Vila Wolf's Dyslexic Folklorist Ranting

Mary Fields, the first African-American woman employed as a mail carrier in the United States, 1895

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Photograph of the explosion of the American transport ship SS Robert Rowan during amphibious landings at Gela, Sicily. Nov. 7, 1943.

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A gathering of Shoshone Indians - American Old West

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Portrait of American jazz vocalist and performer Maxine Sullivan, 1938

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American suffragists, 1911. Including Miss Maud Roosevelt

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Southern Spoonbread- A Civil War Recipe

A moist cornmeal-based dish prevalent in parts of the South

Although named a “bread”, spoonbread is closer in consistency and taste to many puddings, such as Yorkshire pudding. As made by some recipes, spoonbread is similar to a cornmeal souffle, although typical Southern recipes do not involve whipping the eggs to incorporate air.

The dish is believed to be of Native American origin. It was commonly called Awendaw or Owendaw. The first print recipe for spoonbread appeared in a cookbook by Sarah Rutledge in 1847. Spoonbreads became popular around the turn of the 20th century, as cornmeal replaced yeast in Southern cooking.

Spoonbread

Scald milk, combine cornmeal, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar. Slowly stir the dry mixture into the scalded milk and bring to a boil, stirring all the while.

Remove from heat, stir in butter. Beat egg yolks until thick and stir in one-fourth of the hot mixture, then stir yolk mixture into remaining cornmeal mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into the cornmeal mixture.

Pour spoonbread into greased baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (until puffed and light brown). Since spoonbread is basically a cornmeal soufflé, it must be served immediately.  

Sergeant Alfred A. Stratton of Co. G, 147th New York Infantry Regiment, with amputated Arms

Under the Knife: The Butchers

Amputations constituted roughly 75 percent of all operations performed during the Civil War, at this time, most of the vast numbers of wounded men made it impossible for surgeons to undertake more delicate and time-consuming procedures such as building splints for limbs or carefully removing only part of the broken bone or damaged flesh. Critics, like Confederate surgeon Julian John Chisholm, charged that inexperienced doctors were too eager to attempt amputation as a way to improve their skills, and accused them of experimenting, often exacerbating existing injuries. Soldiers nicknamed such enthusiasts “butchers” and some even went so far as to treat themselves to try to avoid the painful intervention of the surgeon.

Folktales [1/3] La Llorona

The Native American Indian Pottery Source: http://bit.ly/14aDAu5 INTRODUCTION. I think that those of you reading my posts must know that my main interest lies in Ancient pottery. I have blogged about Pottery from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, the Roman through to the Medieval and Post Medieval periods.This post is about pottery made and decorated by The North American Indians.Their pottery is well known for its artistic beauty. But first here is a brief history of their way of life. THE HUNTERS These are people who relied mostly on the flesh of various sorts of animals as the mainstay  of their diet .From the animals………. Read More

Read and find more great archaeology blogs at: Archaeology Blog Project

 “Angel’s Glow" Soldiers with Glowing Wounds at Shiloh-Wounded soldiers who had to remain at the battleground in the rain and mud for up to two days before medics could reach them noticed that their wounds were glowing in the dark. 

P. luminescens’s presence at Shiloh and the reports of the strange glow- bacteria, along with nematodes, got into the soldiers’ wounds from the soil. This not only turned their wounds into night lights, but may have saved their lives.

Tennessee in the spring is green and cool. Nighttime temperatures in early April would have been low enough for the soldiers who were out there in the rain for two days to get hypothermia, lowering their body temperature and giving P. luminescens a good home. Based on the evidence for P. luminescens’s presence at Shiloh and the reports of the strange glow, bacteria, along with the nematodes, got into the soldiers’ wounds from the soil. This not only turned their wounds into night lights, but may have saved their lives. The chemical cocktail that P. luminescens uses to clear out its competition probably helped kill off other pathogens that might have infected the soldiers’ wounds. Since neither P. luminescens nor its associated nematode species are very infectious to humans, they would have soon been cleaned out by the immune system themselves.

Two high school students, Bill Martin and Jon Curtis from Bowie, MD won the Intel International Science Fair competition in 2001 with their research into the curious story of soldiers who survived being wounded at the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War in the spring of 1862.

http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/why-some-civil-war-soldiers-glowed-in-the-dark/

http://bio230fall2010.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/civil-war-ghost-soldiers/

Where I live in Alabama, this stuff is all over the place. At least once a week my footprints will glow in the dark. It's really kind of cool

The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, located 13 km north-east of St Louis, Missouri, USA -the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. 

An excellent example of a complex chiefdom society, this site was occupied primarily during the Mississippian period (800–1400), and at its peak had a population of 10–20,000. The Monks Mound is one of the most prominant features of the site (shown in photos 1 & 3), which covers 5ha, and stands at 30m high.

Artistic recreation of Cahokia from the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center (photo via flickr). The main structure in the background is Monks Mound.

Photos courtesy & taken by shaddowhawke.

Kukaniloko Birth Site, an extremely important archaeological site on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii.

The University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy has actually done some very interesting research of the site, for more information and images of the site, check out their page. In 2000, a team from the university recorded the shapes and designs of the stones -in which could have been used to track the movements of celestial objects for calendrical purposes.

Photos courtesy & taken by Joel Bradshaw.

Abraham Lincoln is well known for his actions as President, but he was active in politics long before then.

In 1847, he protested President Polk’s handling of the Mexican-American from the House of Representatives. Before the war had been declared, Americans and Mexicans had clashed in contested territory north of the Rio Grande. Polk stated that blood had been spilled on American soil, and therefore, war was required. Lincoln issued the “Spot Resolutions”, demanding to know on what spot American blood was spilled to prove whose soil it had been spilled on. 

Sounds a bit petty, but due to the contested nature of the territory, this was a pretty legit question, and as Polk was using it as a main reason for war to grab that territory…well, you get the picture.

Pretty much no one cared at the time, besides Democrats who mocked him and fellow Whigs who told him to back off the issue. You see it a lot in the history books now that he’s one of our more revered presidents. 

Aztalan State Park in Aztalan, Wisconsin, USA.

Photos courtesy & taken by James Steakley

The book was intended to be the carrier for a gift card. Uninteresting score for me. Good sourcebook! #american folklore #folklore #books

The Lowry Pueblo:

“The pueblo was constructed about 1060 AD atop abandoned pithouses from an earlier period of occupation. It was occupied by 40 to 100 people at a time over 165 years. The pueblo was named for early homesteader George Lowry. Its last occupation occurred in the early 13th century,  much of its architectural influences have come from from Chaco Canyon, which is 100 miles south in New Mexico. The structure contains about 40 rooms and multiple kivas.

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark on July, 19th 1964.”

W.E. B. DuBois with his wife Nina and daughter Yolande ca. 1901

Source:

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=1757762&imageID=1953581&parent_id=620386&word=&snum=&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=9&num=0&imgs=20&pNum=&pos=3

William Edward Burghardt “W. E. B.” Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor

Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / Photographs and Prints Division Catalog Call Number: Sc Photo Du Bois, W.E.B.