ve happened, that the power of song could bring together opposing armies to call a truce for the holiday,” says Tintes, who graduated from West Fargo High School in 1998.
The members of Cantus play English, French and German soldiers in their production, singing in the different languages. The show opens with troops marching off to war singing their national anthems. As the war drags on longer than expected, the tone shifts down until the Christmas events supply a ray of hope.
“What makes the production so powerful are the voices of the men of Cantus, their harmonies laden with layers of complex and conflicted tones, expressing combinations of fear and joy, relief and sadness,” a St. Paul Pioneer Press review of the show said. “The bawdy drinking songs of the English are interrupted by the Germans’ soft and lovely ‘O Tannenbaum,’ and, in the drama’s turning point, the solo rendition of ‘Stille Nacht’ that proves an act of radical compassion.”
Tintes says there might be more interest in the story of the Christmas truce since America has been at war now for a decade. He says veterans from the wars in Korea to Afghanistan approach him after productions to express how moving the show is.
“To know that at least in some point in our recent history, even the soldiers on the ground were able to put aside their differences and have a merry Christmas, that gives people hope that maybe one of these days we won’t be hearing about war as much anymore,” he says.
MOORHEAD – When the vocal group Cantus steps on stage tonight at the Hansen Theatre at Minnesota State University Moorhead, it will deliver a history lesson as much as a concert.
The Minneapolis-based group, with members of Theatre Latté Da, present “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.” As the title indicates, the piece of musical theater tells of a holiday cease-fire between British, French and German troops during the first year of World War I.
The historical event is often overlooked and seemed to be out of public consciousness until depicted in the French movie, “Joyeux Noël” in 2005. And now it might be in vogue; in November the Minnesota Opera premiered its own re-telling, “Silent Night.”
“I think it is great this story is being told in as many ways as it is,” says Cantus baritone Matthew Tintes. “I wasn’t aware of this story until I joined Cantus (in 2009).”
News of the truce was kept from the media due to national leaders fearing the public would cool on the war effort if they saw opposing forces being friendly.
But accounts in soldiers’ journals and letters home give the script much of its narrative and dialogue.
As stories go, troopers in trenches along the Western Front started singing holiday tunes on Christmas Eve. The other side responded from opposing trenches with their own song and relations warmed to the point of an unofficial truce called until the end of Christmas Day. In some parts along the battle line, the cease-fire lasted a week.
“The story of the truce is almost unbelievable that it could’ve happened, that the power of song could bring together opposing armies to call a truce for the holiday,” says Tintes, who graduated from West Fargo High School in 1998.
The members of Cantus play English, French and German soldiers in their production, singing in the different languages. The show opens with troops marching off to war singing their national anthems. As the war drags on longer than expected, the tone shifts down until the Christmas events supply a ray of hope.
“What makes the production so powerful are the voices of the men of Cantus, their harmonies laden with layers of complex and conflicted tones, expressing combinations of fear and joy, relief and sadness,” a St. Paul Pioneer Press review of the show said. “The bawdy drinking songs of the English are interrupted by the Germans’ soft and lovely ‘O Tannenbaum,’ and, in the drama’s turning point, the solo rendition of ‘Stille Nacht’ that proves an act of radical compassion.”
Tintes says there might be more interest in the story of the Christmas truce since America has been at war now for a decade. He says veterans from the wars in Korea to Afghanistan approach him after productions to express how moving the show is.
“To know that at least in some point in our recent history, even the soldiers on the ground were able to put aside their differences and have a merry Christmas, that gives people hope that maybe one of these days we won’t be hearing about war as much anymore,” he says.
What's it Worth? Harrison Fisher's women
From Mercury News: What's it Worth? Harrison Fisher's women
Q: I inherited a number of pictures signed "Harrison Fisher," and I'm trying to determine the value of them. The larger one carries a plea from Woodrow Wilson -- "I summon you to Comradeship in the Red Cross" -- and measures 30 by 39 inches. The second reads, "Have you answered the Red Cross Christmas Roll Call?" and is 20 by 27 inches. Each has a copyright date of 1918.
A: Harrison Fisher, sometimes referred to as "The Father of a Thousand Girls," was a hugely prolific illustrator. Fisher, son of landscape artist Hugo Anton Fisher, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1877. The family moved to Alameda in 1887 where, in addition to being instructed by his father, Fisher and his brother studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco.
Fisher's goal in life was to become an illustrator and commercial painter, rather than striving to be a portraitist. At 17, he made his first sale, a drawing of an Indian maiden, to a playing card company; a year later his political cartoon, "Japan-Made America," appeared in the humor magazine Judge.
At age 18, Fisher began work as a staff illustrator for San Francisco's Morning Call while continuing to produce freelance magazine work. William Randolph Hearst, who later contracted Fisher to do a portrait of his mistress, Marion Davies, hired Fisher away from the Call and brought him to the Examiner as an illustrator of society functions and sporting events.
Hearst then sent Fisher to New
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York to illustrate for his newly acquired New York Journal. Hearst encouraged his illustrator to pursue freelance work, as the more Fisher was published the greater was his value in the Hearst empire.
Fisher painted women as beauties, as athletes, as teases, as scholars, as brides and as mothers. In 1908, he published his first of nine books illustrating idealized women. He even featured a section about college women playing sports.
He did cover illustrations for Puck, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal and American Magazine, and over an uninterrupted period of 22 years he produced 293 cover illustrations for Cosmopolitan. His work was so popular in his day that his images were reproduced on postcards, calendars, candy tins, sheet music, novelty mirrors and tape measures.
Fisher's women were depicted as healthy, intelligent, independent and hardworking. Your 1918 color lithograph posters for the Red Cross show Fisher women as Red Cross nurses imploring women, who out of necessity had taken on many masculine roles during the war, and men to heed the call of patriotism and sacrifice.
At his request, most of Fisher's original work was destroyed after his death. Still, hundreds have come on the market with prices ranging from $1,000 to $30,000.
Period lithographic poster like yours, depicting a poignant and important period in world history, can bring in the low to mid hundreds, depending on the condition. These two iconic images as well as scores of other Fisher women are still being reproduced today.
In the spirit of the season please heed these posters and contribute blood, time or money to this worthy cause.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Time Keeps On Slipping Into the Future
Sorry for the dearth of posts recently...I've been working on a project, wanted to devote all my time to it, and kept telling myself...it'll be done today so I can get back to blogging here tomorrow.
The next day it was... okay, it's definitely going to get done today....
Well, today it is done... so back to posting here on a daily basis tomorrow. (With the first post appearing tomorrow afternoon while I'm watching football!)
Thanks for your patience.
The next day it was... okay, it's definitely going to get done today....
Well, today it is done... so back to posting here on a daily basis tomorrow. (With the first post appearing tomorrow afternoon while I'm watching football!)
Thanks for your patience.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Man Utd youngsters remember Christmas truce match
From BBC News Manchester: Man Utd youngsters remember Christmas truce match
A team of Manchester United youngsters will recall the famous 1914 Christmas truce of the World War I in Ypres, Belgium this weekend.
United's under-12 team will play teams from Germany, France and Belgium at an event organised by the Premier League.
It will recall the day when the fighting stopped and soldiers played football against each other.
The boys will take part in the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial.
Teams from Racing Genk, RC Lens and Borussia Dortmund will provide the opposition for the Christmas Truce International Youth Tournament.
Brian McClair, the former United striker who is now director of its youth academy, said: "I think it's important to understand that football has a wonderful power to build bridges.
"Certainly the visit to the Menin Gate will be very thought-provoking for them and will be a point in their life where they will be able to look back and say, 'I'm glad I did that'.
"They are going to be given the time to pause and reflect what happens when others go and fight for a bigger cause.
"And it's also going to be interesting for them to see how football transcended all of that for a short while."
The Football League was suspended during the war but clubs still played in regional leagues
A team of Manchester United youngsters will recall the famous 1914 Christmas truce of the World War I in Ypres, Belgium this weekend.
United's under-12 team will play teams from Germany, France and Belgium at an event organised by the Premier League.
It will recall the day when the fighting stopped and soldiers played football against each other.
The boys will take part in the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial.
Teams from Racing Genk, RC Lens and Borussia Dortmund will provide the opposition for the Christmas Truce International Youth Tournament.
Brian McClair, the former United striker who is now director of its youth academy, said: "I think it's important to understand that football has a wonderful power to build bridges.
"Certainly the visit to the Menin Gate will be very thought-provoking for them and will be a point in their life where they will be able to look back and say, 'I'm glad I did that'.
"They are going to be given the time to pause and reflect what happens when others go and fight for a bigger cause.
"And it's also going to be interesting for them to see how football transcended all of that for a short while."
The Football League was suspended during the war but clubs still played in regional leagues
Thursday, December 1, 2011
ELLIOT JAGER: ON NOVEMBER 2, 1917 THE ARABS SAID “NO”
From Ruthfully Yours: ELLIOT JAGER: ON NOVEMBER 2, 1917 THE ARABS SAID “NO”
By Ruth King on November 28th, 2011
http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/11/21/main-feature/1/in-november-the-arabs-said-no
There are no uneventful months in the tortured history of the Arab-Israel conflict. November is no exception. It was on November 2, 1917 that British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent Lord Rothschild, titular head of the British Jewish community, a letter—the Balfour Declaration—expressing the backing of the British government for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” And, as if to bookend the month, November 29th will mark the 64th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the 1947 Partition Plan, the two-state solution that was recklessly spurned by the Arabs in a rebuff that presaged the Arabs’ rejection of a Jewish homeland ever since.
Between these two November dates—specifically, on November 9—the Israel, Britain, and the Commonwealth Association held a gala anniversary dinner in Tel Aviv to mark Balfour’s pronouncement. Guests included Britain’s ambassador to Israel, the head of the European Union delegation, and ambassadors from several commonwealth countries (including those that reflexively vote against Jerusalem at the UN). In general, the Israeli government does not make too much of the occasion, though Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon addressed the Tel Aviv banquet. But Hamas makes it a point to issue an annual denunciation of the declaration, accompanied this year by a montage featuring photos of Israel’s leaders splattered with blood and a picture of Balfour wearing a devil’s horns and vampire’s fangs. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, routinely condemns the Balfour Declaration’s grant of rights to “those who had no connection” to the land—meaning the Jewish people.
This November also marks the 59th yahrzeit and the 137th anniversary of the birth of Chaim Weizmann, the distinguished chemist who was instrumental in fashioning the Zionist-British alliance that produced the Balfour Declaration. As Jonathan Schneer, not a Zionist sympathizer, notes in his book The Balfour Declaration, Weizmann’s achievement was never preordained. He had to overcome the influence of important assimilationist Jews like Edwin Montagu, who strenuously urged their government not to cooperate with the Zionists, and Grand Sharif Hussein of Mecca and his sons, the Emirs Abdullah and Faisal, who lobbied through British proxies. The Palestinian Arabs had scarcely any unique identity at the time, but Arab intellectuals in Syria argued against Zionism on grounds that Palestine was an integral part of Syria and could not be excluded from the magnanimous territorial bequest that Britain had made to the Arabs.
At the end of the day, Britain promised a sliver of the Middle East to the Jews and everything else to the Arabs. After World War I, the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the San Remo Conference in 1920 ratified Britain’s plans for Arab and Jewish self-determination in Palestine. Balfour expected that the Arabs would be willing to share a small sliver of the vast Mideast landscape with the Jews, and in 1919 Faisal wrote encouragingly to Zionist leader Felix Frankfurter, “We Arabs, especially the educated among us look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement.”
Tragically, pragmatists like Faisal did not carry the day. Instead, anti-Zionist Arab riots, instigated by the fanatical Husseini clan, were launched in 1920. London immediately went wobbly and embarked on a series of moves that first backtracked and then reversed its Balfour Declaration commitments. To assuage Arab demands, Britain brought Abdullah from Arabia (where the family ultimately lost control to the Saudis) to Eastern Palestine in November, 1920. By 1921, this immense area—today’s Jordan, 80 percent of Palestine as defined by the League of Nations and promised to the Jews by Balfour—had been ceded to the Arabs, leaving the Jews only the area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean.
In 1937, in response to intensified Arab violence, Britain’s Peel Commission called for further splitting even the 20 percent of Palestine still left to the Jews so as to create an additional Arab state within what was originally supposed to be Jewish Palestine. The Zionists reluctantly acquiesced, but the Arabs said no. By 1939, with the Nazi killing machine getting into lethal gear, Neville Chamberlain had completely reneged on the Balfour Declaration and blocked Jewish immigration to Palestine.
None of this can be blamed on Balfour, who deserves to be remembered as a friend of the Jews. True, statesmen do not act purely out of altruism; Balfour, like other British politicians, was partly motivated by an exaggerated sense of Zionist influence in the international arena, which the British hoped to exploit for the war effort. But Balfour also believed that Christian anti-Semitism had been a “disgrace” and, according to his biographer R.J.Q. Adams, hoped to make amends by providing the Jews with a “small notch” of territory. In 1925 he helped dedicate the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Like Theodor Herzl, Balfour may have assumed that British Jews would either thoroughly assimilate or choose to live in the Jewish homeland.
Ninety-four years after Balfour’s declaration, the right of the Jewish people to re-establish their national homeland is still rejected even by Palestinian Arab “moderates.” The unremitting threat of renewed violence remains the Arabs’ default position. Sparked by the Gilad Shalit deal, Arab violence in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza has seen an upswing. Cairo’s renewed efforts to bring Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas together this week will likely entail more militancy from Fatah, not greater flexibility from Hamas. In the words of Mahmoud Zahhar, the notion that Hamas will ever make peace with Israel is “insane.”
Sixty-four years after Palestinian Arabs rejected the partition plan, Abbas claims to be having second thoughts. Yet instead of negotiating with the Jewish state, he is forging ahead at the UN for unilateral statehood without making peace with Israel. Sadly, Abba Eban’s 1973 quip that the Arabs “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” holds stubbornly true. To be fair, time does not stand completely still: Abbas-like moderates are operating only 64 years behind real time. For the “militants” of Hamas, though, it is perpetually 1917.
By Ruth King on November 28th, 2011
http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/11/21/main-feature/1/in-november-the-arabs-said-no
There are no uneventful months in the tortured history of the Arab-Israel conflict. November is no exception. It was on November 2, 1917 that British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent Lord Rothschild, titular head of the British Jewish community, a letter—the Balfour Declaration—expressing the backing of the British government for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” And, as if to bookend the month, November 29th will mark the 64th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the 1947 Partition Plan, the two-state solution that was recklessly spurned by the Arabs in a rebuff that presaged the Arabs’ rejection of a Jewish homeland ever since.
Between these two November dates—specifically, on November 9—the Israel, Britain, and the Commonwealth Association held a gala anniversary dinner in Tel Aviv to mark Balfour’s pronouncement. Guests included Britain’s ambassador to Israel, the head of the European Union delegation, and ambassadors from several commonwealth countries (including those that reflexively vote against Jerusalem at the UN). In general, the Israeli government does not make too much of the occasion, though Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon addressed the Tel Aviv banquet. But Hamas makes it a point to issue an annual denunciation of the declaration, accompanied this year by a montage featuring photos of Israel’s leaders splattered with blood and a picture of Balfour wearing a devil’s horns and vampire’s fangs. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, routinely condemns the Balfour Declaration’s grant of rights to “those who had no connection” to the land—meaning the Jewish people.
This November also marks the 59th yahrzeit and the 137th anniversary of the birth of Chaim Weizmann, the distinguished chemist who was instrumental in fashioning the Zionist-British alliance that produced the Balfour Declaration. As Jonathan Schneer, not a Zionist sympathizer, notes in his book The Balfour Declaration, Weizmann’s achievement was never preordained. He had to overcome the influence of important assimilationist Jews like Edwin Montagu, who strenuously urged their government not to cooperate with the Zionists, and Grand Sharif Hussein of Mecca and his sons, the Emirs Abdullah and Faisal, who lobbied through British proxies. The Palestinian Arabs had scarcely any unique identity at the time, but Arab intellectuals in Syria argued against Zionism on grounds that Palestine was an integral part of Syria and could not be excluded from the magnanimous territorial bequest that Britain had made to the Arabs.
At the end of the day, Britain promised a sliver of the Middle East to the Jews and everything else to the Arabs. After World War I, the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the San Remo Conference in 1920 ratified Britain’s plans for Arab and Jewish self-determination in Palestine. Balfour expected that the Arabs would be willing to share a small sliver of the vast Mideast landscape with the Jews, and in 1919 Faisal wrote encouragingly to Zionist leader Felix Frankfurter, “We Arabs, especially the educated among us look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement.”
Tragically, pragmatists like Faisal did not carry the day. Instead, anti-Zionist Arab riots, instigated by the fanatical Husseini clan, were launched in 1920. London immediately went wobbly and embarked on a series of moves that first backtracked and then reversed its Balfour Declaration commitments. To assuage Arab demands, Britain brought Abdullah from Arabia (where the family ultimately lost control to the Saudis) to Eastern Palestine in November, 1920. By 1921, this immense area—today’s Jordan, 80 percent of Palestine as defined by the League of Nations and promised to the Jews by Balfour—had been ceded to the Arabs, leaving the Jews only the area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean.
In 1937, in response to intensified Arab violence, Britain’s Peel Commission called for further splitting even the 20 percent of Palestine still left to the Jews so as to create an additional Arab state within what was originally supposed to be Jewish Palestine. The Zionists reluctantly acquiesced, but the Arabs said no. By 1939, with the Nazi killing machine getting into lethal gear, Neville Chamberlain had completely reneged on the Balfour Declaration and blocked Jewish immigration to Palestine.
None of this can be blamed on Balfour, who deserves to be remembered as a friend of the Jews. True, statesmen do not act purely out of altruism; Balfour, like other British politicians, was partly motivated by an exaggerated sense of Zionist influence in the international arena, which the British hoped to exploit for the war effort. But Balfour also believed that Christian anti-Semitism had been a “disgrace” and, according to his biographer R.J.Q. Adams, hoped to make amends by providing the Jews with a “small notch” of territory. In 1925 he helped dedicate the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Like Theodor Herzl, Balfour may have assumed that British Jews would either thoroughly assimilate or choose to live in the Jewish homeland.
Ninety-four years after Balfour’s declaration, the right of the Jewish people to re-establish their national homeland is still rejected even by Palestinian Arab “moderates.” The unremitting threat of renewed violence remains the Arabs’ default position. Sparked by the Gilad Shalit deal, Arab violence in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza has seen an upswing. Cairo’s renewed efforts to bring Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas together this week will likely entail more militancy from Fatah, not greater flexibility from Hamas. In the words of Mahmoud Zahhar, the notion that Hamas will ever make peace with Israel is “insane.”
Sixty-four years after Palestinian Arabs rejected the partition plan, Abbas claims to be having second thoughts. Yet instead of negotiating with the Jewish state, he is forging ahead at the UN for unilateral statehood without making peace with Israel. Sadly, Abba Eban’s 1973 quip that the Arabs “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” holds stubbornly true. To be fair, time does not stand completely still: Abbas-like moderates are operating only 64 years behind real time. For the “militants” of Hamas, though, it is perpetually 1917.
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