Tangentially Related

Last week John Hope Franklin died. More than perhaps any other historian, Franklin was responsible for convincing academia of something many people already knew, that African American History was American History. Or, as Martin Luther King put it, "our destiny is tied up in the destiny of America." The representation of the African American past that we will see in various places in Virginia and DC would not exist without people like Franklin and would remain unknown to most of us. Read an obituary to his extraordinary life at this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/25/AR2009032502185.html

I saw Franklin speak one time, in the late 1990s in Cincinnati. He was frail and elderly, but still managed to command the rapt attention of a large audience which honored him with a thunderous standing ovation when he was done speaking. He had been introduced by a member of President Clinton's cabinet, who was apparently waiting to take Franklin to dinner after the event. Franklin kept the secretary of a federal department waiting while he shook hands and signed books for every single person who wished to meet him.

Hello from Arnold

Hello from Mary. I will simply go by the name Teach. This is my first time on a blog, please be patient.

Photo Contest

The question: Can you and/or a friend come up with a better photo than this? Prizes (to be determined) given out at a later date. FYI, this photo was taken the day the NMAI opened in D.C.

Flex possibilities

Hi everybody. Excellent idea, this blog.

I'm looking forward to continuing our discussion on spreading your ideas and work across the district. How about posting the ideas that you're working on? Perhaps others will comment?

Best,

Randy

LPS in Issue 4 of TAH info

Hello from Randolph

I'm in and looking forward to the sharing, insights, laughter, and learning!

First one in.