What's Past is Prologue
@wpip.bsky.social
[Dave Woodbury] — Exploring history & historic sites (mainly American Civil War, & the West—Woodbury Historical Tours: whtours.org). Host of the Central Coast Conference, Monterey, CA (https://tinyurl.com/bdd6h6w2). Happily ensconced on the Left Coast.
Exhibit at the American Civil War Museum, Richmond, VA
1. CARTRIDGE BOX worn by Sgt. Charles English, 108th US Colored Infantry
2. KNIFE carried by a soldier with the initials "W.L." in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry ( #USCT )
3. TINTYPE of an unidentified African-American soldier
1. CARTRIDGE BOX worn by Sgt. Charles English, 108th US Colored Infantry
2. KNIFE carried by a soldier with the initials "W.L." in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry ( #USCT )
3. TINTYPE of an unidentified African-American soldier
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Exhibit at the American Civil War Museum, Richmond, VA
1. CARTRIDGE BOX worn by Sgt. Charles English, 108th US Colored Infantry
2. KNIFE carried by a soldier with the initials "W.L." in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry ( #USCT )
3. TINTYPE of an unidentified African-American soldier
1. CARTRIDGE BOX worn by Sgt. Charles English, 108th US Colored Infantry
2. KNIFE carried by a soldier with the initials "W.L." in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry ( #USCT )
3. TINTYPE of an unidentified African-American soldier
— Lotta Crabtree —
She started out in the rough and tumble mining camps of California's Gold Country, gained fame in San Francisco, and took New York City by storm. There was a time when she was the wealthiest, and most famous actress in America. She retired at age 45 and lived to be 76 [c1868, LoC]
She started out in the rough and tumble mining camps of California's Gold Country, gained fame in San Francisco, and took New York City by storm. There was a time when she was the wealthiest, and most famous actress in America. She retired at age 45 and lived to be 76 [c1868, LoC]
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 AM
— Lotta Crabtree —
She started out in the rough and tumble mining camps of California's Gold Country, gained fame in San Francisco, and took New York City by storm. There was a time when she was the wealthiest, and most famous actress in America. She retired at age 45 and lived to be 76 [c1868, LoC]
She started out in the rough and tumble mining camps of California's Gold Country, gained fame in San Francisco, and took New York City by storm. There was a time when she was the wealthiest, and most famous actress in America. She retired at age 45 and lived to be 76 [c1868, LoC]
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES was published on this date in 1859. First editions can still be found, but they're a little pricey. A free internet version can be read on this website, and others. #Booksky 💙📚https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1228/1228-h/1228-h.htm
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES was published on this date in 1859. First editions can still be found, but they're a little pricey. A free internet version can be read on this website, and others. #Booksky 💙📚https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1228/1228-h/1228-h.htm
"A" is for . . .
Abandoned Adobe Abode
(San Miguel, New Mexico)
Abandoned Adobe Abode
(San Miguel, New Mexico)
November 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
"A" is for . . .
Abandoned Adobe Abode
(San Miguel, New Mexico)
Abandoned Adobe Abode
(San Miguel, New Mexico)
John F. Kennedy was the youngest person to be elected president of the United States (age 43 when elected in 1960). He was murdered OTD in 1963, at age 46.
Portrait: Elaine de Kooning / Oil on canvas, 1963 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © 1963 Elaine de Kooning Trust
Portrait: Elaine de Kooning / Oil on canvas, 1963 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © 1963 Elaine de Kooning Trust
November 22, 2025 at 9:20 PM
John F. Kennedy was the youngest person to be elected president of the United States (age 43 when elected in 1960). He was murdered OTD in 1963, at age 46.
Portrait: Elaine de Kooning / Oil on canvas, 1963 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © 1963 Elaine de Kooning Trust
Portrait: Elaine de Kooning / Oil on canvas, 1963 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © 1963 Elaine de Kooning Trust
OTD 56 years ago
The official crew insignia for Apollo 12, the United States’ second lunar landing mission. The clipper ship signifies that the crew is all Navy and symbolically relates the era of the clipper ship to the era of space flight [NASA] tinyurl.com/2zxr8kxj
The official crew insignia for Apollo 12, the United States’ second lunar landing mission. The clipper ship signifies that the crew is all Navy and symbolically relates the era of the clipper ship to the era of space flight [NASA] tinyurl.com/2zxr8kxj
November 19, 2025 at 7:48 PM
OTD 56 years ago
The official crew insignia for Apollo 12, the United States’ second lunar landing mission. The clipper ship signifies that the crew is all Navy and symbolically relates the era of the clipper ship to the era of space flight [NASA] tinyurl.com/2zxr8kxj
The official crew insignia for Apollo 12, the United States’ second lunar landing mission. The clipper ship signifies that the crew is all Navy and symbolically relates the era of the clipper ship to the era of space flight [NASA] tinyurl.com/2zxr8kxj
OTD in 1863, 162 years ago, Honest Abe delivered the #GettysburgAddress. The American experiment survived a great civil war, and it seemed there could be no greater test, until now.
[photo: detail from the copy Lincoln gave to his secretary, John Hay, one of two copies in the Library of Congress]
[photo: detail from the copy Lincoln gave to his secretary, John Hay, one of two copies in the Library of Congress]
November 19, 2025 at 6:52 PM
OTD in 1863, 162 years ago, Honest Abe delivered the #GettysburgAddress. The American experiment survived a great civil war, and it seemed there could be no greater test, until now.
[photo: detail from the copy Lincoln gave to his secretary, John Hay, one of two copies in the Library of Congress]
[photo: detail from the copy Lincoln gave to his secretary, John Hay, one of two copies in the Library of Congress]
O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
When the [squirrel] is [in] the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!
When the [squirrel] is [in] the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
When the [squirrel] is [in] the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!
When the [squirrel] is [in] the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!
—how history unfolds: "People weave a web of meaning, believe in it with all their heart, but sooner or later the web unravels, and when we look back we cannot understand how anybody could have taken it seriously" —Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow [Kepler's, 2017] #BookSky💙📚
November 17, 2025 at 7:52 PM
—how history unfolds: "People weave a web of meaning, believe in it with all their heart, but sooner or later the web unravels, and when we look back we cannot understand how anybody could have taken it seriously" —Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow [Kepler's, 2017] #BookSky💙📚
“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.” ― Doris Lessing (1919-2013)
Doris Lessing
by Leonard William McComb
oil on canvas, 1999
© National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
Doris Lessing
by Leonard William McComb
oil on canvas, 1999
© National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
November 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.” ― Doris Lessing (1919-2013)
Doris Lessing
by Leonard William McComb
oil on canvas, 1999
© National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
Doris Lessing
by Leonard William McComb
oil on canvas, 1999
© National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
— November 14 was Mamie's birthday — [Pictured: future First Lady Mamie Doud #Eisenhower, age 17. National Archives]
November 16, 2025 at 10:29 PM
— November 14 was Mamie's birthday — [Pictured: future First Lady Mamie Doud #Eisenhower, age 17. National Archives]
OTD in 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman left Atlanta in flames, and began his March to the Sea. He promised Grant: "I can make this march and make Georgia howl!" The march, and his subsequent Carolinas Campaign, helped hasten the end of the Great Slaveholders' Rebellion. [image: by F.O.C. Darley, LoC]
November 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
OTD in 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman left Atlanta in flames, and began his March to the Sea. He promised Grant: "I can make this march and make Georgia howl!" The march, and his subsequent Carolinas Campaign, helped hasten the end of the Great Slaveholders' Rebellion. [image: by F.O.C. Darley, LoC]
November 12, 2025 at 7:44 PM
nothing to see here
November 8, 2025 at 7:03 AM
nothing to see here
The dawning of the MAGA era arms race . . . Things are about to get messy.
November 7, 2025 at 10:04 PM
The dawning of the MAGA era arms race . . . Things are about to get messy.
Happy Halloween!
November 1, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Happy Halloween!
3rd Central Coast Conference
SELDOM HEARD HISTORY
of the CIVIL WAR ERA
Stanton Center, Monterey, CA
May 1-3, 2026
A weekend of presentations exploring fresh perspectives on the American Civil War.
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
until November 15 — tinyurl.com/3k5t6tfx
SELDOM HEARD HISTORY
of the CIVIL WAR ERA
Stanton Center, Monterey, CA
May 1-3, 2026
A weekend of presentations exploring fresh perspectives on the American Civil War.
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
until November 15 — tinyurl.com/3k5t6tfx
October 30, 2025 at 7:12 AM
3rd Central Coast Conference
SELDOM HEARD HISTORY
of the CIVIL WAR ERA
Stanton Center, Monterey, CA
May 1-3, 2026
A weekend of presentations exploring fresh perspectives on the American Civil War.
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
until November 15 — tinyurl.com/3k5t6tfx
SELDOM HEARD HISTORY
of the CIVIL WAR ERA
Stanton Center, Monterey, CA
May 1-3, 2026
A weekend of presentations exploring fresh perspectives on the American Civil War.
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
until November 15 — tinyurl.com/3k5t6tfx
"I always understood that we went to War on account of the thing we quarreled with the North about. I never heard of any other cause of quarrel than slavery."
— John S. Mosby, "The Gray Ghost"
encyclopediavirginia.org/166hpr-ab48b...
— John S. Mosby, "The Gray Ghost"
encyclopediavirginia.org/166hpr-ab48b...
October 27, 2025 at 9:54 PM
"I always understood that we went to War on account of the thing we quarreled with the North about. I never heard of any other cause of quarrel than slavery."
— John S. Mosby, "The Gray Ghost"
encyclopediavirginia.org/166hpr-ab48b...
— John S. Mosby, "The Gray Ghost"
encyclopediavirginia.org/166hpr-ab48b...
Revenge, Wild West style —
Made a quick stop at the Tucson railroad depot, at the approximate location where Wyatt Earp, accompanied by Doc Holliday, shot and killed Frank Stillwell on March 20, 1882. It was thought that Stillwell was involved in the murder of Morgan Earp two days earlier.
Made a quick stop at the Tucson railroad depot, at the approximate location where Wyatt Earp, accompanied by Doc Holliday, shot and killed Frank Stillwell on March 20, 1882. It was thought that Stillwell was involved in the murder of Morgan Earp two days earlier.
October 27, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Revenge, Wild West style —
Made a quick stop at the Tucson railroad depot, at the approximate location where Wyatt Earp, accompanied by Doc Holliday, shot and killed Frank Stillwell on March 20, 1882. It was thought that Stillwell was involved in the murder of Morgan Earp two days earlier.
Made a quick stop at the Tucson railroad depot, at the approximate location where Wyatt Earp, accompanied by Doc Holliday, shot and killed Frank Stillwell on March 20, 1882. It was thought that Stillwell was involved in the murder of Morgan Earp two days earlier.
Plains Indian Shield
Andy #Warhol, 1986
screenprint, based on an item he photographed at New York City’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Andy #Warhol, 1986
screenprint, based on an item he photographed at New York City’s National Museum of the American Indian.
October 27, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Plains Indian Shield
Andy #Warhol, 1986
screenprint, based on an item he photographed at New York City’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Andy #Warhol, 1986
screenprint, based on an item he photographed at New York City’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Working on some campaign posters for the next election.
Trump's desecration of the White House is unforgivable. The EPSTEIN BALLROOM should come down the day after the next inauguration. Like everything else related to this administration, it will be a stain on the soul of America.
Trump's desecration of the White House is unforgivable. The EPSTEIN BALLROOM should come down the day after the next inauguration. Like everything else related to this administration, it will be a stain on the soul of America.
October 23, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Working on some campaign posters for the next election.
Trump's desecration of the White House is unforgivable. The EPSTEIN BALLROOM should come down the day after the next inauguration. Like everything else related to this administration, it will be a stain on the soul of America.
Trump's desecration of the White House is unforgivable. The EPSTEIN BALLROOM should come down the day after the next inauguration. Like everything else related to this administration, it will be a stain on the soul of America.
