News from Haiti
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
2w ago
When documentary editors begin a project, we expect it to cover certain topics. I was confident, when I started preparing Zachary Taylor’s and Millard Fillmore’s letters for publication, that the letters would cover topics I associated with America in the 1840s and 1850s. They would discuss the Mexican-American War, the expansion of slavery, the cholera ..read more
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A Presidency (Almost) Lost in the Mail
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1M ago
We wish those who celebrate a belated merry Christmas, an ongoing happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, and, of course, a joyous new year! Furthermore, why not a grievous Festivus? Seinfeld introduced that made-up holiday to television audiences in 1997, but we’ve encountered the word in the nineteenth-century press. The New York Herald of August 2, 1867 ..read more
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Bonus Blog: When the President Stepped Aside
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
7M ago
Sometimes the world surprises even us historians. Less than two weeks have passed since my last blog entry, and I didn’t intend to return so soon. But recent news makes this seem the right time to share events from the 1840s and 1850s that will sound familiar today. Two stories in presidential politics have dominated the headlines this month. First, a would-be assassin shot Donald Trump. The former president and Republican nominee, thank goodness, survived, but one supporter was killed, and two others were severely injured. Second, amid questions about Joe Biden’s age and capability, some Demo ..read more
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War, Religion, Atrocities, and Prisoners
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
7M ago
Library of Congress. April 25, 1846, was a dark day in North American history. Literally. On that day, the moon passed directly between Earth and the Sun. Some Caribbean islands experienced a total solar eclipse. Much of Mexico and the United States got a partial one. As on April 8, 2024, the sky’s light was blotted out. But that was not all. For those who cherished peace, April 25 was also a dark day in a figurative sense. Near the shore of the Rio Grande, in territory disputed between the two countries, Mexican troops surrounded and fired on US ones. On that dark day, the Mexican-American ..read more
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Annotation: Translating the Past
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1y ago
Earlier in this blog, I discussed our processes for locating Zachary Taylor’s and Millard Fillmore’s letters and for transcribing and proofreading them. Those tasks continue, as we are always finding more documents in libraries, archives, and private collections. Our database now includes over 4,500 letters by or to the twelfth and thirteenth presidents, plus hundreds of enclosures and cover letters. Mostly, though, we’ve moved on to the next stages of documentary editing. As you may recall, we intend to publish three print and digital volumes of Taylor’s and Fillmore’s letters from 1844 to 18 ..read more
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Getting Together: On Campus & On the Air
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1y ago
Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and I were on television this week. Well, one of us was, talking about the other two. But I should back up. When I started this blog in 2020, I noted the context and impact of the Taylor-Fillmore project’s beginning during a pandemic. American University’s campus was minimally staffed, everyone who could was working at home, and visits to archives and libraries were indefinitely postponed. I relied heavily on the generosity of archivists and librarians who located, scanned, and shared the manuscript letters in their care. When Associate Editor Amy Larrabee Cot ..read more
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Developing Skills for Personal Benefit
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1y ago
This summer, a new national conversation emerged over the teaching of history. On July 19, the Florida Department of Education approved updated standards for social studies courses. These are the first in Florida to include a distinct curricular strand on African American history. One requirement for middle school lessons attracted widespread attention: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Some politicians, teachers, and others criticized what they saw as a defense of slavery. Last week protesters marched to t ..read more
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John Quincy Adams on Millard Fillmore
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1y ago
Today, for the first time, we present a joint entry with the Massachusetts Historical Society’s blog, The Beehive. Neal Millikan, a historian and editor at the society’s Adams Papers, looks at where Fillmore shows up in John Quincy Adams’s diary. In a postscript, I look at where Adams appears in Fillmore’s letters. Enjoy! Also note that Dr. Millikan will be speaking about Adams and his diary at the online and in-person conference we’re hosting on June 22–25 (see my recent mini-entry for details), so register (it’s free) by June 5 to hear more! Neal Millikan Series Editor, Digital Editions, Th ..read more
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Come Say Hello! (at our conference)
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
1y ago
Photograph of picnic dinner by Joseph John Kirkbride [1889]. Library of Congress. Over the past three years, I’ve kept you up to date on the Taylor-Fillmore project via this blog and Twitter. I will continue to do so. But next month, for the first time in our project’s history, we will host an in-person (and virtual) event! On June 22–25 you can come visit us, and our colleagues on other documentary editing project, either at American University in Washington, DC, or on the screen of your favorite electronic gadget. Our project, and more generally AU’s Center for Congressional and Presidential ..read more
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Millard Fillmore and the Policing of Black America
The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore Blog
by Michael Cohen
2y ago
The death of Tyre Nichols and the charges of murder against five Memphis police officers have reignited debates about policing in America. Amid other African Americans’ deaths following actions by law enforcement, including those of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, this tragedy involving a Black victim and mostly Black officers again brings questions of race to the fore. Earlier in this blog I discussed Taylor’s and Fillmore’s roles in the history of racial oppression. They participated in the enslavement of Blacks and the violent expulsion of Native Americans from the East. But it is worth ge ..read more
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