Tag: American Cemetery

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“National History Day: Breaking Barriers in History”

I’ll bet most of you have never heard of National History Day. No, it’s not the same as the Congressional proclamations for National Donut Day, National Bobblehead Day, or even National Fruitcake Toss Day (these all fall in January so make sure you mark your calendars for next year).

National History Day (NHD) is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering year-long academic programs for middle- and high-school students (6th to 12th graders). The largest NHD program is the National History Day Contest which encourages students to conduct historical research, interpretation, and creative expression on a topic of their choice. Each year, a theme is chosen, and the students pick their topic based on the theme, which is then presented as either a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or website. Think of this like the Science Fair projects but only on history (I received an “Honorable Mention” on mine). The student will enter their project at the local and affiliate levels, with the top projects advancing to the National Contest. NHD teaches critical thinking, writing, and research skills and boosts the students’ performance across all subjects. Past winners include Guy Fieri, Food Network’s television personality.

Young contestant in the National History Day Contest. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). National History Day: www.nhd.org
Young contestant in the National History Day Contest. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). National History Day: www.nhd.org
Young contestant working on his exhibit for the NHD Contest. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). National History Day: www.nhd.org
Young contestant working on his exhibit for the NHD Contest. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). National History Day: www.nhd.org
Guy Fieri, Food Network personality. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of the Food Network.
Guy Fieri, Food Network personality. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of the Food Network.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the greatest compliment I have been given in regard to writing the walking tour books was from one of my members in the Southeast Business Forums which I founded and ran in Nashville?

This gentleman had a daughter in high school who hated history. She refused to open or read any book having to do with history (you can imagine what that did to her GPA). He bought one of my French Revolution books, handed it to her, and said, “Just flip through this.”

He told me that she sat down with the book and read it from cover to cover in one sitting. When his daughter was finished, she came to him and requested that he buy the other books for her to read. The end result, or so he told me, was that his daughter developed a love for history, started bringing home A’s in her history class, and was considering becoming a history major in college.

That’s what keeps me going.

The theme for the 2019-2020 National History Day Contest is “Breaking Barriers in History.”

So, how do I know about NHD, its current theme, and the fact that some television celebrity who likes hot food is a past winner? I received an e-mail from Tristan H. asking me if I would agree to be interviewed in conjunction with the project she is working on for the 2020 National History Day Contest. Tristan informed me that her project was going to highlight the exploits of the female spies in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. Tristan is in the 7th-grade in Southern California and frankly, after receiving four or five e-mails from her, I don’t think I’ve ever run across a 7th-grader who writes as well as Tristan.

I suggested she put together a list of questions and e-mail them to me. I would respond and then, if she wanted to follow-up with a discussion over the phone, I would make myself available.

The purpose of this blog is to make you all aware of the NHD as well as share Tristan’s questions (and my answers) with you.

 Tristan’s Questions

How did the women acting as spies break gender barriers at the time?

Probably the biggest barrier they broke was by being assigned to what I would consider the “front-line.” Although their assignments were non-combat related (i.e., typically as radio operators), if they were caught, the penalty would certainly have been terrible torture (Odette Sansom is a good example) and in many cases, execution at the hands of the Gestapo, SS, or the Milice (e.g., Violette Szabo). However, some women did participate in actual combat against the Germans (read Nancy Wake’s story, The White Mouse here). All qualified SOE agents, men and women, were trained in hand-to-hand combat as well as how to handle weapons and sabotage materials. So, this tells me that women agents were expected to be ready for combat if it came their way (Women Agents of the SOE, read here). Read More “National History Day: Breaking Barriers in History”

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“Jacques & the Normandy Beaches”

When given the opportunity, I always like to recommend hiring a private tour guide when traveling. Whether you cruise to distant lands, hoof it on your own using the trains, or grab a car and take in the sites at sixty miles per hour, a private guide is always worth it and frankly, not that much more expensive than the cost of those cruise excursions. Everyone has a different interest but trust me, there is a guide available for each and every one of us and our particular passion. Sandy and I travel for history so naturally, we focus on finding guides who are experts in tours which focus on the historical subjects we want to dig into. Some folks are foodies and depending on the city you’re in, there are guides who can accommodate your tastes (pun intended). If you’re into fashion or shopping, I guarantee there are guides in Paris who specialize in those areas. The good guides will take you to offbeat places and get you into buildings and rooms no one is allowed in (I’ve mentioned in previous blogs about some of our exploits with Raphaëlle in Versailles and Paris).

So, today I’d like to tell you the story of Jacques and the day we spent with him in Normandy France many years ago.

Did You Know?

Did you know that clocks and watches use the Roman numeral IIII rather than IV? It’s a classic design but look at the four on your watch dial (assuming it uses the Roman design). We were all taught to use “IV” to denote the Roman numeral four (if you weren’t paying attention in school, I’m confident you at least learned this by watching the annual NFL Superbowl games). I know this question has been keeping you up at night even in the modern era of “Googling.” Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not because of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The original Roman way to represent four was using IIII while the number nine was represented by VIIII. The “modern” version of four began to be used in Rome as part of the sundials and yes, even pocket sundials. By the thirteenth century, technology had advanced with mechanical clocks displacing sundials. Medieval clock makers decided to retain the Roman numerals but since the majority of people had no education, including rudimentary arithmetic, they decided to use IIII. The symbol IV required basic math skills – namely, subtraction – and that was considered too complex. So, we may ask, why was IX used since it presented the same obstacle? Actually, there are several theories to explain why IIII is used but I see my time is running out and I only have IIII more minutes to finish this blog. By the way, Big Ben uses IV ⏤ the English have always had a dry sense of humor.

Our Trip to Paris 

Sandy had business in Hamburg, Germany and she suggested I fly from Nashville (we had just moved there from Southern California) and meet her in Paris at the tail end of her trip. Starting to sound like the beginning to a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie? So, I flew over in early September and we stayed in a wonderful small hotel on Rue Cambon next to Coco Chanel’s original retail store and her apartment (refer to blog Coco Chanel: Nazi Collaborator or Spy? [click  here to read]). We were there a week and I planned a day trip to the Normandy beaches since Sandy had never been there. My last visit to Normandy and Paris was thirty-four years earlier in the summer of 1973 when I backpacked through Europe with a high school friend.

Caen
Exterior wall of Château de Caen, William the Conqueror’s Castle. Photo by Sandy Ross (2007).

One of the decisions I made was to hire a private guide to take us around Normandy and highlight the D-Day sites we could realistically see in one day. I actually found Jacques through American Express Travel. Sandy and I took the afternoon train from Paris to Caen and stayed at the Hotel Ibis Caen Centre. We were in the middle of the city and it was quite convenient for walking to the castle. The next morning, our guide was to pick us up in front of the hotel. Read More “Jacques & the Normandy Beaches”