Shared Air

For a holiday treat, we bring two new stories of Richmond, each about a new way of seeing and representing things that went on to have large-scale impact on our national lives. One tells of a young woman, Irene Langhorne Gibson, who embodied a new ideal of American Womanhood and possibility. The other is about a young self-taught artist, Francis Xavier Reardon, who changed the way visual storytelling was done. And Happy Holidays to all!

click to embiggen

click to embiggen

Harry Kollatz, of Richmond Magazine and “The Hat” has a roustabout of a video – a movie trailer for a book, no less! Highlighting Kollatz’ “Richmond in Ragtime: Socialists, Suffragists, Sex & Murder,” the video offer Harry’s Chandleresque narration and features some great characters of Richmond’s Ragtime era: John Mitchell, Adon Yoder, Ellen Glasgow, James Branch Cabell and Maggie Walker. If you like your publishers and reporters swigging gin, swinging fists and toting six-guns this is your era. And yeah, it happened here.

Spottswood and Oliver. Probably not the kind of names to set you trembling. Especially if they belonged to your opponents in the legal battle of the American Century. And that was just the way they liked it–underestimated all the way to the Supreme Court where the power of their arguments, and their facts, did all the winning.

Representing Prince Edward County students courageously led by a 16-year old Barbara Johns, and as one of 4 teams and cases comprising the Brown v. Board of Education decision, these men helped make “Separate but equal” a social non starter and a legal non sequitur.

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As we prepare for next week’s round of stories, tentatively including authors Glasgow and Wolfe, Dr. Ed Peeples, John Mitchell, Jr., Theresa Pollak, Pat Benatar and others we thought today might be a good time to post some of the underlying rationale that’s powering the themes and names you’re seeing.

The old saying goes, you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. Let’s add a corollary to that: You can’t have a new thing till you’ve settled the old thing…. [Read more →]

Guy walks into a church and says “You all may think a life of chains and bondage is worth living, but not me. I’d rather be dead!”  Fellow churchman asks, “Is someone trying to enslave you?” First guy replies, “Well, no, it’s a metaphor. I was making an analogy about taxes and representation.” The churchman says, “Phew, that’s a relief. Being a real slave would suck.”

No, it’s not really very funny. And the analogy was kind of a sick joke in retrospect. Quite ironical. But that’s nothing: Another guy, different guy this time. A blacksmith. He learns to read, absorbs the revolutionary ideas of the founding fathers. He thinks liberty is preferable to death, even if it’s the slow death of overwork and invisibleness. The blacksmith, not his own man but a charismatic type, wins some converts and they arm-up and press for freedom. It doesn’t go over well and he’s hanged. Turns out the pursuit of happiness had some glitches to be worked out.

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Don’t forget, you can find us on Facebook | Richmond Matters http://bit.ly/H0ceK and also on twitter: http://twitter.com/RICMatters

In many senses, Bob Lee and Crazy Bet van Lew were no different than your average CEO and middle manager today. Lee knew the unstable economics of the South were a big part of the continued success of his “organization.” Having someone else–The Union–put pressure on you to change your methods is greeted with the same joy that the finance or health insurance industries welcomes reform today. The mid-level player, Elizabeth van Lew, didn’t like what she saw, and took another road. And it cost her despite the ultimate success of her cause. Other southern women such as Mary Chestnut (that favorite of Ken Burns) may have diaried about their inner conflict, but van Lew had the courage of her convictions and acted. These aren’t historical individuals, they’re case studies in character, peer pressure and the sometimes un-wisdom of crowds.

[update] As noted on Friday, during the next week or so, we’re going to begin to draw these images into what’s hopefully an interesting and discernable pattern. Let’s see if it can feed a narrative relevant to Economic and Community development, as well as the obvious Convention and Visitors functions. Let’s see if it can offer some guidance.

And don’t forget, you can find us on Facebook | Richmond Matters http://bit.ly/H0ceK and also on twitter: http://twitter.com/RICMatters

The horsepower of positive thinking? Today, we push up to Caroline County, home of Secretariat, and into Southside to meet Junie Donlavey, Stock Car legend. Two examples of risk and reward that defy convention and (re)define, yet again, what matters and what’s possible. Over the next week, we’re gonna begin to draw these images into what’s hopefully and interesting and discern-able pattern. Let’s see if it can feed a narrative relevant to Economic and Community development, as well as the obvious Convention and Visitors functions. Let’s see if it can offer some guidance.

And don’t forget, you can find us on Facebook | Richmond Matters http://bit.ly/H0ceK and also on twitter: http://twitter.com/RICMatters

When we’ve asked people how they regard Richmond, it’s history and it’s assets, two things keep repeating: Make it relevant and make it honest. The River is almost unanimously viewed as an under-utilized asset and story. And our social history is called “just as important, if not more so” than what one respondent called “the crusty dusties” – the traditional and limiting prism of how Richmond is regarded. Yes, indeedy.

PS: don’t forget, you can follow this initiative on Facebook | Richmond Matters http://bit.ly/H0ceK and also on twitter: http://twitter.com/RICMatters

“Worth A Thousand Words” the picture notes.

Kudos to those “who care about our city” and their efforts to build better communities.  Inspired by a similar effort in Baltimore, Richmond Slumlord Watch aims to “transform notoriety into accountability” by highlighting

blighted properties, delinquent property owners, and issues relevant to blight, slumlords, and neighborhood revitalization in the City of Richmond.

If you want to DO SOMETHING, or for more information, visit  http://richmondslumlordwatch.wordpress.com/do-something/

One of the things that seems to describe Richmond is Movement – horizontal and vertical. Frank Sprague’s trolley moved us from place to place, and his elevator moved us up and down. But we’re talking metaphors here, also. Vertical movement describes social growth and change, and we have buckets of that too. (Visit the Facebook fan page and add your voice and ideas to the Richmond Matters campaign–it’s people-powered dontcha know?)