Tag: bacheler Civil War coat

Mel Brooks, Terry Gross, Elaine Pagels, Wynton Marsalis, Jack Whitten and 20 others to receive highest NEA and NEH National Medals Sept 22. New Smithsonian National Museum of American History opens Sept 24!

Posted on by Catherine

24 NEA National Medal of Arts and  NEH National Humanities Medals will be awarded to artists from our country in a special ceremony on September 22, 2016. NEA and NEH “serve different constituents”. Right. Anyhow, celebrating 24 exciting nominees rather than 12 is great! The event will be live streamed at www.whitehouse.gov/live. Both agencies are celebrating their 50th anniversary and request and receive nearly identical budgets, ie. 146 million FY2015.

Two days after the medal ceremony, the newest Smithsonian museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture,  will open and I’m told it’s a hot ticket.

NEH National Medal (awarding since 1996) recipients

Rudolfo Anaya (author), Jose Andres (chef), Ron Chernow (author), Louise Gluck (poet), Terry Gross (radio host), Wynton Marsalis (composer/musician- he received an NEA one in 2005), James McBride (author), Louis Menand (author), Elaine Pagels (historian), Prison University Project (San Quentin),  Abraham Verghese (Physician/author), Isabel Wilkerson (journalist)

There are past NEH recipients with Massachusetts ties. A direct Gloucester match includes Hilton Kramer (2004 NEH). I bet Israel Horovitz and Deborah Cramer will be announced one year soon!  Louis Menand to be honored next week wrote about TS Eliot. Prior years there are Gloucester connections like Monuments Men Foundation (NEH 2007/ Walker Hancock.) A wider North Shore net pulls out big names like John Updike/Ipswich (NEH 2003). From the NEH press release: “Since 1996, when the first National Humanities Medal was given, 175 individuals have been honored, inclusive of this year’s recipients. Thirteen organizations have also received medals. A complete list of previous honorees is available at this link:  http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals” 

Rudolfo Anaya’s novel Bless Me, Ultima, is a part of the NEA Big Read, grants awarded mostly for one town events with a book that’s pre-selected. Our local  Cape Ann Reads effort will target 4 communities and as Deborah French, Director TOHP Burnham Library comments, “ WE will create one book to be read by four communities!”

NEA National Medal (awarding since 1984) recipients

Mel Brooks (cinema/broadway/tv), Sandra Cisneros (author), Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Morgan Freeman (actor), Phillip Glass (composer), Berry Gordy (music producer/Motown), Santiago Jimenez Jr (musician), Moises Kaufman (theater), Ralph Lemon (dance), Audra McDonald (singer/actor), Luis Valdez (playwright/film/tv), and Jack Whitten (painter)

Any U.S. citizen or group who, in the President’s judgment, “…are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.” [U.S.C. Sec. 955b (b) (1)] Have you submitted a nomination? You can- here’s how. And here’s a link to a list of the prior NEA National Medal recipients.

 

 

Deborah Cramer bird watch report: Piping plovers, oyster catcher, red knots sandpipers

Posted on by Catherine

Deborah Cramer update related to the Narrow Edge GMG post:

“Piping plovers are also on Coffin’s Beach, an oyster catcher has come into Essex Bay, and in a few weeks, and right now the red knots are up in the Arctic nesting.  They’ll be heading back later this summer, and some will pause to refuel in Essex Bay.”

 

David Eliot Gould’s 1895 entry on piping plovers reads like the summer of 2016:

“From many of its resorts along the Atlantic Coast, where in former days it was most abundant, it has been driven by the advance of fashion and the influx of the summer’s passing population, until it is now found chiefly on the more retired parts of the coast where it is most free from molestation.”  

I’ve added the illustration. The artist, “Ernest” Sheppard, illustrated scientific and natural history, primarily birds, including History of North American Birds in 1874.  He was on the staff of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia; in 1969 he was one member of the 3 man ornithological committee of the Academy that pleaded for more funding and care in their department. So, what did they ask for “to ensure the preservation of the best collection of birds on the continent, and, with one exception, the largest in the world” ?

First they recounted recent acquisitions such as a rare egg of the Great Auk. Then they explained that the repository required more funding,  space, display,  inventory systems, and conservation (a tricky endeavor with these specimens.) Insects were on the warpath! Poison was effective.

The 2016 restoration of the Civil War coat and display options may resonate.

Sheppard
illustration from the 1895 book by David Eliot Gould, North American Shore Birds; a history of the snipes, sandpipers, plovers and their allies, inhabiting the beaches and marshes, illustration by Edwin Sheppard.

 

From the ornithological committee’s submission to the annual report, excerpted from Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Volume 21, 1869

1869 PA Academy

 

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS – $4000 reached for the Bacheler Civil War Coat!!!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

George and Charles King write:

O.K. everybody, all of us may have just saved a one-of-a-kind Civil War coat for the nation! With an amazing new on-line contribution in the last 24 hours for $1000 the fundraising for the restoration itself (if not the final display box) has come to a close!

We have raised $4000!

We hoped to have the coat fixed by the time we were in Gloucester High School. Thanks to everyone who worked towards this goal, the fundraising for the repairs has been completed before we’ve even graduated sixth grade!

A possible location for the coat that we like in the High School will be in front of this double display you can see in the photograph below and attached. The initial estimate to repair and mount the coat was $3500, but that was before we got involved. That $3500 was for a two-dimensional skinny archival display case.

We hope the coat will be freestanding within a museum quality display case that we can walk around and see from all directions. That makes the estimate bigger because the case is bigger. If it’s freestanding we may not need a hand crank. Our mom is pricing the cases (they need to be special UV plexi and other stuff). You can see examples of what they might look likehere. Some of them breakdown for travel.

The big clear display box will be mounted on top of a wooden cabinet. We were excited to see an example of a beautiful cabinet created by the GHS wood shop! Maybe they could do the pedestal for the case. See the close up photograph we took on the day that Caroline Enos interviewed us for The Gillnetter.

Please share our letter to the president on Facebook and everywhere for us, because we would like to know if there is another coat out there like this one. His friend was given one, too, so there may be another one. We think that it just might be the only one in the whole country and we want people to know about the Gloucester Civil War coat that was given by a slave to Albert Bacheler after escaping Libby prison to safety. He kept the coat to teach generations of Gloucester students. Also, President Obama could give us a great quote for the coat. 

You can see your quotes for the coats and other information on the youcaring site. Thank you everybody, all the coat supporters, and the news –Good Morning Gloucester, Cape Ann Beacon, Bay State Banner, Gloucester Daily Times, and The Gillnetter– for spreading the story and helping save this coat.

Surprised and grateful,

Charles King and George King

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEXFIjLjysy/

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AWESOME NEWS FROM OUR AWESOME FRIENDS CHARLES AND GEORGE KING!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

This just in from George and Charles King:

WE HAVE AWESOME NEWS!!! Our Awesome Gloucester grant proposal for the Bacheler Civil War Coat has made it to the semi-finals! Now it’s up to our 3-5 minute pitch next Monday 7PM at the Gloucester House to bring it home!! Three other good projects will also try.

Awesome Gloucester wrote:“we encourage you to invite as many of your friends, family, and supporters as possible. The more the merrier!”

That’s where you come in. We know it’s school vacation and some might have plans. If you can come, we’ll be ecstatic. Let us know! Either way, you’re all part of what everybody has worked towards for the coat. It would be impossible without you guys. Thank you for everything. If we get this, we’ve done it! The coat will be fixed, mounted and displayed!

Sincerely,

Charles and George

So excited and looking forward to coming George and Charles. Congratulations!!!

To donate to help rehabilitate Gloucester’s historic Civil War coat:

Visit You Caring and follow instructions on how to contribute.

Send a check with “Civil War coat” written in the check’s memo field to The Gloucester Fund, 45 Middle St., Gloucester, MA 01930, or Committee for the Arts, c/o Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Ave., Gloucester MA 01930.

charles-and-george-king-civil-war-coat-2-kim-smith

BREAKING NEWS: CHARLES AND GEORGE KING AWARDED $1,000.00!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Charles and George King Civil War Coat Kim SmithO’Maley Middle School students Charles and George King were presented with a check for $1,000.00 by a group of distinguished historians. The gift will be used toward the restoration of the Alfred Bacheler Civil War coat. Bacheler was an escaped POW during the Civil War and Gloucester High School principal for twenty years (1884-1914).

Charles and George gave an outstanding  presentation before fellow students, teachers, friends, family, and the historians, which call themselves the Gathering (they “gather” together monthly to discuss history and share books). Members include Dan McDougall, Ken Novak, Hugh Collier, Herb Collins, Greg Neal, Sargent Goodchild, Carl Gustin, John McCormick, and Tony Sutton.

The King brother’s passion for this project is infectious!

Charles and George King Civil War Coat -2 Kim Smith

Funds raised beyond the $3,500.00 will go towards creating a permanent display at the high school. There are several ways to donate:

Visit YouCaring.com, and search for “Civil War Bacheler coat caper” and follow instructions on how to contribute: Link: Civil War Coat

Send a check with “Civil War coat” written in the check’s memo field to The Gloucester Fund, 45 Middle St., Gloucester, MA 01930, or Committee for the Arts, c/o Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Ave., Gloucester MA 01930.

Charles and George King Civil War Coat -3 Kim Smith

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDq5fvEDyj1/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDq7RQyjynl/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDq02NzDypa/

 

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Read More about the project here: Twins embark on Civil War coat caper