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Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Today, I am remembering various reenactors of public, historical figures that I’ve seen in action. Certainly, one of the most portrayed people in the world is Abraham Lincoln, perhaps because he is an icon of Democracy who met a tragic end. One summer, I saw him with “Sarah Josepha Hale,” famous nineteenth century editress of buy viagra professional online. Last week, as reported, Jim and I were treated to a stunning performance by “Teddy Roosevelt.” A year or so ago, we saw a one-woman program by someone who pretended to be Susan B. Anthony. I’ve heard of someone who is currently acting as “Emily Dickinson.”

What we enjoyed most about these actors is that they really got into character and for a moment, we wanted to believe that they were really the person they claimed to be. I wonder this: if you could be any other person in history, who would it be? If you could live at any other time of history, what time frame would it encompass?

I’m still thinking …

Patricia Cummings

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Monday, February 15th, 2010

In honor of President’s Day, Ted Zalewski, an actor who is a presenter for the Vermont Humanities Council, presented a one-man performance, impersonating our 26th U.S. President, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The animated actor marched into the auditorium to the tune, “Hail to the Chief.” As an self-respecting politician would do, he worked the crowd, shaking hands all around the room. Supposedly, he would have kissed babies had they been present. The event was sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum, a delightful place about which we have written much on previous occasions. Attendance was by reservation only, and those who showed up unannounced were accommodated only insofar as room would allow. The auditorium was completely full!

The presenter began exactly on time, and came well prepared. Teddy Bears were placed on the stage, and one lucky girl was given one to take home. (The “teddy bear” was named after him and told the story about how this came to be). One would think that 50 minutes would be too short a time to cover the lifetime of President Roosevelt, and they would be correct, of course. Yet, Mr. Zalewski was able to impart the essence of the man: his good-natured joviality, winning smile, and fearlessness (of which he referred). His life was not without tragedy, particularly the loss of his first wife, Alice.

1903 postcard of Roosevelt family

In the postcard above, copyrighted 1903, the Roosevelt family is seen together, Theodore and Edith (his second wife), his daughter (Alice’s girl), and his five children with Edith. Postcard from the ephemera collection of Patricia Cummings.

I was particularly happy to have seen this program. Family folklore has it that my grandmother was a pastry chef in the Teddy Roosevelt household, before she married. My grandfather, I was once told, (on the other side of the family) rode with Teddy’s Rough Riders up San Juan Hill.

A quilt that I made in honor of Teddy Roosevelt and President William McKinley, whom he succeeded in office, is featured in one of my books.

Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919) is considered to have been one of the great presidents of the United States.

Today was a very enriching experience, and the program, “Teddy Roosevelt: Mind, Body and Spirit,” was a wonderful way to begin President’s Week! Many thanks to Ted Zalewski, Billings Farm & Museum, the Vermont Humanities Council, and all of the fine folks who showed up to support this kind of educational programming. We enjoyed the humor associated with the program. At one juncture, “Teddy” quoted his son as saying that he always enjoyed being at the center of attention, you know … “the bride at every wedding; the corpse at every funeral.” This is a wonderful presentation!

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, January 28th, 2010

This week we received a lovely letter from a woman who read the article on our website titled, “.” Here is what she said:

Date: Monday, January 25, 2010, 9:22 PM

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I wrote to Ms. Wukelic to ask if she might reveal her age. She is 76 years young, at the present time. This letter was a bright spot in my day!

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire encompasses historical societies and resources throughout the state. I have been a member for several years. For those of you who are interested in historical documents, ephemera, and books, I thought you might find it interesting to peruse their store links on the site below:

From that page, you will be able to navigate their entire site, set up with the hard work of Rich Hureau, webmaster. Find out the origins of the group and more!

One of the reasons I love New Hampshire is the opportunity to share history with otherbuy viagra professional online of the subject. Totally enriching educational programs are presented by the NH Humanities Council and the New Hampshire Historical Society, as well as by the small museums that dot the countryside throughout the state.

Best Wishes,

Patricia Cummings

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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

CD cover

buy viagra professional online is currently available to acquire as a pdf file written to a CD disc that is easily inserted into a computer’s hard drive and read on any computer. We first published this as a wire bound book in January 2006 and received wonderful reviews at that time. There are 147 pages and 165 images (including photos of finished items and design patterns that you could re-create with needle and thread).

This book covers a wide variety of topics related to Redwork motifs and their usage in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Please visit the home page of our website for more details.

Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings and James G. Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
Concord, New Hampshire

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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Once, I used to visit a much older woman. She would ask me if I’d like a cup of tea, then going to the cupboard, she would find that she had no tea. She would revise the offer, and say, “Would coffee do instead?” I’d say, “Sure.” Then, she would take note of the fact that she had no coffee. She would open the refrigerator door, in the hope of offering me a soft drink. No, her family would have consumed the last can of soda. Eventually, I’d settle for a glass of water, which, by the way, was fine with me.

She loved my mother’s cooking and would always ask for recipes, but not having a full “larder,” she’d make many substitutions that were not even reasonable ones. Then, she would bemoan the fact that her cooking was not as good as Betty’s. The problem reached the point that my mother no longer would share her recipes with the woman. They came out so awful, my mother did not want others to hold her responsible. No, we cannot substitute unlike substances and expect a recipe to come out right.

In life, details are important! Yet often, doctors do not pay enough attention to details and then we hear of a patient walking around with scissors accidentally sewn up inside him. Of course that is a drastic example. In medicine, though, weird situations happen all the time. A person is administered a drug that has some component to which he is allergic, or has the wrong limb amputated.

In old census records, we find all kinds of spelling errors related to names, places, and dates. It is really difficult to make sense of our ancestor’s lives, when a record or records are incorrect and also scant. If no birth record exists, as was often the case, it can be difficult to prove that a person is a certain age. This was true when my mother applied for Social Security and had no birth record from the town in Georgia where she was born. She ended up scurrying to find other records to help prove her age.

cover image of e-book on CD - Ellen Webster

Cover image of e-book on CD about Ellen Webster, New Hampshire’s early quilt historian

The person about whom I wrote an extensive biography last year had been referred to as “Emily Webster” when her name was truly “buy viagra professional online.” Perhaps no other information ever would have been available, certainly not a 355 page manuscript with many family photos, like the one I wrote, had everyone continued to believe that the quilt historian’s name was “Emily.” Indeed, she did have a friend (not related to her) whose name was Emily Webster, but that is a longer story than I can recount here. Photos of Emily are in my e-book.

Yes, life is in the details. It is an easy lesson to learn when one cuts a long border of a quilt 1/4″ shorter than what it should be. Don’t ask me how I know! Minute matters matter! Here’s to all the other sticklers out there who care about getting their facts and their fractions right!

Patricia Cummings, author of buy viagra professional online (Quilter’s Muse Publications, Concord, NH, 2008) – an e-book on CD

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Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Circa 800 A.D., Celtic monks prepared handwritten and hand-illustrated manuscripts that feature the four Gospels, a fragment of Hebrew names, and the ‘Book of Columba’ in a work known as buy viagra professional online. Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland has these pages on permanent display. By the way, sells, buy viagra professional online, edited by Blanche Cirker (1982). Just do a subject search on this search page.

Wood block printing was one way in which books were printed before invented printing via a movable type method. About 1455, he printed 200 copies of the (Gutenberg) Bible.

In the nineteenth century, people were scandalized when the publication, “Godey’s Lady’s Book,” edited by New Hampshire born, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, was referred to simply as “The Book.”

Why, everyone knew that the words, “The Book” were reserved for the Holy Bible, a book that was held dear in homes across early New England, and the book in which family genealogies were often saved.

Little girls learned their numbers and letters by embroidering them on Girlhood Samplers. Often, the inscriptions mention God, or prove an awareness of their own mortal fate. One kind of curious notation is “Christ is my Nation.” The word “nation” doesn’t quite seem to fit, unless one thinks of Christianity as a “nation of believers.”

The Bible was both a common and a sacred book. All other books came second. I once knew a family of Quakers who owned a dairy farm. The children were not allowed to do anything else on Sunday, except read the Bible. Of course, there is more than one version of the Bible as well as other Scriptures that are never included in the main Bible.

Jump ahead to the twentieth century. There are books galore! Everyone, famous in life, or not, writes an autobiography or about his or her war experiences. Novels are written: some great; some lousy. History is rewritten to suit the political agenda of whomever is writing the book. Books are a tool of expression and any new book competes in the marketplace with all other books, whether terrific or sub-par.

In 1985, I wrote my first draft of a book I wanted to put together on the topic of quilt care. I manually typed it on a “state of the art” typewriter, using “correction tape” to undo typing errors. Twenty years later, I published the first book on the subject as a print book. Now, almost five years later, my book on quilt and textile care is offered as an e-book. How far I have come on my personal journey of learning, and how far technology has come, as well!

Now, in 2009, I can move entire paragraphs around with the push of a few keys. I can format photos, making them the size I want, removing scratches and dings, adjusting their colorations, and formatting an entire, large book into a new entity called an “e-book” or “electronic book.” I can independently create a book, do my own layout, and choose what will be said and presented. The freedom is exhilarating!

Amazon.com sells a product called a “Kindle,” as most of you know. That device is great for downloading print books without photos that are not very long. No one has yet invented a “Kindle” that can handle color photos, nor the lengthy kind of books I produce. My e-books are sold on disc because they simply would not work as “downloads.” I could compromise and shorten the text and make the photos smaller, but I don’t want to do that. I want to provide the best I can provide for the reader.

There are a lot of reasons to like e-books on discs.

1) Navigation through the document is a breeze.

2) Thumbnail pages appear along the left side bar so that you can easily scroll and click on a previous or future page.

3) Word search is easy with a global word search function.

4) The disc is easily stored.

5) Pages can be printed. I do not disable that feature. I ask that people print one copy for their own personal use. If someone wants to cheat and break the copyright law by illegally distributing my work, I figure that’s between them and their own conscience. I don’t write book for the thieves. I write books to share good information.

6) If I were to print the same quality of information in a print format, the upfront costs of printing would be staggering, and then, I’d have the pressure of selling them to try to recoup my investment.

7) For books that share information (non-fiction), e-books are grand. I love making them and feel that I offer a high-quality product at a reasonable cost.

Patricia Cummings
– Our list of e-book offers is growing. Check the home page of our website for more details.

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Monday, November 9th, 2009

Like it or not, the “hippies” of the “me” generation are aging. With our middle-aged looks and our graying hair, we have a certain common cultural literacy that is lost on people who are younger. Case in point, the other day, I mentioned the “Black pill” to a doctor who is very new to the profession. She is too young to know about “Mash” or to have made the connection. She said, “I could give you a red pill or a yellow one, but I don’t have any black ones.” She said it with such a straight face, I know that the reference was lost on her. Now, most anyone who ever watched the television show, “Mash,” would know that one of the characters was constantly wanting to give up and commit suicide, so he would say, “Doc, just give me the Black pill!” Everyone laughed. It was comic relief. We all understood what was meant. Like me, he was joking!

Another point of reference for the 1960s is Bob Dylan and his lyrics. The song, “The Times They Are A Changin’ ” and the song, “With God On Our Side” remain two of my favorite songs from the decade. Dylan has been called, “The Voice of a Generation,” a title he does not accept. In his mind, he just sang songs. He was not a spokesman for an entire generation, just himself. I can bet that he wrote music and sang because he had to, just like a quilter has to quilt, and a baker has to bake bread, and a writer … has to write! The artist in all of us will not be denied.

Dylan put into words what we “hippies” (or “straights”) could not. When I think today of all the obstructions to passing the current health care bill, Dylan’s words come to mind, – Get out of the way, if you can’t lend a hand – for the times, they are a’ changin’ -. When I think about our military involvements all over the world and our self-righteousness in meddling in state affairs of other nations, if our own interests are served, I think of the words “with God on our side.” Is He really? We are paying a price and that price is the loss of life, as is so painfully brought to our attention in the media, weekly.

Yes, the Vietnam War spawned its own group of social drop-outs, draft dodgers, and drug-popping individuals. We, that is, my generation, were young and innocent. Most of us had not yet made love. We were wet behind the ears! Many of us were students. I recall the midnight vigils at Thompson Hall at UNH, at which time students would stand before a crowd and take turns reading names from a long, long list of those young souls that had been killed in Vietnam, fighting for a war that none of us understood, no one wanted, and to this day, those who lived through the era, still do not fully fathom.

The point I would like you to take away is that built into the turmoil and the stress, young people were communicating within a vernacular of revived folk songs, and cultural understanding, even if that meant a reference to the “Black pill.” Language conveys understanding, but without common points of reference, we lose a chance to communicate.

One last thought: humor is severely-lacking today. We take ourselves far too seriously. This week, I hope that you will find something that makes you giggle, or chuckle, or slap your knee and emit a belly laugh from deep down inside. Certain situations in life require solemnity, but try to smile more. It’s contagious. Besides, this is your only chance. I’ve never seen a real skeleton grin.

Make it a great week!

Patricia Cummings

Pat

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Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Charlotte Croft sent the following note after having looked at a blog entry a few days ago about the gravestone of Rufus Leavitt, a 26 year old, Civil War soldier who was a member of Co. A. 6th NH. He died in 1865 as a result of “inhuman treatment” by his North Carolinian captors.

She writes:

Hi Pat,

After seeing the gravestone of Rufus Leavitt, I invited my friend Polly to check out your blog for that day. Several years ago there was a law student living in East Barnard (Vermont) who loved puns. One of my favorites that he came up with was … “East Barnard: Leavitt or leave it!” This is because there are so many people related to Leavitts in East Barnard.

When Bert and I and our older son Eric attended Dud and Jo Leavitt’s 40th anniversary party in Sept. 1965, we were part of the dozen folks who were not related, out of about 125 attending.

But then one summer Bert’s younger brother worked for him and met Mary Van Alstyne. They fell in love and got married in 1970. Mary is a granddaughter to Dud and Jo.

Then John Leavitt’s daughter, Tina, married Art Lewin. Art’s grandfather and Bert’s grandmother were brother and sister. So we are twice connected to the Leavitt family. And indeed, Rufus is an ancestor of Bud’s. Polly says history is interesting.

All the best,

Charlotte

Thanks for the charming story, Charlotte. Love it! We are all so interconnected in this world! Scroll back a few blogs to see the original post.

Pat

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Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Based on genetics and world history, the potato is believed to have originated in southern Peru where it was cultivated by an advanced indigenous population called the Incas, a now extinct civilization. After the Spanish conquest, the potato was toted to northern Europe in 1536. It was welcomed by the poor, subsistence farmers in western Ireland and became a staple of Irish diet.

A PBS program about this crop states that a diet of cow’s milk and potatoes was enough to provide vitamins and health to the multitudes. All was well until one day when a ship pulled into port. Among its cargo was a fungus that was carried by the wind, turning all of the Potato plants black within several weeks. The Irish famine lasted three years, (1845-1848), killing one of every eight Irishmen, and taking the lives of one million people.

Scientists now analyze that the problem could have been lessened had there been more bio-diversity, that is, if more than one variety of plant had been cultivated. Ironically, potato farmers could face a similar problem today. To keep their “client” happy, they are forced to produce tons of Russet Burbank potatoes used to make French Fries for McDonald’s Corporation, a product that is distributed worldwide.

Unfortunately, a certain beetle is fond of the Russet Burbank variety. Although scientists have found a way to genetically-alter this type of potato plant so that if a beetle eats it, the beetle goes belly up, activists among the general population have resisted food from genetically-altered plants. So, farmers are back to square one: using pesticides on their fields.

We have seen that the potato originated in Peru, traveled to Europe and to Ireland, but did you realize that the first potatoes farmed on American soil were produced by a Scots-Irish immigrant on a farm in Derry, New Hampshire? Being a New Hampshire-ite, that is a quaint piece of information. Having been brought up in an Irish family, I do remember eating lots and lots of potatoes. They were a staple commodity.

As a child, I played with “Mr. Potato Head” and “Mrs. Potato Head.” At the time, I think I had to bug my mother for real potatoes into which I inserted various ears, arms, legs, noses, etc. Today, there is quite a variety of these types of toys on the market.

To read more about Potatoes, if you are so inclined, please visit this file: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato I was amazed to learn that today China and India grow 1/3 of the entire potato crop of the world. Potatoes have Vitamin G, found in no other living organism. The potato is believed to prevent and/or help relieve bouts of gout (arthritis of the joints). Potatoes are tasty, nutritious, and a versatile staple of the kitchen. Now, please pass the potatoes. Thank you!

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, November 1st, 2009

This morning, a friend brought to my attention a new musical CD that combines both history and some of the finest arias ever written. The artist is Cecilia Bartoli. She has done extensive research about young men who were castrated so that there voices would remain “high” forever, for the sake of the art. In mid-18th century, she says in one interview, 4,000 boys, annually, underwent this procedure in Italy. She has written a “Castrato Compendium” to explain more about this trend, and that accompanies her just published CD. In Italian, the plural of buy viagra professional online is buy viagra professional online

In the words of the artist:

“buy viagra professional online.” – Cecilia Bartoli

The cover of the album presents the strong image that the artist intended: a female head and a male body. Bartoli has an exquisite and well-trained voice and seems to have been the right person to have achieved this kind of historical exploration. With her many abilities, she certainly appears to present a true depiction of the time period.

In addition, Anne Rice has written a novel that includes details about the castratos of Venice and Naples.

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Press Release sent by CCC Legacy:

PBS: The American Experience

“The 1930s: Civilian Conservation Corps”

Put it on your calendar and tune your TV to your local educational channel.

Monday, November 2, 2009 – 9/8 p.m. Central

The Civilian Conservation Corps is once again in the spotlight on PBS. Robert Stone Film has developed a five part series for PBS under the popular programming of WGBH “American Experience.” This series captures significant events of the 1930s and brings them to us in a presentation that offers us a comprehensive view for our education and entertainment.

Special interest to our readers is the second segment, “The 1930s: The Civilian Conservation Corps.”

CCC Legacy was proud to work with Robert Stone Productions on recommending and locating interviewees. Thanks goes to Robert Stone and staff and WGBH, for arranging for us to present a special pre-screening to our members who attended the Annual Gathering and Reunion in Colorado. It was nice to see that all four people interviewed have been our members at some time: Harley Jolley, NC; Vicente Ximenes, NM; Clifford Hammond, AZ; and Houston Pritchett, MI.

The segments are aired each Monday night through November 23. Please tell your family, friends, historians, students, teachers and others about this series. As a reminder, forward this email to people who you think would be interested so they too can enjoy learning from this “American Experience.”

Previews can be viewed online. Learn more by exploring the .

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Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Today, we did something that is always fun to do. We walked through a small country cemetery. I love to read epitaphs. Often, there is some endearing tribute or religious sentiment on very old stones. On several that we saw today, the words simply said, “Gone home.” It is amazing to see that only a rock marks some graves.

Walking through the cemetery, I paused to squint at one inscription when all of a sudden, the song of a chickadee in a nearby shrub, pierced the air, startling the silence. Some of the stones had been laid flat by the force of wind or weather. A couple of the fragile marble stones had broken into two pieces and had been hinged back together. Lichen growth was heavy on many granite stones, to the point that any writing, including names, was obscured.

Rufus Leavitt

Jim discovered this stone that is a tribute to a Civil War soldier.

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Jim walked through one half of the cemetery and I walked through the other. I found exactly what we were seeking, to follow up on a most interesting story of humor shared recently by New Hampshire’s own humor writer, Rebecca Rule. I hope that it will be in her next book!

pillow

This particular 50 year old man may have earned the right to be called a “pillow” (of the community).

I was so pleased that Jim found the headstone of the town minister about whom I’d read so much. Likewise, I was elated that he located the headstone of the grandparents of an important woman (Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster) whose life I have chronicled. Their names are Ichabod Packard Hardy and Emeline Mary Webster.

gravestone of Ellen's grandparents

This is the gravestone of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster’s grandparents. Ellen’s middle name is the same as her grandmother’s first name. I wrote a 355 page biography of Ellen last year. Ellen’s married name was Webster, and it only coincidental that her grandmother’s maiden name was also “Webster.”

So much history to be found in New England, which is why I love it here. I can’t imagine going anywhere else to live. In being able to view the actual gravestones of once-living people, I realize how important (and nice) it is to have a final resting place. Somehow, it proves that you were “here.” For me, it makes the names of people I’ve read about in print seem like old friends. Yes, I do love old cemeteries!

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, October 25th, 2009

For 3,500 years, in both pre-colonial and post-colonial eras of Mexico, the people there have celebrated a unique holiday. Today, the “Day of the Dead” ceremonies encompass both Aztec rituals and thoughts, and those of Roman Catholicism. Once a month long festival, now just two days are set aside, presided over by buy viagra professional online, “the Lady of the Dead.” This celebration is inextricably linked to “All Saints Day” (Nov. 1) and “All Soul’s Day” (Nov. 2).

The first day is set aside to honor the “buy viagra professional online,” the little angels who are no longer with us. White candles burn at their gravesites, and toys and balloons are brought there.

Adults are honored by elaborate altars, both at home and at the cemetery. These displays include food: sweet rolls (buy viagra professional online), candy skulls that are eaten by a friend or relative in memory of the deceased, and other food items, as well as all manner of beverages, including, but not limited to, buy viagra professional online (made from corn meal), tequila, water, and coffee.

Floral wreaths of either artificial or fresh flowers are often seen, and a favorite flower seems to be a certain variety of marigold.

The celebration is full of joy and is carried out throughout Mexico. One of the more spectacular events occurs on an island called Janitzio in the Lago de Patzcuaro (with an accent on the first “a.”) There, a duck hunt is conducted. Tourists are advised to book their trips in sufficient time, before hotels fill up. Mexico City is a major destination where the section called “buy viagra professional online” is a desirable place to be, during the Day of the Dead celebrations. Another site is Oaxaca.

Firework displays, and happy revelry welcome back the dead for one day. These traveling souls are thought to be residing in buy viagra professional online at the present time, but they come back to their graves to enjoy their favorite foods. The celebration for adults is marked by the tolling of a bell from 6 p.m. until sunrise the next day. This night is called, “buy viagra professional online.”

Some historians make parallels to the Festival of Osiris in ancient Egypt. It seems that if we look at recorded history and the history of ideas, we will see that Man wants to believe that there is something more than his mortal existence, that we, as a species, can and do beat Death itself. This idea certainly coincides with Christian thought, but it is interesting to remember that the idea of an afterlife precedes Christianity.

The skull, the quintessential symbol of Death, rules the day in this Mexican celebration. In thinking again about this topic, I can’t ever forget the beautiful quilt, “buy viagra professional online.” Technically-speaking, I believe it is the finest quilt I have ever seen. Read about the controversy surrounding this quilt on . Nonetheless, the quilt was named one of the best 100 quilts of the 20th century.

.

October is Hispanic Heritage Month.

I hope that you have enjoyed this overview that was helped along by information found at quite a few sites online. In gathering facts, I learned more about this holiday myself, and I do so love to learn!

Patricia Cummings

buy viagra professional online. This book will reverberate with any reader who has immigrant factory workers in their family or who just loves the details of labor history and/or accounts with a human edge.

In all, 146 people lost their lives. You see, their workplace was on an upper level of a building, so high that the ladders of New York’s fire engines could not reach. Moreover, the workers had been “locked in” without knowing it.

Large mills in the U.S. seem to have waivered between a paternalistic attitude, initially, and a punitive one in light of labor disputes and strikes. The bottom line for any “agent” was to maximize profit for the mill owners. It was not until someone with a camera, Lewis Hines, began taking photos of children at work, and exhibiting them publicly, was awareness of the evils of child labor even noticed.

Children were a commodity on the farm … in the workplace. No matter that they died on a regular basis from emphysema, pneumonia, and cancer, after breathing in cotton linters in a completely enclosed, sealed work environment, like Slater Mill, the first industrialized cotton spinning center, set up by Samuel Slater in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The pretty yellow building on a fast-flowing river is deceptively appealing, not belying the human devastation wreaked within the walls of the mill.

Mill settings picked the most needy of society for their workers, those without a voice: children, women and immigrants. Not much changed from the earliest mill to the shirtwaist factory tragedy of the twentieth century as you shall readily see, if you read Von Drehle’s riveting account. I read this book when it was first published in 2003 and can recommend it, without reservation.

Patricia Cummings

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