When I was a kid growing up in Texas in the 1960s, I suffered from an identity crisis. While I didn’t know who I was, I knew who I was not. For one, I was not born in Texas, and that was a problem for some folks. I grew up fascinated by American history while having no idea where my ancestors fit in with the … Continue reading Had I Known Then What I Know Now
This was originally posted September 2010 during German American Heritage Month In 2021, it is observed in the month of October. In the post, I discuss the intolerance and bigotry shown towards German Americans a little over 100 years ago during WWI. I hope that by posting this readers will understand that we need to stop the cycle of violence & racial injustice and come … Continue reading German American Heritage Month 2021 is in October
Not too long after the January 6th insurrection, I became curious about the history of political violence in the United States. One of the first events that came to mind was the Draft Riots of 1863. Although the New York Draft Riot of July 3 – 5 is infamous as the most deadly and expensive civil disturbance in American history, it is not the only … Continue reading Bloody Monday
In the 1920s, when those who had been adults during the War between the States had almost all gone off to either their great reward, some fallen to damnation, or some like my great, great-grandmother Mattie J. Dobbs, were languorously lingering through their ninth decade on God’s green earth, their sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren now felt that they could speak more freely about … Continue reading He Was Mean to His Slaves
A little while ago, I made the discovery that the family of one of my great, great-grandmothers lived for a time in a New York City neighborhood that was then known as Little Germany. The family of Sophia Precht (aka Sophia P. von Spiegel) lived, from the mid to late 19th century, in a neighborhood found within the East Village of the New York City … Continue reading Christmas Eve 1874 in Manhattan’s Little Germany
This post was first published about ten years ago. It is pretty amazing when you think about how we keep in touch with friends and family today. It is equally amazing when you think that social networking sites have only been around for a few short years. The “Internet” came about in the early seventies, but was not until the mid-nineties when most of us … Continue reading Before Facebook, There was the Cigar Maker’s Journal
My father, David DeBacker, was a hospital administrator and both he and his father, a doctor, were proponents of what some folks would call “socialized medicine.” In the 1972, he gave a speech at a conference in San Antonio Texas in which he essentially predicted that we would have something like Obamacare by the year 1980. I found the following article, dated February 4, 1972, … Continue reading My Dad Predicted Obamacare in 1972
Gathering Leaves 