Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D.
Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer -- that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others -- is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.
Here are nine things successful people do differently:
Get Specific
When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. "Lose 5 pounds" is a better goal than "lose some weight" because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you'll "eat less" or "sleep more" is too vague -- be clear and precise. "I'll be in bed by 10 p.m. on weeknights" leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you've actually done it.
Seize The Moment To Act On Your Goals
Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it's not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.
To seize the moment, decide in advance when and where you will take each action you want to take. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g. "If it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday, I'll work out for 30 minutes before work"). Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300 percent.
Know Exactly How Far You Have Left To Go
Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress -- if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don't know how well you are doing, you can't adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently -- weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.
Be A Realistic Optimist
When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don't underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.
Focus On Getting Better Rather Than Being Good
Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality and our physical aptitudes are fixed -- that no matter what we do, we won't improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves rather than developing and acquiring new skills.
Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong; abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
Have Grit
Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The good news is, if you aren't particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don't have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking -- well, there's no way to put this nicely -- you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.
Build Your Willpower Muscle
Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body -- when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you'd honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching or try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up or just not bother, don't. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur (e.g. "If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.") It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that's the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.
Don't Tempt Fate
No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it, you will temporarily run out of steam. Don't try to take on two challenging tasks at once, like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time. And don't put yourself in harm's way; many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.
Focus On What You Will Do, Not What You Won't Do.
Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g. "Don't think about white bears!") has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior; by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.
If you want change your ways, ask yourself, "What will I do instead?" For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like this: "If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down." By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.
It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember: You don't need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It's never what you are, but what you do.
(For more on using each of these strategies, check out my new book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals.)
This post originally appear in the Harvard Business Review.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wild South: New Group Launches Campaign to Create More National Parks Across America
Veteran public lands advocates announced the launch of the New National Parks Project (NNPP), a DC-based initiative that will wage a national campaign to expand America’s National Park System. The New National Parks Project will help bring together national park advocates so they can speak with a united voice that will be heard in Washington.
“We need more national parks. Everyone deserves to have a park nearby,” said Susan Tixier, Director of the Project’s Southwest Office. “Everyone needs the chance to experience the adventure of the out-of-doors, where the unpredictable can happen — where there are bears and eagles, wild rivers and avalanches, crashing thunder and blissful silence, butterflies and blinding sunlight. This is the America our ancestors experienced — it’s a vital part of our national heritage.”
Proposals for new or expanded parks include the Maine Woods, West Virginia’s Blackwater Canyon, Washington’s Mount St. Helens, Oregon’s Mount Hood, California’s Giant Sequoia, Pinnacles, Los Padres, and Tejon Ranch, New Mexico’s Valles Caldera, and Utah’s Glen Canyon.
The New National Parks Project comes at a time of renewed interest in national parks. The Ken Burns PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is receiving an enthusiastic public response. With the approaching National Park Service centennial celebration in 2016, the Obama administration is showing a level of interest in protecting and expanding national parks that has not been seen in decades.
“We need more national parks. Everyone deserves to have a park nearby,” said Susan Tixier, Director of the Project’s Southwest Office. “Everyone needs the chance to experience the adventure of the out-of-doors, where the unpredictable can happen — where there are bears and eagles, wild rivers and avalanches, crashing thunder and blissful silence, butterflies and blinding sunlight. This is the America our ancestors experienced — it’s a vital part of our national heritage.”
Proposals for new or expanded parks include the Maine Woods, West Virginia’s Blackwater Canyon, Washington’s Mount St. Helens, Oregon’s Mount Hood, California’s Giant Sequoia, Pinnacles, Los Padres, and Tejon Ranch, New Mexico’s Valles Caldera, and Utah’s Glen Canyon.
The New National Parks Project comes at a time of renewed interest in national parks. The Ken Burns PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is receiving an enthusiastic public response. With the approaching National Park Service centennial celebration in 2016, the Obama administration is showing a level of interest in protecting and expanding national parks that has not been seen in decades.
Wall Street Journal: Laura Bush on "A New Wave of National Parks," Focused on Preserving and Protecting our Oceans
By LAURA BUSH
Wall Street Journal
June 6, 2011
Our first national park was named not after a mountain or forest but for a mighty river: Yellowstone. For centuries the world's waters have connected us. Explorers, traders, scientists and fishermen have traveled our oceans and rivers in search of new resources and a greater understanding of the world. This Wednesday, as we mark World Oceans Day, we must intensify our efforts to better understand, manage and conserve our waters and marine habitats if they are to remain a vibrant source of life for future generations.
Great progress has been made in protecting our environment over the past several decades, but too little of that progress addresses 70% of the world's surface—our oceans. Less than one-half of 1% of the world's oceans are protected in ways that will ensure they stay wild. Too often overharvesting depletes what should be a lasting bounty of fish. In some parts of the oceans today up to 90% of large fish are gone from natural ecosystems.
Our oceans are also where much of our trash and pollution end up. Plastics and other pollutants difficult to break down are killing fish, turtles and birds. Currents in the Pacific have created a plastic garbage dump twice the size of Texas. A few years ago, I visited Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and was shocked to find debris killing birds that could not distinguish between plastic refuse and squid.
We are at risk of permanently losing vital marine resources and harming our quality of life. Overfishing and degrading our ocean waters damages the habitats needed to sustain diverse marine populations. Perhaps the most vital function our oceans serve is that of climate regulator—they produce oxygen, reduce pollution, and remove carbon dioxide. If we don't protect our oceans, we could witness the destruction of some of the world's most beautiful and important natural resources.
Enlarge Image
laurabush
laurabush
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rose Atoll in America Samoa is one of four marine national monuments designated by President George W. Bush.
Fortunately, Yellowstone offers a blueprint for protecting our oceans. President Ulysses S. Grant created Yellowstone National Park in 1872 at a time when large wild areas on the frontier were at risk. The founding of Yellowstone sparked a 50-year period during which many of the national parks we enjoy today were created. Our country began to see the value of setting aside large territories that would remain wild forever. Our national parks play an outsized role in maintaining healthy and diverse wildlife populations far beyond their boundaries. Many of the elk, deer and wolves seen throughout Western states trace their lineage to populations in Yellowstone.
In the early 1970s, the U.S. established a modest program to conserve some of its most important marine areas, called the National Marine Sanctuary System. In June 2006 and again in January 2009, the U.S. expanded the concept of parkland and wilderness preserves in the sea when President Bush designated four marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean.
The first of these, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, encompasses a 100-mile wide area of nearly pristine habitat northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, and was named a Unesco World Heritage site in 2010. A second area, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, includes the world's deepest canyon and is home to some of the oldest and most resilient forms of life on the planet. The other two monuments are the Pacific Remote Islands dispersed throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Rose Atoll in American Samoa.
These four monuments cover more than 330,000 square miles and add up to the largest fully protected marine area in the world, larger than all of our national parks and wildlife refuges combined. They support vast numbers of fish, breathtakingly beautiful coral habitat, and a remarkable abundance of sharks—often seen as markers of an ecosystem's health.
These monuments will remain open to shipping and other uses that will allow the economies and cultures of nearby American territories to prosper. But they will also remain a wild resource, a place where scientists can make new discoveries and where a variety of species can thrive. The U.S. was able to protect these areas because they fall within the Exclusive Economic Zone that surrounds our territories, and because the U.S. provides the means to manage them.
America is not alone in its efforts to preserve marine treasures. Australia has expanded its protection of parts of the Great Barrier Reef and the United Kingdom announced the designation of the Chagos Islands Marine Reserve in 2010. Dedicated conservation organizations, such as the Pew Environment Group, are sounding the call to action. Their efforts have supported the designation of more than half the world's protected marine waters.
In the coming years, protecting our oceans will be even more important. Nearly half of the world's population lives within 60 miles of an ocean, and that percentage will rise as more people settle in coastal communities. Today there are few waters outside the reach of human exploitation. Our wild ocean frontiers are disappearing and, like we did with Yellowstone, it is up to us to conserve the most important wild areas that remain. Doing so will preserve something that is all too easy to destroy but impossible to replace: natural, undisturbed incubators of life.
Mrs. Bush is former first lady of the United States.
Wall Street Journal
June 6, 2011
Our first national park was named not after a mountain or forest but for a mighty river: Yellowstone. For centuries the world's waters have connected us. Explorers, traders, scientists and fishermen have traveled our oceans and rivers in search of new resources and a greater understanding of the world. This Wednesday, as we mark World Oceans Day, we must intensify our efforts to better understand, manage and conserve our waters and marine habitats if they are to remain a vibrant source of life for future generations.
Great progress has been made in protecting our environment over the past several decades, but too little of that progress addresses 70% of the world's surface—our oceans. Less than one-half of 1% of the world's oceans are protected in ways that will ensure they stay wild. Too often overharvesting depletes what should be a lasting bounty of fish. In some parts of the oceans today up to 90% of large fish are gone from natural ecosystems.
Our oceans are also where much of our trash and pollution end up. Plastics and other pollutants difficult to break down are killing fish, turtles and birds. Currents in the Pacific have created a plastic garbage dump twice the size of Texas. A few years ago, I visited Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and was shocked to find debris killing birds that could not distinguish between plastic refuse and squid.
We are at risk of permanently losing vital marine resources and harming our quality of life. Overfishing and degrading our ocean waters damages the habitats needed to sustain diverse marine populations. Perhaps the most vital function our oceans serve is that of climate regulator—they produce oxygen, reduce pollution, and remove carbon dioxide. If we don't protect our oceans, we could witness the destruction of some of the world's most beautiful and important natural resources.
Enlarge Image
laurabush
laurabush
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rose Atoll in America Samoa is one of four marine national monuments designated by President George W. Bush.
Fortunately, Yellowstone offers a blueprint for protecting our oceans. President Ulysses S. Grant created Yellowstone National Park in 1872 at a time when large wild areas on the frontier were at risk. The founding of Yellowstone sparked a 50-year period during which many of the national parks we enjoy today were created. Our country began to see the value of setting aside large territories that would remain wild forever. Our national parks play an outsized role in maintaining healthy and diverse wildlife populations far beyond their boundaries. Many of the elk, deer and wolves seen throughout Western states trace their lineage to populations in Yellowstone.
In the early 1970s, the U.S. established a modest program to conserve some of its most important marine areas, called the National Marine Sanctuary System. In June 2006 and again in January 2009, the U.S. expanded the concept of parkland and wilderness preserves in the sea when President Bush designated four marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean.
The first of these, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, encompasses a 100-mile wide area of nearly pristine habitat northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, and was named a Unesco World Heritage site in 2010. A second area, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, includes the world's deepest canyon and is home to some of the oldest and most resilient forms of life on the planet. The other two monuments are the Pacific Remote Islands dispersed throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Rose Atoll in American Samoa.
These four monuments cover more than 330,000 square miles and add up to the largest fully protected marine area in the world, larger than all of our national parks and wildlife refuges combined. They support vast numbers of fish, breathtakingly beautiful coral habitat, and a remarkable abundance of sharks—often seen as markers of an ecosystem's health.
These monuments will remain open to shipping and other uses that will allow the economies and cultures of nearby American territories to prosper. But they will also remain a wild resource, a place where scientists can make new discoveries and where a variety of species can thrive. The U.S. was able to protect these areas because they fall within the Exclusive Economic Zone that surrounds our territories, and because the U.S. provides the means to manage them.
America is not alone in its efforts to preserve marine treasures. Australia has expanded its protection of parts of the Great Barrier Reef and the United Kingdom announced the designation of the Chagos Islands Marine Reserve in 2010. Dedicated conservation organizations, such as the Pew Environment Group, are sounding the call to action. Their efforts have supported the designation of more than half the world's protected marine waters.
In the coming years, protecting our oceans will be even more important. Nearly half of the world's population lives within 60 miles of an ocean, and that percentage will rise as more people settle in coastal communities. Today there are few waters outside the reach of human exploitation. Our wild ocean frontiers are disappearing and, like we did with Yellowstone, it is up to us to conserve the most important wild areas that remain. Doing so will preserve something that is all too easy to destroy but impossible to replace: natural, undisturbed incubators of life.
Mrs. Bush is former first lady of the United States.
American Bar Association Journal: Civil RIghts Lawyer Leader Helded At Gunpoint By Prince George's County SWAT Team
Civil Rights Leader Arnwine Says Police Held Her at Gunpoint, Raided Home Without Showing Warrant
Posted Nov 29, 2011 6:00 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Updated: The executive director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law says a Prince George’s County SWAT team raided her home three days before Thanksgiving in a three-hour ordeal, and never produced a warrant.
Arnwine says she was at home with four family members, including an 80-year-old relative, when the SWAT team from Prince George’s County, Md., arrived at 5:30 a.m., Politic365.com reports. Its story is based on Arnwine’s appearance on the Washington, D.C., radio station WPFW and the Rev. Al Sharpton’s show, Keepin’ It Real.
“They held us at gunpoint for three hours,” Arnwine said. “There is no justification for them operating like this. It’s totally unprofessional and unjustified.”
Arnwine says police didn’t believe her when she identified herself as a lawyer, and they asked what law school she had attended. Arnwine is a Duke University law graduate. When she cited her Fourth Amendment rights, Arnwine says, one officer allegedly responded, “The Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply here.”
Arnwine didn't immediately respond to an ABA Journal email seeking comment.
Arnwine is represented by Willie Gary, a “heavyweight personal injury lawyer” and “multimillionaire legal powerhouse,” Politic365.com reports in a new story. He told the publication the police conduct was “despicable” and “violated constitutional rights all over the place.”
Documents from the Prince George’s County Police Department indicate officers were looking for items related to a Nov. 4 armed robbery, and the suspect is someone who lives in Arnwine’s home, according to Politic365.com. Sources tell the publication that the suspect is a relative of Arnwine’s. Gary said the relative was not arrested during the SWAT team raid.
“I think the issue here is [police] conduct towards Barbara, her mother and others,” Gary told Politic365.com. “They falsely imprisoned them, they invaded their privacy and they threatened to kill them. …. Even in the process of executing a search warrant there is a manner and a way that things should have been conducted.”
Updated at 1:05 p.m. to include new information from Politic365.com.
Posted Nov 29, 2011 6:00 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Updated: The executive director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law says a Prince George’s County SWAT team raided her home three days before Thanksgiving in a three-hour ordeal, and never produced a warrant.
Arnwine says she was at home with four family members, including an 80-year-old relative, when the SWAT team from Prince George’s County, Md., arrived at 5:30 a.m., Politic365.com reports. Its story is based on Arnwine’s appearance on the Washington, D.C., radio station WPFW and the Rev. Al Sharpton’s show, Keepin’ It Real.
“They held us at gunpoint for three hours,” Arnwine said. “There is no justification for them operating like this. It’s totally unprofessional and unjustified.”
Arnwine says police didn’t believe her when she identified herself as a lawyer, and they asked what law school she had attended. Arnwine is a Duke University law graduate. When she cited her Fourth Amendment rights, Arnwine says, one officer allegedly responded, “The Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply here.”
Arnwine didn't immediately respond to an ABA Journal email seeking comment.
Arnwine is represented by Willie Gary, a “heavyweight personal injury lawyer” and “multimillionaire legal powerhouse,” Politic365.com reports in a new story. He told the publication the police conduct was “despicable” and “violated constitutional rights all over the place.”
Documents from the Prince George’s County Police Department indicate officers were looking for items related to a Nov. 4 armed robbery, and the suspect is someone who lives in Arnwine’s home, according to Politic365.com. Sources tell the publication that the suspect is a relative of Arnwine’s. Gary said the relative was not arrested during the SWAT team raid.
“I think the issue here is [police] conduct towards Barbara, her mother and others,” Gary told Politic365.com. “They falsely imprisoned them, they invaded their privacy and they threatened to kill them. …. Even in the process of executing a search warrant there is a manner and a way that things should have been conducted.”
Updated at 1:05 p.m. to include new information from Politic365.com.
St. Augustine Record: Children's Museum lands home in downtown St. Augustine 'Fantastic space' set to open by 450th
Posted: November 30, 2011 - 12:37am
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
After almost five years of work, officials at the Children’s Museum of St. Johns have found a home for a future “world-class” children’s museum.
The Children’s Museum plans to buy the Dow Museum of Historic Houses site in downtown St. Augustine and transform it into a multi-themed, locally focused museum.
“This is our first bit of big news,” Children’s Museum Executive Director Susan Connor said. “We really think this is going to be a fantastic space.”
Officials at the Children’s Museum have been working on getting the Dow property, formerly known as the Old St. Augustine Village, since May, Connor said. Museum officials entered into a six-month lease to purchase agreement earlier this month. Operated by the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, the property is a collection of nine historic houses at the intersection of St. George, Bridge and Cordova streets.
“The Dow Museum meets all of our criteria to establish an amazing Children’s Museum for our community,” said Ben Platt, president of the Children’s Museum.
Deborah Allen, interim executive director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, said the Dow Museum was not for sale, but officials chose to offer the property for sale after seeing plans for the Children’s Museum.
“We all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Wow,’” Allen said.
Allen said the museum will also preserve the legacy of the donors.
“They are going to maintain that historic connection with the Dows,” Allen said. “We like what they want to do with that property ... a children’s museum — how wonderful for the community.”
While it wasn’t making millions, the Dow Museum was profitable, Allen said. If the sale is completed in six months, it will not be financially motivated.
“We weren’t looking to get rid of the property,” she said.
The negotiated price for the entire property, which includes nine historic homes, is $1.5 million. That is far below what it is worth, Allen said. That’s around how much money the Museum of Arts and Sciences has paid to renovate the property.
The Children’s Museum is a not-for-profit organization that had been functioning as a “museum without walls” by bringing exhibits and activities to county residents since a group of parents, citizens and professionals founded it in 2007.
Preserving the historic homes while opening up new educational and cultural resources downtown is the goal behind buying the property, Platt said.
During the six-month lease period, the Children’s Museum will use 246 St. George St. as its office and meeting space and will use the time to come up with a budget for the renovation and exhibits. Other parts of the Dow Museum will remain open to the public and be operated by the Museum of Arts and Sciences during that time.
Officials hope to have part of the museum open to the public by early 2013 and every part of the 16,000- to 20,000-square-foot museum finished in time for the 450th celebrations in 2015.
“We know this property is going to allow us to create a world-class children’s museum in the nation’s oldest city,” Connor said.
■
Here’s what will be in museum:
■ The Town Center — Will include a hospital, supermarket, salon and barber shop, music store and art gallery. It will feature child-sized stores and centers that encourage children to try on adult roles and solve problems. There will be a gazebo for storytelling and performances, a mini gas pump, play cars and trucks and police patrol cars that will allow children to pretend to make deliveries to stores, run errands and be police officers.
■ Life on the River — The centerpiece for the area will be a climbable fishing boat with fishing gear, navigation station and living quarters. The boat will be surrounded by a series of waist-high water and bubble tables and a fishing tank. The area will help children learn about marine life and experiment with properties of water and bubbles.
■ St. Augustine Story — This area will help children learn about local history. Camp Castillo will feature a play space for toddlers surrounded by a moat. The Coastal Railways exhibit will feature a replica of Henry Flagler’s personal rail car and train tables with miniature trains, tracks, and bridges that children can manipulate.
■ Spuds ‘N’ Buds Farm — Children can learn about the importance of farming in St. Johns County and Hastings, the “Potato Capital of Florida,” in this area. It will include a community garden, a climb-aboard tractor, animal science lab, and a potato processing plant.
■ Our Beautiful Beaches — This area will invite visitors to explore elements the ecosystem of St. Johns County’s beaches. Murals will show a skyline and horizon of a sunny day at the beach. Floors will represent the division between sand and sea. Birds will hang from the ceiling, a climb-aboard whale will swim in the “ocean.” Children will be able to observe and manipulate wave actions in a see-through teeter totter and a weather theater will recreate hurricanes, fog, sea breezes and other conditions.
Source: Children’s Museum of St. Johns
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
After almost five years of work, officials at the Children’s Museum of St. Johns have found a home for a future “world-class” children’s museum.
The Children’s Museum plans to buy the Dow Museum of Historic Houses site in downtown St. Augustine and transform it into a multi-themed, locally focused museum.
“This is our first bit of big news,” Children’s Museum Executive Director Susan Connor said. “We really think this is going to be a fantastic space.”
Officials at the Children’s Museum have been working on getting the Dow property, formerly known as the Old St. Augustine Village, since May, Connor said. Museum officials entered into a six-month lease to purchase agreement earlier this month. Operated by the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, the property is a collection of nine historic houses at the intersection of St. George, Bridge and Cordova streets.
“The Dow Museum meets all of our criteria to establish an amazing Children’s Museum for our community,” said Ben Platt, president of the Children’s Museum.
Deborah Allen, interim executive director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, said the Dow Museum was not for sale, but officials chose to offer the property for sale after seeing plans for the Children’s Museum.
“We all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Wow,’” Allen said.
Allen said the museum will also preserve the legacy of the donors.
“They are going to maintain that historic connection with the Dows,” Allen said. “We like what they want to do with that property ... a children’s museum — how wonderful for the community.”
While it wasn’t making millions, the Dow Museum was profitable, Allen said. If the sale is completed in six months, it will not be financially motivated.
“We weren’t looking to get rid of the property,” she said.
The negotiated price for the entire property, which includes nine historic homes, is $1.5 million. That is far below what it is worth, Allen said. That’s around how much money the Museum of Arts and Sciences has paid to renovate the property.
The Children’s Museum is a not-for-profit organization that had been functioning as a “museum without walls” by bringing exhibits and activities to county residents since a group of parents, citizens and professionals founded it in 2007.
Preserving the historic homes while opening up new educational and cultural resources downtown is the goal behind buying the property, Platt said.
During the six-month lease period, the Children’s Museum will use 246 St. George St. as its office and meeting space and will use the time to come up with a budget for the renovation and exhibits. Other parts of the Dow Museum will remain open to the public and be operated by the Museum of Arts and Sciences during that time.
Officials hope to have part of the museum open to the public by early 2013 and every part of the 16,000- to 20,000-square-foot museum finished in time for the 450th celebrations in 2015.
“We know this property is going to allow us to create a world-class children’s museum in the nation’s oldest city,” Connor said.
■
Here’s what will be in museum:
■ The Town Center — Will include a hospital, supermarket, salon and barber shop, music store and art gallery. It will feature child-sized stores and centers that encourage children to try on adult roles and solve problems. There will be a gazebo for storytelling and performances, a mini gas pump, play cars and trucks and police patrol cars that will allow children to pretend to make deliveries to stores, run errands and be police officers.
■ Life on the River — The centerpiece for the area will be a climbable fishing boat with fishing gear, navigation station and living quarters. The boat will be surrounded by a series of waist-high water and bubble tables and a fishing tank. The area will help children learn about marine life and experiment with properties of water and bubbles.
■ St. Augustine Story — This area will help children learn about local history. Camp Castillo will feature a play space for toddlers surrounded by a moat. The Coastal Railways exhibit will feature a replica of Henry Flagler’s personal rail car and train tables with miniature trains, tracks, and bridges that children can manipulate.
■ Spuds ‘N’ Buds Farm — Children can learn about the importance of farming in St. Johns County and Hastings, the “Potato Capital of Florida,” in this area. It will include a community garden, a climb-aboard tractor, animal science lab, and a potato processing plant.
■ Our Beautiful Beaches — This area will invite visitors to explore elements the ecosystem of St. Johns County’s beaches. Murals will show a skyline and horizon of a sunny day at the beach. Floors will represent the division between sand and sea. Birds will hang from the ceiling, a climb-aboard whale will swim in the “ocean.” Children will be able to observe and manipulate wave actions in a see-through teeter totter and a weather theater will recreate hurricanes, fog, sea breezes and other conditions.
Source: Children’s Museum of St. Johns
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
DRAFT WAYNE HOGAN -- Decennial Redistricting Means St. Johns County May Elect a Local Hero to the U.S. Congress
Local Hero Wayne Hogan: Let's Draft Him to Run for Congress Next Year!
In 2002, Rep. John Mica became our Congressman from St. Augustine.
Mica had represented Central Florida until then-Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney drew himself a district in which he thought he could win -- thereby inflicting a badly gerrymandered Congressional district upon Rep. Mica (and the rest of us) that began two blocks south of Mica's house and extended to Ponte Vedra.
In 2011, the State Legislature staff's proposed redistricting map put Rep. Mica back in a compact, reliably Republican district in Central Florida, leaving St. Johns County to elect a local Democrat -- celebrated trial lawyer Wayne Hogan.
See below -- my October & November 2002 letters to the St. Augustine Record in support of Wayne Hogan for Congress. While the 1% may wail and gnash their teeth, Wayne Hogan has the experience and the heart to be an excellent Congressman.
St. Augustine Record: November 2002 Letter re: Wayne Hogan for Congress
Letter: Wayne Hogan for Congress
Edward A. Slavin, Jr
St. Augustine
Published Monday, November 04, 2002
Editor: I support St. Augustine's Wayne Hogan for Congress. He is running against Rep. John Mica, who is running scared and running for the first time here in St. Johns County. Wayne Hogan refuses to take campaign contributions from lobbyists and PACs. Wayne Hogan will make an honest Congressman, protecting all St. Johns Countians. Mr. Hogan stands for protecting our beaches, our seniors, our environment and our Florida standard of living. His lifelong career is representing average citizens and vindicating their rights. Naturally, big-spending special interests seek to crush him, spending money on deceptive TV ads.
The Record's letters policy says writers will be published about once a month, no more, to allow for diverse opinions. Yet twice in the past few weeks you have printed churlish letters by Derek Boyd Hankerson (one a column) attacking Wayne Hogan. Mr. Hankerson's latest irascible letter (Oct. 31) yet again hurls the pejorative "trial lawyer," promoting group hatred, as if being a "trial lawyer" were illegal or immoral. Several of our American founders were courageous trial lawyers (including Jefferson and Adams). When American doctors were bleeding George Washington to death, American lawyers were writing and perfecting the Bill of Rights. American trial lawyers like the great Republican President Abraham Lincoln (and the majority of his cabinet) helped free this country from the scourge of slavery. When oppression and ignorance were the law of the land, trial lawyers fought for free speech, free press and civil rights. We would not have airbags, seatbelts or padded dashboards in automobiles if it were not for trial lawyers. While seatbelts were present in Roman chariots, Detroit auto manufacturers would not equip autos with them until lawsuits forced them to do so. if it were not for trial lawyers, our schools would still be segregated, all our cars would still be unsafe at any speed, Big Tobacco would still be hooking school children, and all our streams would be polluted.
We respect American trial lawyers for taking on powerful institutions. Derek Boyd Hankerson has still never identified himself, but his writing sounds like he likes the insurance lobby, charging that "doctors and hospitals cannot afford to practice because of skyrocketing malpractice insurance."
How appropriate these scare tactics were printed on Halloween! Mr. Hankerson uses most of the known logical fallacies in his letter, defending the indefensible. Unfair, uncandid, illogical Congressman Mica is a tool of Big Oil, his brother David is a lobbyist for Big Oil, and his votes for offshore oil drilling represent no one in our local economy, which is based on tourism, not petroleum pollution.
Special interests are over-represented. Let's retire the fat cats' Rep. Mica, an unjust steward. Let's elect a true representative who really cares about us. Let's reject the embittered attack on Americans' God-given constitutional rights to jury trials and open courts. Our American Founders are watching you. Go vote.
Edward A. Slavin, Jr
St. Augustine
Published Monday, November 04, 2002
Editor: I support St. Augustine's Wayne Hogan for Congress. He is running against Rep. John Mica, who is running scared and running for the first time here in St. Johns County. Wayne Hogan refuses to take campaign contributions from lobbyists and PACs. Wayne Hogan will make an honest Congressman, protecting all St. Johns Countians. Mr. Hogan stands for protecting our beaches, our seniors, our environment and our Florida standard of living. His lifelong career is representing average citizens and vindicating their rights. Naturally, big-spending special interests seek to crush him, spending money on deceptive TV ads.
The Record's letters policy says writers will be published about once a month, no more, to allow for diverse opinions. Yet twice in the past few weeks you have printed churlish letters by Derek Boyd Hankerson (one a column) attacking Wayne Hogan. Mr. Hankerson's latest irascible letter (Oct. 31) yet again hurls the pejorative "trial lawyer," promoting group hatred, as if being a "trial lawyer" were illegal or immoral. Several of our American founders were courageous trial lawyers (including Jefferson and Adams). When American doctors were bleeding George Washington to death, American lawyers were writing and perfecting the Bill of Rights. American trial lawyers like the great Republican President Abraham Lincoln (and the majority of his cabinet) helped free this country from the scourge of slavery. When oppression and ignorance were the law of the land, trial lawyers fought for free speech, free press and civil rights. We would not have airbags, seatbelts or padded dashboards in automobiles if it were not for trial lawyers. While seatbelts were present in Roman chariots, Detroit auto manufacturers would not equip autos with them until lawsuits forced them to do so. if it were not for trial lawyers, our schools would still be segregated, all our cars would still be unsafe at any speed, Big Tobacco would still be hooking school children, and all our streams would be polluted.
We respect American trial lawyers for taking on powerful institutions. Derek Boyd Hankerson has still never identified himself, but his writing sounds like he likes the insurance lobby, charging that "doctors and hospitals cannot afford to practice because of skyrocketing malpractice insurance."
How appropriate these scare tactics were printed on Halloween! Mr. Hankerson uses most of the known logical fallacies in his letter, defending the indefensible. Unfair, uncandid, illogical Congressman Mica is a tool of Big Oil, his brother David is a lobbyist for Big Oil, and his votes for offshore oil drilling represent no one in our local economy, which is based on tourism, not petroleum pollution.
Special interests are over-represented. Let's retire the fat cats' Rep. Mica, an unjust steward. Let's elect a true representative who really cares about us. Let's reject the embittered attack on Americans' God-given constitutional rights to jury trials and open courts. Our American Founders are watching you. Go vote.
October 14, 2002 Letter re: Wayne Hogan for Congress
St. Augustine Record Letter: Hogan will make a fair congressman
Edward A. Slavin, Jr.
St. Augustine
Published Monday, October 14, 2002
Editor: I support St. Johns County resident Wayne Hogan for Congress. He is running against Rep. John Mica, who is running for the first time here in St. Johns County.
Mr. Hogan stands for protecting our beaches, our seniors, our environment and our Florida standard of living. His lifelong career is representing average citizens and vindicating their rights.
Rep. Mica is among the most uncandid and unwise persons to ever serve in Congress. Rep. Mica actually voted to support offshore oil drilling (his brother, former Rep. Dan Mica, is a Big Oil lobbyist). Big Oil already has enough representation in the Capitol. Let the unjust steward, Big Oil's Rep. Mica, be retired. Let's elect a U.S. representative who cares about us.
Americans' God-given constitutional rights to jury trials and fair state court proceedings are under attack. Too many are killed, maimed and injured by the recklessness of rich and powerful corporations. Too often, large organizations violate laws, professional standards and common sense, hurting people with defective vehicles, unsafe surgeries and other "torts" (civil wrongs). To protect our democracy, we must assure that influential wrongdoers are held accountable, whether manufacturers, health care providers, governments or other large organizations. Big Business lobbyists fight justice. They want to deny Americans our constitutional rights to jury trials and a fair redress of grievances.
"Tort reform" is really "tort deform." This unfair legislation is being proposed in Congress that would take away your rights to sue for medical malpractice, "capping" damages. Taking away peoples' state court rights to hold powerful organizations accountable is no "reform." It is oppressive, unfair and immoral. On Sept. 27 Rep. Mica voted for legislation to "cap" medical malpractice verdicts at $250,000 for compensatory damages for pain and suffering.
We don't see habitual wrongdoers "capping" their harmful, fatal and crippling injuries. How odd that those in Congress who claim to trust "states' rights" now want to "federalize" products liability, medical malpractice and tort laws, violating states' rights.
"Capping" the damages state court jurors can award for injuries is both unfair and unconstitutional. Identifying himself as "Dr.," a recent letter writer supports Rep. Mica because he supports "capping medical malpractice suits." That letter-writer actually criticized Mr. Hogan for having "made millions against the tobacco industry." Is that a criticism or a compliment? Does the writer begrudge others an income? Is the writer unfair and unscientific for failing to note that the tobacco case was brought on behalf of the people if Florida (seeking to keep tobacco away from our children and halt the propaganda that makes so many of us slaves to tobacco, the only product that, if used as intended, inevitably causes the death of its users)? "Physician, heal thyself." (Luke 4:23).
Wayne Hogan refuses to take campaign contributions from lobbyists and PACs.
Wayne Hogan will make a fine, fair, honest congressman, protecting all St. Johns Countians.
Edward A. Slavin, Jr.
St. Augustine
Published Monday, October 14, 2002
Editor: I support St. Johns County resident Wayne Hogan for Congress. He is running against Rep. John Mica, who is running for the first time here in St. Johns County.
Mr. Hogan stands for protecting our beaches, our seniors, our environment and our Florida standard of living. His lifelong career is representing average citizens and vindicating their rights.
Rep. Mica is among the most uncandid and unwise persons to ever serve in Congress. Rep. Mica actually voted to support offshore oil drilling (his brother, former Rep. Dan Mica, is a Big Oil lobbyist). Big Oil already has enough representation in the Capitol. Let the unjust steward, Big Oil's Rep. Mica, be retired. Let's elect a U.S. representative who cares about us.
Americans' God-given constitutional rights to jury trials and fair state court proceedings are under attack. Too many are killed, maimed and injured by the recklessness of rich and powerful corporations. Too often, large organizations violate laws, professional standards and common sense, hurting people with defective vehicles, unsafe surgeries and other "torts" (civil wrongs). To protect our democracy, we must assure that influential wrongdoers are held accountable, whether manufacturers, health care providers, governments or other large organizations. Big Business lobbyists fight justice. They want to deny Americans our constitutional rights to jury trials and a fair redress of grievances.
"Tort reform" is really "tort deform." This unfair legislation is being proposed in Congress that would take away your rights to sue for medical malpractice, "capping" damages. Taking away peoples' state court rights to hold powerful organizations accountable is no "reform." It is oppressive, unfair and immoral. On Sept. 27 Rep. Mica voted for legislation to "cap" medical malpractice verdicts at $250,000 for compensatory damages for pain and suffering.
We don't see habitual wrongdoers "capping" their harmful, fatal and crippling injuries. How odd that those in Congress who claim to trust "states' rights" now want to "federalize" products liability, medical malpractice and tort laws, violating states' rights.
"Capping" the damages state court jurors can award for injuries is both unfair and unconstitutional. Identifying himself as "Dr.," a recent letter writer supports Rep. Mica because he supports "capping medical malpractice suits." That letter-writer actually criticized Mr. Hogan for having "made millions against the tobacco industry." Is that a criticism or a compliment? Does the writer begrudge others an income? Is the writer unfair and unscientific for failing to note that the tobacco case was brought on behalf of the people if Florida (seeking to keep tobacco away from our children and halt the propaganda that makes so many of us slaves to tobacco, the only product that, if used as intended, inevitably causes the death of its users)? "Physician, heal thyself." (Luke 4:23).
Wayne Hogan refuses to take campaign contributions from lobbyists and PACs.
Wayne Hogan will make a fine, fair, honest congressman, protecting all St. Johns Countians.
IT'S ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE -- KEEP WORKING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, NATIONAL PARK AND SEASHORE
Anastasia State Park by artist Linda Blondheim
(Anastasia State Park would be among some ten state parks included in the St. Augustine National Historical Park and Seashore).
The New York Times is correcting its ethnocentric errors on St. Augustine, Florida. See below.
It's another beautiful day in a beautiful place, and things are moving toward getting a National Civil Rights Museum and St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. This will unite our community, grow our economy, and preserve protect our environmental and historic heritage forever.
The "temple-destroyers" have no credibility. There are more of us than there are of them. Their tea party naifs are no match for the wonderful work of our National Park Service.
As Margaret Mead said it best, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
America's Founders knew it.
Let's live it.
Carpe diem. (Enjoy the day).
NEW YORK TIMES TO CORRECT ETHNOCENTRIC ERRORS RE: ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA AND AMERICA'S SLAVERY AND RELIGION FIRSTS
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
Thank you! The Times must now follow in the footsteps of other national news media in reporting on history scholars who state that the First Thanksgiving was here in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565 -- with Catholics and Jews, African-Americans (slave and free) and Temucan Indians, all in attendance together. That event was some 42 years before Jamestown (1607) and 56 years before Plymouth’s Thanksgiving dinner (1621). No longer should ethnocentric clichés ruin the Times’ reporting about the First American Colonists.
To right these repeated wrongs about St. Augustine, I reckon the Times needs to do more than “correct” serial errors – it must resolve to avoid inflicting untrue WASPy stereotypes about our American history ever again.
Please ask the Times Travel editors to run more frequent Travel Section articles on St. Augustine – one Travel article per decade is not nearly enough to do justice. We have 11,000 years of history here, much of it endangered. Repeatedly repeating and re-repeating the canards about Jamestown and Plymouth is not helpful -- either to teaching Americans about diversity, or to our efforts to win a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
From: nytimes, public [mailto:public@nytimes.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 4:00 PM
To: Ed Slavin
Subject: Re: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Mr. Slavin: Thank you for your message. I will make sure the Times's corrections editor sees your message and will be on the lookout for the kind of mistakes you have observed.
Art Brisbane
public editor
From: Ed Slavin
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:13:01 -0500
To: NY Times Public Editor
Subject: RE: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
No word from you. Please call. I have published our November 15& 16 correspondence on www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
The Times’ error -- and failure to correct it -- reinforces stereotypes that America is for WASPS, and that “the rest of [us] are just visiting,” as Matt Damon’s CIA agent character says in the movie, “The Good Shepherd.”
In fact, Catholics and Jews lived here together in America, in St. Augustine, Florida, more than 42 years before Jamestown, which was not the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian religion in America.
The New York Times needs to get this accurately, and for all time.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:48 AM
To: 'public@nytimes.com'
Subject: FW: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
Will you please look into a pattern of errors involving erroneous Times reporting about basic American historical “firsts?”
Not unlike Rodney Dangerfield, St. Augustine, Florida gets “no respect.” Textbooks and newspapers routinely and mistakenly report that Jamestown was the first European settlement in what is now America, founded in 1607.
In reality, St. Augustine, Florida was founded 42 years earlier, on September 8, 1565. It is the oldest European-founded City in America.
Judith Seraphin’s letter was printed in the Magazine on April 17, 2011, rebutting the erroneous statement (in an otherwise excellent article on the end of slavery), claiming that the first African-American slaves arrived in Virginia.
Yet nearly seven months later, the Times is still repeating the canard about Jamestown being the first colony, first in slavery (and now first in the Judeo-Christian faith).
Please make no mistake: the Spanish-founded City of St. Augustine, Florida was the first in all three categories, commencing September 8, 1565. Is it, at best, ethnocentric and just plain wrong to suppose that the English colony at Jamestown was “first,” when St. Augustine preceded Jamestown by 42 years? Please see my letter to the editor, below.
In your capacity as Public Editor of the New York Times, will you please make inquiries? Please ask the Times to do an article about St. Augustine and the pervasive errors in American history texts (errors that have been repeated in the Times without adequate sourcing, research or investigation).
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 4:49 PM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
In two recent stories, the Times erred on when and where the first slave ships arrived – and when and where the Judeo-Christian faith began – in what is now the United States. Both events took place In Florida, on September 8, 1565, when the Spanish established St. Augustine.
These events were definitely not in Virginia. As University of Florida History Professor Michael Gannon said, “St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal” when British settlers landed at Jamestown 42 years later.
One of the two recent errors quoted President Obama in connection with the Fort Monroe National Historical Park. The other appeared on November 14, 2011, quoting a Williamsburg pastor who crowed, “[Jamestown] is really the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian faith in America.” That’s wrong. The first Christians and Jews settled in St. Augustine.
On slavery, Judith Seraphin previously pointed out a similar error. (NY Times Magazine, April 17, 2011). St. Augustine’s founder brought the first slave -- and first free -- African-Americans here in 1565. Pedro Menendez de Aviles contracted with the King of Spain to bring in 500 slaves within three years. Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young is working to found a Civil Rights Museum here.
Our Nation’s Oldest European-founded City celebrates our 450th anniversary in 2015. As Mayor Joseph Boles says, “Let’s get this party started!”
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
Thank you! The Times must now follow in the footsteps of other national news media in reporting on history scholars who state that the First Thanksgiving was here in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565 -- with Catholics and Jews, African-Americans (slave and free) and Temucan Indians, all in attendance together. That event was some 42 years before Jamestown (1607) and 56 years before Plymouth’s Thanksgiving dinner (1621). No longer should ethnocentric clichés ruin the Times’ reporting about the First American Colonists.
To right these repeated wrongs about St. Augustine, I reckon the Times needs to do more than “correct” serial errors – it must resolve to avoid inflicting untrue WASPy stereotypes about our American history ever again.
Please ask the Times Travel editors to run more frequent Travel Section articles on St. Augustine – one Travel article per decade is not nearly enough to do justice. We have 11,000 years of history here, much of it endangered. Repeatedly repeating and re-repeating the canards about Jamestown and Plymouth is not helpful -- either to teaching Americans about diversity, or to our efforts to win a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
From: nytimes, public [mailto:public@nytimes.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 4:00 PM
To: Ed Slavin
Subject: Re: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Mr. Slavin: Thank you for your message. I will make sure the Times's corrections editor sees your message and will be on the lookout for the kind of mistakes you have observed.
Art Brisbane
public editor
From: Ed Slavin
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:13:01 -0500
To: NY Times Public Editor
Subject: RE: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
No word from you. Please call. I have published our November 15& 16 correspondence on www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
The Times’ error -- and failure to correct it -- reinforces stereotypes that America is for WASPS, and that “the rest of [us] are just visiting,” as Matt Damon’s CIA agent character says in the movie, “The Good Shepherd.”
In fact, Catholics and Jews lived here together in America, in St. Augustine, Florida, more than 42 years before Jamestown, which was not the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian religion in America.
The New York Times needs to get this accurately, and for all time.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:48 AM
To: 'public@nytimes.com'
Subject: FW: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
Will you please look into a pattern of errors involving erroneous Times reporting about basic American historical “firsts?”
Not unlike Rodney Dangerfield, St. Augustine, Florida gets “no respect.” Textbooks and newspapers routinely and mistakenly report that Jamestown was the first European settlement in what is now America, founded in 1607.
In reality, St. Augustine, Florida was founded 42 years earlier, on September 8, 1565. It is the oldest European-founded City in America.
Judith Seraphin’s letter was printed in the Magazine on April 17, 2011, rebutting the erroneous statement (in an otherwise excellent article on the end of slavery), claiming that the first African-American slaves arrived in Virginia.
Yet nearly seven months later, the Times is still repeating the canard about Jamestown being the first colony, first in slavery (and now first in the Judeo-Christian faith).
Please make no mistake: the Spanish-founded City of St. Augustine, Florida was the first in all three categories, commencing September 8, 1565. Is it, at best, ethnocentric and just plain wrong to suppose that the English colony at Jamestown was “first,” when St. Augustine preceded Jamestown by 42 years? Please see my letter to the editor, below.
In your capacity as Public Editor of the New York Times, will you please make inquiries? Please ask the Times to do an article about St. Augustine and the pervasive errors in American history texts (errors that have been repeated in the Times without adequate sourcing, research or investigation).
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 4:49 PM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
In two recent stories, the Times erred on when and where the first slave ships arrived – and when and where the Judeo-Christian faith began – in what is now the United States. Both events took place In Florida, on September 8, 1565, when the Spanish established St. Augustine.
These events were definitely not in Virginia. As University of Florida History Professor Michael Gannon said, “St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal” when British settlers landed at Jamestown 42 years later.
One of the two recent errors quoted President Obama in connection with the Fort Monroe National Historical Park. The other appeared on November 14, 2011, quoting a Williamsburg pastor who crowed, “[Jamestown] is really the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian faith in America.” That’s wrong. The first Christians and Jews settled in St. Augustine.
On slavery, Judith Seraphin previously pointed out a similar error. (NY Times Magazine, April 17, 2011). St. Augustine’s founder brought the first slave -- and first free -- African-Americans here in 1565. Pedro Menendez de Aviles contracted with the King of Spain to bring in 500 slaves within three years. Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young is working to found a Civil Rights Museum here.
Our Nation’s Oldest European-founded City celebrates our 450th anniversary in 2015. As Mayor Joseph Boles says, “Let’s get this party started!”
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
National Parks Conservation Association re: Preserving and Protecting National Parks
Dear Friend,
For over 90 years, NPCA has worked to protect and preserve our national parks. We’ve battled threats ranging from air and water pollution to badly placed mining operations and inappropriate development next to protected parklands.
Our national parks are national treasures in need of care and repair in preparation for the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016.
The 2010 election produced a substantially different Congress, with 93 new House members and 12 new Senators. We have so much to accomplish — and so much potentially standing in our way. That’s why we have to continue seeking new allies on both sides of the political aisle. Join us in sending a message to President Obama and Congress that our national parks matter. It's a simple action, and one that can have a lasting effect on the future of our national parks.
Tell Congress to act now to make our parks a priority.
It’s so important that we are always vigilant and determined to protect these incredible places. Our national parks tell the story of our nation, and we need to protect that legacy for our children and grandchildren.
Investing in our parks will improve safety and public access, preserve our national heritage, and benefit our struggling economy. National parks are America’s legacy to our children and grandchildren; protecting them means that we are protecting this legacy for the future.
Ask Congress to invest in our national parks — America's Best Idea — by ensuring they are protected and preserved. Take action for your national parks today.
Thank you for all you do to help preserve our national treasures.
Sincerely,
Thomas C. Kiernan
President
________________________________________
E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 777 6th Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275).
Can't see this message? View it on the NPCA Website.
For over 90 years, NPCA has worked to protect and preserve our national parks. We’ve battled threats ranging from air and water pollution to badly placed mining operations and inappropriate development next to protected parklands.
Our national parks are national treasures in need of care and repair in preparation for the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016.
The 2010 election produced a substantially different Congress, with 93 new House members and 12 new Senators. We have so much to accomplish — and so much potentially standing in our way. That’s why we have to continue seeking new allies on both sides of the political aisle. Join us in sending a message to President Obama and Congress that our national parks matter. It's a simple action, and one that can have a lasting effect on the future of our national parks.
Tell Congress to act now to make our parks a priority.
It’s so important that we are always vigilant and determined to protect these incredible places. Our national parks tell the story of our nation, and we need to protect that legacy for our children and grandchildren.
Investing in our parks will improve safety and public access, preserve our national heritage, and benefit our struggling economy. National parks are America’s legacy to our children and grandchildren; protecting them means that we are protecting this legacy for the future.
Ask Congress to invest in our national parks — America's Best Idea — by ensuring they are protected and preserved. Take action for your national parks today.
Thank you for all you do to help preserve our national treasures.
Sincerely,
Thomas C. Kiernan
President
________________________________________
E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 777 6th Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275).
Can't see this message? View it on the NPCA Website.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Ponte Vedra Recorder: School Board Ponders Redistricting Compromise In Wake of Complaint to USDOJ, Civil Rights Commission
School board looks at redistricting compromise
Written by Sarah A. Henderson
The St. Johns County redistricting saga continued Tuesday in St. Augustine when school board members were presented with yet another plan to consider.
This time, however, Revised Plan J, was drawn with the intention of being a compromise between Revised Plan C, favored by the school board, and Revised Plan E, favored by the Board of County Commissioners.
Both the St. Johns County School Board and Commission have worked since September across more than a dozen meetings to try to narrow down numerous proposed redistricting plans to one they can agree on.
In the past, both boards have chosen to share district lines, as suggested by the Supervisor of Elections Office, in order to mitigate voter confusion and curb election costs. Statutorily in Florida, the boards are not required to have the same district lines.
But in Tuesday’s school board workshop, it was clear the boards would not meet a final decision on the issue before the Thanksgiving holiday, the original goal deadline to finish the redistricting effort.
By Florida statue, according to school board attorney Frank Upchurch, the school board has until the end of the year to vote to accept its preferred district lines, whether or not the board members agree to share the same districts with the commission.
Revised Plan J, the plan presented as a compromise for the two boards, changes one main area in regards to Revised Plan C and Revised Plan E. That area, the city limits of St. Augustine, is no longer split as was the concern with the school board — the reason they recommended Revised Plan C over E.
Revised Plan J also incorporates Revised Plan E’s minority voting block of West Augustine in District 2, the plan desired by the majority of the Board of County Commissioners
Upchurch said Revised Plan J maintains District 2’s current minority population at about 13 percent. John Libby, consultant for the county who leads the drawing of the maps, said the population of minorities at voting age in District 2 is also nearly the same, which is at 14.23 percent in Revised Plan J — a less than one percent difference than the district’s current minority voting age population.
However, District 2 in Revised Plan J does not include the Lincolnville area as it did in Revised Plan E. Lincolnville is included in District 5 with the rest of the city of St. Augustine in the compromise plan.
The school board said they preferred Revised Plan C because it was simple and compact, and the Board of County Commissioners preferred Revised Plan E because it did not seem to dilute the minority vote of the greater St. Augustine area.
At the school board workshop Tuesday, all school board members but District 4 member Bill Fehling, who represents the Ponte Vedra and Nocatee areas, was willing to consider the compromise plan, Revised Plan J.
Fehling said he is upset over what he feels are accusations of district favoritism because of the school board’s original preference of Revised Plan C, which he personally believes best serves the community.
Fehling added that he was concerned that Revised Plan J or Revised Plan E would be detrimental to the board, potentially making it a more political, divisive board.
He said he would be “really disappointed in my fellow board members” if they choose to support a plan that would bring politics into the board.
Bill Mignon said he also shared those political concerns but will consider the compromise, Revised Plan J.
“I believe in every process a compromise has to be looked at carefully,” Mignon said. “I’m interested in a compromise, but I don’t want something that will inject politics back into the system.”
District 5 board member Carla Wright said her biggest concern with the process was whether the city of St. Augustine, the area she represents, would be split.
“Plan J keeps my city intact,” she said, noting that she, too, is concerned about the political ramifications of division of the northwest part of the city.
“Plan C did keep politics out of it,” Wright said. “I’m willing to compromise, but if everyone doesn’t compromise, then I’m going to stick my heels in for Plan C.”
Board chair and District 1 representative Bev Slough said she still prefers Plan C but also will consider the compromise.
“I am a person who believes in compromise,” she said. “I believe we should look closely at Plan J.”
Tommy Allen, District 2 representative, expressed concern over the redistricting process as a whole.
“I’m very concerned about the process — it evolving into a very argumentative process, divisive,” Allen said. “I’m not going to allow that to happen.”
He will consider the compromise, but Allen said he still believes Plan C is the best plan.
“What I’m hearing at the table is that we all like C but can live with J,” Slough said near the conclusion of the school board workshop.
The Board of County Commissioners is set to vote on their district lines at its Dec. 6 meeting. The school board will vote on its district lines Dec. 13, whether the board members choose the same plan adopted by the county commissioners or not.
“The quicker we solve this problem — whether we choose a compromise or separate districts — the better it is,” Wright said, “so we can get back to the education of our children.”
To look at the Revised Plan J map or any other proposed redistricting plans, visit the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Office website at www.sjcvotes.us
sarah@opcfla.com
(904)686-3941
Written by Sarah A. Henderson
The St. Johns County redistricting saga continued Tuesday in St. Augustine when school board members were presented with yet another plan to consider.
This time, however, Revised Plan J, was drawn with the intention of being a compromise between Revised Plan C, favored by the school board, and Revised Plan E, favored by the Board of County Commissioners.
Both the St. Johns County School Board and Commission have worked since September across more than a dozen meetings to try to narrow down numerous proposed redistricting plans to one they can agree on.
In the past, both boards have chosen to share district lines, as suggested by the Supervisor of Elections Office, in order to mitigate voter confusion and curb election costs. Statutorily in Florida, the boards are not required to have the same district lines.
But in Tuesday’s school board workshop, it was clear the boards would not meet a final decision on the issue before the Thanksgiving holiday, the original goal deadline to finish the redistricting effort.
By Florida statue, according to school board attorney Frank Upchurch, the school board has until the end of the year to vote to accept its preferred district lines, whether or not the board members agree to share the same districts with the commission.
Revised Plan J, the plan presented as a compromise for the two boards, changes one main area in regards to Revised Plan C and Revised Plan E. That area, the city limits of St. Augustine, is no longer split as was the concern with the school board — the reason they recommended Revised Plan C over E.
Revised Plan J also incorporates Revised Plan E’s minority voting block of West Augustine in District 2, the plan desired by the majority of the Board of County Commissioners
Upchurch said Revised Plan J maintains District 2’s current minority population at about 13 percent. John Libby, consultant for the county who leads the drawing of the maps, said the population of minorities at voting age in District 2 is also nearly the same, which is at 14.23 percent in Revised Plan J — a less than one percent difference than the district’s current minority voting age population.
However, District 2 in Revised Plan J does not include the Lincolnville area as it did in Revised Plan E. Lincolnville is included in District 5 with the rest of the city of St. Augustine in the compromise plan.
The school board said they preferred Revised Plan C because it was simple and compact, and the Board of County Commissioners preferred Revised Plan E because it did not seem to dilute the minority vote of the greater St. Augustine area.
At the school board workshop Tuesday, all school board members but District 4 member Bill Fehling, who represents the Ponte Vedra and Nocatee areas, was willing to consider the compromise plan, Revised Plan J.
Fehling said he is upset over what he feels are accusations of district favoritism because of the school board’s original preference of Revised Plan C, which he personally believes best serves the community.
Fehling added that he was concerned that Revised Plan J or Revised Plan E would be detrimental to the board, potentially making it a more political, divisive board.
He said he would be “really disappointed in my fellow board members” if they choose to support a plan that would bring politics into the board.
Bill Mignon said he also shared those political concerns but will consider the compromise, Revised Plan J.
“I believe in every process a compromise has to be looked at carefully,” Mignon said. “I’m interested in a compromise, but I don’t want something that will inject politics back into the system.”
District 5 board member Carla Wright said her biggest concern with the process was whether the city of St. Augustine, the area she represents, would be split.
“Plan J keeps my city intact,” she said, noting that she, too, is concerned about the political ramifications of division of the northwest part of the city.
“Plan C did keep politics out of it,” Wright said. “I’m willing to compromise, but if everyone doesn’t compromise, then I’m going to stick my heels in for Plan C.”
Board chair and District 1 representative Bev Slough said she still prefers Plan C but also will consider the compromise.
“I am a person who believes in compromise,” she said. “I believe we should look closely at Plan J.”
Tommy Allen, District 2 representative, expressed concern over the redistricting process as a whole.
“I’m very concerned about the process — it evolving into a very argumentative process, divisive,” Allen said. “I’m not going to allow that to happen.”
He will consider the compromise, but Allen said he still believes Plan C is the best plan.
“What I’m hearing at the table is that we all like C but can live with J,” Slough said near the conclusion of the school board workshop.
The Board of County Commissioners is set to vote on their district lines at its Dec. 6 meeting. The school board will vote on its district lines Dec. 13, whether the board members choose the same plan adopted by the county commissioners or not.
“The quicker we solve this problem — whether we choose a compromise or separate districts — the better it is,” Wright said, “so we can get back to the education of our children.”
To look at the Revised Plan J map or any other proposed redistricting plans, visit the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Office website at www.sjcvotes.us
sarah@opcfla.com
(904)686-3941
WLOX-TV -- South Mississippi's Eco-Tourism Opportunity WIth Gulf Islands National Seashore
South Mississippi has "eco tourism" opportunity
Posted: Nov 21, 2011 6:17 PM EST Updated: Nov 24, 2011 6:44 PM EST
By Steve Phillips - bio | email
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -
Eco-tourism is a growing segment of the tourism industry worldwide. South Mississippi is certainly in a good position to take advantage of the eco-tourism trend that connects visitors to the outdoors.
An abundance of outdoor attractions is a great way to entice more visitors.
"Mother Nature is the tourist attraction for South Mississippi," said Dr. Mark Lasalle, "And particularly the Pascagoula River," he added.
Dr. Lasalle said there's a growing appetite among visitors to seek out and enjoy outdoor experiences when they travel.
"There's a lot of outdoor enthusiasts, young and old alike interestingly enough. Particularly a lot of retirees who want to get out and walk around. We had some here today. We get them all the time. And they're looking particularly for places where they can come and see lots of opportunity for that," said the Director of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center.
Gulf Islands National Seashore offers such opportunities.
"Our campground here at Davis Bayou is full just about year round, so people love coming and getting here in the out of doors and camping out, you bet," said Park Superintendent Dan Brown.
The Superintendent of Gulf Islands said eco-tourism is a perfect fit for what the park service has to offer.
"People love their national parks. They love Gulf Islands National Seashore. And they love coming and enjoying the out of doors here," said Brown.
Count this California visitor among the "eco tourists".
"We love it. It's very important to see nature and see the walking trails. It's wonderful. The sigh seeing, what's available. Nature. Just being out here in the beautiful weather. It's great," said the visiting Jim Squire.
The creation of a network of trails along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is another way to attract "eco tourists".
"We're hoping that all types of trails will have an economic benefit for the Mississippi Gulf Coast, via tourism and eco-tourism especially. Sort of a low impact tourism," said Liz Smith-Incer, who works for the National Park Service and is developing that series of trails in South Mississippi.
There's certainly no shortage of woods and waters to attract and impress such visitors.
The Pascagoula River and Gulf Islands National Seashore are just two of the "eco-tourism" attractions in South Mississippi.
The Mississippi Sound, the barrier islands and various marshes and bayous are also the kind of outdoor environments that can attract visitors interested in nature.
Copyright 2011 WLOX. All rights reserved.
Posted: Nov 21, 2011 6:17 PM EST Updated: Nov 24, 2011 6:44 PM EST
By Steve Phillips - bio | email
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -
Eco-tourism is a growing segment of the tourism industry worldwide. South Mississippi is certainly in a good position to take advantage of the eco-tourism trend that connects visitors to the outdoors.
An abundance of outdoor attractions is a great way to entice more visitors.
"Mother Nature is the tourist attraction for South Mississippi," said Dr. Mark Lasalle, "And particularly the Pascagoula River," he added.
Dr. Lasalle said there's a growing appetite among visitors to seek out and enjoy outdoor experiences when they travel.
"There's a lot of outdoor enthusiasts, young and old alike interestingly enough. Particularly a lot of retirees who want to get out and walk around. We had some here today. We get them all the time. And they're looking particularly for places where they can come and see lots of opportunity for that," said the Director of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center.
Gulf Islands National Seashore offers such opportunities.
"Our campground here at Davis Bayou is full just about year round, so people love coming and getting here in the out of doors and camping out, you bet," said Park Superintendent Dan Brown.
The Superintendent of Gulf Islands said eco-tourism is a perfect fit for what the park service has to offer.
"People love their national parks. They love Gulf Islands National Seashore. And they love coming and enjoying the out of doors here," said Brown.
Count this California visitor among the "eco tourists".
"We love it. It's very important to see nature and see the walking trails. It's wonderful. The sigh seeing, what's available. Nature. Just being out here in the beautiful weather. It's great," said the visiting Jim Squire.
The creation of a network of trails along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is another way to attract "eco tourists".
"We're hoping that all types of trails will have an economic benefit for the Mississippi Gulf Coast, via tourism and eco-tourism especially. Sort of a low impact tourism," said Liz Smith-Incer, who works for the National Park Service and is developing that series of trails in South Mississippi.
There's certainly no shortage of woods and waters to attract and impress such visitors.
The Pascagoula River and Gulf Islands National Seashore are just two of the "eco-tourism" attractions in South Mississippi.
The Mississippi Sound, the barrier islands and various marshes and bayous are also the kind of outdoor environments that can attract visitors interested in nature.
Copyright 2011 WLOX. All rights reserved.
Pensacola News-Journal: Editorial -- Protect the Waters We Cherish At Gulf Islands National Seashore
We believe that the last thing most boaters and others who love the waters in and around Gulf Islands National Seashore want is to see damage done to what are some of the last remaining healthy seagrass beds in Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound and Big Lagoon.
Due to the effects of pollution and long abuse of our bays as dumping grounds for stormwater, industrial waste and effluent from wastewater treatment plants, an estimated 90 percent of the original seagrass is gone. Much effort has been put into cleaning up the water and restoring these important grasses.
The park is for people to enjoy, and must remain open to them. But that doesn't mean ignoring the fact that damage has also been done by boaters, fishermen and others who have had a tendency to "love to death" the natural resources they enjoy, whether that's sand dunes, seagrass or a variety of nearly exhausted fish species now returning under the shade of regulation, including mullet, speckled trout, red fish and snapper.
The days of everyone being allowed to do whatever they want wherever they want, without regard to protecting the very resources they want to enjoy, are long gone, if for no other reason than it tramples the rights of others who wish to enjoy them. As population continues to grow, and the number of boaters with it, it would be all too easy to destroy what we love.
More importantly, if we want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the same clean water, fishing and healthy barrier islands that we have, we must protect them.
That said, we also agree with Robert Turpin, Escambia County's marine resource manager, that national seashore officials must clearly define how these shared resources will be protected. That should include public education and posted signs that clearly define where grass beds are.
Many boaters no doubt drop anchor or run too shallow in areas that they would avoid if they were aware that sensitive grass beds were just below the surface. Unfortunately, many people who enjoy the outdoors are not fully aware of the impact they can have.
So education and signs that tell them where they need to be most careful can be powerful tools to help prevent damage in the first place. We'd all rather see the grass beds remain healthy, rather than have to be closed and nursed back to health.
We understand the fears of boaters worried that areas long used for camping, boating, swimming and fishing could be closed to them. We also believe that the vast majority of them understand the importance of protecting these resources, and will work with the seashore to do that.
Due to the effects of pollution and long abuse of our bays as dumping grounds for stormwater, industrial waste and effluent from wastewater treatment plants, an estimated 90 percent of the original seagrass is gone. Much effort has been put into cleaning up the water and restoring these important grasses.
The park is for people to enjoy, and must remain open to them. But that doesn't mean ignoring the fact that damage has also been done by boaters, fishermen and others who have had a tendency to "love to death" the natural resources they enjoy, whether that's sand dunes, seagrass or a variety of nearly exhausted fish species now returning under the shade of regulation, including mullet, speckled trout, red fish and snapper.
The days of everyone being allowed to do whatever they want wherever they want, without regard to protecting the very resources they want to enjoy, are long gone, if for no other reason than it tramples the rights of others who wish to enjoy them. As population continues to grow, and the number of boaters with it, it would be all too easy to destroy what we love.
More importantly, if we want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the same clean water, fishing and healthy barrier islands that we have, we must protect them.
That said, we also agree with Robert Turpin, Escambia County's marine resource manager, that national seashore officials must clearly define how these shared resources will be protected. That should include public education and posted signs that clearly define where grass beds are.
Many boaters no doubt drop anchor or run too shallow in areas that they would avoid if they were aware that sensitive grass beds were just below the surface. Unfortunately, many people who enjoy the outdoors are not fully aware of the impact they can have.
So education and signs that tell them where they need to be most careful can be powerful tools to help prevent damage in the first place. We'd all rather see the grass beds remain healthy, rather than have to be closed and nursed back to health.
We understand the fears of boaters worried that areas long used for camping, boating, swimming and fishing could be closed to them. We also believe that the vast majority of them understand the importance of protecting these resources, and will work with the seashore to do that.
Miami Herald Robert Graham, Florida's Former Governor, U.S. Senator, Warns That Tallahasee Politicians Are Endangering Our Everglades
Bob Graham to Legislature: You are endangering the Everglades
Former Florida Governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham wrote this blistering op-ed in Sunday's Miami Herald blaming lawmakers for eroding progress on restoration efforts for the state's famed River of Grass:
The Everglades is in danger again. This time it is not from a drought, hurricane or other act of nature. It is not from some imminent encroaching development.
It is from the 2011 Florida Legislature and its cascade of damaging legislation which threatens to bring the three-decade-long effort to save the Everglades to a halt.
Everglades restoration is not just a matter of saving one of the Earth’s most important and unique environments and protecting the fresh water supply for a third of Florida’s residents. Everglades restoration is our state’s largest job and economic development program. A 2011 report by Mather Economics to the Everglades Foundation estimated that investing $11.5 billion in Everglades restoration (equally divided between the federal government and the state of Florida) will result in $46.5 billion in gains to Florida’s economy and create in excess of 440,000 jobs in the next 50 years. More here.
Today, a bi-partisan group of legislators will announce the first ever Everglades coalition at a press conference in Boynton Beach. Members include Rep. Steve Perman, D-Boca Raton and Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera.
Crusading Journalist Tom Wicker Dies
Tom Wicker, Times Journalist, Dies at 85
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
Tom Wicker, one of postwar America’s most distinguished journalists, who wrote 20 books, covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for The New York Times and became the paper’s Washington bureau chief and an iconoclastic political columnist for 25 years, died on Friday at his home near Rochester, Vt. He was 85.
The cause was apparently a heart attack, said his wife, Pamela Wicker.
On Nov. 22, 1963, Mr. Wicker, a brilliant but relatively unknown White House correspondent who had worked at four smaller papers, written several novels under a pen name and, at 37, had established himself as a workhorse of The Times’s Washington bureau, was riding in the presidential motorcade as it wound through downtown Dallas, the lone Times reporter on a routine political trip to Texas.
The searing images of that day — the rifleman’s shots cracking across Dealey Plaza, the wounded president lurching forward in the open limousine, the blur of speed to Parkland Memorial Hospital and the nation’s anguish as the doctors gave way to the priests and a new era — were dictated by Mr. Wicker from a phone booth in stark, detailed prose drawn from notes scribbled on a White House itinerary sheet. It filled two front-page columns and the entire second page, and vaulted the writer to journalistic prominence overnight.
Nine months later, Mr. Wicker, the son of a small-town North Carolina railroad conductor, succeeded the legendary James B. Reston as chief of The Times’s 48-member Washington bureau, and two years later he inherited the column — although hardly the mantle — of the retiring Arthur Krock, the dean of Washington pundits, who had covered every president since Calvin Coolidge.
In contrast to the conservative pontificating of Mr. Krock and the genteel journalism of Mr. Reston, Mr. Wicker brought a hard-hitting Southern liberal/civil libertarian’s perspective to his column, “In the Nation,” which appeared on the editorial page and then on the Op-Ed Page two or three times a week from 1966 until his retirement in 1991. It was also syndicated to scores of newspapers.
Riding waves of change as the effects of the divisive war in Vietnam and America’s civil rights struggle swept the country, Mr. Wicker applauded President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but took the president to task for deepening the American involvement in Southeast Asia.
He denounced President Richard M. Nixon for covertly bombing Cambodia, and in the Watergate scandal accused him of creating the “beginnings of a police state.” Nixon put Mr. Wicker on his “enemies list,” but resigned in disgrace over the Watergate cover-up. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew upbraided Mr. Wicker for “irresponsibility and thoughtlessness,” but he, too, resigned after pleading no contest to evading taxes on bribes he had taken while he was governor of Maryland.
The Wicker judgments fell like a hard rain upon all the presidents: Gerald R. Ford, for continuing the war in Vietnam; Jimmy Carter, for “temporizing” in the face of soaring inflation and the Iranian hostage crisis; Ronald Reagan, for dozing through the Iran-contra scandal, and the elder George Bush, for letting the Persian Gulf war outweigh educational and health care needs at home. Mr. Wicker’s targets also included members of Congress, government secrecy, big business, corrupt labor leaders, racial bigots, prison conditions, television and the news media.
In the 1970s, Mr. Wicker, whose status as a columnist put him outside the customary journalistic restrictions on advocacy, became a fixture on current-events television shows and addressed gatherings on college campuses and in other forums. Speaking at a 1971 “teach-in” at Harvard, he urged students to “engage in civil disobedience” in protesting the war in Vietnam. “We got one president out,” he told the cheering crowd, “and perhaps we can do it again.”
A Prison Uprising
Mr. Wicker had many detractors. He was attacked by conservatives and liberals, by politicians high and low, by business interests, labor leaders and others, and for a time his activism — crossing the line from observer to participant in news events — put him in disfavor with many mainstream journalists. But his speeches and columns continued unabated.
His most notable involvement took place during the uprising by 1,300 inmates who seized 38 guards and workers at the Attica prison in upstate New York in September 1971. Having written a sympathetic column on the death of the black militant George Jackson at San Quentin, Mr. Wicker was asked by Attica’s rebels to join a group of outsiders to inspect prison conditions and monitor negotiations between inmates and officials. The radical lawyer William M. Kunstler and Bobby Seale, chairman of the Black Panther Party, also went in, and the observers took on the role of mediators.
Mr. Wicker, in a column, described a night in the yard with the rebels: flickering oil-drum fires, bull-necked convicts armed with bats and iron pipes, faceless men in hoods or football helmets huddled on mattresses behind wooden barricades. He wrote: “This is another world — terrifying to the outsider, yet imposing in its strangeness — behind those massive walls, in this murmurous darkness, within the temporary but real power of desperate men.”
Talks broke down over inmate demands for amnesty and the ouster of Russell G. Oswald, the state corrections commissioner. Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller rejected appeals by the observers to go to Attica, and after a four-day standoff, troopers and guards stormed the prison. Ten hostages and 29 inmates were killed by the authorities’ gunfire in what witnesses called a turkey shoot; three inmates were killed by other convicts, who also beat a guard to death. Afterward, many prisoners were beaten and abused in reprisals.
Mr. Wicker wrote a book about the uprising, “A Time to Die” (1975). Most critics hailed it as his best book, although some chided him for sympathizing with the inmates. “Attica,” a television movie starring Morgan Freeman as a jailhouse lawyer and George Grizzard as Mr. Wicker, was made by ABC in 1980.
Fiction and Nonfiction
Mr. Wicker produced a shelf of books: 10 novels, ranging from potboilers under the pen name Paul Connolly to murder mysteries and political thrillers, and 10 nonfiction books that re-examined the legacies of ex-presidents, race relations in America, the press and other subjects.
Mr. Wicker’s first nonfiction book was “Kennedy Without Tears: The Man Beneath the Myth” (1964), a 61-page look back that some critics said recapitulated popular notions of an orator of charm and wit but did not penetrate the armor of sentiment growing over the dead president.
“JFK and LBJ: The Influence of Personality Upon Politics,” (1968), was better received. It analyzed the character of the two presidents to explain why Kennedy was unable to push many programs through Congress and why Johnson’s credibility was a casualty of the Vietnam conflict.
Mr. Wicker’s “On Press” (1978) enlarged on complaints he had made for years: the myth of objectivity, reliance on official and anonymous sources. Far from being robust and uninhibited, he wrote, the press was often a toady to government and business.
Published shortly before Mr. Wicker retired, “One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream” (1991) offered a surprising reassessment of the president he had scorned 20 years earlier. Nixon, credited with high marks in foreign policy, mainly for opening doors to China, actually deserved more notice for domestic achievements, Mr. Wicker argued, especially in desegregating Southern schools.
Mr. Wicker later wrote “Tragic Failure: Racial Integration in America,” (1996), arguing that black Americans should abandon the Democratic Party and forge a new liberal movement. And he produced “On the Record: An Insider’s Guide to Journalism” (2001), “Dwight D. Eisenhower” (2002), “George Herbert Walker Bush” (2004) and “Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy” (2006).
His political novel “Facing the Lions” (1973) was on The Times best-seller list for 18 weeks. His later novels were “Unto This Hour” (1984), a Civil War story on the best-seller list for 15 weeks; “Donovan’s Wife” (1992), a satire on sleazy politics; and “Easter Lilly” (1998), about a black woman tried for the murder of a white jail guard in the South.
A Young Journalist
Mr. Wicker was a hefty man, 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a ruddy face, jowls, petulant lips and a lock of unruly hair that dangled boyishly on a high forehead. He toiled in tweeds in pinstriped Washington, but seemed more suited to a hammock and straw hat on a lazy summer day. The casual gait, the easygoing manner, the down-home drawl set a tone for audiences, but masked a fiery temperament, a ferocious work ethic, a tigerish competitiveness and a stubborn idealism, qualities that made him a perceptive observer of the American scene for more than a half century.
Thomas Grey Wicker was born on June 18, 1926, in Hamlet, N.C., the son of Delancey David, a railroad freight conductor, and Esta Cameron Wicker. He worked on his high school newspaper and decided to make journalism his career.
After Navy service in World War II, he studied journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1948. Over the next decade, he was an editor and reporter at several newspapers in North Carolina, including The Winston-Salem Journal, eventually becoming its Washington correspondent.
Mr. Wicker married the former Neva Jewett McLean in 1949. The couple had two children and were divorced in 1973. In 1974, he married Pamela Hill, a producer of television documentaries. Besides his wife, he is survived by the children of his first marriage, a daughter, Cameron Wicker, and a son, Thomas Grey Wicker Jr.; two stepdaughters, Kayce Freed Jennings and Lisa Freed; and a stepson, Christopher Hill.
In Washington
In 1957-58, Mr. Wicker was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and in 1959 became associate editor of The Nashville Tennessean. In 1960, Mr. Reston hired him for The Times’s Washington bureau, one of “Scotty’s boys,” a cadre of protégés that included Max Frankel, Anthony Lewis and Russell Baker.
Mr. Wicker covered Congress and the Kennedy White House, the 1960 political campaigns and presidential trips abroad. His output was prodigious — 700 articles in his first few years, many of them on the front page, others in the form of news analysis in The New York Times Magazine or the Week in Review.
His work was often entertaining as well as informative. “The most familiar voice in Ameriker lahst yeeah warz that of a Boston Irishman with Harvard overtones who sounded vaguely like an old recording of Franklin D. Roosevelt speeded up to 90 r.p.m.’s,” Mr. Wicker wrote for the magazine, summing up 241 Kennedy speeches in his first year in the presidency. “Nor will the Beacon Street ‘a’ and the Bunker Hill ‘r’ fall any less frequently on the American eeah in the coming yeeah.”
Mr. Wicker was named chief of the Washington bureau on Sept. 1, 1964, at the insistence of his mentor, Mr. Reston, who had asked to be relieved. While the job involved managerial duties, Mr. Wicker was an indifferent administrator. He continued to cover Washington and national news, and to write news analyses and magazine articles. In 1966, he took on Mr. Krock’s column, adding to his workload.
In 1968, after complaints by Times editors in New York that Mr. Wicker was devoting too much attention to his writing, The Times announced that James Greenfield, a former Time magazine reporter and State Department official, would replace him as bureau chief.
Mr. Wicker and some colleagues, who saw the move as an effort to rein in the relative independence the bureau had enjoyed under Mr. Reston, vehemently opposed the appointment. The publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, withdrew Mr. Greenfield’s name and named Mr. Frankel as bureau chief. Mr. Wicker became associate editor, a title he retained until his retirement, and after 1972 wrote his column from New York.
Besides columns and books, Mr. Wicker wrote short stories and freelance articles that appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, Harper’s, Life, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, Playboy, Rolling Stone and Vogue. He received many awards and honorary degrees from a dozen universities.
At Thanksgiving, Thanking Our Public Officials for Publicly Discussing St. Augustine National Historical Park and Seashore -- First Time in 71 Years!
Letter: Slavin: Claim in Arpaia’s letter false
Posted: November 27, 2011 - 12:50am
By 
Editor: Thanksgiving comes at a time with much for which to be thankful.
I am proud to have lived in St. Augustine for 12 years. Our City and County Commissioners are increasing in competence and compassion, respecting diversity and equality. Riberia Street is being fixed, at last. West Augustine will soon get proper sewer and water service, finally. Decennial redistricting is now being accomplished without surrendering to illegal demands to dilute minority voting strength.
Sadly, James Arpaia printed a libelous letter the day before Thanksgiving, retaliation for our reporting the School Board to the Justice Department. Arpaia falsely claimed Judith Seraphin and I took “what seemed like a simple plan to repair the St. Johns County fishing pier as a racial plot to keep African-Americans from using the pier.” That’s false. Arpaia continued: “They proposed instead to turn over ownership of the pier and all of the waterfront to the federal government and thereby remove it from local ownership because they claim African-Americans are being discriminated (sic).” That’s false.
Reality: on Nov. 15, our county administrator invited ideas to raise $8 million to replace the pier. Judith Seraphin was in North Carolina and did not speak that day. It was I who responded, recalling the heroic history of beach wade-ins leading to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Our beach would make a fine addition to the National Park system, with a new pier paid for by NPS, attracting tourist families to see where courageous African-Americans waded in the then-segregated ocean. Angry Arpaia responded, incensed about encouraging Civil Rights tourism. He’s crabby about the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore interpreting our Civil Rights history.
We’re thankful that for the first time in 71 years, our public officials are discussing the proposed National Park and Seashore. I salute them.
Celebrating Diversity -- First Thanksgiving Was Here in St. Augustine, Florida
The first Thanksgiving was celebrated here in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565. The first Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated in North America. Then the First Thanksgiving was held. At the table were Spaniards, Catholics, Jews, African-Americans and Temucuan Indians. See articles and editorials, below.
St. Augustine Record re: First Thanksgiving Here on September 8, 1565
Our view: We wish a happy and safe Thanksgiving to all
Posted: November 23, 2011 - 9:06pm
It is indeed a special day in St. Augustine and St. Johns County where the first act of community thanksgiving took place 446 years ago. While that date was Sept. 8, 1565, historian Michael Gannon says our day of thanksgiving was first in what later became the United States of America.
“It was the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent settlement in the land,” said Gannon.
Over the years, the respected Gannon has raised the ire of Plimouth Plantation in Massachusetts which says it was first with its Pilgrim-led thanksgiving in 1621, the year after they arrived from England.
Our celebration was led by founder Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Menendez and his soldiers and settlers then celebrated with the native Timucuan Indians after a Mass of thanksgiving.
Today’s celebrations are a far cry from that of Menendez. The Spanish were thankful for their arrival in La Florida across the ocean from Spain. Today we count our blessings, thankful that we are a free nation, and thankful that Menendez made it here when he did.
Our Thanksgiving Day ritual of family togetherness and gratefulness is changing across the nation in the 21st century. The image in the Norman Rockwell painting of Freedom from Want — where the family matriarch brings the huge turkey to the table to the anticipation of young and old — is fading into history.
Today’s dinner is arranged around Thanksgiving Day parades, football games and early bird Black Friday sales that start in some stores today. What family members that are at home or, close by, celebrate together. Those who are afar, especially those in service to our country overseas, are remembered by their loved ones. Thanks to modern communications satellites, they themselves can be seen and heard across oceans in the family’s living room.
So however you celebrate today — whether it is at the dining room table with family, on TV trays watching the games, or, on the serving line at St. Francis House helping the less fortunate — we wish all of you a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.
Daytona Beach News-Journal re: First Thanksgiving In St. Augustine, Florida (September 8, 1565)
| Originally appeared on News-Journal Online at http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/florida/2011/11/24/mass-of-thanksgiving-in-st-augustine-preceded-plymouth-rock.html | | Print This Page |
Mass of thanksgiving in St. Augustine preceded Plymouth Rock
By DINAH VOYLES PULVER, Staff writer 
As the bronze turkey basks in glory on its platter today and family and friends pause to reflect on that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621, Florida history buffs might suggest feasting on garlic stew instead.
The stew would be a nod to a New World Thanksgiving feast that took place in St. Augustine 66 years before Plymouth Rock.
On Sep. 8, 1565, Spanish explorers and priests sat down with Florida's native Timucuans to dine on cocina, a garlic stew of pork, garbanzo beans and olive oil.
The occasion? A Mass of thanksgiving for the safe journey of Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his company of 800 Spaniards, who had just arrived in present-day St. Augustine, said Michael Gannon, a Florida historian.
This story, detailed in Gannon's book "The Cross in the Sand," is recounted on a Visit Florida website designed to help residents and visitors count down 500 days to the start of a year-long celebration planned for 2013 to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of explorer Juan Ponce de Leon's arrival.
The nonprofit tourism marketing corporation and the Florida Humanities Council are steering the planning effort, which already encompasses many agencies, schools and organizations across the state.
"We wanted to share stories in light of the anniversary," said Kenneth Morgan, public relations manager for Visit Florida. "In the coming year we're going to see more initiatives about the state's celebration."
Volusia and Flagler officials also have begun planning local anniversary events.
Volusia County started its discussions at a communitywide meeting earlier this month.
County Councilwoman Joie Alexander, a retired educator, said even she has been surprised by what she has learned about Florida's early history, including the earlier Thanksgiving in St. Augustine.
"It's exciting to me what I've learned so far," Alexander said. "Many people don't know what Florida's history is and we have such a diverse cultural history."
The committee's second meeting is expected to take place in early December.
The 500-year anniversary is being promoted internationally, she said, and is going to be "a great economic opportunity for tourism."
Flagler County will be participating in events such as a bike ride planned to cultural sites on the coast, said county spokesman Carl Laundrie.
For Florida's first Thanksgiving, historians say the Timucuans likely contributed a variety of wild game and fish. Side dishes, however, might have been similar to those served at Plymouth Rock and on our tables today: squash, beans, pumpkin and fruit and nuts, according to the story by Jon Wilson on the Visit Florida website. But, while the Spanish may have washed down their food with red wine, the Timucuans were teetotalers, drinking water or an herbal beverage made from a coastal weed.
The story of the Mass was recorded by the fleet's chaplain, Gannon said. A replica of the makeshift altar for that 1565 celebration can be seen today at the mission Nombre de Dios and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine, one of the locations on the state's cultural heritage trail.
MORE: facebook Florida 500 Anniversary | VisitFlorida | Viva Florida 500
© 2011 The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette re: First Thanksgiving Was in St. Augustine, Florida (September 8, 1565)
Was first Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, Fla.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Forget the turkey, the silly Pilgrim hats and the buckles.
Forget Plymouth Rock and 1621.
If you want to know about the real first Thanksgiving on American soil, travel 1,200 miles south and more than 50 years earlier to a grassy spot on the Matanzas River in North Florida.
This is where Spanish Adm. Pedro Menendez de Aviles came ashore on Sept. 8, 1565. This is where he, 500 soldiers, 200 sailors, 100 civilian families and artisans, and the Timucuan Indians who occupied the village of Seloy gathered at a makeshift altar and said the first Christian Mass. And afterward, this is where they held the first Thanksgiving feast.
The Timucuans brought oysters and giant clams. The Spaniards carried from their ships garbanzo beans, olive oil, bread, pork and wine.
Eric Johnson, director of the Mission of Nombre de Dios and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche -- the site at which Menendez landed -- doesn't expect Americans to change their Thanksgiving traditions that are shaped around the Pilgrims' feast. But he, like other Florida historians, would like folks to recognize that the stories they learned in grade school -- the stories presented in textbooks today -- are wrong.
It all happened in this bucolic 300-acre Catholic mission and shrine that offers a quiet respite amid the frenetic tourist activity of St. Augustine, the oldest European settlement in the United States. A replica of the Rustic Altar sits next to the shore in the general area where archaeologists believe the Mass took place.
Michael Gannon, former director of the mission and University of Florida distinguished service emeritus professor of history, presented the celebration in his meticulously researched book, "The Cross in the Sand," in 1965 and has argued that this feast should be recognized as the first Thanksgiving.
If you go
The Mission of Nombre de Dios and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche is at 27 Ocean Ave. St., Augustine, FL 32084; 1-904-824-2809 or 1-800-342-6529; www.missionandshrine.org It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Visits to the grounds and gift shop are free but donations are welcome.
This year, construction has started on a 3,000-square-foot museum that is projected to open late next spring. It is intended as a place to celebrate and study the history of the Catholic faith in Florida from Sept. 8, 1565, until now. Among its permanent exhibits will be the coffin of Pedro Menendez de Aviles, which now sits in an alcove by the shrine gift shop.
Each year the city's founding on Sept. 8 is celebrated with much pageantry, including cannon fire, a mayor's proclamation, speeches by historians and Mass at the Rustic Altar. A grass-roots group and city commission have been set up to plan festivities to celebrate the city's 450th anniversary in 2015.
"It is a part of history," Mr. Johnson said. "Our 450th anniversary of the founding will be held in 2015. Our hope is that between now and then people can learn more about the history of Florida and the establishment of St. Augustine."
Florida school teacher Robyn Gioia felt so strongly about this lack of recognition that she wrote a children's picture book, "America's REAL first Thanksgiving," in April 2007 that is helping to spread the word. (At right, see story and recipe.)
Coming ashore
After Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the peninsula, named it La Florida ("Land of Flowers") and claimed it for Spain in 1513, the Spanish Crown tried without success to permanently colonize the land. By 1564, the French had established a fort and colony on the nearby St. John's River. King Philip II named Menendez governor of Florida and commissioned him to establish a permanent settlement and gain control of the territory.
After a failed attempt to cross the sea because of bad weather, Menendez landed at a harbor in Northern Florida on Sept. 4, 1565, that he named San Agustin (St. Augustine) in honor of the saint upon whose feast day, Aug. 28, he had first sighted land near Cape Canaveral.
The fleet's chaplain was a secular priest named Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, who not only was the fleet's spiritual leader, but also kept a log describing the historic passage and landing.
"On Saturday the 8th, the general landed with many banners spread, to the sounds of trumpets and salutes of artillery," according to a translation of what Father Lopez wrote. "As I had gone ashore the evening before, I took a cross and went to meet him, singing the hymn 'Te Deum Laudamus.' The general, followed by all who accompanied him, marched up to the cross, knelt and kissed it. A large number of Indians watched these proceedings and imitated all they saw done."
The Spanish named the landing spot Nombre de Dios, or "Name of God," and it became missionary headquarters in the new land. Father Lopez was named pastor of the new settlement.
"The Timucuans were gentle people in terms of manner and disposition," Mr. Johnson said. "They didn't have any reason to believe that the Spanish were enemies."
Menendez wanted to find a way to co-exist with the native people in a peaceful way, he said. "He treated the chief as he himself wanted to be treated."
Praying for safe deliveries
The mission and shrine draws between 100,000 to 120,000 people annually. Among the biggest attraction is the chapel that houses a replica of the statue of Our Lady of La Leche, the first shrine dedicated to Our Blessed Mother in the United States.
Its centerpiece is a replica of the Blessed Virgin nursing the infant Jesus. Many visitors -- Catholics and non-Catholics -- ask for the blessing of motherhood.
"People who are pregnant come to pray for a safe delivery and healthy children," Mr. Johnson said, recalling that his own parents made a pilgrimage here from nearby Jacksonville when he was a child to pray for their new baby. And when he later moved to Maryland with his wife, he, too, journeyed back here to pray for his own children.
And more so now than ever before, couples who have been unsuccessful in having children come to pray.
"There's a great level of frustration and pain associated with infertility. I see more and more couples and more and more of their family members coming to pray," he said.
For many it gives them a time for prayer and reflection. During the visit, some may accept the fact that they have not been called to have their own child and they resolve to consider adoption.
One of Mr. Johnson's favorite stories involved a family he encountered one day walking through the grounds.
The Louisiana couple had visited only one time before, they told him, 35 years ago. He asked why it took them so long to return. "We had to raise our family," they said, explaining that they had nine children and 21 grandchildren.
"They had come here because they were unable to conceive. They both prayed to have children. But they came to the resolution that they should go home and adopt a child. That led to them adopting nine children."
There also are the many stories of shrine babies -- those whose prayers were answered. "We call them our own little miracles."
'Beacon of faith'
The grounds hold other fascinating artifacts. Dotted throughout the property are weathered tombstones, almost all from the 1800s.
An epidemic of yellow fever hit St. Augustine in 1821. Catholics felled by the disease were buried at the mission, away from the regular cemetery, because people were worried that the disease was contagious, even among the dead. Also included among these were six African American Union soldiers who had been part of the United States Colored Troops.
The most striking feature of the mission is the 208-foot-tall stainless steel cross that was erected in 1965 to mark the 400th anniversary of the city's founding. It stands as a sentinel over the mission and what Billy Graham called a "beacon of faith" for all who pass through the area.
Still on most days, this is a very quiet place and is easily overshadowed by the nearby Spanish fort, Castillo de San Marcos, which was constructed between 1672 and 1695, and other tourist sites in town.
"It's like an oasis of calm, tranquility and beauty in the middle of a tourist town," Mr. Johnson said about the mission and shrine. "A lot of people find it by accident."
Virginia Linn can be reached at vlinn@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1662.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09326/1014871-37.stm#ixzz1f0hutCn5
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
NY Times Was Ethnocentric in Claiming Judeo-Christian Religion Began in Virignia in 1607 -- 'Twas St. Augutine, in 1565
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 6:13 PM
To: 'public@nytimes.com'
Subject: RE: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
No word from you. Please call. I have published our November 15& 16 correspondence on www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
The Times’ error -- and failure to correct it -- reinforces stereotypes that America is for WASPS, and that “the rest of [us] are just visiting,” as Matt Damon’s CIA agent character says in the movie, “The Good Shepherd.”
In fact, Catholics and Jews lived here together in America, in St. Augustine, Florida, more than 42 years before Jamestown, which was not the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian religion in America.
The New York Times needs to get this accurately, and for all time.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:48 AM
To: 'public@nytimes.com'
Subject: FW: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
Will you please look into a pattern of errors involving erroneous Times reporting about basic American historical “firsts?”
Not unlike Rodney Dangerfield, St. Augustine, Florida gets “no respect.” Textbooks and newspapers routinely and mistakenly report that Jamestown was the first European settlement in what is now America, founded in 1607.
In reality, St. Augustine, Florida was founded 42 years earlier, on September 8, 1565. It is the oldest European-founded City in America.
Judith Seraphin’s letter was printed in the Magazine on April 17, 2011, rebutting the erroneous statement (in an otherwise excellent article on the end of slavery), claiming that the first African-American slaves arrived in Virginia.
Yet nearly seven months later, the Times is still repeating the canard about Jamestown being the first colony, first in slavery (and now first in the Judeo-Christian faith).
Please make no mistake: the Spanish-founded City of St. Augustine, Florida was the first in all three categories, commencing September 8, 1565. Is it, at best, ethnocentric and just plain wrong to suppose that the English colony at Jamestown was “first,” when St. Augustine preceded Jamestown by 42 years? Please see my letter to the editor, below.
In your capacity as Public Editor of the New York Times, will you please make inquiries? Please ask the Times to do an article about St. Augustine and the pervasive errors in American history texts (errors that have been repeated in the Times without adequate sourcing, research or investigation).
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 4:49 PM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
In two recent stories, the Times erred on when and where the first slave ships arrived – and when and where the Judeo-Christian faith began – in what is now the United States. Both events took place In Florida, on September 8, 1565, when the Spanish established St. Augustine.
These events were definitely not in Virginia. As University of Florida History Professor Michael Gannon said, “St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal” when British settlers landed at Jamestown 42 years later.
One of the two recent errors quoted President Obama in connection with the Fort Monroe National Historical Park. The other appeared on November 14, 2011, quoting a Williamsburg pastor who crowed, “[Jamestown] is really the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian faith in America.” That’s wrong. The first Christians and Jews settled in St. Augustine.
On slavery, Judith Seraphin previously pointed out a similar error. (NY Times Magazine, April 17, 2011). St. Augustine’s founder brought the first slave -- and first free -- African-Americans here in 1565. Pedro Menendez de Aviles contracted with the King of Spain to bring in 500 slaves within three years. Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young is working to found a Civil Rights Museum here.
Our Nation’s Oldest European-founded City celebrates our 450th anniversary in 2015. As Mayor Joseph Boles says, “Let’s get this party started!”
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
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