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The Wood-Pile
Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, 'I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther -- and we shall see.'
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
Read more
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Civil War Book of Days, March 2
". . . a sign we intend the Union to go on"
March 4, 1862. Appearing before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, Lincoln urged Congress to appropriate funds so that work on the Capitol building's new dome could start again, after having been suspended for a year due to lack of funds. "It is a sign we intend the Union to go on," Lincoln said.
 | | U.S. Capitol building under construction, July 1861, Library of Congress |
SOURCE Philip Kunhardt, Jr. Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography, p. 176 Naval Warfare Changed Forever
March 8, 1862. When Union forces abandoned the naval shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia at the beginning of the war, they scuttled and sank the Union frigate Merrimack. In the summer of 1861 the Confederate navy recovered the ship, covered her with iron plates, converted her to steam power, outfitted her with formidable guns, and renamed her the Virginia. The Union's uncontested supremacy on the seas was now at risk. Read more . . .  Sign up for the Civil War Book of Days, VHC's weekly e-newsletter marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. It commemorates what happened each week 150 years ago.
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Humanities Commentaries on VPR
 | | Peter Gilbert |
Each month, VHC's Executive Director Peter Gilbert presents commentaries on Vermont Public Radio that examine current and past events from a humanities perspective. Most recently, Peter spoke about:
- Willie's Story: This President's Day was also the anniversary of an event that caused great sadness in the Lincoln White House. Commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert has the story -- not of a President, but a President's child.
- The Presidency: Commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert loves movies about the American presidency, especially thrillers. Recently, he saw two that he'd never seen before.
- Corporations' Free Speech: Two years ago this month, a bitterly divided Supreme Court overruled precedent and held that the government may not ban political spending by corporations, and that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 violated corporations' right to free speech.
- Centenary: Commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert tells us a true story of great suffering, disappointment, and pathos that's one hundred years old this month.
Read or listen to Peter's commentaries online.
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The Vermont Humanities Council presents more than 1,200 events every year. Thank you for your interest in lifelong learning!
Sincerely, |
Sylvia Plumb, Director of Communications
Vermont Humanities Council |
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