Tag: American Essence

Book Recommender: ‘Destruction of the Steamboat Sultana,’ the Story of Mississippi’s Deadliest Maritime Disaster

In April 1865, the steamboat Sultana’s boilers burst shortly after passing Memphis on its way to Cairo, Illinois. The boat burned and sank. Aboard were nearly 2,200 passengers and crew. Of those aboard, 1,168 died. It was the deadliest maritime disaster in the United States. Not until the Titanic sank in 1912 would another maritime…


Book Recommender: ‘The Gettysburg Cyclorama,’ Discover the Story Behind the Most Iconic Painting of the Civil War Battle

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” penned Oscar Wilde in an 1889 essay, “The Decay of Lying.” Yet “The Gettysburg Cyclorama: The Turning Point of the Civil War on Canvas” is one exception. The book’s writers, Chris Brenneman and Sue Boardman, who have worked as licensed guides at the Gettysburg National Military…


A Tour Through North Carolina’s Tryon Palace, Once Known as the Finest Government House in Colonial America

North Carolina’s Tryon Palace was once known as the finest government house in colonial America. Completed in 1770, only years before the Revolutionary War, the palace was built for British royal governor William Tryon. The price of building the palace met with controversy and added to conflict in the Colonies. During the war, it became…


How 19th-Century Painters Frederic Edwin Church and Ferdinand Richardt Captured the Magnificent Beauty of Niagara Falls

“Their roar is around me. I am on the brink of the great waters—and their anthem voice goes up amid the rainbow and the mist.” —Excerpt from “Niagara,” Grenville Mellen, 1839 In the 19th century, realistically painted works of the Romantic period offered viewers in America, and across the Atlantic, the chance to glimpse the…


How Incorporating Pets in the Classroom Can Offer Lessons on Responsibility and Encourage Student Participation

Early in my classroom career, I had a student. Let’s call her Susan. School had been in session for about a month, and a guest teacher came to my room to relieve me. She told me I was wanted in the conference room for a meeting. I walked into that meeting blind, not knowing who…


Colorado Sculptor Explains the Importance of Fostering Creativity and Helping Young Artists Soar

Do you have a budding Michelangelo or Georgia O’Keeffe in your home, and are you wondering how to guide him or her on the artist’s journey? We can take children to museums, provide them with art materials, talk about art, and sign them up for classes. We can watch videos and read books on how…


A Unique College Program Helps Students Hone Important Life Skills Through Performing Shakespeare Plays

After school one day, a gregarious and confident sixth-grade student named Travis Curtright told his mother about his plans to be a stand-up comedian. In a way, his dream came to fruition, for professionally he draws out the comedic genius of William Shakespeare as the Director of Shakespeare in Performance at Ave Maria University. It…


Snorkeling Adventures: Dive Beneath the Crisp Waters of Alaska to Discover One of the Most Densely Populated Ecosystems on Earth

Cucumbers move. Not fast, mind you, maybe 6 inches a minute. But moving they are, and I’m watching, on a bright, early summer morn near Ketchikan, Alaska. The encounter represents several exotic facets of modern American life, ranging from visionary business formation to impressive garment technology to the wonders of nature. And it’s a profound…


The Big Cat (1949)

A city boy arrives in his late mother’s birthplace to discover the locals have been pestered by drought, old fights, and a cougar. He turns out to be pivotal in all of these. Credit: Public Domain Movies – Feature Films: Cinema collection: epochcinema.com Epoch Original content: epochoriginal.com Feature Films: www.theepochtimes.com/featured-films * Click the “Save” button…


The Untold Story Behind a Costly Mistake that Led to America’s Deadliest Natural Disaster in History

sam“The whole story will never be told, because it cannot be told.” This was the dispatch sent to the Associated Press office in Chicago from the manager of the Galveston News on September 12, 1900, four days after a catastrophic hurricane dealt death, desolation, and destruction to the thriving sand-barrier island located about 2 miles…