I saw you....

"I saw you on History Channel!"

"I saw you on CSpan!"


"I saw you on American Experience!"

"Hey, I watch you on Around Kansas!" (Heather Newell, left, filming me with co-author Michelle Martin at the Blackjack Battlefield near Baldwin. Michelle will be featured on Around Kansas on May 20.)

It is nice, very nice, when people see your work and like it. Sometimes I watch, sometimes I don't. Often, I just don't have the opportunity to see it.

As many of my historian friends can attest, the pay for most documentaries is pretty small, if at all. So why do we do it? Because people come up and say, "I saw you...." and then maybe they buy your books, or support your cause, or just learned something over the course of an evening.

We don't ask for much.

The Cemetery Diaries

From this little alcove in my bedroom, I look up to Mausoleum Row and the Hurley Monument. The sun rises above them -- every day -- and rouses me awake.

When I moved to Topeka in 1992, I came to know the community through the cemetery. I joke, but it is true, that we Southerners "love dead people." I walked through the grounds, noting the street names and important folks, and then stumbled, literally, over the marker for Cyrus K. Holliday (below, with my red slippers).

Now many folks in Kansas know Holliday because he is the founder of Topeka, founder of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and of Merchants Bank. I knew him because of the movie, Santa Fe Trail.

Errol Flynn. Olivia de Havilland. Ronald Reagan. Raymond Massey. And Henry O'Neill as Cyrus K. Holliday.

The list of historical inaccuracies is too long to repeat but the facts are these: J. E. B. Stuart (of my hometown, Ararat, Virginia) was in the Kansas Territory the same time as John Brown and Cyrus Holliday. Holliday, however, would not have been the old man that was depicted in the film. Only seven years Stuart's senior, Holliday would have been 30 years old in 1856, an optimistic, enterprising young man himself.

No matter. The film captured my imagination and when I stumbled over that grave marker, a modest memorial to such an incredible man, I knew I was meant to be in Kansas. Jeb had been here. Here. Right here. John Brown had been here. And, yes, even Custer though not at the same time! I looked around at the graves of people who, like Holliday, were not born in Kansas but made their marks here. I knew I could, too.

As fate would have it, I now live in this historic site. The home built by Pennsylvanian Franklin Crane in 1857 houses the cemetery offices and the second floor is an apartment where I am pleased to be the resident historian. It is sometimes more ruin than historic, but we are actively raising funds for the countless projects. This is truly sacred ground. More than two thousand Civil War veterans rest here, including at least three Confederates. Hundreds more join them, from every era, every conflict since the War of 1812.

A couple of weeks ago, Tiffany Rocque from CSpan visited me here and we filmed a couple of segments at the graves of Holliday and Vice President Charles Curtis. Those segments air on May 2 and 3. I am thrilled that this historic ground, often overlooked through the years, is once again getting the attention it deserves. The community deserves to know about it and its residents
as well.

I am privileged to live in such an historic place. It comforts and inspires me. While the focus of this blog is primarily historical exploits and adventures, I have started another blog that allows me to write creative nonfiction and try to make some sense of life. I hope you will visit cemterydiaries.blogspot.com and let me know what you think. I will be starting yet another blog for my TV show, Around Kansas, and will share that link with you as well.

Title Match: George Vs. Abe

That great and most famous Virginian, George Washington, was born on this day in 1732.

About a year ago, CSPAN released the results of its Historians Presidential Leadership Survey. I was dismayed that Washington beat out Abraham Lincoln for the number one spot, but at least Washington was up from a shocking number 3 in the 2000 survey. I would have expected as much from the public, but not from a body of learned historians. (I was among those historians, and I did not rank Lincoln at the top. I put Washington first. Just for the record.)

Washington tied with Lincoln on moral authority, which is understandable in the context of history. Where Washington fell woefully behind is commitment to equality for all. That is understandable in the context of history, but I'm not sure it is a fair comparison in the context of their times. Each man carried out his duties with vision and with an understanding of human nature that is rare.

I asked the esteemed historian Allen Guelzo, who also participated in the SPAN poll, how he felt about the Washington/Lincoln rivalry:

Deb: It all depends on who you ask, and when. In 1865, people imagined Lincoln and Washington as co-equals, the one the Father of the country, the other the Savior of the country. I don't mind seeing Washington and Lincoln jockeying for the top-spot today, so long as people remember that, coming after them, there's a long, long gap before we hit No. 3.

Ha! Well put, Allen. I would like to see our students learning more about each president and the context of the time in which he served so that the public can intelligently evaluate their service and intelligently select the next one. Ah....pipe dreams....

Read the results of CSPAN's poll for yourself and see if your opinions match those of the historians: http://www.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/presidential-leadership-survey.aspx

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Boys Back When

I'll bet you good money that George and Abe tied Junebugs on strings as boys. This photo comes from my friend and fellow hillbilly, Byron Chesney. Growing up in the mountains of Tennessee, Byron was fortunate enough to participate in many timeless forms of entertainment. Click on the link to his blog, "The Life of Tug," on this very page. Tell him Deb sent you. You may also find the origins of that famous saying, "What does a redneck say right before he dies?" Answer: "Watch this!" There were many such episodes in Byron's life, but I have to admit, I think it's a guy thing no matter where they're from!

Ranking the Presidents

I was watching nerd tv on Sunday afternoon and absolutely enthralled by Richard Norton Smith when I realized he was discussing CSpan's ranking of the presidents (in which I participated). It's a fascinating project and I have to admit, I was so honored to get a letter from Brian Lamb that I framed it, dorky as that sounds. That man has done more for America and the furthering of democracy than any other person, in public or private office. Surely someone will realize, if they haven't already, that Lamb deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ken and Terry Hobbs and I are off to the Dole Center to hear Michael Burlingame tonight. Michael is a dear friend and such a generous scholar.

Oh, just in case you were wondering . . . . I ranked Washington the highest among the presidents, not Lincoln, and I didn't put Andrew Johnson on the bottom as did most of my colleagues.