Author Archives: Feather Foster

Bess Truman: Waiting for Harry

The Old Soldier Harry Truman was 33, well past the age for a man to be a volunteer soldier, unless, of course, the country is in severe danger. In 1917, when the US entered the Great War, as it was … Continue reading

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Abraham Lincoln: Quibbling Thanksgiving

In 1863 Thanksgiving Day had been a local or regional holiday for more than two centuries. Quibbling The Day Massachusetts has long maintained that a day of Thanksgiving was celebrated a year after the devout Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in … Continue reading

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Grant, Grant, The Tanner’s Son…

Held his nose and away he run… Jesse Grant, Tanner Jesse Root Grant (1794-1873) was Pennsylvania-born, but migrated to southern Ohio as a small child. He had a decent education for his time and station in life, but possessed a … Continue reading

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Lou Henry Hoover and Women’s Athletics

The Western Woman Despite her birth and early girlhood in Iowa, Lou Henry (1874-1944) spent most of her growing-up years in California when it was still considered the “Wild West.”   Her father, Charles Henry, was a middle class banker, … Continue reading

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Burying Mary Lincoln

Everybody knows about Lincoln’s assassination and the huge funeral journey back to Springfield. But what about when Mary died? Mary Lincoln, Widow Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) became a widow when she was 45, and survived her husband by seventeen years. … Continue reading

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FDR and the March of Dimes 

Of all the programs undertaken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, none was more personal than the National Infantile Paralysis Foundation. Polio Polio is the common name given to “infantile paralysis,” a contagious and horrible disease, thankfully near eradication today.  It was … Continue reading

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Burying James Monroe – Again

A quarter century after James Monroe died, he was buried. Again. James Monroe, Virginian Like his close friends and Revolutionary companions Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, James Monroe (1758-1831) had strong ties to Virginia. Monroe could arguably considered the one … Continue reading

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Dolley Madison and the War of 1812: A Book Review

This is a book for middle-school readers. Eons ago, when old-me was a very very young-me, Scribner’s published as “Scribner’s Junior” – a series of biographies geared to perhaps second through sixth grades, depending on reading skills. (Mine were excellent!) … Continue reading

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Grant and Lincoln at City Point

In 1864-5, City Point, VA briefly became the tenth largest city in the United States. Grant in the East On February 29, 1864, President Lincoln promoted General Ulysses S. Grant as General of the Army – outranking everyone. Since Grant … Continue reading

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Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Jr. and the Museum of Natural History

This was actually a “family” undertaking. The Father On April 8, 1869, a formal meeting was held in the front parlor of the Roosevelt home, at 28 East 20th Street in New York City, to draft the charter that established … Continue reading

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