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If you loved Disney's Snow White, this is a special day... the anniversary of its opening in 1938. about 9 hours ago Reply Retweet Favorite
We think of white men settling the West; Stagecoach Mary" was a former slave hired to carry the Montana mail. http://t.co/HceXKKQ6 11:19:05 AM February 03, 2012 Reply Retweet Favorite
A former slave accomplishes more in one life than most of us dream of. Read of Allen Allensworth: http://t.co/15dAgHSK 11:16:06 AM February 02, 2012 Reply Retweet Favorite

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This Day in History

February 6, 1917
Just off the coast of Ireland a German submarine torpedoed and sank a U.S. steamer, The California; it was carrying 205 passengers. The damage was such that the ship sank within nine minutes; a total of 43 people died. This occurred three days after President Woodrow Wilson warned Germany that American interests at sea should not be assaulted. On April 6, 1917 the U.S. entered the war.

February 8, 1918
The U.S. resumed publication of “Stars and Stripes,” a military newsletter for Union soldiers started during the Civil War. It was published weekly from February 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919 and was distributed to American soldiers dispersed across the Western Front to keep them unified and informed about the war effort as well as to provide them with news from home. Publication was resumed again during World War II.

Election Day: An American Holiday, An American History

The Early Days of Football: Far Removed from the Super Bowl

My grandfather was the quarterback for the University of Colorado in 1917. This photo hangs in our home and never ceases to catch the attention of today’s football fans. (He’s third from the right and his name is misspelled.) And yes, indeed. The garb for the game has changed!

So as you tune in to watch the Giants and Patriots play in the 2012 Super Bowl from Indianapolis, I thought you would definitely like to see this photo and might want to read the full blog on it that I wrote two years ago: “Think Today’s Game of Football is Tough?”

African-American Leaders

Mary Fields (ca. 1832-1914), known as “Stagecoach Mary”

First African-American woman employed to carry the U.S. mail;
Traveled the mail route for central Montana for more than ten years.

Mary Fields was born into slavery in Tennessee in about 1832. She received her freedom when the war ended and slavery was outlawed but she stayed near her original owners, the Dunn family, as she and the Dunns’ daughter had become good friends. When Dolly became a nun and moved to Toledo, Ohio, Mary joined her there.

African-American Leaders

Allen Allensworth (1842-1914), Former Slave Founded Town

• Escaped from slavery (1862);
• Campaigned for two years to become a military chaplain;
• Retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel, the highest ranking African-American soldier of that day;
• Founded Allensworth, California in 1908 to offer hope and fairness for African-Americans.

African-American Leaders
Meet Incredible Americans

Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1833?-1895), Physician

• First African American woman to earn a medical degree at a time when advanced education for women was rare.
• Wrote Book of Medical Discourses about medical care for women and children.

Take a Walk with America’s Dogs

Eisenhower’s Weimeraner, Heidi

During their time in the White House (1953-1961), Ike and Mamie Eisenhower simplified their lives by keeping animals to a minimum.

Take a Walk with America’s Dogs

Sergeant Stubby (1916 or 1917-March 16, 1926), World War I Mascot

Though the United States did not yet have an official program for using dogs in the military until World War II, one dog–a pit bull–earned a place in the infantry during World War I and was responsible for saving many lives.