Three groups filed amicus briefs in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit backing the American Historical Association (AHA), American Oversight, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in their fight to stop the Trump administration from evading the Presidential Records Act (PRA). [Read more…] about New Amicus Briefs Back Fight to Protect Presidential Records
Washington D.C.
Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys
Boundary disputes such as the those around the New Hampshire Grants came up everywhere in the colonies. Many colonial grants had been based on parallels of latitude or meridians of longitude. It was no easy matter to mark out these lines.
One famous boundary historically is the Mason and Dixon line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Mason was an astronomer as well as a surveyor and more astronomical observations were probably made in connection with this line than any other. [Read more…] about Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys
A Bizarre Trump Legal Filing In National Trust Lawsuit
What follows is a motion filed Monday, April 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:25-cv-04316-RJL), ostensibly by the Justice Department, though much of it appears to have been written by Donald Trump himself. The motion is filed in the lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation regarding the extra-legal demolition of a third of the White House by the Trump regime and the attempt to build a large vaguely defined and variously cost estimated ballroom in its place. For ease of reading, some legal citations have been redacted and paragraph breaks have been added. The full filing can be found here. Be advised some of these claims are demonstrable lies. Read more about the destruction of the White House here.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation” is a beautiful name, but even their name is FAKE because when they add the words “in the United States” to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it makes it sound like a Governmental Agency, which it is not.
In fact, the United States refused to continue funding it in 2005 because they strongly disagreed with their mission and objectives. They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. [Read more…] about A Bizarre Trump Legal Filing In National Trust Lawsuit
Early Saratoga County Inventors & The Patent Office Fire
The United States Patent Commission was created on April 10, 1790, to establish a formal method for submitting and indexing patents. Its first three members were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.
As only three people made up the early patent office, the first applications were not closely examined. An inventor simply submitted a written description, a working model, and a $30 fee (equivalent to about $1,000 today). [Read more…] about Early Saratoga County Inventors & The Patent Office Fire
The Canal That Almost Changed the World
In the 1820s, American entrepreneurs, engineers, and politicians dared to dream big. They believed they could cut a canal, not through Panama, but through the wild, rain-soaked terrain of Nicaragua. Their goal? To link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and transform global trade forever.
But what inspired these ambitious “canal dreamers?” And why did they believe Nicaragua held the key to controlling the future of commerce? [Read more…] about The Canal That Almost Changed the World
National Trust Sues Trump Over White House Demolition
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately-funded nonprofit organization chartered by Congress in 1949 to facilitate public participation in the preservation of historic sites of national significance, has filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against various individuals and agencies of the government asserting that ongoing construction of the White House ballroom is unlawful and asking the court to halt further construction activities until the government complies with the law by going through the legally mandated review processes, including a public comment period.
Donald Trump had crews demolish the White House’s East Wing in October 2025 to make room for a White House State Ballroom, which is planned to be nearly twice the size of the White House. [Read more…] about National Trust Sues Trump Over White House Demolition
Historic Preservationists Decry White House Demolition
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sent a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the National Park Service, and the Commission of Fine Arts seeking a pause in White House demolition for the Trump regime’s massive ballroom project, which would “overwhelm the White House itself,” until legal requirements are met. [Read more…] about Historic Preservationists Decry White House Demolition
Creating the U.S. Federal Government
When we think about the founding of the United States, we often focus on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and those first landmark elections.
But how did the United States actually build its federal government, the entire apparatus of state that could collect revenue, manage international diplomacy, provide law and order, and extend its reach across a rapidly expanding nation? [Read more…] about Creating the U.S. Federal Government
The End of Reconstruction & The Civil Rights Cases of 1883
Shortly after the Supreme Court handed down the Civil Rights Cases in 1883 [which declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional], a mass meeting was called for Lincoln Hall in the nation’s capital. Two prominent Republican orators — one black and one white — were the featured speakers. Frederick Douglass — the runaway slave who had become an avid student of the Constitution in the course of his career as an abolitionist — spoke first.
Robert G. Ingersoll [born in 1833 in Yates County, NY] — highly valued as a Republican orator despite his outspoken atheist views — closed the program. In some ways, the event was a political rally, similar to others that had characterized both the long battle against slavery and the heady early days of Reconstruction. [Read more…] about The End of Reconstruction & The Civil Rights Cases of 1883
Immigration and Deportation: NYC Mayors and Federal Officials
On April 27, 1972, Mayor John V. Lindsay sent a letter to the Hon. Raymond F. Farrell, Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U. S. Department of Justice, in Washington, DC.
Lindsay wrote to Farrell on behalf of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, “who are currently facing deportation proceedings initiated by your Department.” Lindsay acknowledged to Farrell that the couple “speak out with strong and critical voices on major issues of the day.” [Read more…] about Immigration and Deportation: NYC Mayors and Federal Officials
US Military in Our Streets: Posse Comitatus in Historical Perspective
In the 1975 film Posse, Amsterdam, NY native Kirk Douglas (who directed the film) plays an unscrupulous U.S. Marshal running for U.S. Senate who leads an elite posse in pursuit of a gunslinger to further his political career. In the final scenes the posse has to reassess whose side they are really on. The echos of recent events are uncanny.
The word posse is a shorted form of posse comitatus meaning “power of the county.” It refers to the power of local officials to grant policing authority to local people to assist in criminal justice activities. It’s a powerful authority, easily manipulated by unscrupulous actors and has been frequently abused throughout American history by local (and a few times national) officials, especially to racially target minorities. [Read more…] about US Military in Our Streets: Posse Comitatus in Historical Perspective
Marian Anderson & DAR Diversity History
World-renowned Black opera singer Marian Anderson (1897 – 1993) got her first big break after winning a 1925 singing competition sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. She performed at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan in 1955, becoming the first Black artist to do so. Throughout her career, Anderson performed all over the world while also lending her talent to the struggle against racial injustice. The granddaughter of Black people once enslaved in Virginia, she sang at the March on Washington in 1963 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom that same year.
Back in April 1939 however, Anderson was denied access to auditoriums in Washington, DC, and instead performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. [Read more…] about Marian Anderson & DAR Diversity History
1927: Rural High School Seniors Visit the Big Cities
It must have been quite an experience. The anticipation during their senior year must have been quite exhilarating as a group of rural American kids planned for a trip to big cities for what may well have been for some of them the experience of a lifetime.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District’s Senior class was going on a big-city trip some 400 miles south. [Read more…] about 1927: Rural High School Seniors Visit the Big Cities
The Extraordinary Life of Jehudi Ashmun (1794–1828)
Researching and sharing the stories of remarkable people is rewarding with the recognition that it often takes a book to be truthful and fair to the many interesting journeys their lives took. Such a remarkable person is Jehudi Ashman, a Clinton County, NY man instrumental in the development of the African nation of Liberia. [Read more…] about The Extraordinary Life of Jehudi Ashmun (1794–1828)
Duke Ellington and New York City
For most of the 20th century, the City of New York ran the largest municipal broadcast organization in the United States, consisting of WNYC-FM, AM and TV. During this time, WNYC brought the diverse lives and cultures of the city into the homes of its residents through original entertainment, journalism and educational programming. [Read more…] about Duke Ellington and New York City
September 17th is Constitution Day: Some History
In 2004, Congress passed a law recognizing September 17th as Constitution Day. On that date in 1787, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia put their signatures on the Constitution of the United States. Local celebrations of Constitution Day started over 100 years ago, but it didn’t become federal law until 2004. [Read more…] about September 17th is Constitution Day: Some History
NATO History: A 75-Year Alliance
Seventy-five years ago on April 4, 1949, foreign ministers from the United States and 11 countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom) gathered in Washington, DC to sign the Washington Treaty.
Also known as the North Atlantic Treaty, the treaty derives its authority from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which affirms the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense. [Read more…] about NATO History: A 75-Year Alliance
Thaddeus Hyatt: Radical New York Abolitionist
This photograph of abolitionist and inventor Thaddeus Hyatt was sent to his Massachusetts lawyer and fellow abolitionist Samuel E. Sewall in April of 1860 from Hyatt’s cell in a jail in Washington, DC.
He wrote below his image, “Presented to his friend, Mon. S. E. Sewall, Washington Jail, April 21, 1860.” [Read more…] about Thaddeus Hyatt: Radical New York Abolitionist
Eisenhower’s Sabre, The Netherlands & The Marshall Plan
On October 14th, 1947, a crisp and sunny autumn day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower celebrated his 57th birthday in style. At the Dutch embassy, in the heart of Washington, DC, ambassador Eelco van Kleffens presented the legendary leader of the Second World War with an “honorary sabre.”
It was not a conventional blade. Weighing nearly five pounds, the gold-encrusted sabre was embedded with hundreds of gemstones and had been meticulously handcrafted by one of the most skillful goldsmiths in The Netherlands: Brom’s Edelsmederij in Utrecht. [Read more…] about Eisenhower’s Sabre, The Netherlands & The Marshall Plan
The Hawleys, Opposition to the War of 1812 and the Church of the Presidents
The American artist Wilhelmina Douglas Hawley (Perth Amboy, NJ 1860 – Rijsoord, Netherlands 1958), my great-grandmother, lived a long and interesting life. Her artistic career and family history has fascinated me since I was a young girl.
Wilhelmina’s ancestors were English and Scottish migrants, who moved to the east coast of the United States and Canada in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. [Read more…] about The Hawleys, Opposition to the War of 1812 and the Church of the Presidents