"Stop Televised Looting?"

 It’s a dream. You reluctantly go out back on your day off to start digging a garden exactly where your wife wants it. With each shovelful, you are thinking of all of the better spots in the yard for it.

“Where we had it last year.” Thud, thud.   

“In the corner, out of the way of the lawnmower.” Thud, thud.  

“ Near the hose so it will be easier to water,”  Thud, clink!

The headlines start rolling: “Man Discovers Civil War Cannon in Back Yard Garden!” and “Man Finds Valuable Treasure in Back Yard!”

It’s the find of a lifetime and evidence shows that this really does happen. Many people find valuable historical items accidentally, others go digging for them. 

Such is the case with Spike TV’s new show “American Digger,” which will debut on March 21^st. This show follows ex-wrestler Ric Savage who leads his team to dig up the back yards of history rich areas in an attempt to make it rich in the relic market.

According to Spike TV’s website, “American Savage, based in Mechanicsville, VA, is the top artifact recovery company in the country, digging as much as half a million dollars worth of historical artifacts out of US soil each year.” Of course, once the artifacts are recovered, they are no longer artifacts, they are relics. So in reality, this company makes half a million dollars worth of relics out of artifacts each year. 

Once an item is removed from the ground, the context of the item is lost. Yes, you know it’s a Civil War belt buckle. But why is it in that particular field? What about the rest of the items from this soldier that were not made of metal? What else is in the area? What does the position of these items tell you? 

The importance of context has been a heated debate between and archeologists and metal detectorists for years.  Some people think the item is more important and others, the context of the item. Although metal detectors are regularly employed at archeological sites to plot possible artifacts, the precise digging methods are still employed to preserve the context surrounding the objects.  Read a good article about Archeology and Relic hunting at The Battle of Franklin.

Sign the petition against the show or like the facebook page “Stop Televised looting.” 

I am not against metal detecting. I just don’t believe that you should metal detect in historically important areas without working with an archeologist. If an area will be destroyed and you have permission to metal detect, by all means remove the objects.  Also, if you find something of archeological significance, you should contact local archeological authorities.

Read some stories about scary finds:  

Virginia Man Killed in Civil War Cannonball Blast

New Jersey Beach Replenishment Dredges WWII munitions onto Beaches

Homemade Pierogi Recipe

Yesterday, Andy and I got really ambitious and made homemade pierogi! I wish I could say that this is a family recipe but my grandma never makes pierogi from scratch, although her mother, who was Lithuanian, did. 

Up near Andy's, pierogi are served, baked as a side dish. I was astonished the first time we went to the Allentown Zoo and there were containers of pierogi lines up next to the containers of fries at the concession stand there.   

Pierogi Recipe

Mix eggs and sour cream.

Dough:

- 3 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat if preferred)

- 1/4 teaspoon Salt

- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder

- 3 Eggs

-  8 ounces Sour Cream (1 small container)

Filling:

Clean, peel, boil and mash potatoes.

- 2 large potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed

- 3 Tablespoons Butter

- ½ cup chopped onion (you can use frozen onion)

- Salt and White Pepper to taste

- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

- Extra Butter and Onions needed for frying

   

**For an even quicker meal, you can make these using pre-made wonton wrappers. Alternatively you can make the filling a day in advance.**  

Add Flour, salt and baking powder.

Instructions:

Make into pierogi.

Wash, peel, chop and boil the potatoes until soft. Mash the potatoes in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside the potatoes. Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat, add the onions and cook until see-through. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and let cool.  

Mix the sour cream and eggs together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Sift together the baking powder, salt and baking powder. Mix flour mixture into egg mixture until it forms a nonsticky dough.  Roll out to 1/8” thick on a lightly floured surface.  Cut dough using a round 3 inch cutter.

Fry in butter and onions.

Pick up a dough cut out and stretch it a little bit in each direction with your fingers. Place dough round on a plate and add a spoonful of filling to the middle of the dough. Wet your finger and moisten the circumference of the dough round. Fold the round over and press the sides together. Press down the edges with a fork. Boil the assembled pierogi in water for about five minutes, remove to a colander. Be sure to only put in a few to avoid sticking. Once finished boiling, add 2 tablespoons of butter fry some onions and fry the pirogi until lightly browned. 

Lithuanian pierogis contain meat and the oldest recipes don’t contain sour cream. Below is a recipe from The Settlement Cookbook written in 1901 which includes meat. “The Settlement” was a social settlement in Milwaukee that offered vocational instruction and education in an attempt to help immigrant girls assimilate into American society. The recipes are from the 1921 edition of the book.  

These were surprisingly delicious! We thought they might taste differently as we used whole wheat flour but they still tasted good. If you won't be eating them right away, stop after boiling and fry shortly before serving. These can also be frozen after boiling if brushed with butter to prevent sticking. Hope you enjoy!

African American, Civil War Soldier Cemetery in Need of Help

Mount Peace Cemetery in New Jersey was established in 1900 as a burial ground for African American soldiers as cemeteries were still segregated. There are 77 African American Civil War veterans interred in the cemetery including Landsmen John Lawson, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. In 1952, a fire destroyed all of the records leaving no guide to the plots. The location of Lawson is not known.

This cemetery is overgrown and  by volunteers.
Another blogger, Ed at The Cemetery Traveler describes the cemetery in detail: "Scores of graves litter the forest. Toppled and sunken headstones are easy to trip over, as many are not obvious poking through the wildflowers and vines. Treading among the stones I couldn’t help wonder why people would lose interest in a cemetery, in their own history. How do you just forget about all these people who died? The untended area was shadowy and packed with ghostly stillness, even as daylight filtered through the leaves above."


To help contact the Lawnside Historical Society.

When Reenacting Gets Too Real: Racism and Descrimination

This is going to be the first of a series of posts about some of the more difficult issues in reenacting. 

When it comes to our clothing, we claim that we must do it right. After all, we claim, it is our responsibility to portray the wartime as authentically as possible. But what happens when it comes to the parts of 19th century reality that we'd rather forget? Is it our responsibility to go against our morals to portray something so horrific as slavery? Civil War reenactments are severely lacking in African American reenactors. Spectators are quick to point out the absence of enslaved peoples but reenactments also leave out the mass numbers of African Americans who worked as laborers, teamsters, servants and cooks. But what about those who do come out? Are period appropriate interactions, inappropriate today? Should reenactors have to act in defiance of their modern day beliefs?

Many period terms are offensive to us today. In addition to period words that are considered racist today, there are many offensive descriptors that were acceptable at one time. It seems cruel, but words like "dumb," "lame," and "imbecile," referred to medical conditions. Gay could mean happy or be a euphemism for prostitutes. Is using these words part of the authenticity we owe to the public? Are "period" racism and discrimination something we should incorporate?  Should women portraying "prostitutes" or the poor not get an invite to the ball? Should stripes on a coat really mean something? Should the Irish Brigade have derogatory names thrown at them?

I have never witnessed "period racism," but I have encountered real, modern-day racism. There are some people who somehow think that everyone in the south was racist and a supporter of slavery. They also think that everyone in the north was an abolitionist or somehow more enlightened than their southern counterparts. This type of thinking is juvenile at best and shows little understanding of the complex social and economic roots of the problems of the time period. Many  people also don't notice the "actor" in reenactor and falsely accuse Confederate reenactors of racism. They don't understand that reenactors portray people of the past and our real views are very different from the views we may portray.  Will "period discrimination" enforce these falsehoods?

I do not believe that "period" racism or other modernly derogatory comments should be used, unless all parties involved are in agreement about it and the moment is used as a "teaching moment." Someone should be available to explain to the public that "dumb" meant mute or "Uncle," was a common greeting for a white southern girl to an African American man. I also believe that the age group of the spectators is also very important, what is appropriate for a group of highschoolers is probably not appropriate for for primary school children. Everyone deserves to have a good time at a reenactment and real racism should not be a part of it.

Please read Ken's fantastic post about this topic An Interesting Perspective on Authentic Reenacting.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughtful comments. This is a difficult thing to discuss and there probably isn't any right answers. It would be very interesting to see what everyone's thoughts on the matter are.      

Anne of Green Gables Inspired Music Video

When things get tough, revisit your childhood favorites. :D This song isn't very new but I just saw the music video for it, which is highly influenced by the Anne of Green Gables sinking skiff scene! Always a favorite play scene of young girls. It's an obvious tribute right down to the book of Tennyson's poetry, she is holding. Spring is almost here and summer is coming, which always makes me revisit Anne of Green Gables in one way or another.   

"She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott." -The Lady of Shalott

The occasional spring weather we've been having has been depressing me as I look out the window, textbook in hand. I've been planning my garden in the margins of my school notes. I've been watching the wildlife in the morning, to figure out the best way to put things to keep the critters out. The little chipmunks are burrowing, the squirrels have emerged from their quasi-hibernation much more plump than they should be, and I even saw a piebald deer rooting through the twigs. I can't wait to be able to spend a lot of time outside!