Casey's Patch Collection

The National WWII Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum)

Warning: you may see a similar post in the future on this same topic. I actually have two different patches from the D-Day / National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Each was acquired on a separate occasion. 

I acquired this patch several years ago at the D-Day Museum in New Orleans. The D-Day Museum opened in 2000 on the 56th anniversary of D-Day, and in 2003, Congress designated it as America's National WWII Museum. Since then, the museum has expanded its scope and collections to cover not just the D-Day battle, but all the contributions of the United States from its entry into the war through the Allies' victory in Europe and Japan. 

You might be wondering why the National WWII Museum is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The city is certainly well known for its tourism but not really its significance to 20th century military history. When the museum opened in 2000 as the D-Day Museum, New Orleans was actually a pretty natural fit for its location. I'm sure you have seen the iconic photographs of marines exiting the boats onto the shores of Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword, and Utah beaches. Those were called "Higgins Boats," named after Andrew Higgins, the New Orleans native who designed, built, and tested the boats at his company, Higgins Industries, during the war. One is on display in the museum's lobby.

My most recent visit to the museum was with my SLISters while on a repository tour. In 2011, about 35 archives and library students from SLIS at LSU took a day-long trip to New Orleans. Our first stop was the Amistad Resesarch Center, followed by the National WWII Museum. At both repositories, the staff gave us behind-the-scenes tours of their repositories and collections. The Oral History Curator at the WWII Museum even took us into his recording studio, where he interviews veterans of the war to add to the museum's oral history collection. It was a great day. We learned so much from the archivists who were willing to spend their Saturday giving us a glimpse into two really amazing archives.

Ok, now that you're done reading this post, check out my post about my trip to Normandy!

Longfellow House / Washington's Headquarters

Pretty soon after I moved to Boston -- well, I actually spent my first few months in Waltham -- I took the commuter rail one day from the Waltham station to Porter Square and got on the Red Line to Harvard Square. It was my first time in Harvard Square, and I was not familiar with the area. I made my way down Brattle Street, and low and behold, I found myself standing in front of the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

It was not until after I had taken the tour of the house that I realized its history was significant in other ways as well. It was at this house where George Washington assumed command of the Continental Army, and it served as his headquarters during the Siege of Boston from 1775-1776. During Longfellow's residence at the house, notable visitors included Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, Charles Dickens, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

Although he is most well known for his poetry and as a scholar, Longfellow was also an abolitionist and published Poems on Slavery in 1842. While working on the Abolitionist Map of America, the Longfellow House / Washington's Headquarters partnered with us to populate the map with historical materials. You can find a lot of their archival images and documents pinned in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area, or by exploring their collections online. 

Longfellow's birthplace is located in Portland, Maine, and the house is operated by the Maine Historical Society. I have visited the historical society on two occasions but have yet to take a tour of his house.

New Year's 2013 in Ithaca, New York

2013 was my first New Year living in New England, but I spent the holiday in central New York. My boyfriend Aaron and I decided last minute to make the 5 1/2 hour drive to Ithaca to celebrate the New Year with his friends (and now also my friends) Kristen and Lin. Aaron studied at Ithaca College for undergrad, so the town is very much his old stomping grounds. I can't wait to go back when it's not below freezing temps!

We drove up on the 30th of December. It had snowed just a little the night before, but thankfully Aaron is a very experienced snow condition driver. We stopped in Albany for brunch at a cute cafe, and once we entered central New York I felt like we were driving through Missisissippi! It's a very rural area with lots of farms, bright red barns, and rolling hills, and you can see really far across the landscape from the highway. It was beautiful. 

When we arrived outside of Ithaca that evening, we first stopped at Aaron's friend Erik's home where I got to meet his wife and their new baby. Erik also showed us his top-of-the-line beer brewing facility in is basement, and we got to taste several of his brews. We left Erik's to meet up with Kristen and Lin for dinner. I had never met them before but am so happy that I did! They are both so awesome, and I can't wait for them to come visit us in Boston (hint, hint, Kristen if you read this)! After our Mexican meal, Aaron and I decided to walk around the commons in Ithaca, where we did some geo-caching. The Commons is the cute downtown area with shops and restaurants. We never found a cache, even though there were two in the Commons. We blamed the snow. 

The next day on New Year's Eve, Aaron took me to his favorite coffee shop in Ithaca, right next to Cornell University. On our walk to the coffee shop, we walked across a bridge that spanned a huge gorge. I learned that Ithaca is full of these gorgeous gorges that carry streams and waterfalls throughout the town and region. Now do you get the patch? I'm really looking forward to going back and doing some hiking in Ithaca and seeing more of the gorges and cascades.

After we had coffee, we visited the Ithaca visitor center. Aaron had a great idea to take me to Stewart Park, which is right at Lake Cayuga. Have you ever looked at a map of New York? If so, you may have noticed what look like long scratch marks going North to South in the center of the state. Those are the Finger Lakes, and they are well known for the wineries surrounding them. Lake Cayuga is the longest of these lakes. It's 40 miles long with an average width of 1.7 miles. The view from where we were standing at the southernmost tip of the lake was amazing.

When we left the park, Aaron, Kristen and I had lunch a a local micro-brewery. We then did some shopping in the local stores, bought some Lake Cayuga wine, and later we went to Lin and Kristen's apartment. After we made dinner, we all decided to head back downtown for a pub crawl to ring in the New Year.

When we were counting down the minutes until midnight, I remember thinking back on how far I had come in just half a year. I finished graduate school in May, moved to Boston two days later, did an internship at the State Library of Massachusetts, found my first professional job at American Experience, met my awesome boyfriend, and at that moment I was so far from everything I had ever known. I missed my family and friends and my home and being in school and being in what was very much my comfort zone, but at the same time I was equally excited about where I was in life and what was to come. In 2012, my New Year's resolution was to take it to another level. That night, I felt like I had succeeded in that goal. In 2013, I again resolved to take it to yet another level. I'm on my way.

Ford's Theatre

When I graduated high school, my parents took my sister and me to Washington, D.C. To this day, I still do not think that they could have given me a better high school graduation present. It wasn't until my 11th grade year in high school that I gained such an appreciation for U.S. history, and I give 95% of the credit to my teacher, Uncle Craig "Bowie" Davis. Bowie inspired me so much with his passion for history, and it was because of him that I decided to major in history in college. When he was in his 20s, Bowie left home to visit many of the most siginificant historic sites and national parks in the country (sound a little familiar?). He brought back so much knowledge and experience and has passionately taught thousands of high school students for over 20 years.

...I think I got off topic. 

Anyway, I asked my parents to take me to D.C. to celebrate my graduation from high school, and we visited all of the monuments and memorials, Smithsonian museums, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Mint, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the White House, and Ford's Theatre. (Yes, I have at least one patch for each site.) 

Today, I'm featuring my Ford's Theatre patch, the site where President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. Of all of the places that we visited in D.C., walking through Ford's Theatre was certainly the most somber experience of them all. The theatre also houses a museum with exhibits following Lincoln throughout his presidency. The collection of artifacts includes the deringer that John Wilkes Booth used as well as the clothing worn by Lincoln on the night of his assassination.

 

Lowell National Historical Park

During my 4th of July extended weekend, I made it my goal to visit as many historic sites as possible. Well, I have four patches that offer evidence of my accomplishment, and this patch from Lowell National Historical Park is one of them. On July 5th, I woke up early after spending the 4th riding bikes in downtown Boston and watching fireworks in Salem. I was pretty tired but refused to let my lack of energy quash my plans to go exploring. I had previously been told by Dr. Dow that I should visit Lowell, a city about 40 minutes north of Boston that is known for its significance to the American Industrial Revolution. By 10am, I had packed my bags for my day trip, and I headed out. I'll just go ahead and say that this was one of the best decisions I have made since I moved to New England. Lowell National Historical Park is the most impressive National Park Service park I have EVER visited.

When I arrived to Lowell I navigated myself to the headquarters of the Lowell National Historical Park. I walked inside the doors only to find an administrative office staffed by two very helpful National Park Service employees. They gave me a couple of brochures, one that included a map of the National Historical Park. I was surprised and somewhat overwhelmed to find out that the National Park pretty much spans the entire city of Lowell! They pointed out several different museums, exhibits, landmarks and activity centers throughout downtown Lowell's cobblestone streets and water canals, all of which are part of the park system -- and all of which are interspersed among the city's businesses and restaurants. Most of the buildings in Lowell are 19th century red brick textile factory buildings that have been repurposed for use by businesses, the National Park Service, and private residences. 

After I left the park's headquarters, I made my way to the Park Visitor Center, where I found this awesome patch you see below. I signed up for the next canal tour that was about to depart. We were guided outside the Visitor Center where we were met by a Park Ranger and a trolley. The trolley took us about half a mile to a boat waiting for us in a canal, and we learned that the canals throughout Lowell were built during the Industrial Revolution to power the city's textile mills. The canal tour took about two hours, and throughout the trip our Park Ranger told us the history of the city, answered our questions, and provided several experiential learning activities to further help us learn about the history by which we were surrounded in Lowell. At one point during the tour, we entered a set of locks in the canal. The next thing we knew, our boat had elevated six feet higher!

I had lunch at an Irish pub after the tour, and then I walked across town to the Boot Cotton Mills Museum, which features interactive exhibits, a 25-minute documentary, and a working weave room with textile power looms. Of all of the exhibits and activities I experienced that day, none moved me more than walking through that weave room. Before I entered the weave room, I read about the young women who worked in the factory during the Industrial Revolution. Many of them left their family farms in New England to experience life in the city and to make their own money in the textile mills. Once they were hired, they worked 12-14 hour shifts in the factories, 6 days a week. They lived in boarding houses and lived and worked by a bell that rang in the courtyard outside of the factories. It rang at dawn; it rang at breakfast; it rang when breakfast was over; it rang at the beginning of the shift; it rang for lunch; it rang when lunch ended; it rang when the shift ended; and it rang at their 10pm curfue. Every day. Six days a week. And if they didn't attend church on Sunday, they were banned from working in the mills. 

While I was reading the exhibit panels about the mill girls at the beginning of the museum, I could look through a glass wall that served as the barrier between the quiet of the exhibit and the somewhat obnoxiously loud sound of the power looms on the other side. When I finished reading the panels and was ready to enter the weave room, I made my way to the glass door and prepared myself for what I was about to experience. 

Or so I thought. I walked inside and could not believe the level of noise made by those hundreds of machines. It was unbearable. All of the power looms were turned on and were producing fabric, and the room must have been more than 150 feet long. I imagined the hundreds of young women between the ages of 15 and 30 working in that room for 14 hours a day during the late 1800s. Dark. Hot. Dusty. Cotton and debri floating throughout the room. Roaring. Thundering. Ear-piercing. The loudest noise I have ever experienced. Unbearable. 

I made myself walk slowly through that room, reading all of the panels along the walkway. One panel quoted a mill girl's diary:

"I discovered, too, that I could so accustom myself to the noise that it became like a silence to me. And I defied the machinery to make me its slave. Its incessant discords could not drown the music of my thoughts if I would let them fly high enough."

My eyes were filled with tears when I left the room.

I finished the museum and walked across the yard to the Mill Girls and Immigrants Exhibit, which was inside a preserved mill girls boarding house. By the time I finished the exhibit, it was nearly time to head home. There were many sites that I had not had the time to see in Lowell, including the American Textile History Museum, the River Transformed Exhibit and the grave of Jack Kerouac. One of the brochures that had been given to me at the start of my day listed the line-up for the Lowell Summer Music Series. I got home and noticed that Josh Ritter will be playing at the Lowell National Historical Park when my parents and sister and brother are in Boston. I bought six tickets that evening, and I cannot wait to go back to Lowell to share its history with them in August!

Hiking Trails in the Great Smoky Mountains

Today, I am sharing my Great Smoky Mountains National Park hiking trail patches. Actually, I have more than the ones shown in this photo. A few years ago, the park updated their hiking trail patches, and now they are larger with even more embroidery detail. I'll post those individually at a later date. And beyond the trail patches, I have 18 more patches acquired in or near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I have never been to any other place in the U.S. so many patches available to add to the collection! (Second is Washington, D.C., and third would actually be Plymouth, Massachusetts).

Since before I was born, my family on my father's side has taken an annual trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I'm proud to say that out of my 25 years here on Earth, I've only missed three or four years. My grandparents bought a time-share condo in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the early 1980s, and since then my parents, my Uncle Bowie, and Uncle Milan each bought one in the same resort --Treetops. And no, it never gets old.

Much of our vacation to the mountains is spent in the national park. We go on picnics at Chimney's camp ground, go swimming in the freezing cold mountain stream, and bicycle the 11-mile Cades Cove loop. And my personal favorite activity is to go on hikes (only partly because of there's often a patch to collect at the end!). Every year, I try to go on at least one hike and am usually accompanied by my sister Carly, my cousins Joseph and Zachary, my Uncle Bowie, and more recently my brother-in-law Hunter. The patches you see below represent hikes ranging from easy to strenuous, paved to bare rock climbing, and waterfalls to amazing scenic views. And if I had the time, I could tell you a story about every single hiking experience; a few even include an interaction with a black bear!

...Ok, I talked myself into it. I'll be brief about each hike, I promise! Starting from the top left to right and working my way down: Park Ranger guided near the entrance to the park; lost my shoes and dad had to carry me; Carly whined the whole time; pretty green path with nice bridges; a really cool cave!; short and easy; fun trip with Carly and Joseph; everybody went to Rainbow!; my Uncle Bowie and I hiked Charlie's Bunion together; dad was almost bitten by a snake; old log homes; very low shoulder on the cliff's edge; CHIMNEY TOPS - the last 1/10 of a mile is straight up a bare rock and so scary! (I've hiked this one four times); my favorite waterfall; great swim hole; I was stung by bees; the easiest hike with a great fall; 11-mile bike ride through the Mountains. Whew!

There are many more hike patches left to acquire, and I hope to eventually have them all! My next goal is to hike the tallest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains -- Mount LeConte. Carly, Hunter, Joseph, Zachary, Uncle Bowie -- any takers?

Dartmouth College (and pit-stop at Robert Frost's Farm)

Last Sunday I ventured into New Hampshire to meet up with my mentor/professor/former supervisor/colleague, whom I first and foremost call my friend. We met in Hanover for a lovely visit and walked around the campus of Dartmouth College.

Before she arrived, I found the nearest university memorabilia store to pick up this patch. It was the only one they had, and to be honest, I had no idea what "Tuck" meant or the significance of 1900. This would typically go against my collection development policy -- the acquisition of a patch that may not be relevant to my experience in a city; however, in this case I argued that my visit with my friend gave the patch symbolic value (Who is James O'Toole?)**, and that superceded its lack of evidential or informational value (Who is T.R. Schellenberg?)**. I later discovered that Tuck is the name of Dartmouth's School of Business, founded in 1900. I'm sure my dad (also a patch collector extraordinaire) is shaking his head right now. 

After my friend and I strolled through campus and toured the marvelous Baker-Berry Library, we had lunch at the Pine Restaurant at Hanover Inn. I had such a wonderful visit with her, and I am so glad that we have continued to stay in each other's lives since I finished school. 

After we parted ways, I began the 2 1/2 hour trip back to Boston. Part of the drive is through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and includes one amazing scenic overlook. Once I got back onto I-93, it was still only 2:30 in the afternoon, so I had a lot more time in the day before I needed to get home. I kept my eyes peeled for brown signs along the highway. New England is so full of history that if you travel more than 20 miles on a highway, you're bound to come upon a historic site. And you know what that means -- PATCHES. 

I was almost to Derry, New Hampshire when I came upon a brown sign that said "Robert Frost Farm." I took the exit. I arrived at the farm and was greeted by a very friendly staff person who told me the last tour of the day had just begun, so I paid my $4 and joined the group. Frost lived at the farm in Derry from 1900-1911, and many of his later poems are attributed to his years spent there. Unfortunately, they didn't have any patches at the farm's gift shop, but I suggested it as an addition to their merchandise. Perhaps when I take my pops there next time, we'll have a patch to collect. 

**For those who do not understand, this is archives speak, specifically archival appraisal theory (although I'm actually partial to archival access theory). To learn more about the SLanguage, read my post about LSU or SListers Geaux toux Chicageaux.

Vulcan Park and Museum

In March, I made a rare trip home to the South, and who would have thought I'd find a patch anywhere inside a 4 hour radius of where I grew up that I did not already have? I actually picked up not one, but two patches in just a matter of a few hours! Pretty awesome if you ask me. I guess I'll give some of the credit to my sister Carly, who now lives in Birmingham, Alabama. On the day we flew in, I had the opportunity to see her new home for the first time, and then she made sure to take me to some of the most significant sites in the city.

Our first stop was Vulcan Park and Museum. Did you know that Birmingham boasts the largest cast-iron statue in the world? Sculpted by Guiseppe Moretti, Vulcan was commissioned by the city of Birmingham to represent the city at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Why a huge cast-iron sculpture of a Roman God, you ask? By the beginning of the 20th century, Birmingham came to be known as the "Magic City," attracting a large number of migrant workers to harness its rich natural resources: iron, coal and limestone. Named for the Roman god of fire and forge, Vulcan signifies the history of Birmingham's iron and coal industry.

Vulcan stands at 56 feet tall on a 124 foot pedestal and weighs 101,200 pounds. You can take an elevator to the top of the pedestal or climb the stairs to get a great view of the city of Birmingham. If you ever visit the park, don't miss the museum center, which has some great exhibits and a very friendly staff. 

Thanks, Carly, for taking me to see this great monument to American industry! (Now that I've given you a shout-out on my blog, maybe you'll start following me?) ;-)

The Liberty Bell

First off, I'd like to thank my mother for finding this patch (and several others) in the back of a closet at her home in Monticello, Mississippi and for her understanding of how much my patch collection means to me -- so much that she would ship them to me in Boston. Thanks, mom!

Several years ago, while still a young student in high school, I took a summer trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with some friends in my hometown church group. We departed the Hattiesburg, Mississippi AmTrak station on July 2 on what turned out to be a 38 hour train ride to the City of Brotherly Love (the train broke down in the middle of the night). One of our first stops was Philadelphia Museum of Art, and although at the time I had never seen the movie Rocky, I made sure to run up the steps -- arms high above my head -- just as he did in the film. Now that I'm older and more wise, I'm glad that my naive younger self took part in such a sacred cultural tradition. ;-)

On Independence Day, I visited none other than Independence National Historical Park -- Independence Hall -- where in 1776, 56 delegates from the colonies declared our independence from Great Britain. I got to see the Liberty Bell, the national symbol which has only recently become so historically extraordinary to me, particularly its significance to the abolitionist movement.

Originally hung in 1751 on the 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania's first constitution, the Liberty Bell became a symbol of the abolitionist movement in 1837. It wasn't even called the "Liberty Bell" until William Lloyd Garrison published an anti-slavery poem in his newspaper The Liberator, in which the poem's author referred to the Pennsylvania State House bell as the Liberty Bell. Eventually, its inscription "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land" became a symbol for the abolitionists' goal to free all Americans from enslavement.

In 1839, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society began publishing an annual gift book titled The Liberty Bell, containing anti-slavery poems, short stories and songs written by abolitionists including Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia Mott, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell. While working as an intern at the State Library of Massachusetts, I had the opportunity to see and read many of these for myself. Here's a link to my State Library blog post about The Liberty Bell gift book: http://mastatelibrary.blogspot.com/2012/07/liberty-bell.html.

I hope to visit Philly again soon and visit all of these significant historical sites again. I'll definitely appreciate them more the second time around.

Newport, Rhode Island

In January, my boyfriend and I took a weekend trip to Newport, Rhode Island. Also known as the "City by the Sea," the "Sailing Capital of the World," and "America's Society Capital," the small city sits right on the southern coast of Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island. I hear that the city is mobbed all summer by vacationers, so I really enjoyed our jaunt during the winter off-season.

Known for its famous mansions along the water, we first took a tour of Cornelius Vanderbilt's 70-room, 65,000 square foot summer home called "The Breakers." After the tour, we strolled along the gorgeous Cliff Walk, a public walkway bordering the shoreline of the city. Throughout the afternoon, we hosted our own pub crawl and ended up at the oldest tavern in America for dinner, the White Horse Tavern, which opened in 1673.

The next day we visited several other notable historic sites. We took a tour of the oldest synagogue in America, Touro Synagogue, which in 1946 was designated a national historic site. We then took a walk to see one of the oldest baseball fields in the United States, Cardines Field. A local historical debate continues as to whether baseball was played on the field prior to 1900, or if baseball wasn't played there until 1908 -- which is the earliest documentation of the stadium's construction. As we continued our walk, we stumbled across the oldest house of worship in Rhode Island, the Quaker Meetinghouse, established in 1699.

By that time, we thought that we had seen all of the significant historical sites that Newport had to offer. That was until I realized we were walking by the oldest lending library in America, the Redwood Library and Athenaeum!!

Before we left Newport to head back to Boston, we played a round of Geo-caching and found a micro-cache hidden behind the town movie theater, we stumbled across the grave of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and we picked up some truffle oil for Aaron at a local gourmet food store. On our way back to Boston, I navigated us through New Bedford, Massachusetts so that we could make an important pit stop -- Frederick Douglass' first home as a free man.

All this being said, we had a wonderful weekend in Newport! This is just one example of the many adventures we have been on so far and with many new patches to prove it!