Paula Tarnapol Whitacre
@paulawhitacre.bsky.social
Writer, editor, new grandmother, worried American. Work-in-progress--a book about Alexandria, Virginia, during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The truth-is-most-dramatic-than-fiction story of Josiah Henson in Emerging Civil War. Best of all, visit the place he first gained his strength and courage Josiah Henson Museum and Park run by Montgomery Parks
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/10/27/i...
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/10/27/i...
“I’ll use my freedom well”: Josiah Henson’s Life Commemorated at a Maryland Landmark - Emerging Civil War
ECW welcomes back guest author Paula Tarnapol Whitacre. Alongside a commuter road outside Washington, DC, the antebellum farmhouse of Isaac and Matilda Riley now sits on about five acres of land. That...
emergingcivilwar.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:42 PM
The truth-is-most-dramatic-than-fiction story of Josiah Henson in Emerging Civil War. Best of all, visit the place he first gained his strength and courage Josiah Henson Museum and Park run by Montgomery Parks
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/10/27/i...
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/10/27/i...
Lot of discussion about how to best preserve the home of Harriet Jacobs in Cambridge. I wrote about one aspect about her time there in the 1870s in a 2021 article in @cambridgeday.com
www.cambridgeday.com/2021/08/23/i...
#HarrietJacobs #Cambridge #historicpreservation
www.cambridgeday.com/2021/08/23/i...
#HarrietJacobs #Cambridge #historicpreservation
'Incidents' author Harriet Jacobs crossed paths with Imogen Eddy, an early Harvard astronomer - Cambridge Day
Harriet Jacobs, author of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” lived in Cambridge in the 1870s. As historians have documented (including during a recent History Cambridge History Café presentation...
www.cambridgeday.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Lot of discussion about how to best preserve the home of Harriet Jacobs in Cambridge. I wrote about one aspect about her time there in the 1870s in a 2021 article in @cambridgeday.com
www.cambridgeday.com/2021/08/23/i...
#HarrietJacobs #Cambridge #historicpreservation
www.cambridgeday.com/2021/08/23/i...
#HarrietJacobs #Cambridge #historicpreservation
August 2025--Discovering Lives. Let me know about any of your recent discoveries for my next newsletter.
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Discovering Lives
A newsletter about history, writing, and writing on history
mailchi.mp
August 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
August 2025--Discovering Lives. Let me know about any of your recent discoveries for my next newsletter.
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
What does shopping tell us about history? I talked with Molly Kerr of History Revealed, Inc. about a project to transcribe store ledgers from the 1700s. #Alexandria #shopping #transcription #primarysources www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/shoppin...
Extracting History from the Everyday: A Conversation about Shopping Stories with Molly Kerr — Paula Tarnapol Whitacre
Molly Kerr of History Revealed, Inc., describes how to extract stories behind seemingly mundane 18th-century store ledgers and correspondence,
www.paulawhitacre.com
June 24, 2025 at 12:51 PM
What does shopping tell us about history? I talked with Molly Kerr of History Revealed, Inc. about a project to transcribe store ledgers from the 1700s. #Alexandria #shopping #transcription #primarysources www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/shoppin...
You have to dream. In this case, Civil War veteran Lewis Cass White was determined to preserve Fort Stevens, in northwest Washington. He succeeded--and the extent of his involvement was discovered in a box in a basement in 2012. My post in Emerging Civil War
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/06/16/r...
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/06/16/r...
“Rescue from Oblivion”: Lewis Cass White, Fort Stevens, and Fort Ward - Emerging Civil War
ECW welcomes back guest author Paula Tarnapol Whitacre. Lewis Cass White, an eighteen-year-old school teacher, enlisted in the 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from his home town in western Penns...
emergingcivilwar.com
June 16, 2025 at 11:05 PM
You have to dream. In this case, Civil War veteran Lewis Cass White was determined to preserve Fort Stevens, in northwest Washington. He succeeded--and the extent of his involvement was discovered in a box in a basement in 2012. My post in Emerging Civil War
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/06/16/r...
emergingcivilwar.com/2025/06/16/r...
My quick take on last week's Biographers International Organization conference.
www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/bio-con...
www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/bio-con...
BIO Conference: Potomac Fever — Paula Tarnapol Whitacre
Two inspiring days on the art and craft of biography.
www.paulawhitacre.com
June 9, 2025 at 2:39 PM
My quick take on last week's Biographers International Organization conference.
www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/bio-con...
www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/bio-con...
As part of @ncjw.bsky.social, I was part of a group who met with Virginia legislators on Capitol Hill yesterday. We advocated for bills that protect voting rights, maternal health, and SNAP/Medicaid. These should NOT be an issue, right? #RiseUp2025 #WI2025
May 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
As part of @ncjw.bsky.social, I was part of a group who met with Virginia legislators on Capitol Hill yesterday. We advocated for bills that protect voting rights, maternal health, and SNAP/Medicaid. These should NOT be an issue, right? #RiseUp2025 #WI2025
Wise words from my friend and fellow writer Joanne Glenn
conta.cc/3GvEscE #writing #creativity #timemanagement
conta.cc/3GvEscE #writing #creativity #timemanagement
Writers Write Newsletter: Minding time between the first thing and the next thing, tips for reading your work aloud more effectively, community news, and more
Email from Looking for writing support? You'll find it here. Writers Write In this issue: Craft: The art of reading our own work Kudos and community: Celebrating the work of fellow creatives Resourc
conta.cc
April 30, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Wise words from my friend and fellow writer Joanne Glenn
conta.cc/3GvEscE #writing #creativity #timemanagement
conta.cc/3GvEscE #writing #creativity #timemanagement
Michael Shiner was born in Maryland around 1805, worked at the Washington Navy Yard and, amazingly, kept a diary that survives. When I went to read it, I learned "Content on this website has been revised or removed to align with the President's executive orders and DoD priorities...."
REALLY?!
REALLY?!
April 23, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Michael Shiner was born in Maryland around 1805, worked at the Washington Navy Yard and, amazingly, kept a diary that survives. When I went to read it, I learned "Content on this website has been revised or removed to align with the President's executive orders and DoD priorities...."
REALLY?!
REALLY?!
Alexandria Archaeological Commission, of which I am a member, turns 50 this year. First such commission in the country. Alexandria Times wrote a nice article (which includes some semi-coherent comments by me)
alextimes.com/local-news/a...
alextimes.com/local-news/a...
Alexandria Archaeological Commission turns 50, looks toward future
By Sydney Kodama | [email protected] With half a century under its belt, the Alexandria Archaeological Commission is continuing to prove that there is history, both buried and on display, in the c...
alextimes.com
April 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Alexandria Archaeological Commission, of which I am a member, turns 50 this year. First such commission in the country. Alexandria Times wrote a nice article (which includes some semi-coherent comments by me)
alextimes.com/local-news/a...
alextimes.com/local-news/a...
There must be a writing analogy in here somewhere.
April 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
There must be a writing analogy in here somewhere.
This effort has been ongoing and is continuing--to redesignate Arlington House at Arlington Cemetery (e.g., remove Robert E. Lee from the name, BTW he never owned it)
chng.it/TWmHMbrnXL
chng.it/TWmHMbrnXL
This campaign needs you now
Redesignate Arlington House as a National Historic Site
chng.it
April 10, 2025 at 1:12 PM
This effort has been ongoing and is continuing--to redesignate Arlington House at Arlington Cemetery (e.g., remove Robert E. Lee from the name, BTW he never owned it)
chng.it/TWmHMbrnXL
chng.it/TWmHMbrnXL
Happy to share my bimonthly (or so) newsletter, Discovering Lives--writing tips, book review of Last Seen, and more.
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Discovering Lives
A newsletter about history, writing, and writing on history
mailchi.mp
April 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Happy to share my bimonthly (or so) newsletter, Discovering Lives--writing tips, book review of Last Seen, and more.
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
While this is fresh in my mind, six lessons I learned on the path from original idea to submitted manuscript. #amwriting #nonfiction #proposal www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/deadlin...
Deadline Met. — Paula Tarnapol Whitacre
Six lessons to go from idea to submitted manuscript.
www.paulawhitacre.com
April 3, 2025 at 3:25 PM
While this is fresh in my mind, six lessons I learned on the path from original idea to submitted manuscript. #amwriting #nonfiction #proposal www.paulawhitacre.com/blog/deadlin...
98K words submitted to publisher--my book on Alexandria, VA, during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Didn't realize it would be so timely when I started this manuscript a few years ago.
April 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
98K words submitted to publisher--my book on Alexandria, VA, during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Didn't realize it would be so timely when I started this manuscript a few years ago.
Mind switch in my work-in-progress. I drafted 14 chapters on Alexandria in the 1860s. Beginning final chapter that goes up to the current day. Leaving the archives in a leap of faith.
January 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Mind switch in my work-in-progress. I drafted 14 chapters on Alexandria in the 1860s. Beginning final chapter that goes up to the current day. Leaving the archives in a leap of faith.
Reposted by Paula Tarnapol Whitacre
Congratulations to Krystyn Moon on “Proximity to Power:
Rethinking Race and Place in Alexandria, Virginia,” now available for pre-order from @uncpress.bsky.social!
Rethinking Race and Place in Alexandria, Virginia,” now available for pre-order from @uncpress.bsky.social!
Proximity to Power | Krystyn R. Moon | University of North Carolina Press
Located just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, Alexandria, Virginia, has long held a unique sociopolitical position due to its proximity to the n...
uncpress.org
January 3, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Congratulations to Krystyn Moon on “Proximity to Power:
Rethinking Race and Place in Alexandria, Virginia,” now available for pre-order from @uncpress.bsky.social!
Rethinking Race and Place in Alexandria, Virginia,” now available for pre-order from @uncpress.bsky.social!
Nominees for Alexandria Historical Society annual awards? Due Feb. 1, 2025
December 7, 2024 at 10:31 PM
Nominees for Alexandria Historical Society annual awards? Due Feb. 1, 2025
Great research trip to the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Now to sort through tons of scanned images from Archives, Microfilm, and Special Collections.
December 7, 2024 at 4:05 PM
Great research trip to the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Now to sort through tons of scanned images from Archives, Microfilm, and Special Collections.
Thanksgiving (and my birthday) done, leftovers finished. Goal for December: a research trip to the Library of Virginia and draft of Chapter 14 of WIP. Oh yeah, and next set of holidays.
December 2, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Thanksgiving (and my birthday) done, leftovers finished. Goal for December: a research trip to the Library of Virginia and draft of Chapter 14 of WIP. Oh yeah, and next set of holidays.
Invite you to read my latest newsletter. (Free) sign-ups welcome.
Discovering Lives: November 2024 - mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Discovering Lives: November 2024 - mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Discovering Lives
A newsletter about history, writing, and writing on history
mailchi.mp
November 25, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Invite you to read my latest newsletter. (Free) sign-ups welcome.
Discovering Lives: November 2024 - mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Discovering Lives: November 2024 - mailchi.mp/fullcircle/d...
Among items looked at the Library of Congress yesterday, this scrap book of news clippings about (and mostly collected by) John C. Underwood, a Reconstruction Republican in Virginia. Harriet Beecher Stowe eulogized him when he died; now, it is John who??
November 20, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Among items looked at the Library of Congress yesterday, this scrap book of news clippings about (and mostly collected by) John C. Underwood, a Reconstruction Republican in Virginia. Harriet Beecher Stowe eulogized him when he died; now, it is John who??
A ferry ran from Chapman's landing on the Potomac River in Charles County (MD) to Alexandria and Annapolis in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Yesterday, we had the trail and riverside to ourselves.
November 18, 2024 at 1:19 PM
A ferry ran from Chapman's landing on the Potomac River in Charles County (MD) to Alexandria and Annapolis in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Yesterday, we had the trail and riverside to ourselves.
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra last night--a beautiful commissioned piece by Jocelyn Hagan and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (complete with English translation as a crib sheet). Truly a relief. Next ASO performance--December 21. alexsym.org
Home | Alexandria Symphony
Welcome to the Alexandria Symphony
alexsym.org
November 17, 2024 at 1:39 PM
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra last night--a beautiful commissioned piece by Jocelyn Hagan and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (complete with English translation as a crib sheet). Truly a relief. Next ASO performance--December 21. alexsym.org
What's in a photograph? Check out Alexandria Historical Society's Behind the Scenes conversation when Ben Skolnik dissects two Civil War photos (and shows why their "1862" dates are plain wrong). www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Ef...
AHS History in Photographs 12 Nov 2024
YouTube video by Alexandria Historical Society
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2024 at 1:58 PM
What's in a photograph? Check out Alexandria Historical Society's Behind the Scenes conversation when Ben Skolnik dissects two Civil War photos (and shows why their "1862" dates are plain wrong). www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Ef...