American Graves
November 19, 2019 1:20 AM Subscribe
Erik Loomis is Associate Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island. He blogs daily at Lawyers, Guns, and Money. His series Erik Visits an American Grave has 586 posts so far.
(Lawyers, guns and money is a good political blog and had been cited on M-F 37 times)
(Lawyers, guns and money is a good political blog and had been cited on M-F 37 times)
One of my favorite haunts: the series is highlighted by concise histories of significant Amrican historical figures (both good, bad, and very, very bad), leavened with acerbic commentary on those men and women.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:58 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:58 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Fantastic is right. I wasn't sure if I wanted to click through, but I am glad I did. There is a lot to read here, and what little of it I have seen so far is...well, fantastic.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:09 AM on November 19, 2019
posted by Literaryhero at 3:09 AM on November 19, 2019
I’ve been lucky enough to accompany the author on some of these grave visits, to I’m happy to see this series highlighted on the blue.
posted by heurtebise at 6:04 AM on November 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by heurtebise at 6:04 AM on November 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
People are having good clean fun in the comments, too. This is like the Internet Good Old Days. Very cool.
posted by HotToddy at 7:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 7:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love LGM and Erik.
posted by pelvicsorcery at 7:14 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pelvicsorcery at 7:14 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Any site that lists a grave as, "Harry Blackmun is buried on the confiscated lands of the traitor Lee, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia" is OK with me. Thank you so much for posting!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:32 AM on November 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:32 AM on November 19, 2019 [9 favorites]
His older series, "This Day in Labor History" (also on LGM) is great too.
While I'm at it his book Out of Sight, about the impacts of moving corporate misdeeds offshore, is worth a read.
posted by mark k at 8:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
While I'm at it his book Out of Sight, about the impacts of moving corporate misdeeds offshore, is worth a read.
posted by mark k at 8:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I am an URI alumna! I majored in history! I like to visit cemeteries! And the mister and I will eventually be buried in one of the cemeteries mentioned, so this is so relevant to my interests.
posted by Ruki at 8:11 AM on November 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Ruki at 8:11 AM on November 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Small quibbles: (a) These are nearly all white guys. Few women, people of color and I could find no Native Americans. (b) His writeups are great, but it would be nice if he would list his sources or hyperlink to them.
posted by beagle at 9:16 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by beagle at 9:16 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Im a third generation URI grad... can't stand Loomis!
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:41 AM on November 19, 2019
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:41 AM on November 19, 2019
"States Rights Gist"...there is a first name that could be proudly carried on by contemporary racists and bigots. More subtle than naming your kid after Hitler, but it gets the job done.
posted by mermayd at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mermayd at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
This is quite a rabbit hole! His writeup on Jesse Helms is excellent, not least because because of the ending:
Jesse Helms made everything around him, including our country, much, much, much worse. I hope he is burning in Hell and I am willing to suspend my atheism based on this hope.
Jesse Helms is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina. Whoever put flowers on his grave is also a horrible person. And that includes if it is his kids.
posted by TedW at 10:15 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Jesse Helms made everything around him, including our country, much, much, much worse. I hope he is burning in Hell and I am willing to suspend my atheism based on this hope.
Jesse Helms is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina. Whoever put flowers on his grave is also a horrible person. And that includes if it is his kids.
posted by TedW at 10:15 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Wait, we haven't had an FPP about these yet? Thanks for noticing and correcting that, growabrain!
Pretty sure more recent entries do include info about source material, fwiw.
posted by asperity at 10:02 PM on November 19, 2019
Pretty sure more recent entries do include info about source material, fwiw.
posted by asperity at 10:02 PM on November 19, 2019
And that includes if it is his kids.
"Jesse and Dot had two daughters, Jane and Nancy, and adopted a nine-year-old orphan with cerebral palsy named Charles after reading in a newspaper that Charles wanted a mother and father for Christmas"
posted by BWA at 5:55 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Jesse and Dot had two daughters, Jane and Nancy, and adopted a nine-year-old orphan with cerebral palsy named Charles after reading in a newspaper that Charles wanted a mother and father for Christmas"
posted by BWA at 5:55 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
That's just a reminder that people are complex, sometimes even bad people.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:01 PM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 2:01 PM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by eotvos at 2:00 AM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]