December 1963
Features
His family and aides knew John Renolds as a bachelor whose only love was soldiering. The tragic aftermath of his death at Gettysburg revealed one of the Civil War’s most poignant romances
In San Francisco Warren G. Harding lay dead, and the nation was without a Chief Executive. In the early morning hours, by the light of a flickering oil lamp, an elderly Vermonter swore in his son as the thirtieth President of the United States
Take a cup of Choctaw and add Frenchmen: aventuriers de bois and Acadian refugees from Nova Scotia
Blend in a Mississippi Bubble, a sprinkling of fugitives from justice, and a few filles de joie
Now sift in Catalans, Spanish planters, gens de couleur , and a large gombo nègre
Make a Code Noir and some Quadroon Balls
Stir together gently, adding Dalmatian oystermen, Filipino shrimpers, Germans, and “Kaintucks” (often rather tough)
Add a pinch of pirates
Simmer slowly under six flags
Serves most of southern Louisiana
The first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution might have earned a fortune if he had chosen to commercialize his inventions. But American science would have suffered
Its diners were sumptuous, its sleepers luxurious, its lounges a rendezvous for the nation’s notables. And it even made a regular gambling stop at Reno
Hundreds of miles from salt water, two tiny, improvised fleets hammered away at each other in one of the decisive naval engagements of the War of 1812
Medicine was primitive and their knowledge of it limited, but in their hazardous journey to the Pacific, Lewis and Clark lost only one patient
Departments
READING, WRITING, AND HISTORY

American Heritage is proud to host the
National Portal to
Historic Collections
Recently added:
- American Revolution Center
- National Museum of Civil War Medicine
- National Museum of the U.S. Navy
- Manassas National Battlefield
- Maryland State House
In association with the
American Association for State and Local History
Why do we need a national nonprofit membership society for American history?
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“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
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65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
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Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
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40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
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“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
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The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
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Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
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The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.



