Some pictures from some of our travels around the state.

Blennerhassett Island State Park (7/10/2010)

Dent’s Run Covered Bridge (9/11/2011)

Iron Bridge Over Cheat Lake (10/23/2011)

Prickett Fort Cemetery (10/30/2011)

Shepherdstown (4/6/2013)

Harpers Ferry (11/17/2012)

Morgantown was never proposed to be the state capital. It’s not one of the oldest areas of the state.

But it’s home, and I love it.

Central Elementary (1/29/2012)

Second Ward Annex (2/18/2012)

Main Campus (4/1/2012)

Stewart Hall (9/26/2010)

Stewart Hall (4/1/2012)

Sunnyside (3/23/2012)

Suncrest (12/15/2010)

Rail Trail (4/24/2009)

Suncrest

South Park (2/18/2012)

Arboretum (11/18/2012)

From this weekend:

Thank you, to all who served.

As we walked around Antietam, I was surprised at how large the area was. I have no experience with war (for which I am greatly thankful) so I really had no idea what to expect.

The day was beautiful, which made it even stranger to consider that 150 years ago so very many men had bled and died there.

Here are some of the pictures I took at Antietam–not many pictures of the battlefield–I mostly walked and reflected.

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Besides being sick for weeks keeping my away from here, we also went to Philadelphia last weekend.

Why Philadelphia in January? Because our friend Tania was on the east coast! (YAY)

But since I’d never been to Philadelphia, we made it an extra long weekend, and took in the sights.

There were a couple disappointments: Christ Church Cemetery is closed January and February, so I could peek in through one set of bars, but a brick wall blocked me from seeing the vast majority of the cemetery. And I would have enjoyed seeing the inside of one of the restored old homes, but for the most part, we had a lovely trip, and got to see almost everything we wanted.

Probably my favorite thing all weekend (besides seeing Tania and Nathan) was the Printing Office in Franklin Court.

The park ranger running the printing press was fabulous. There were a handful or so of kids when we walked in, and he was demonstrating the press, and showing them all the bits and telling them how things worked–it was really lovely.

The press he was using was set up for a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

The second press was set up to print various pamphlets that would have circulated in Franklin’s time running the printing office.

One of the things we learned was that the terms “Upper Case” and “Lower Case” came from typesetting. Capital letters were kept in the top boxes, hence “upper case.”

I asked my own questions, and purchased a copy of the Declaration that had been printed there.

We also went to the post office, where I mailed my postcards. I didn’t take any pictures, but the woman there was very nice, and told us about about some of the things Benjamin Franklin did as post master, including “franking” or marking mail with the signature B. Free Franklin.

Friends and family should look closely at the post mark on the postcards they receive, as it’s one of a kind.

I missed this on Monday, but want still to make note of its passing: 31 December was the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s signing the bill to allow for the statehood of WV.

It is interesting to note that the constitutionality of the creation of WV has been considered dubious. The section of note is as follows:

New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.

Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution

The legal maneuvering to get around this was the creation of the New Restored Government of Virginia.

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, EXECUTIVE DEP’T, WHEELING, June 21, 1861.

To His Excellency the President of the United States:

SIR: Reliable information has been received at this department from various parts of the State that large numbers of evil-minded persons have banded together in military organizations with intent to overthrow the Government of the State; and for that purpose have called to their aid like-minded persons from other States, who, in pursuance of such call, have invaded this Commonwealth. They are now making war on the loyal people of the State. They are pressing citizens against their consent into their military organization, and seizing and appropriating their property to aid in the rebellion.

I have not at my command sufficient military force to suppress this rebellion and violence. The Legislature cannot be convened in time to act in the premises; it therefore becomes my duty as Governor of this Commonwealth to call on the Government of the United States for aid to repress such rebellion and violence.

I therefore earnestly request that you will furnish a military force to aid in suppressing the rebellion, and to protect the good people of this Commonwealth from domestic violence.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant.

(Signed,) F.H. PEIRPOINT, Governor.

This restored government then petitioned Congress to make the western counties of Virginia a separate state.

We even had our own Declaration of Independence:

Declaration of the People of Virginia
Represented in Convention at Wheeling
June 13, 1861

The true purpose of all government is to promote the welfare and provide for the protection and security of the governed, and when any form or organization of government proves inadequate for, or subversive of this purpose, it is the right, it is the duty of the latter to alter or abolish it. The Bill of Rights of Virginia, framed in 1776, reaffirmed in 1860, and again in 1851, expressly reserves this right to the majority of her people, and the existing constitution does not confer upon the General Assembly the power to call a Convention to alter its provisions, or to change the relations of the Commonwealth, without the previously expressed consent of such majority. The act of the General Assembly, calling the Convention which assembled at Richmond in February last, was therefore a usurpation; and the Convention thus called has not only abused the powers nominally entrusted to it, but, with the connivance and active aid of the executive, has usurped and exercised other powers, to the manifest injury of the people, which, if permitted, will inevitably subject them to a military despotism.

The Convention, by its pretended ordinances, has required the people of Virginia to separate from and wage war against the government of the United States, and against the citizens of neighboring State, with whom they have heretofore maintained friendly, social and business relations:

It has attempted to subvert the Union founded by Washington and his co-patriots in the purer days of the republic, which has conferred unexampled prosperity upon every class of citizens, and upon every section of the country:

It has attempted to transfer the allegiance of the people to an illegal confederacy of rebellious States, and required their submission to its pretended edicts and decrees:

It has attempted to place the whole military force and military operations of the Commonwealth under the control and direction of such confederacy, for offensive as well as defensive purposes.

It has, in conjunction with the State executive, instituted wherever their usurped power extends, a reign of terror intended to suppress the free expression of the will of the people, making elections a mockery and a fraud:

The same combination, even before the passage of the pretended ordinance of secession, instituted war by the seizure and appropriation of the property of the Federal Government, and by organizing and mobilizing armies, with the avowed purpose of capturing or destroying the Capitol of the Union:

They have attempted to bring the allegiance of the people of the United States into direct conflict with their subordinate allegiance to the State, thereby making obedience to their pretended Ordinance, treason against the former.

We, therefore the delegates here assembled in Convention to devise such measures and take such action as the safety and welfare of the loyal citizens of Virginia may demand, having mutually considered the premises, and viewing with great concern, the deplorable condition to which this once happy Commonwealth must be reduced, unless some regular adequate remedy is speedily adopted, and appealing to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of our intentions, do hereby, in the name and on the behalf of the good people of Virginia, solemnly declare, that the preservation of their dearest rights and liberties and their security in person and property, imperatively demand the reorganization of the government of the Commonwealth, and that all acts of said Convention and Executive, tending to separate this Commonwealth from the United States, or to levy and carry on war against them, are without authority and void; and the offices of all who adhere to the said Convention and Executive, whether legislative, executive or judicial, are vacated.

Before signing the bill at the end of 1862, President Lincoln asked his cabinet the following:

Gentlemen of the Cabinet

A bill for an act entitled ‘An Act for the admission of the State of West-Virginia into the Union, and for other purposes,’ has passed the House of Representatives, and the Senate, and has been duly presented to me for my action.

I respectfully ask of each [of] you, an opinion in writing, on the following questions, towit:

1st. Is the said Act constitutional?

2d. Is the said Act expedient?

Your Obt. Servt.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

President Lincoln considered their responses and signed the bill on the 31st, with a memorandum containing some of the reasons he thought their legal maneuvering was successful.

The division of a State is dreaded as a precedent. But a measure made expedient by a war, is no precedent for times of peace. It is said that the admission of West-Virginia, is secession, and tolerated only because it is our secession. Well, if we call it by that name, there is still difference enough between secession against the constitution, and secession in favor of the constitution.

I believe the admission of West-Virginia into the Union is expedient.

This wasn’t the start of the process, nor the end, yet it was still a significant part in the creation of the State of West Virginia from territories that had previously been Virginia.

Restored Government of Virginia
Lincoln’s West Virginia Dilemma
Lincoln and West Virginia Statehood

This weekend we drove to Harpers Ferry.

For those of you not familiar with American History and/or the Civil War, Harpers Ferry is where John Brown seized the US Armory and Arsenal that was one of the events that brought the issue of slavery to, perhaps, a boil.

Of course, other things happened in Harpers Ferry, and the Appalachian Trail cuts through Harpers Ferry.

This is the building where John Brown and his group holed up. However, this is not the original location–the building has been moved multiple times, including, at one point, to Chicago.

Facing west.

Facing east, towards the Potomac River.

This monument marks the original location of the building.

The national park has images from the time of the Civil War posted about the city/park, and the fact this building was moved made it hard–initially–to orient the current city to what was in the pictures.

The fact that the two arsenals are ruins now, but were in the pictures, made it even more confusing to me.

But I eventually figured it out.

There are a LOT of ruins around Harpers Ferry. The ruins of St. John’s Episcopal Church particularly fascinated me, and I spent a lot of time wandering around them taking pictures. Enough pictures they’ll be a separate post.

Arsenal ruins: the park has signs with a picture showing the archeological dig of the foundation. The ground level here is about three feet higher than when the building was built.

Virginius Island is an abandoned area. There are ruins there of a water powered cotton mill and other water-operated machinery.

Ruins of bridge footers across the Potomac River.

Ruins of bridge footers across the Shenandoah River.

Stone stairs (here’s a picture that might give you a better idea of the steepness of the stairs.)

It was a gorgeous day, and the advantage of going in November, is there weren’t huge crowds of people.

When the presidency has come up, I’ve half jokingly commented that I’ve got problems with President Obama–he’s not liberal enough for me.

That’s actually pretty close to the truth.

This morning I listened to an interview with Robert Caro that crystallized those feelings, yet also made me feel better about the steps the president has made with the Affordable Care Act.

Robert Caro talked about President Johnson, in the hours and days after President Kennedy was assassinated, determining what he would do with the presidency.

His advisers were telling him to forget Civil Rights, that to put Civil Rights would be a waste of political capital and goodwill, to which Johnson replied,

“Then what the hell’s the presidency for?”

If those in office do not look out for the poor and the powerless, then they are wasting their time and wasting their power.

The President has the ability to being issues to the attention of the public. The President has what Theodore Roosevelt called the “Bully Pulpit“.

Please note that the definition of “bully” has changed significantly since TR’s time. President Roosevelt meant it as something excellent. He was referring to the wonderful opportunity presidents have to set the agenda, to inform the American people of issues that need to be addressed.

Theodore Roosevelt used his bully pulpit to create the National Parks System (something for which I am grateful.)

Franklin Roosevelt used his bully pulpit to draw the United States into World War II, to pull the American economy out of the Great Depression, and to put in place a social security system that would keep older Americans from ending their lives destitute.

Eisenhower created the US Interstate System.

John F. Kennedy put a man on the moon.

Lyndon Johnson helped pass Civil Rights legislation.

The things these men created and the laws they passed are public goods–they were created to make the United States–and the world–a better place.

Which brings us to President Obama.

As a liberal, my biggest concern is for the American people–especially for those who through no fault of their own have ended up in a hand-to-mouth existence.

Despite being a godless liberal, I believe that religion (all major religions) tell us as Americans (and humans) how to treat each other.

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’

–Matthew 25:34-40

Feel free to tithe to your church, but that doesn’t get you out of caring for the rest of the sick, poor and needy in the US–the ones who aren’t part of your church, or are not part of the small group of people your religious group helps.

…he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

–Luke 10:30-37

I have little use for organized religion, but I do believe religious teachings can be guides for how we should treat each other.

I believe that treating others well, and caring for those in need, is the foundation for why we have government.

Which brings me back around to what the presidency is for.

I believe that unlike Congress, which exists to look after the needs of citizens of the states they represent, the President should look after the needs of the entire US population–and of primary concern should be the needs of the poor and the powerless.

My desire is for the President to take a stand on issues that affect the poor and the powerless.

I am very glad that he took first steps with the Affordable Care Act, and my hope is that with time, these programs with strengthen.

My hope is also that the president and those in Congress will remember they are to act as advocates for all Americans, and that it is their moral duty to look out for those without power.

Otherwise, what the hell’s the presidency for?

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (more…)

There are no living veterans of WWI.

Every day, hundreds of WWII veterans die.

Many of those who served in WWII, also served in the Korean War.

The relationship between Americans and its veterans changed, during the Vietnam War. Many of those who served have now reached the age of retirement.

For many Americans today, the Gulf War is the first war they remember. Many mistakenly believed this heralded a sea change in the way wars would be fought in the future.

Twelve years in, we are still fighting in Afghanistan, and our soldiers continue to die there.

The War in Iraq officially ended, but men and women are still serving there.

Casualties of the combined Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Doris Miller, hero of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The radio program Snap Judgement has a program on soldiers this year. I highly recommend listening to it.

But above all, my love and thanks to all those who have served, and to those who continue to serve in the military. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
‘Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.

Taps, by Gen. Daniel Butterfield

As we dawdled in getting our hotel room, we didn’t get a room close to Williamsburg. The nice thing about this is we got to drive around the Colonial Parkway, which is gorgeous.

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So my cousin Liz graduated from college this past weekend, so we took advantage of the trip and wandered around Williamsburg a bit. Hadn’t been there since I was in 6th grade, so it was pretty much all new.

We didn’t pay $40/person to tour the houses, because we only had part of an afternoon. Despite that, it was fascinating.

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We took a long weekend and spent two days wandering around the Washington DC Mall. Although it was cool, the weather was so lovely we spent almost all our time outside.

We so most of the major monuments, including the WWII Memorial and the MLK Jr Memorial, neither of which was on the Mall last time we visited.

The Washington Monument is visible from just about everywhere.

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This is gonna be in a couple parts, because 1) I took a lot of pictures and 2) I have a lot of memories.

As I mentioned previously, every school I attended in Morgantown is gone, at least as a school. The first school I went to, Second Ward, is now an apartment complex (I have three pictures of it in my Flickr set) but the school for which I have the fondest memories was Second Ward Annex. It opened in 1939 as the Second Ward Negro school, but after desegregation, shifted to an annex to the main school.

I went to second and third grade there, and walked there and back every day.

This is the first view of the school, if you’re walking down White from Wilson (which I did).

Here is the second flight of steps up to the school.
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