Visiting families who Escaped the Nazis: Life as a British National Health Service Worker

From escaping burning hospitals to visiting families who escaped from the Nazis, John Rooney has met extraordinary people throughout his career with the British National Health Service (NHS). Starting as a student at 19 years old, he still works there over 50 years later. Here, Alice Cullinane explains John Rooney’s story.

An engraving of Ely House in London, including St. Etheldreda's chapel, which was visited by John Rooney to find a patient in more recent times. Engraving by William Henry Prior and based on a 1772 drawing.

John lived in the grounds of Friern Hospital, a psychiatric hospital close to Colney Hatch in London. During an outbreak of flames, he had to run into the burning hospital, leaving his two young children at home. He recalls the experience being "really surreal…the corridor was just roaring in flames." People were "just wandering around in daze", with there being no organized plan. Fires in the hospital often were caused by patients smoking in places they should not be. However, the fire’s cause was vague due to beliefs of “an arsonist in that part of London.” Friern Hospital had the longest corridor in Europe and contained in-mates such as Aaron Kosminski, Jack the Ripper suspect,  alongside railway rapist and killer John Duffy. (1) The Guardian newspaper published an article which blasted the British mental hospital in 1965. The grimness of buildings, the size of the wards, the problem with staff recruitment and the pressure of work were all criticized. Due to multiple reasons, it was decided in 1989 that the hospital should close, with patients reintegrated into the community where possible. (2)

The NHS worker remembers going to a central London church to find a patient. "The church had a crypt below, and it was like another world - completely dimly lit, and the whole floor was just a sea of people." The church was St. Etheldreda's Church in Holborn, London, the oldest Catholic Church in England. In 1925, the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments scheduled St Etheldreda’s as an ancient monument, and worthy of preservation. During the German Bombing Blitz, St Etheldreda’s was hit by many explosions, with the WW2 bomb damage taking seven years to repair. (3) John remembers everybody in the crypt was lying down, “with alcohol, drug problems.”

Eerie events and Nazi Germany Survivors 

John also worked at Brookwood Hospital in Surrey, south-east England, known as the second ‘county Asylum.’ While working at the hospital, he was sent through the fields, to “help them get a dead patient out of the canal.” The hospital had a dairy, cobblers, sewage farm and chapel, located near the Basingstoke Canal. John remembers the patients face, “covered in green weed” and as a late teenage student, found the experience “very dramatic…like something out a horror film.” Patients were admitted to the hospital for various reasons; including Ethel Mary Short, taken in due to 'puberty' and Mary Jane Perry, due to a 'disappointment in love.' (4)

Alongside eerie events, the 72-year-old also visited patients with surprising and shocking stories. “There was an elderly Jewish lady who lived in one of the really upmarket areas of London. She escaped the Nazis' because her husband was tall and blonde - even though her husband was Jewish." The stereotype of a Jews’ appearance was ‘red hair’, as ‘red hair is commonly a recessive trait’, and more represented in ‘endogamous populations.’ (5) The Nazis’ saw Jews as a danger to the ‘Aryan race’, and were to be ‘removed from Central Europe, through expulsion, enslavement, starvation and extermination.’ (6) The couple, fortunately, escaped their death from the Nazis. “When they got stopped at the border, they (were) asked if they were Jewish. Her husband said to the guard, ‘do I look like a Jew?’, and they let them through, and they lived.” There were many methods to help the immigration of Jews, such as ‘Kindertransport’, which rescued nearly 10 000 children from Nazi Germany. The British government allowed Jewish children to immigrate without visas, but sadly, the children were forced to leave their parents. (7) 

John has also noticed the staffing change in the NHS, “people nowadays say they are short-staffed, but they have no idea what really short-staffed is." John was by himself in a ward with 126 patients; however maintaining a positive attitude, he said, "you just do what you can." John loves that "there are so many different things you can do…the NHS is very interesting." He has a great passion working for the NHS, finding it “satisfying because I believe in what I do.” From working in the hospital that housed Jack the Ripper, to visiting those who lived to tell their phenomenal story, John has many more tales to tell!

Now, you read Alice’s article about growing up in post World War Two Liverpool here.

References

1-     Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friern_Hospital#National_Health_Service

2-     https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/friern.html

3-     http://www.stetheldreda.com/index.php/history-of-st-etheldredas/

4-     https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/health/historical-archives-surrey-mental-hospital-9382714

5-     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Jews#Physical_features

6-     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race

7-     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_escaping_from_German-occupied_Europe_to_the_United_Kingdom

The Melungeons: Legends of Southern Appalachia

Different regions of America have always included many different groups of people. As America has become more diverse in the last century, a question can be posed: Has America always had multiracial groups of people? An unexpected answer to this quandary exists in the southern United States in the Appalachian Mountains with the Melungeons. Roy Williams explains.

An image entitled "A typical malungeon", published in August 1890 in the Nashville Sunday American. It is based on a drawing by Will Allen Dromgoole, available here.

Within the Appalachian Mountains, from the mountainous regions of Tennessee and Virginia, to parts of Kentucky, there has traditionally been a group of people known as the Melungeons. The origins and ethnicity of the Melungeons are a point of debate; however there are multiple documents and cultural similarities that can be used to determine who the Melungeons most likely are.

The debate regarding the origin of the Melungeon people is an old one and can be seen in the testimony of Captain Lewis Jarvis regarding his encounters with Melungeon people in his writing in the Hancock County News in 1903, “Much has been said and written about the inhabitants of Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater in Hancock County, Tenn. They have been derisively dubbed with the name “Melungeons” by the local white people who have lived here with them. It is not a traditional name or tribe of Indians. Some have said these people were here when the white people first explored this country. Others say they are a lost tribe of Indians having no date of their existence here, traditionally or otherwise.” (Jarvis 1903)

Origins

The term Melungeon is a point of debate having similar relations in multiple languages but no definitive origin. In French, the word Mélange refers to mixture giving the context of a mixed racial group. Older words such as Melan in Greek refer to one who has dark skin. The Turkish also have a term known as melun that can mean cursed soul. Whether these words have any relation to the modern term Melungeon is a point of debate and can only further stoke the mystery of who the Melungeon people of Appalachia are. 

Physical descriptions of the Melungeon people generally characterize them as dark olive-skinned people with straight dark hair and a large variety of eye colors. These descriptions and their status as a mysterious group of people who largely stayed isolated among themselves have sparked many theories as to the possible ethnicity of the Melungeon people. Many have theorized that the Melungeons were mixed race children of Native American and European descent. Still some point to the Melungeons as having Middle Eastern ancestry explaining their darker appearance, describing them as closer to Turkish people. Others have pointed to similarities in the African American community that can be compared to the physical attributes of the Melungeon people. In this regard, a theory has been postulated that points to the Jamestown hypothesis. The Jamestown hypothesis argues that the Melungeon people are the result of unions between European and African indentured servants that lived in close proximity. These unions created children who were neither African or European and therefore became social rejects of the larger European society. With the issues of social isolation and racial prejudice, these mixed-race people moved to the Appalachian Mountains to live in isolation. 

Another theory argues that the Melungeons are neither Native American nor African American but the descendants of shipwrecked Portuguese sailors who began living in the Appalachian Mountains. Another theory that also points to a European origin is the concept that the Melungeons were the result of Desoto’s soldiers’ sexual encounters with Native American women during their travels through the Appalachian Mountains. These theories fail to recognize the recent DNA evidence which presents the Melungeons as a largely multi-racial people with ethnic differences between families. Recent DNA evidence points to ethnic origins ranging from Native American, African, European, and Middle Eastern heritages. The improvements in genetic testing have allowed scholars and genealogists a greater understanding in their knowledge about the Melungeon people.

Melungeons in History

While the current genealogical research allows scholars a greater understanding of who the Melungeon people are, there are still many complex narratives revolving around their history. While the Melungeons were certainly a multi-racial group of people they retained many rights that were not normally prevalent at the time in the United States. Most Melungeons had the right to vote as well as the right to military service. Most Melungeon records show that people who were known as Melungeon were ‘Free Persons of Color’ or FPCs. In this regard, Melungeons retained enough European ancestry to still participate in many institutions of the United States but still be treated with racial scorn and remain isolated from broader social acceptance. While the Melungeon people faced social isolation due to their non-white heritage, they rarely faced legal penalties for it. However, in 1924 the Virginia Racial Integrity Act did legally designate anyone in the state of Virginia as White or not, requiring doctors to fill out identification forms of race. As stated in The Racial Integrity “Act, 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the State Registrar of Vital Statistics may as soon as practicable after the taking effect of this act, prepare a form whereon the racial composition of any individual, as Caucasian, negro, Mongolian, American Indian, Asiatic Indian, Malay, or any mixture thereof, or any other non-Caucasic strains, and if there be any mixture, then the racial composition of the parents and other ancestors, in so far as ascertainable, so as to show in what generation such mixture occurred, may be certified by such individual, which form shall be known as a registration certificate.”(State of Virginia 1924) The Virginia Racial Integrity Act also made the intermarrying of races, known as miscegenation, a felony, directly targeting multiracial communities.

In 2005 the Melungeon DNA project was started to understand the question of the genetic origin of the Melungeon people. The study consisted of testing multiple people who had confirmed Melungeon ancestors. The results pointed to a conclusion that male ancestors had African genetic origins and female ancestors had European genetic origins. Only one tested subject had Native American genetic origins. While the Melungeon DNA project certainly proves that the Melungeon people were a multiracial ethnic group it fails to account for the many other people who are descended from Melungeon ancestry but remain ignorant to their history. With greater testing and advances in DNA research a broader conclusion will be established in understanding some of the missing links in the Melungeon people’s genetic history.

Forgotten culture?

Oddly enough, much of the isolated culture of the Melungeon people has largely been forgotten due to assimilation in broader American society. Most of the people who would be considered Melungeon would never have used that term in identifying one another as it could have amounted to a racial slur used by suspicious neighbors pointing out the oddity of their dark skinned enigmatic mountain cohabitants. The technological revolution of the 1990s has allowed many who had forgotten their heritage to rediscover the truth of their origins and boldly remember their Melungeon ancestors. While DNA evidence may try to pin down and determine the exact genetic makeup of the Melungeon people that remain, a definitive conclusion can never be made as the Melungeon group of people seemed to include a broad swath of multiracial people who represented a group that worked as a catch all for those that weren’t White and desired to live in isolation away from the social failures of a society that valued racial purity above community. The research going forward in understanding the mystery of the Melungeon people will only be answered in full by their descendants who have forgotten their ancestry.

Finally, some common Melungeon last names include: Bowling (Bolin), Bunch, Chavis (Chavez), Collins, Epps, Evans, Fields, Francisco, Gibson, Gill, Goins, Goodman, Minor, Mise, Moore, Mullins, Osborn(e), Phipps, Reeves (Rives, Rieves, Reeves, Reaves), Ridley (Riddle), Rodrigues, Stowers, Vanover, Williams, and Wise.

Now, you can read Roy’s past article on the Armenian Genocide of 1914-23 here.

Bibliography

http://www.historical-melungeons.com/jarvis.html

http://melungeon.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-melungeons/

https://dla.acaweb.org/digital/search/searchterm/%20Melungeons/mode/exact

http://jackgoins.blogspot.com/

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/coremelungeon/about/background

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~appalachian/genealogy/melungeons/THE_GRAYSVILLE_MELUNGEONS.txt

http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/

https://dla.acaweb.org/digital/collection/King43/id/91

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/racial_integrity_laws_of_the_1920s

A Maverick in 1920s London: Kate Meyrick

The booming 1920s were a decade of great change in many countries. Following the pain of World War I, many experienced happier times. Here, Tom Daly explains the story of a woman who owned nightclubs in 1920s London that were attended by some of the most famous in society.

Kate Meyrick in the 1920s. Available here.

The ‘roaring ‘20s’ is sometimes seen as a uniquely American phenomenon, while Europe emerged gingerly from a catastrophic war that had torn the continent apart. Yet the glamour of New York and Chicago was still matched by some of Europe’s more prosperous cities in the 1920s. Paris was home to a lively jazz scene, Berlin developed a reputation as a wonderfully decadent and sexually liberated city, and London became a hub for hedonism and indulgence among disillusioned war veterans and the more optimistic generation that came after them. At the center of London’s nightlife was a small Irish woman who ran numerous successful nightclubs, flaunted her wealth and celebrity in front of an incensed British Home Secretary, and who was mother to eight children. Her name was Kate Meyrick.

Meyrick was unabashedly outrageous. After living a relatively privileged life until her marriage fell apart in 1919, she threw herself in to the murky world of London’s emerging nightclub scene and established herself as its Queen. Unbothered by scrapes with the law, fiercely protective of her workers and immensely proud of her establishments, she basked in the resentment of the British establishment yet still managed to maintain her family’s place at the top of society – two of her daughters would marry into the peerage. ‘Ma Meyrick’ was ambitious, flamboyant and engaging. In 1920s London, that made her exactly the type of person who could make a success of themselves.

Background

Kate Meyrick was born Kate Evelyn Nason on August 7, 1875 in Dun Laoghaire, which was then called Kingstown, near Dublin. Her father, John, was a wealthy doctor but tragically died when Kate was just one. Her mother, Sarah, found a second husband in a Lancashire clergyman and took her two children with her to England, but died herself when Kate was just seven. Now orphans, Kate and her older sister Ethel moved back to Dublin to brought up by their grandmother. She attended Alexandra College as a teenager and showed early signs of her disregard for normal conventions, claiming that she was the first woman to ride a bike in Dublin. 

Kate grew into a petite young woman with a slender frame and striking dark features, and when she was 19 she married Ferdinand Meyrick, who like her father was a doctor. The couple moved to Hampshire in southern England and settled into a comfortable existence where they could afford to send all of their eight children to elite private schools. Luckily for the Meyricks their sons were not old enough to fight in the First World War but it was still a time of turbulence for Kate, who filed for divorce from Ferdinand in 1910 but was reconciled with him until 1919. Though they separated in 1919, they never actually got divorced.

Rise in London

With three sons at Harrow and three daughters at Roedean, two of Britain’s most elite schools, the newly single Meyrick was facing an uphill battle to fund her children’s education. So, she moved to London and set about amassing her own fortune. In April 1919 she bought a share in Dalton’s, a nightclub in Leicester Square owned by George Dalton Murray, who quickly spotted her potential and employed Meyrick as the club’s manager. Under her management Dalton’s developed a reputation as a brothel with a more friendly touch for troubled young war veterans seeking sex and companionship. This was exactly the case Meyrick made when the club was raided by police in 1920, as she protested in court that the women she employed offered comfort to disillusioned and sometimes disfigured men who had returned from war. Her protests did not work, and she was forced to pay a fine and close the club.

If Meyrick was upset at the closing of Dalton’s, she didn’t show it – she was moving on to bigger things. In 1921 she opened the 43 club in Soho, which was to become one of 1920s London’s most notorious spots. Amongst a backdrop of jazz music and a never-ending supply of alcohol and drugs, it was in the 43 club that aristocracy mixed with the newly wealthy, where royalty mixed with up-and-coming gangsters. The club was frequented by royalty from all over Europe, as well as writers, politicians and even members of the IRA, who headed to the 43 for a night of celebration in November 1921 after stealing a huge haul of munitions from British troops in London. Welcoming this type of clientele did have its risks, but the Meyrick’s diminutive appearance disguised her phenomenal ability to control even the most violent men. Meyrick didn’t care who you were or what your background was – as long as you had a thick wallet and pristine clothes, you were welcome in her club.

Meyrick founded several other nightclubs in the decade, including the Silver Slipper, the Manhattan, and the Folies Bergeres, but it was the 43 that remained the jewel in her crown. Not only did she accumulate a fortune but she also became a celebrity, known affectionately as ‘Ma Meyrick’ and facilitating one of her daughters’ marriage to a Baron and the marriage of another daughter to an Earl.

Legal Troubles

Meyrick’s first brush with the law came in 1924, when she was sentenced to six months in prison for selling alcohol in the 43 club without a license. The sentence was protested by King Ferdinand of Romania and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden, showing the array of glamorous customers she could boast, but the pleas on her behalf fell on deaf ears and she was forced to serve her sentence. In all, she would serve five prison sentences over the next ten years, mostly for licensing offenses. 

That year, a new Home Secretary was appointed by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Sir William Joynson-Hicks was an austere man who, like many people of his generation who were children of the Victorian age, was worried about the morals of the country in the decadent 1920s. He developed an obsession with the nightclubs that had sprung up across London and was determined to harass them as far as the law would permit, but Kate Meyrick’s clubs, despite the handful of short sentences she served for licensing offenses, always seemed to be out of his reach. In March 1928, he finally found out why.

Sergeant George Goddard of the Metropolitan police had a modest salary but managed to live in a huge townhouse in London and drive two expensive cars. He also happened to be the man who was responsible for keeping an eye on the 43 club. Suspicious, Joynson-Hicks ordered a raid on the club without informing Goddard, and finally found what he was looking for. In 1929 Meyrick was convicted of bribing a police officer and sentenced to 15 months hard labor.

Final years and death

Meyrick was released from her sentence early in 1930, but the world she returned to was very different to the one she had left. While she was in prison, the Wall Street Crash had tanked the global economy and effectively ended London’s nightclub scene for the time being. Struggling to attract customers and facing a police force that had been cleaned up in the fallout of the Goddard affair, Meyrick got herself in more trouble and returned to prison in 1931. During this sentence she started writing her memoirs, Secrets of the 43, but it was banned almost as soon as it was published in 1933. Too many powerful people had a distinct interest in not having their nightclub antics in the 1920s being common knowledge.  

Not that this censorship ever bothered Meyrick – she was already dead. Her years of fast living had left her frail and she contracted pneumonia during her final stint in prison. She died in London on January 19, 1933 at the age of 57 and was buried in Kensal Rise, London. Her funeral was attended by all of her children and even her estranged husband, who appeared inconsolable during the service.

The story of Kate Meyrick was not a rags-to-riches story, yet it was still one of a woman defying the odds. A single mother in her mid-40s, she could have been forgiven for feeling sorry for herself and devoting her energy to her children. She did devote her energy to her children in a way – she always maintained that paying school fees was the only reason she had gone into the nightclub business – but she had certainly made something of herself in the process. She was shrewd and disdainful of convention, perfectly encapsulating the era she operated in, and a character so colorful and extraordinary as her deserves to be remembered.

Now, you can also read Tom’s articles on the Princess Alice Disaster on London’s River Thames here, 14th century French female pirate Jeanne de Clisson here, and why Tom loves history here.

Finally, read more from Tom at the Ministry of History here.

The 1950s Christmas: The Christmas that Became the Future

There have been few periods in human history that have brought about as major changes as the mid-20th century. A big change that was brought about during this time was how we have come to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Here, Amanda L. Walton looks at a 1950s Christmas and its parallels to a modern Christmas.

President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie at the White House in December 1962. Many of the Christmas practices of the 1960s - and to the present day - came from the 1950s.

The 1950s were a time of pride within the American culture. The space race was starting, and World War II had just ended. Families were prospering in ways that had not been possible before. There was enough food on the tables, people could afford cozy neat homes in residential neighborhoods, shopping became a popular pastime of American housewives, and middle-class families were able to live better than ever before (or since). 

The extra money that people had brought about a new level of consumerism that marked the second transitional change in the way that we celebrate Christmas. In her book, Midcentury Christmas: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945 to 1970, Sarah Archer argues that the mid-20th century was the second time that Christmas has changed. She argues that first it was the Victorian Era with the myth of Santa Claus and then the mid-20th century which created the desire for the cozy Christmas that is still enjoyed today.

A Look at Mid-20th Century Christmas Traditions

Many of the Christmas traditions that continue to be practiced today originated in the mid-20th century. Below are a few that are notable.

Christmas Ornaments 

The mass production of Christmas ornaments was first seen with Shiny Brite (and yes, I have some of these from a local thrift store score!). These are popular collector items today and something that as a collector myself I have always been excited to obtain. During the 1930s all of the ornaments that were purchased were hand blown in Germany. The process of mass production allowed for ornaments to be affordable and obtainable by all families. 

The Tinsel Tree

I have to admit that I have a weakness for tinsel trees. My husband bought me one for our third Christmas in our new home. We plan to purchase a new one complete with a spinning base (ours only has the color wheel and a recent Rainbow Light that we picked up at an antique shop for $10) when we purchase our dream mid-20th century home that we are currently in the market for. The tinsel tree offered a space-age adaptation to an old classic and has since become the main defining decoration of the mid-20th century.

Crafting was Popular

Magazines at the time show all of the unique crafts that women could make within their own homes. A lot of the crafts featured used aluminum foil as it was being heavily produced post-war. Women were encouraged to grab their roll of aluminum foil through advertisements and craft tutorials in magazines. 

The Mass Consumerism of the Mid-20th Century

One of the things that changed drastically during the mid-20th century was consumerism. This is especially true when it comes to the Christmas season. Advertisements flooded newspapers and magazines with all of the latest gadgets that men, women, and children needed for the holiday.

Men were encouraged to spoil their wives with a practical gift that would make their life easier like the folding table and chairs or serving carts from Cosco, as well as new gadgets like electric knives or the Dishmaster (a unique contraption that was made to help make doing dishes easier). One unique ad that ran was for the Westinghouse Sun Lamp in the LIFE Magazine published on December 8, 1952. The ad shows a very tanned woman with her husband and a pale jealous wife in the in the background with the caption “Give June a Tan for Christmas.”

Women were encouraged to buy men gifts that would help them relax after their hard day at work, like El Producto Cigars and small three band portable radios. Advertisements also showed men who were overly excited receiving clothing, often clothes that were appropriate for the office. (This shows the desire that people had to obtain office jobs as they were considered to be the ultimate positions for people.)

Parents were encouraged to buy children the latest toys whether they be dolls or science kits. Younger children would squeal with delight for a rocking horse and Tinker Toys. Little girls dreamed of Barbies, Russian nesting dolls, Easy Bake Ovens, and Troll dolls. Little boys loved Lego, Hot Wheels, toy soldiers, and frisbees. All children became excited over Silly Putty, Slinky, Play-doh, and Mr. Potato Head. Family games also became popular, with gifts including Tripoley, Sorry, Scrabble, Monopoly, and Twister.

The middle class was booming at this time. Factory workers and industrial laborers could afford to live in suburban neighborhoods in newly built homes. They could afford to spend extra money on the luxuries that made life easier and more interesting. This led to the desire to provide things and experiences for their children that their own parents (raising them during the Great Depression) could not have done. Entertaining was also becoming popular at this time.

The Mid-20th Century Menu

One of the things that always shocks me are the recipes that I see featured in mid-20th century cookbooks. Although admittedly I am a picky eater, I have found that many of these foods seem unappetizing on all levels. Dishes that involve savory gelatin or extra layers of mayonnaise seem unhealthy as well. One notable advertisement featured an Oscar Meyer tree which was a cone with broccoli and assorted cocktail weenies, hot dogs, and other processed meat items decorating the tree.

Families began opening their homes to family and friends during the holiday as well. The mid-20th century was the beginning of holiday parties and the desire to entertain one another. This led to some interesting party friendly recipes that were meant to wow your guests. Holiday dinners were being created to offer a full family experience. At the time, food culture was also being written about and talked about in ways that people no longer look at it.

In many forms of media, including newspapers and magazines, Christmas dinners were advertised, and menus were created. Food Timeline posted a number of holiday menus and posted them on their website. The 1947 White House Christmas dinner was a simple menu that was posted in The New York Times. The journalist was sure to point out that the foods that were used followed the National Food Conservation Program, except the bread and butter. The meal included bread rolls, butter, curled celery, assorted olives, roast turkey, chestnut dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, asparagus, plum pudding, molded ring with fruit, candy, nuts, and coffee.

As a mid-20th century historian, I have become obsessed with the time period. Many of the Christmas décor items and traditions that I celebrate were from this time period. I am sure that you have seen some of your traditions or favorite celebrations of Christmas included as well.

What do you think of a 1950s Christmas? Let us know below.

Now you can read Amanda’s article on US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg here.

References

“19 Mid-Century Modern Christmas Décor Ideas,” Curated Interior. https://curatedinterior.com/mid-century-modern-christmas-decor/

“26 Hilarious Christmas Ads from LIFE Magazine in the 1950s,” Vintage Everyday. December 8, 2018. https://www.vintag.es/2018/12/1950s-life-magazine-chirstmas-ads.html.

Africca Sanson. “9 Retro Holiday Recipes That Need to Make a Comeback,” Country Living. December 4, 2017. https://www.countryliving.como/food-drinks/g5028/vintage-holiday-recipes/.

Allison Meier. “Christmas at Midcentury, When Aluminum Trees Replaced Victorian Evergreens,” Hyper Allergic. December 12, 2016. https://hyperallergic.com/346592/midcentury-Christmas/.

Anna Stockwell. “A Retro-Classic Christmas Dinner Menu,” Epicurious. December 4, 2017. https://epicurious.com/expert-advice/a-retro-classic-christmas-dinner-menu-article.

Audrey W. (Arcadia Staff). “The Hidden History of 7 Popular Toys from the 20th Century,” Arcadia Publishing.https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/December-2018/The-Hidden-History-of-7-Popular-Toys-from-the-20th.

Cathy Salter. “Memoirs are Made for Misty Mornings,” The Columbia Daily Tribune. January 9, 2017. https://coulmbiatribune.com/890e7cda-1427-541c-a198-7e4cb4904b46.html.

Courtney Iseman. “What Christmas Looked Like (And Tasted!) Like the Year You Were Born,” Delish. December 16, 2019. https://www.delish.com/food/g30196945/what-christmas-looked-like-the-year-you-were-born/.

Emily VanDerWerff. “Christmas in the Space Age: Looking Back at the Wild, Weird Designs of Mid-20th Century Holidays.” Vox. November 24, 2017. https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/25/13697888/christmas-decorations-vintage-midcentury-interview.

“Historic American Christmas Dinner Menus,” Food Timeline. www.foodtimeline.org/christmasmenu.html.

Jenny James. “How to Nail Your Mid Century Christmas Décor,” Atomic Ranch. December 3, 2018. https://www.atomic-ranrch.com/architecture-design/house-tours/how-to-nail-your-mid-century-decor/.

Jenny Xie. “5 Fond Memories of Mid Century Christmas Design and Décor,” Curbed. December 12, 2016. https://archive.currbed.com/2016/12/21/14027930/midcentury-christmas-decor-design.

Joy Wallace Dickinson. “Space Age Glitter Lit Up Midcentury Christmas,” Orlando Sentinal. December 18, 2016. https://www.orlandosentinal.com/entertainment/os-joy-wallace-dickinson01218-2016127-col.

Laurie Wilson. “24 Vintage Christmas Dinner Recipes for Partying Like It’s 1899,” Eat This. November 19, 2018. https://www.eatthis.com/vintage-christmas-dinner-dishes-dont-eat-anymore/.

Linda Ferguson. “Mid-20th Century Christmas Decorations, Part 1,” Cool Old Stuff. http://www.coololdstuff.com/christmas1.html.

Linda Ferguson. “Mid-20th Century Christmas Decorations, Part 2,” Cool Old Stuff. http://www.coololdstuff.com/christmas2.html.

Lisa Kaminski. “What Christmas Looked Like the Year You Were Born,” Taste of Home. https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/what-christmas-looked-like-the-year-you-were-born/.

“Most Popular Toys of the Last 100 Years,” Forbes. December 2, 2005. https://www.forbes.com/2005/12/01/mattel-hasbro-toys-cx_lh_1202feat_ls.html?sh=36057274625d.

Sarah Archer. Midcentury Christmas: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945-1970. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 2016.

Skyler Hanrath. “These Were the Most Popular Toys in Each Decade of the 20th Century,” Ranker. March 8, 2018. https://www.ranker.com/list/most-popular-toys-in-the-20th-century/skyler-hanrath.

Tara Besore. “Here’s Everything You Need for a Mid-Century Modern Christmas,” Hammer and a Headband. November 28. 2018. https://www.hammerandaheadband.com/a-mid-century-modern-style-christmas/.

Taylor Murphy. “60 Vintage Christmas Dishes Worth Trying Today,” Taste of Home. October 10, 2019. https://tasteofhome.com/collection/vintage-christmas-recipes/.

Amazing Women in the American Civil War

The role of women in the US Civil War has historically been understated. But, from nurses to spies and even those who disguised themselves as men to join the army, women played key roles. Ashley Goss explains.

Frances Clayton, a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Union Army in the US Civil War.

There’s this misconception that the American Civil War was a man’s fight when in reality hundreds of women worked on the front lines of the war as healthcare providers, in espionage and the fight itself. Most men of the era wrote about women helping from the home front and many movies portray plantation women during the war. However, women did far more than just send food and clothing to the front lines. Not only did women have an active role in the Civil War, their efforts had a lasting impact on America as a whole. Nurses like Clara Barton and Ada W. Bacot traveled miles away from home to care for wounded soldiers. Spies like Harriet Tubman and Elizabeth Van Lew snuck behind enemy lines to smuggle information and even people back home. Most astonishingly, women like Frances Clayton, Sarah Edmonds, Marian McKenzie and hundreds more disguised themselves as men and fought on the front lines. However, not many discuss or even know about these brave women and the influence their service had on the Women’s Suffrage movement. Nurses, spies and soldiers changed the course of the Civil War and the ideas of womanhood.

The Cult of Domesticity

During the 1800s many Americans believed in the Cult of Domesticity. The Cult of Domesticity was essentially a guideline to how women should behave, and in turn, traits that men should avoid. Women were expected to follow four cardinal virtues; piety, purity, submission and domesticity. ‘True women’ were delicate, soft and weak, did not engage in strenuous physical activity, and were the center of the family and home.  Femininity also required a woman to seek a masculine working man while rejecting the values that work entailed, and the reverse was true for men. If any ‘respectable’ woman went against these rules, they were usually shunned and criticized. According to Catherine Beecher:

“Woman is to win everything by peace and love; by making herself so much respected, esteemed and loved… But the moment woman begins to feel the promptings of ambition, or the thirst for power, her aegis of defense is gone. All the sacred protection of religion, all the generous promptings of chivalry, all the poetry of romantic gallantry, depend upon woman’s retaining her place as dependent and defenseless, and making no claims, and maintaining no right but what are the gifts of honor, rectitude and love” (Grimke, 2020).

However, with the Civil War the idea of women staying in the home and being dependent on a husband started to change. Women were meant to be the moral center of the home and take care of their families. As more and more men were sent to the front, these barriers began to stretch outwards. The definition of home became debatable; moving from the house to the community, to the county, and eventually the country. Women started off by sending clothing and raising money for supplies. Plenty of women helped at home but many found that they needed to do more to help their men.

Nurses

Nurses played a vital role in assisting the army and helping them to continue the fight. Before the Civil War only men were allowed to be professional practicing nurses. Women were expected to be nurturing but not trained to handle a life-or-death situation, and certainly not paid for it. When the war started an adequate medical force was not a high priority for southern politicians because they thought the war would only last six months. As the war continued though and both sides needed more men to fight, women were integrated into nursing programs around the country. Most female nurses were treated more like housekeepers by the doctors and male nurses and not professionals, instead preparing food and keeping the soldiers’ company. According to Dorothea Dix a “respectable nurse” was over thirty, plain looking and refrained from wearing jewelry and hoop skirts (D’Antonio, 2002). However, as the body count kept rising these women started being treated as professional nurses and less like housekeepers. Even though it was jarring, women were ready for the challenge. After working hard for their new found independence and station it was hard for many women to return to their old submissive ways.

One woman who left home to become a nurse is Ada W. Bacot. Ada was an upper-class woman from South Carolina whose father was a plantation owner and a slaveholder. At the outbreak of the war all of Ada’s brothers saw some capacity of military service and her second husband was killed in a skirmish in Dandridge, Tennessee. When her first husband and two daughters died, all she wanted to do was serve her country. She applied for both a local and out of state nursing program but when she never received an offer, she went ahead to Virginia anyway to help at the South Carolina Association Hospital there. Like many nurses she found the hospital to be unhygienic and her role was very restricted. Ada’s job originally consisted of food preparation, laundry and reading the Bible to the men. However, as the wounded piled up and she became more acquainted with gruesome injuries, her role as a nurse was taken more seriously. She was now able to help more with injuries and had more of a say in the cleanliness of the hospital and her confidence grew along with her workload. In Ada’s own words, “tis gratification to be able to do anything for the poor men, they are so grateful. One man begged me to sit awhile with him he was so lonely” (Bacot, 1990). Now even though her drive to become a nurse had no feminist intent behind it, and she even believed in the Cult of Domesticity, by the end of the war Ada was financially independent, owned her own plantation and ran it herself. Even someone who fit most of the criteria for a ‘true woman’, Ada did not want to be dependent on or owe anyone anything.

Spies

Female spies also played a key role in the Civil War, helping with strategy, armory and even freeing slaves. Women were actually preferred over men in the first few years of the war because they were not searched as thoroughly as men. Those who crossed enemy lines hid arms, medicine, and other crucial material in hoop skirts, parasols, and corsets. Messages would also be written on buttons, silk, tissue and commonplace letters in imperceptible ink. Many female spies have been credited with helping in crucial battles. At the First Battle of Bull Run, Rose Greenhow channeled important information on timing, troop strength, and last-minute strategic decisions to Confederate generals. Belle Boyd became famous after she rushed across the battlefield to give Stonewall Jackson information on the Union troops he was about to attack. This job also required constant shifts in identity, and clearly required leaving home, and these women represented a slow rejection of any traditionally established set of values for women. In taking on the roles of men, these women challenged gender norms in the mid-nineteenth century.

One woman who volunteered her services to the war was Elizabeth Van Lew. Shortly after marrying, her mother Eliza, her father John moved them from Philadelphia to Richmond, Virginia and they integrated into Richmond’s high society. Despite her father owning about a dozen slaves, Elizabeth had a Quaker education in Philadelphia, so she was a staunch abolitionist and Unionist. After her father’s death Elizabeth and Eliza freed all of his slaves and even sold land to some of them cheaply. When the war broke out both Elizabeth and Eliza sided with the Union but made sure that those around them believed otherwise. They were able to convince General John Winder to allow them to help the Union soldiers in Libby Prison under the guise of female benevolence. They used this position to pass messages to and from prisoners and even helped some to escape. Eventually Elizabeth had several confidantes working inside and outside the prison to help with prison breaks and used her wealth and family mansion to hide and take care of escapees. In December of 1863 General Benjamin Butler heard about Elizabeth’s work and recruited her as a spy for the Union Army. By the end of the war Elizabeth amassed her own spy network of twelve people, employing both White and Black spies. During reconstruction President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Elizabeth the Postmaster General of Richmond. As Postmaster she used the office to promote women’s suffrage. However, many were not okay with a woman in political office, so as soon as Grant was out of office Elizabeth was replaced. She died in Richmond on September 25, 1900 at the age of ninety-two. Unfortunately, by the end of her life, Elizabeth “had spent much of her family’s fortune on behalf of Union soldiers and civilians, and ruined her family name in the eyes of her Richmond neighbors” by acting as a spy for the Union (Varon, 2005). Also, as good as she was, Elizabeth hated being labeled as a spy because it had negative connotations. In a letter to a friend she said, “I do not know how they can call me a spy serving my own country within its recognized borders…[for] my loyalty am I to be branded as a spy-by my own country, for which I was willing to lay down my life? Is that honorable or honest?” (Varon, 2005).

Disguised as men

The last and most radical group were women who disguised themselves as men to fight alongside their husbands and brothers. Many women in the North and South wanted to help in the war effort but felt their gender limited them; several stating “if only I was a man” in letters and diaries (Clinton, 1993). Some took the initiative to change that limiting factor by cutting off their hair, changing their name and enlisting. There are records of at least 250 women who served in the Union and Confederate armies, most of their names being lost to history. It was relatively easy to fool a regiment; many of the recruits were very young so it was common to see soldiers with no facial hair and a high-pitched voice. The uniform was also so oversized it easily hid a woman’s curves. Just like the men, these women also lived-in germ-infested camps, languished in appalling prisons, and died miserable but honorable deaths for their country. Both sides were aware that women were joining and although they did not really condone it, it was also hard to regulate. One Union soldier after the Battle of Reachtree Creek wrote to his wife about a wounded female rebel and said, “I hope our women will never be so foolish as to go to war or get to fighting” (Dunn, 1864). He must have been disappointed later.

One woman who not only served in the army in disguise but also served as a nurse and a spy to some degree was Sarah Edmonds. She was born Sarah Emma Edmondson but after suffering years of abuse from her father Sarah ran away and changed her last name to Edmonds. She was still worried her father might find her though, so to keep that from happening and to find a job she disguised herself as a man and changed her name to Franklin Thompson, getting a job as a Bible salesman in Hartford, Connecticut. When the war broke out Sarah was living in Michigan and being an ardent Unionist, she enlisted as a three-year recruit to the Second Michigan Infantry in 1861. She participated in the Seven Days Battle, the Battle of Williamsburg, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. In fact, at the Battle of Fredericksburg she served as orderly to General Orlando M. Poe. During the battle she spent at least twelve uninterrupted hours riding back and forth under fire delivering messages between headquarters and the front. Throughout her service she acted as a foot soldier, a nurse, an orderly, a mail carrier and, according to her memoirs, a spy. She accepted every task with exceptional courage. Even twenty years later General Poe claimed that no one in the regiment had suspected that Thompson might have been a woman. In the spring of 1863 she contracted malaria and, out of fear of being discovered if she sought medical attention, she deserted. When the war ended, she wrote her memoirs, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, and donated the profits to various soldiers’ aid groups. Although she never gave the name of her alias out of fear of being prosecuted for deserting. Finally, in 1884, she became the first woman to be awarded a military pension.

Conclusion

Many of these women’s stories go untold even though their work not only helped the war effort but the Woman’s Suffrage Movement as well. Before the Civil War a woman’s place was in the private sphere (home), and a man’s was in the public sphere. However, these women tested the boundaries of the ‘private sphere’ by asserting that their influence on the home extended to where ever their family was, so if their men needed them then they should follow. These stories helped showcase what women were capable of. Clara Barton claimed that their efforts advanced the social position of women by fifty years. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony also used female front-line service as an example for why women should be equal to men who served alongside them. Ada Bacot, the most traditionally feminine of these women, even sent a letter to Stanton saying, “I am a property holder and tax payer [who] ought of right to vote and wish[es] to do so” (Varon, 2005). With their service and sacrifice these women didn’t just help their men but took the first steps toward the fight for Women’s Rights.

What do you think about the role of women in the US Civil War? Let us know below.

Now read about the role of women in the Confederacy in the US Civil War here.

Bibliography

Bacot, Ada W. Diary of Ada W. Bacot, 1860-1863. Edited by Jean V Berlin, Readex Film Products, 1990.

Clinton, Catherine, and Nina Silber. Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War. Oxford University Press, 1993.

D'Antonio, Patricia. “Nurses in War.” The Lancet. The Lancet Publishing Group, December 2002. https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(02)11798-3.pdf.

Grimke, A., 2020. Grimke's Appeal. [online] Utc.iath.virginia.edu. Available at: <http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegb4t.html> [Accessed 20 April 2020].

Long, Day by Day, 542; James L. Dunn to his wife, 22 July 1864, Correspondence of James L. Dunn (accession 8301), ALUVA; Judson Austin to his wife, 21 July 1864, Papers of Nina L. Ness (Judson L. Austin Letters), BHLUM.

Varon, Elizabeth R. Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy. Oxford University Press, 2005.

The Unitarians and the Reduction in the Church’s Influence in America

Since America’s independence, the Christian church has often become less involved in delivering services for society and the government more so. Here, Daniel L. Smith discusses the Unitarian Church, the decline in the Christian church’s role in education, and the growth of the state.

Daniel’s book on mid-19th century northern California is now available. Find our more here: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, an influential 19th and 20th century Unitarian.

American culture started where it was founded. It began in the heart of the North American colonist at the run-up to the American Revolution. Of course, over time, that changed. And as with any cultural change comes a stark political and religious divide. Historian Peter S. Field mentions that the "advent of a democratic political culture in the early American republic entailed the occasion of the first debates on the relationship between intellectuals and democracy in the United States.” Such was particularly the case in the 1830s in Brahmin Boston where, as Perry Miller once observed, "there could hardly be found a group of young Americans more numb to the notion that there were any stirring implications in the word democracy.”

Unitarian Church

Miller was right too. Americans in the 1830s were, for the most part, generally neutral in the way that American culture was beginning to shape out. There were ups and downs. With a new nation typically comes unlimited options on what direction to take the country regarding politics and culture. Mr. Field clarifies for us that the Unitarian Church is misleading church. It is a secular church body, and not a true Christian church. To understand how the religious fracture opened up a ‘Trojan horse’ for American thought, you must understand that "while the Bible is an important text for some Unitarian Universalists, many seek guidance from other sacred books and religious traditions." According to the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM), "Unitarian Universalists generally agree that human reason and experience should be the final authority in determining the spiritual truth." If you join a Unitarian church, you will meet people from many different belief systems including secular humanists, agnostics, Christians, Catholics and so forth. Unitarians believe in moral authority, but not necessarily the divinity of Jesus. Their theology is thus opposed to the trinity of other Christian denominations.

The Unitarian Church is then a more secular body that was formed in the 19th century ‘vacuum’ created when God was beginning to become separated in public schools, different from traditional teaching. Unitarian Congregationalism is another name for their secular "church body." Transcendentalism is the name to those who are engaged in practicing spirituality who felt "too intellectual" and "in control" of their fate to admit their personal destiny is actually guided by a single higher power. “Transcendentalism proved to be almost a byword for an otherworldly, inchoate intellectual community that only marginally traveled beyond the parochial confines of eastern Massachusetts. Whether the logical outgrowth of Unitarian Congregationalism or its dedicated nemesis, Transcendentalism seemed altogether too intellectual, too elitist, and too apolitical to be of any great relevance to the unfolding social and political drama of the Jacksonian era.”[1]

Hairline fracture

There was a hairline fracture that split the thinking of American traditionalists and progressive intellectuals. The Unitarian Church was the catalyst, following transcendentalism in close second. Traditionalists (such as the clergy and church) began to slowly stop providing leadership in public schools and universities (prior to this it was a purely Christian education). Harvard (originally a Christian church) was taken over by Unitarians and as the quality of public education began to change (and at times decline), Horace Mann (the "father of progressive education") would convince the state of Massachusetts that the best way for education to grow would be to have the government take control, instead of non-governmental groups (like families and churches).

What followed afterwards was the move to “self-culture,” a human thought process of “me, myself, and I” which closely follows materialism. To break open a political divide for control and power, there must be a catalyst to enable this cultural shift. Thus, secular humanism was born. “By self-culture, [...] personal striving for the intellectual and spiritual complement to material pursuits... to convey their [American individual] belief in the virtually limitless human capacity for development of their spiritual faculties through the study of culture.” [2] It is this idea that begins to remove the personal importance of having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ - that is, Christianity.

As traditional American doctrines were neglected, the competing ideology of socialism took off. Karl Marx never had much influence in American society - until the country backslid from Christian principles and dabbled in greed. Thus, monopolies would form and grow. Wealth was accumulated, instead of employing the extra wealth to meet the needs of the poor and society. Self-culture (or individual interest), as Field would put it, began to replace the common good of the community.

The Trojan Horse

Marshall Foster writes that “in the loft restaurant above Peck’s restaurant at 140 Fulton Street in lower Manhattan, a group of young men met to plan the overthrow of the predominately Christian world-view that still pervaded America. At this first meeting five men were present: Upton Sinclair, 27, a writer and a socialist; Jack London, writer; Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a Unitarian minister; J.G. Phelps Stokes, husband of a socialist leader; and Clarence Darrow, a lawyer.

Their organization was called the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. Their purpose was to ‘promote an intelligent interest in socialism among college men and women.’ These men were ready to become the exponents of an idea passed on to them by an obscure writer named Karl Marx—a man who was supported by a wealthy industrialist who, inexplicably, believed in his theory of ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat.’ Although a small group in the beginning, these adherents of socialism more than succeeded in their task.

“By using the proven method of gradualism, taken from the Roman general, Quintus Fabius Maximus, these men and others who joined with them slowly infiltrated” the public schools in America. By 1912 there were chapters in 44 colleges. By 1917 there were 61 chapters of student study groups of the League of Industrial Democracy. “At that time John Dewey, the godfather of progressive education, was the vice-president of the league. By 1941 Dewey had become president and Reinhold Niebuhr, the liberal socialist theologian, was the treasurer.”[3]

Conclusion

The beginning of the end of traditional America had become entrenched. Dr. Stephen K. McDowell says that “the loss Christian tradition, character, and responsibility led to the failure of many banks in the early 1900s. To remedy this situation, power was granted to a centralized Federal Reserve Board in 1913. But this unbiblical economic structure and lack of character produced many more problems. Within 20 years, the Stock Market had crashed, and America was in the midst of the Great Depression.”[4] With the propagation of socialism, people were ready for Roosevelt's “New Deal,” such as Social Security and other welfare agencies, which ultimately set up the state as provider rather than God. The rest is history.

You can read a selection of Daniel’s past articles on: California in the US Civil War (here), Spanish Colonial Influence on Native Americans in Northern California (here), the collapse of the Spanish Armada in 1588 (here), early Christianity in Britain (here), the First Anglo-Dutch War (here), the 1918 Spanish Influenza outbreak (here), and an early European expedition to America (here).

Finally, Daniel Smith writes at complexamerica.org.

References

[1] Dr. Beliles, Mark A., and Stephen K. Dr. McDowell. America's Providential History: Including Biblical Principles of Education, Government, Politics, Economics, and Family Life, 253. 1989.

[2] Field, Peter S. 2001. ""the Transformation of Genius into Practical Power": Relph Waldo Emerson and the Public Lecture." Journal of the Early Republic 21 (3) (Fall): 467-493.

[3] Foster, Marshall, and Mary-Elaine Swanson. The American Covenant: The Untold Story, xvii. Mayflower Inst, 1983.

[4] Ibid., Dr. Beliles, Mark A., and Stephen K. Dr. McDowell, 250-251.

The Evolution of Ancient Greek Historiography

Historiography is composed of the principles, theories, or methodology of scholarly historical research and presentation. Here, James Zills looks at how historiography evolved in Ancient Greece, and includes consideration of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides.

Homer as shown in 1493 in the Nuremberg Chronicles.

Greek historiography arguably began with the epic poems of Homer; though many scholars debate his actual existence. Homer’s poems focused mainly on the heroes and gods of what would later become “Greek Mythology” during the Trojan War and the fall of Troy. The Homeric Epics narrowed the events in Greek history to individuals and lacked a timeline of events for historians to follow. The issue of validity of the poems created the need for subsequent historians to fill in the gaps and broaden the scope of Greek history. The evolution of Greek historiography began out of a necessity to fill in crucial gaps in historical events, timelines; the Homeric Poems and stories from bards filled with mythological gods, and undeniable inaccuracies required elimination. The gradual elimination of deities and a quest for accurate and reliable sources from historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Polybius shaped the writing and reporting of history in Greece. 

The historiography of Ancient Greece arguably traces its roots back to the bards who would recite epic tales most notably the ones accredited to Homer. The issue with these epic poems is that they were passed down orally and fails to give details such as dates, and has such a narrow scope; it leaves historians questioning its authenticity from a historical perspective. The Iliadand Odyssey composed four to five hundred years after the fall of Troy giving those more of an imaginative or artistic narrative[1]. The narrowness was not the only issue later historians would have with Homer’s works; the mythical gods and implausible characters made the poems an unreliable source. When modern historians began to develop Greek historical writing, the value in myth or anything mythical began to fade.[2]

God(s) Were Never On Your Side

The gods that dominated and controlled the fate of the heroes in early Greek oral history came into question by Herodotus. He began to write history in prose and is known as the “father of history.”[3] While many may argue that the work of Herodotus fails to fall in line with the conception of historiography; he plays a pivotal role in the way history is recorded thus aiding in the evolution of Greek historiography. Herodotus’ view on history was much broader that his predecessors.  His expansion on history included the interactions of Greece with foreign countries and remote ages that were reliant on the information of witnesses instead of stories passed down for generations.[4] While his writings were reliant on some form of eyewitness accounts, he was not immune from the use of mythical events as a reference point in history.[5] Unfortunately, for Herodotus, this takes away the validity of his works, but does not diminish his role in the evolution of historiography in Greece. 

While the writings of Herodotus, not wholly clouded with mythical gods and events, he did use them on occasion. An outlandish version of Hercules written by Herodotus, places the Greek God in Egypt where he slaughtered thousands of Egyptians before his thwarted sacrifice[6]. This particular story is implausible due to the nature of the subject’s views of sacrifices and the absurdity of how one could kill so many. The prose approach that Herodotus took to writing or recording history is his contribution to the evolution of historiography in Greece. Perhaps his bilateral approach to fact and fiction was an attempt to appease those who still widely believed in mythology. As to whether Herodotus actually believed this is debatable; he believed much of the myth in Greek history to be “silly fables”.[7]

Herodotus focused on the cause and effect that events had on society correlating them with timelines from Egyptian history records. His works served to broaden the viewpoint given by the bards, inasmuch as he wrote about remote antiquity and all aspects of culture.[8] Herodotus’ greatest critic was Thucydides, who unlike his “competitor” focuses on politics and military matters. Thucydides eventually argued that myth only served as entertainment and lacked any factual value to history. Thucydides weakened the position myth held in historical accuracy by being critical of it and omitting it from his works. His believe was that while his work may be less appealing to the masses; the minority of the population who wanted truth are appreciative. 

Thucydides along with Herodotus differed in their approaches in documenting and presenting, but shared contrasting viewpoints on all things mythical. Thucydides only conceded that the belief in such entities was the guiding factor in historical event, but the idea of actual existence is “laughable”.[9] His controversial, yet influential works began to change public opinion on the actuality of mythological gods. The way in which Thucydides described the past in his works served to change the perception of historical events. Thucydides’ strict refusal to write on anything that he felt was unreliable in an attempt to present the most accurate historical accounts possible though underappreciated at the time became the norm for future historians. During the era of the Polis, the way in which history documentation began a slow and painful change with the help of historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. 

Too Good To Be True

Historical events became broader and depending on who the historian was, accounts came under more scrutiny. During this period, oral accounts still held weight, but the modern historians of the time evolved the way in which they documented it. The idea of documented history based on verifiable evidence began to hold, although slowly. The Hellenistic Age brought with it a more stringent attempt to preserve, capture, define, and evaluate history. Scholars set to preserve the accounts of previous historians as well as improve on their understanding.[10] The most notable historian to come from the Hellenistic Age is Polybius, who emphasized the importance of geographical knowledge and a sensible political view from historians.[11]

Polybius along with the rest of the scholars of the Hellenistic Age aided in the evolution of Greek historiography by searching for truth, motives, and the lessons behind historical events. They recorded history with much more accuracy than their predecessors. The introduction of new cultures to the citizens of Greece brought with it new methods of recording and chronicling time. The scholars of the Hellenistic Age began a trend of filling in the gaps and providing more accuracy to events that would evolve with future generations of Greek historians. The difference in viewpoints of past historians served to expand the horizons of Greek historians and those who read them. As curiosity and the search for accuracy grew with the scholars and their capacity for experimenting and adapting to cultural changes furthered the evolution of Greek historiography.[12]

From its critical beginning, Greek Historiography shows a need to evolve into historical accuracy instead of uplifting, heroic Epic Poems. While the entertainment value of Homeric Poems is timeless, Greek historians felt the necessity to expound upon them and historical fact to them. This eventually led to the debunking or omission of any information from the poems as Greek historiography transitioned to prose. The evolution of Greek Historiography began out of a necessity to fill in crucial gaps in historical events, timelines; the Homeric Poems and stories from bards filled with mythological gods, and undeniable inaccuracies required elimination. The gradual elimination of deities and a quest for accurate and reliable sources from historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Polybius shaped the way history was written and reported in Greece. Those historians who were critical of their predecessors and questioned the validity of existing history helped shape the perception of history and aided in the evolution of Greek historiography.  

What do you think of Greek historiography? Let us know below.

Now you can read James’ article on fascism in 1930s America here.

[1] Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 3rd ed Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 2007, 5.

[2] A.E. Wardman, "Myth in Greek Historiography." Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte 9, no. 4, 403.

[3] Arnaldo Modigliani, "Greek Historiography." History and Theory 17, no. 1, 2.

[4] Kurt Von Fritz, "Herodotus and the Growth of Greek Historiography." Transactions and Proceedings 

of the American Philological Association 67, 315.

[5] Fritz, 315.

[6] Wardman, 404.

[7] Encyclopedia Britannica

[8] Donald R. Kelly, Versions of History from Antiquity to the Enlightenment. New Haven: Yale University Press, 18.

[9] Breisach, 14.

[10] Ernst Breisach, 31.

[11] Momigliano, 8.

[12] Momigliano, 10. 

Bibliography

Breisach, Ernst. 1994. Historiography : Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Accessed December 8, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Kelley, Donald R., ed. 1991. Versions of History from Antiquity to the Enlightenment. New Haven: Yale University Press. Accessed December 8, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Momigliano, Arnaldo. "Greek Historiography." History and Theory 17, no. 1 (1978): 1-28. Accessed December 9, 2020. doi:10.2307/2504899.

Wardman, A. E. "Myth in Greek Historiography." Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte 9, no. 4 (1960): 403-13. Accessed December 9, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4434671.

Von Fritz, Kurt. "Herodotus and the Growth of Greek Historiography." Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 67 (1936): 315-40. Accessed December 9, 2020. doi:10.2307/283244.

"Historiography - Greek Historiography." Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed December 8, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/historiography/Greek-historiography.

The 1665 Great Plague of London: Part 1 - The Stay at Home Orders

In 2020 and now 2021, a large number of citizens found themselves homebound. While the stay-at-home orders were a novel experience for most people, the isolation of individuals with a contagious disease has a long history. While it is true that many suffered inconvenience and the disruption of normal routines, the modern home is so well equipped we weren't lacking for much in the way of necessities and comforts. Additionally, those quarantined at home were able to venture outside to replenish supplies or through delivery is needed. It has not always been so easy. The worst outbreak of bubonic plague in early modern England took place in London in 1665. Considering this experience can give us pause to give thanks that we live in the early twenty-first century.

In the first part, Victor Gamma looks at plagues in 17th century England and how people in London during the 1665 Great Plague endured quarantine.

A cart for transporting the dead in London during the 1665 Great Plague. Source: Wellcome Trust, available here.

From 1574 English law stated that members of a house containing a plague victim were not allowed, "to come abroad into any street, markete, shoppe, or open place of resort." If any one from an infected house needed to come out for any reason they were required to carry a white rod, at least two feet in length for all to see. At each outbreak of plague the College of Physicians met to formulate a plan of action. This would include written and published advice on managing a pandemic. This had taken place in the 1580s, 1630 and 1636. In April of 1665, knowing an epidemic was likely, the College of Physicians recommended a two-fold approach to containing the spread of plague: isolation in pesthouses or quarantine of infected persons in their homes. A pest or plague house was a structure used to forcibly quarantine infected individuals. One obvious measure was the isolation of infected individuals or those suspected of carrying the dreaded disease. The weak infrastructure and resources of the time made household quarantine a necessity. Some parishes, in fact, had only recently begun a serious effort to construct an adequate number of pesthouses. To illustrate the sluggish nature of plague response: in St. Martin’s a well was dug for a pesthouse on July 24, 1836, 4 months after the plague made its appearance.

1665 plague

The plague of 1665 was to dwarf the earlier plagues. There was no way to know this, of course, but to meet the looming crisis the College began regular meetings in May 1665 at the request of the Privy Council. The Council specifically enjoined the Physicians to review the previous advisory statements and add anything they deemed would improve the effectiveness in stopping the spread of this new outbreak. Within two weeks, on May 25 they had a “little book” of 44 pages published entitled “Certaine necessary directions, as well for the cure of the plague, as for preventing the infection: with many easie medicines of small charge, very profitable to his Majesties subjects.” The Physicians saw no reason to change the practice of shutting up infected people in their houses. The 1636 advice had read:

If any person shall have visited any man, knowne to be Infected of the Plague, or entered willingly into any knowne infected house, being not allowed: the house wherein he inhabiteth, shall be shut up for certaine dayes by the Examiners direction

This direction was given in spite of the fact that in 1630 the Privy Council had recommended pesthouses as a “better and more effectual course” to reduce the plague. In the Great Plague, the order to shut up all infected houses was ordered officially on July 1, 1665. The only way a person in an infected house could move legally was to go to another property they themselves owned or to a pesthouse. Once an infected house was identified it was to be “shut up” for forty days. Records indicate that this policy was quite unpopular and that residents attempted to avoid this fate as often as possible. 

The Privy Council handed its directives to the Lord Chief Justice, who in turn gave it to the magistrates. Attempts were made to keep the proceedings secret but word of mouth soon gave wings to the terrifying reality that another outbreak of the bubonic plague was at hand. Besides, a member of the Royal Society named John Graunt published a regular report of deaths in the city, called “Bills of Mortality.” For a subscription of four shillings a year anyone could read these and easily see that London was in the throes of a dreaded “visitation” - and this one promised to be worse than that which held the City in its grip just ten years earlier.  

Identifying the Sick

Once someone in a household died, the government sent out “searchers” to ascertain the cause of death. This would come in the form of an old woman. It was her job to report her findings to the parish clerk and especially to alert authorities if plague was present so that the house might be shut up. Usually old women who had no other means of support filled this occupation. This offered some hope to the victim’s family of not being labeled as infected of plague because these old women were notoriously unscientific in their methods. First, they had no real training in medical diagnosis. Typical opinions rendered by the searchers on cause of death included vague terms such as "frighted", "rising of the lights", or "suddenly."  Anyone at all elderly was most likely reported as dying of "age." To mitigate this problem, the government directed surgeons to assist the women with their work. The accuracy of reporting was undermined, though, by corruption. The women were quite susceptible to bribery. These women were invariably of the poorer classes and they were not likely to be fussy about the rules if their palms were warmed with silver. The reality was, they almost needed bribes to keep body and soul together. This hard fact outweighed the solemn oath they had taken to "faithfully, honestly, unfeignedly, and impartially" report the cause of death. If there was a danger of the searchers reporting an instance of plague, a few shillings or a bottle of gin would often suffice to persuade the woman to change her verdict. In spite of the reputation of the searchers, many families felt compelled to take any desperate measure which might avoid the living hell of home imprisonment. A family with a sick member would often attempt to disguise signs of plague as much as possible. For example, to mask the symptoms they might hold a piece of ice or a cloth soaked in cool water against the face of the deceased in hopes of hiding signs of inflammation.

Despite these efforts, thousands of houses were marked as infected or as “plague” houses. This would include everyone in the home, infected or not. The “clarke” or sexton of each parish was then directed to post a sign on the house which read “Lord Have Mercy Upon Us.” A large cross of one foot in length would be nailed or painted onto the front door. The twenty-day countdown to the end of the quarantine would commence either when all infected persons were cured or carried off dead. Families tried to reason with the magistrate that if, of the twenty people in the house, only one was sick - why should all be imprisoned within the walls? These pleas normally fell on deaf ears. If any member of that household appeared in public they would be liable to a jail term of forty days or a fine of £5 (some $1,100 in today's money). Many attempted to bribe the authorities or flee before the watchmen arrived.

Quarantine

Once marked, the inhabitants were now prisoners in their own home until the property was declared free from infection for at least twenty days. Unlike our own time, there would be no trips to the store to stock up on supplies and no ordering of delivery service. Far from it, for most people would avoid these houses at all costs. Word spread rapidly about which streets had “shut up” houses. Samuel Pepys noted in his diary that even when a distance from a shut up house he would sometimes be warned away: "...a gentleman walking by called to us to tell us that the house was shut up of the sickness. So we with great affright turned back, being holden to the gentlemen; and went away." Those people who were compelled to walk the street that contained plague houses would stay in the middle of the street to avoid infected persons and any odors emanating from the house, which were believed to carry plague. As a further incentive to keep people away, the law also stated that persons guilty of unauthorized entering of an infected house would have their own house shut up.   

Aware of the large number of attempted escapes, government directives were very specific about enforcement. The unpublished minutes of the Privy Council contained an order that “whosoever shall do the contrary shall be shutt up in the same house as in an infected house for soe long a time as the … Justices of the Peace shall (think) meete.” Watchmen were sent to guard the structure for the length of the quarantine. An armed guard would be posted outside the house with orders to prevent anyone from leaving. In the evening a night watchman would come to his relief. They would most likely be armed with a sharpened halberd. The watchmen were not to be merely guarding the house; they were instructed to give aid as needed, even at their own expense. Additionally, parishes did have systems in place to minister to needs of shut up houses. In practice, of course, this generosity did not always occur and the family would sometimes have to decide whether to starve or sell their few possessions. They would begin gathering up anything of value; cooking utensils, candles, items of furniture, even floor mats. These items would be handed through the window to the watchman. Before departing to sell the items, the watchman would go all around the house nailing up all doors and windows. Could the watchman be trusted? The answer too often came when he returned but a pittance for the few pitiful goods offered, claiming he was only able to sell the candles. Some attempted to trick the guards into leaving his post on some pretense. If the watchman were simple enough to be fooled, the inhabitants could break off the lock while he was gone, gather whatever items could be carried on the door or through some other means, and escape. To avoid that possibility, the guards placed padlocks and bolts on doors and shutters.

Now you can read part 2 on Plague houses and whether home quarantine was worth it here.

Robert Todd Lincoln and the Curse of the Presidential Assassination

Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926) was the son of Abraham Lincoln and an influential figure in his time. He was also near the scene at the time of three US presidential assassinations spanning over 35 years. Samantha Arrowsmith explains.

A young Robert Todd Lincoln.

There are some figures in history that transcend their time, even if we are sometimes largely ignorant of why it is that we remember them. Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Einstein and Hitler are all names that echo down the ages, for good or ill, and who even the most history-phobic of us will recognize.

To be the child of one of these would not have been an easy place to occupy, and Robert Todd Lincoln bore the weight of that position for most of his life. He is remembered as an ‘unsympathetic bore[i]’, tainted by his relationship with his successful father and his mentally ill mother[ii]. Yet Robert carried another burden: if such a thing as a curse exists, then Robert was encumbered by one of the worst – the curse of the presidential assassination.

Abraham Lincoln: April 15, 1865

Robert’s first encounter with a presidential assassination was that of his own father, Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States. It was an event touched by coincidence and regret, and one which had a profound effect on his eldest son.

Robert’s relationship with his father is considered by many historians to have been strained[iii]. As the son of an aspiring politician, Robert rarely saw his father during his childhood and their bond was undoubtedly weaker than the one Abraham had with his other sons. Yet it would be overstating their difficulties to say that Robert was estranged from his father; on the day of the assassination they had spent several hours alone together before the President went to a cabinet meeting.[iv] That evening he and his parents had dined together at the White House and he remembered some years later how his father had asked him to come to the Ford Theatre with them. Not attending was one of his greatest regrets[v]. In a 1921 article based on the recollections of Robert to a friend, he believed that:

“My seat must have been placed in the door alcove…which was covered with a curtain…He [Booth] would have encountered a psychological obstacle.…To open the door and fire at an unsuspecting man is one thing, but to fire after he had found his way blocked is another. I do not believe that he would have attempted it if I had been there.”[vi]

Despite being shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth, the President was not killed instantly and was carried to a house belonging to William Petersen where he died at 7:22am the next morning with Robert at his bedside. Despite his previous stoic behavior, The Secretary to the Navy noted that he ‘gave way on two occasions to overpowering grief and sobbed aloud…’[vii].

The event affected Robert not only as a son but also as a future government official, and one letter in particular shows how he was still conscious of the danger to the incumbent president 24 years later:

‘I have no doubt that President Arthur will take care of himself; but he is undoubtedly liable to be killed by some crazy person or by a fanatic who would be willing to do the deed for the notoriety which might be gained thereby.’[viii]

In an ironic twist of fate, Abraham Lincoln had previously had a great deal to be grateful to the Booth family for. His killer’s elder brother, the celebrated actor Edwin Booth, had saved Robert from possible injury or even death at New Jersey train station in either 1863 or 1864. Horrified by his brother’s actions, it gave Edwin comfort to know that he had been of some benefit to the Lincoln family and Robert was able to talk about the incident without any bitterness, recalling in 1918 that ‘I never again met Mr. Booth personally, but I have always had most grateful recollection of his prompt action on my behalf’.[ix]

James Garfield: September 19, 1881

Four months into his presidency, James Garfield advertised his intended plan to move to New Jersey for the summer. He would take the train from Washington’s Baltimore and Potomac railroad station on July 2, 1881 and among the members of his cabinet there to see him off would be his Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln.

Up until that point the only President to have been assassinated was Lincoln’s father, so an attempt on the President was considered both a rare and somewhat unlikely event. James Garfield believed that the President should be seen by the people and he therefore took few precautions when in public. He had once written:

‘The letter of Mr. Hudson of Detroit, with your endorsement came duly to hand. I do not think there is any serious danger in the direction to which he refers - though I am receiving, what I suppose to be the usual number of threatening letters on that subject. Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning; and it is not best to worry about either.’[x]

Unfortunately, Charles Guiteau had decided that the President’s death was a political necessity. His initial anger at being overlooked for a diplomatic position in Paris (which he had convinced himself was his right due to a speech he had written in support of Garfield during the election) gradually turned to paranoia. He was convinced that Garfield disliked him due to his allegiance to the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and eventually that Garfield was a traitor and dictator.[xi] He wasn’t subtle in his intentions, going so far as to send the President letters and asking for a tour of the prison where he believed he would be incarcerated after the event.[xii] A letter taken from his pocket read:

‘The President’s tragic death was a sad necessity, but it will unite the Republican Party and save the Republic…I had no ill-will toward the President. His death was a political necessity.’[xiii]

Robert Lincoln had come to the station to let the President know that he was unable to join him on the trip as originally planned, but what he witnessed must have brought back terrible memories. Reportedly only 40 feet away from the President, he watched Guiteau step out of the shadows, walk up to the President and fire two shots, one to the arm and the other to the back. As with his father’s shooting, he showed some elements of calmness, attending the fallen President, calling for a gunshot wound specialist, Dry Bliss, and putting soldiers onto the streets to ensure calm.[xiv]

As with President Lincoln, Garfield did not die immediately; in fact, it took 80 days for him to succumb, not to the gunshot wound, but to the septicemia caused by his doctors. In September 1881, Robert Todd Lincoln attended a second funeral of an assassinated president.[xv]

William McKinley: September 14, 1901

The Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo was intended to showcase American achievement with the slogan ‘commercial wellbeing and good understanding among the American Republics’[xvi]. President William McKinley, six months into his second term as the 25th President, was attending as part of his American tour. He was a popular president and the speech he gave there on September 5 was attended by a vast audience[xvii]. The next day, he toured Niagara Falls before returning to the fair for a public reception at the Temple of Music. McKinley enjoyed meeting the public and despite Secretary Cortelyou’s reservations, he was determined to attend, putting the reception back onto his schedule every time it was removed. Cortelyourelented but ensured that there would be ample security at the venue: the President’s own protection officer, George Foster, plus two other Secret Service Agents, the Exposition police, four Buffalo detectives and a dozen artillerymen[xviii]. But the precautions were to no avail. The day was hot and the usual precaution that everyone in the line should approach the President empty handed was abandoned, along with the habit that Foster should stand beside the President. By the time Foster realized that the approaching man, with his hand covered by a handkerchief[xix], was a danger, it was too late and at 4:07pm unemployed factory worker turned political anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, shot McKinley twice in the abdomen.

A few hours later Robert Todd Lincoln stepped off of a train at Buffalo station on his way to the Exposition to be greeted by a telegram reading:

“President McKinley was shot down by an anarchist in Buffalo this afternoon. He was hit twice in the abdomen. Condition serious.”[xx]

Lincoln missed the actual moment of the shooting, but he immediately went to see the President and spent some time with him that evening and again two days later. Lincoln believed that the President was remarkably well given what had happened to him, but eight days later on September 14, McKinley died of gangrene. 

The event could only have brought back more memories for Lincoln and he did not disguise his sadness when he wrote to the new President, Theodore Roosevelt:

“I do not congratulate you, for I have seen too much of the seamy side of the Presidential Robe to think of it as an enviable garment.”[xxi]

A Certain Fatality

When Robert Lincoln died in 1926, there had been three presidential assassinations and he had a connection to them all. As historian Todd Arrington has observed, that might not have been unusual for a man involved in politics as Lincoln was[xxii], but, on a personal level, it must have been a painful situation.  

‘There is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present,’ Lincoln is supposed to have quipped. Perhaps the more telling quote is the one he gave to the New York Times the day after the shooting of James Garfield in Washington: ‘How many hours of sorrow I have passed in this town.’[xxiii].

 

What do you think of Robert Todd Lincoln? Let us know below.

Now, you can read Samantha Arrowsmith’s article on 7 occasions Europe changed the time here.

[i] Lincoln: A Foreigner’s Quest, Jan Morris, 2001, p128 

[ii] Meet Robert Todd Lincoln, The Estranged Son of the 16th President who had his mother committed, Lauren Zmirich, 2019 

[iii] Lincoln’s Boys: The legacy of an American father and an American family, Robert P Watson and Dale Berger, 2010

[iv] Giant in the Shadows: The life of Robert T Lincoln, Jason Emerson, 2012, p99 

[v] Emerson, p107

[vi] The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection

[vii] Emerson, p105

[viii] Letter from Robert Lincoln 28 September 1881

[ix] How Edwin Booth Saved Robert Todd Lincoln’s Life, Jason Emerson, 2005

[x] Letter from President Garfield to Sherman, November 1880

[xi] Killing the President: assassinations, attempts and rumored attempts on US Commanders-in-Chief, Willard M Oliver and Nancy E Marion, 2010, p44

[xii] Oliver and Marion, p44

[xiii] The New York Times 3 July 1881

[xiv] ‘A Certain Fatality’ Robert Todd Lincoln and the Presidential Assassinations, Todd Arrington, 2014

[xv] Funeral of President Garfield: Announcement to the Public

[xvi] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Exposition

[xvii] You can view the President giving the speech at https://www.loc.gov/item/00694342/  

[xviii] JFK assassination records: Appendix 7: a brief history of presidential protection

[xix] The New York Times 7 September 1901

[xx] Arrington, 2014

[xxi] Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

[xxii] Arrington, 2014

[xxiii] Arrington, 2014

Ancestor Worship in Ancient China

Ancestor worship has a long history in China. In fact it goes back millennia to the time of Yangshao culture. Here, Khadija Tauseef explains the importance of this and how it evolved over time in ancient China.

Confucius, painted by Wu Daozi.

“Ancestors

Hear my plea,

Help me not to make a fool of me,

And to not uproot my family tree,

Keep my father standing tall”

 - An extract from the movie, Mulan.

The Disney classic allows us a glimpse into the tradition of ancestor worship that has been around for centuries. Mulan’s father is seen sitting before the ancestral tablets, praying for Mulan. Throughout the film there are continuous references to the Fa ancestors, who even appear; showing that they are watching over Mulan and her family. They try to help their descendants, ensuring that no dishonor was brought on to the family. 

China has a grand tradition of ancestral worship that has been carried forward through the ages. However, the term ‘ancestor worship’ was coined by a British philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer in 1885. It is based on the belief that the souls of the deceased have power and influence of the lives of the living. How did this ancient practice start and what sort of an impact does it have on the people?

Celestial Beginnings

The concept of ancestor worship can find its roots within Chinese folk tradition. It emerged from religious beliefs about the afterlife and that part of the soul continues to reside on the earth. The earliest mention regarding ancestor worship dates from Yangshao society (from c. 5000 BCE). Unfortunately, due to the lack of writing from the period, we do not know much about Neolithic religious practices. All that changed with the coming of the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), who brought about the existence of writing. Oracle bones or jiaguwen discovered in archaeological tombs, date as far back as 1250 BCE, giving us our first glimpse into ancient beliefs. 

The major focus of the Shang was towards the Shangdi (the Supreme Being), who was believed to be the link between the heavenly beings and the people. At the time ancestor worship also existed; many believed that the success of crops and the health of the family was connected to the veneration of ancestors. If the ancestors were happy then they would provide their family with wealth and prosperity. However, if they were displeased then great tragedies would befall the family. In addition, it was widely believed that the ancestors visited with Shangdi, therefore it became even more important to make sure the deceased were happy.

Dynasty Shift

The Shang were soon replaced by the Zhou dynasty, one of China’s longest lasting ancient dynasties. Lasting from 1046 BCE to 256 BCE, this dynasty played host to a great cultural, artistic and intellectual renaissance. During this period the concept of Yin (feminine) and Yang (masculine) was developed as “an earthly reflection of heavenly harmony”. This concept helped develop the idea of ancestral worship further by helping explain how the soul of the deceased is affected. 

The belief was that the soul of every human consists of two parts, the Po (relating to yin energy and the grave) and the Hun (relating to yang energy and ancestral tablets). Therefore, when a person dies, their soul would be split in two - the Po goes to the afterlife to be reborn and the Hun remains on earth, close to the ancestral tablet. This shows why many believe that the ancestors remain among the living and keep a watch on them - if the family honors them and provides them with appropriate sacrifices the family will have a prosperous and wealthy life. Festivals were often held to celebrate not just the gods but also the ancestors. The people would perform rituals in which they would recite hymns, glorifying the gods and ancestors. 

“The drums are put in place, and their beats summon the spirits. The descendants call upon their ancestors to arrive, the sound of flutes and stone chimes adding to the noise, until “bells and drums fill the air / and the dancers seem in flight / our visitors appear.”” (Clements, 2019: 43).

These celebrations were often led by the shamans or wu. Shamans were thought of as a conduit for communicating with the ancestors. They conducted the funerary ceremonies and other events that required their presence. 

Unfortunately, not all those who die are able to take their place among the pantheon of ancestors. According to ancient texts each human has their own predestined span of life and dying before that time as a result of murder, war, suicide, a natural disaster or an epidemic, means they cannot become ancestors. These souls returned to haunt the living, and were known as Ligui (pernicious ghost). These Ligui were believed to be the cause of numerous illnesses and misfortunes. The only way to deal with them was through exorcisms performed by shamans.

Throughout the Zhou dynasty, ancestors were highly revered, not just among the common people. Even the emperors built grand shrines for their royal ancestors, ensuring that they would watch over them from the heavens and secure their reigns. 

Confucian Influence

After the decline of the Zhou dynasty, many religious practices came under attack. China was divided, with warring states fighting to exert dominance. It was in this age of violence and war that Confucius was born. In order to find a solution for the turmoil of his age, Confucius looked to the practices and knowledge of the past. In particular, he looked to the era of the early Zhou kings and their peaceful rule. 

Confucius found that Zhou society had ancient rights, customs and etiquette that brought people together and ensured peace. Therefore, Confucius wanted to bring back these practices so that the people would be able to live harmoniously. One important right was the ancestral rights that were necessary for keeping harmony between the human world and the cosmos.

Professor Michael Nylan explains the importance of the ancestors thus:

“When we talk about many of the rights, what we are talking about is ‘blood sacrifice’. Offerings of blood and wine are offered to the ancestors and the gods in heaven. The ancestors live in heaven and become themselves gods in the afterlife.”

The reimagining of the ancestors in a sense brings them back to life with each offering. Confucius emphasizes the importance of family and the connection to the past, and this helps embody the belief in the ancestors - because honoring them helps us maintain a connection with relatives or loved ones that have passed on and keeps us rooted in the past. Confucius’ teaching greatly influenced the people of China and heralded a new era of ancestor worship that has lasted to this day.

Conclusion

Even today, people have tablets dedicated to their deceased relatives and provide offerings to sustain them. Some of these practices may seem outdated and out of place within our modern life but if one feels connected with the past and carries it with them, then these traditions will continue to flourish. Personally, just the thought of having a loved one close by and being able to share precious moments with them, sounds like a perfect dream.

What do think of ancestor worship in China? Let us know below.

Bibliography

1)     Gombrich, E.R. A little History of the World. Yale University Press: London, 2005.

2)     Oliveto, Joe. Chinese Ancestor Worship Explained: History, Traditions & More. https://www.joincake.com/blog/chinese-ancestor-worship/

3)     Cartwright, Mark. Ancestor Worship in Ancient China. https://member.ancient.eu/article/1132/ancestor-worship-in-ancient-china/

4)     Clements, Jonathan. A Brief History of China. Tuttle Publishing: Singapore, 2019. 

5)     Ancestor Worship. https://family.jrank.org/pages/86/Ancestor-Worship.html

6)     Ancestral Worship in China. https://family.jrank.org/pages/84/Ancestor-Worship-Ancestor-Worship-in-China.html

7)     Ghosts in Chinese Religion. http://www.religionfacts.com/chinese-religion/ghosts

8)     Lagerwey, John and Marc Kalinowski. Early Chinese Religion Part One: Shang through Han (1250BCE – 220AD). Brill Publishing; Netherlands, 2008.