Author: Patrick Young
“Never Mind the Guide” The NY Times Advice When Visiting Gettysburg in 1888
On July 9, 1888 the New York Times published a guide to seeing the Gettysburg Battlefield entitled “Never Mind the Guide.” I heard about the…
Schenectady “Rest Here for the Night” Memorial to Union Soldiers Photo Tour
Schenectady’s Rest Here for the Night Memorial is located at the intersection of State Street and Lafayette Street in Veterans Park near the county courthouse….
Reconstruction Era Laws Regulating Firearms
The Supreme Court’s overturning of New York’s law regulating gun possession in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen would have attracted more…
Virginia Bar Association President (1903) Explains Why 15th Amendment Grant of Black Voting Rights Was a Mistake
We know that the 15th Amendment giving non-white men the right to vote was ratified in 1870. We also know that various state laws and…
Mass German Immigration Lead to a Post-War Lutheran Boom January 1869
Immigration revived strongly after the end of the Civil War, with the largest group of immigrants shifting from Irish to Germans. The increased immigration brought…
When a “Slave Owner” Sought the Help of the Union Army in Re-Enslaving Black People
One experience that many Union soldiers had for the first time in their lives when they were marching through the Confederacy was was encountering enslaved…
Florida Bans African American Studies AP Course from Its Public Schools
The State of Florida has barred the teaching of the new Advanced Placement African American studies course in the state’s public schools. According to the…
Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue Albany Photo Tour
When I arrived at the New York State Capitol in Albany in January I was surprised that what I have seen right in front of…
Dying in the Last Months of the Civil War a Confederate Former Senator Conceals His Grave from Sherman
On November 13, 1864 Senator Hammond died at the age of fifty six years old. Hammond was lionized in Secessionist circles in the South for…
Gettysburg’s Southern Front: Opportunity and Failure at Richmond by Hampton Newsome
Gettysburg’s Southern Front: Opportunity and Failure at Richmond by Hampton Newsome published by the University Press of Kansas (2022) I am very familiar with…