Tag: graves

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 132

By Erik Loomis

In General

On August 22, 2017

This is the grave of Lysander Spooner. Born in 1808 in Athol, Masschusetts, Spooner never went to college but nonetheless studied with some of his state’s top lawyers and became one of the leading philosophers of mid-19th century America. His first public action was to attack the Massachusetts state law mandating that non-college educated lawyers […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 131

By Erik Loomis

On August 21, 2017

This is the grave of Frank Lautenberg. Born in 1924 in Paterson, New Jersey to Jewish immigrants, Lautenberg served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. When he returned home, he used the GI

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 130

By Erik Loomis

On August 20, 2017

This is the grave of LeRoy Neiman. Born in 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Neiman had a rough upbringing. His father walked out when he was young. His mother married and divorced and then married again.

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 129

By Erik Loomis

In General

On August 19, 2017

This is the grave of Shirley Chisholm. Born in 1924 in Brooklyn, Chisholm, then known as Shirley St. Hill, was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants and grew up poor. In 1929, she and her sisters were sent to Barbados to live with their grandmother because their parents could not afford their upkeep. She returned in […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 128

By Erik Loomis

On August 17, 2017

This is the grave of Claude Bowers. Born in 1878 in Westfield, Indiana, Bowers became a journalist in Terre Haute as a young man. Self-taught, Bowers never went to college but devoured any book he cou

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 127

By Erik Loomis

On August 13, 2017

This is a reburial site for the some of the unknown workers killed building the tunnel at Hawk’s Nest in West Virginia. I’ve written about Hawk’s Nest in the Labor History series, so

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 126

By Erik Loomis

In General

On August 12, 2017

This is the grave of John Chivington. One of the most reprehensible loathsome Americans to ever live and yet a man representative of 19th century America, Chivington was born in 1821 in Lebanon, Ohio. He became a Methodist circuit rider in 1844, working in Illinois. He became a strong abolitionist and went to Kansas in […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 125

By Erik Loomis

On August 11, 2017

This is the grave of Robert Wagner, Jr. Born in 1910 to the famed senator Robert Wagner, young Bob graduated from Yale in 1933 and Yale Law in 1937. He followed his father into the family business, be

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 124

By Erik Loomis

On August 10, 2017

This is the grave of Max Roach. Born in 1924 in Newland, North Carolina, Roach’s family moved to Brooklyn in 1928. Roach became a musician from a very young age, his mother being a gospel singer

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 123

By Erik Loomis

In General

On August 5, 2017

This is the grave of William Pinkney. Born in 1764 in Annapolis, he became a lawyer in 1786. He started his political career by being a member of the convention that ratified the Constitution in Maryland. He allied with the Jeffersonians as the first party system developed. He was in a number of different positions […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 122

By Erik Loomis

On August 4, 2017

This is the grave of William Brennan. One of the key liberal jurists in Supreme Court history, Brennan was born in 1906 in Newark to Irish immigrants. His father did something extremely rare in the Ir

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 120

By Erik Loomis

On August 2, 2017

This is the grave of Paul Harvey. The famed radio host, voice of Middle America (TM), and right-wing crank was born in Tulsa in 1918. He was one of those people blessed with a good media voice and sta

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