No Fools in April: Some Sunday Fun and News

It's been a few days since the last post.  The education staff (including myself) at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum was busy this past week doing some outreaches in Bath County, VA.  No, there will be no April Fools here.  Getting back to the office this morning, the first email I opened was from HRNM historian and fellow CWN 150 blogger Gordon Calhoun.  I clicked on the link and saw this:

Twitter Photo Credit @JasonDurden; Matt Hardigree (Jalopnik)

It is a tweeted pick from Atlanta's NewsChopper2 pilot Jason Durden on Interstate 20 west bound.  The main article that released the news story, Jalopnik, said that the image represented something "so American."  Perhaps he was talking about the idea that the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, or the replicated Hunley, a testament to Confederate ingenuity.  Although that is likely not the case,  it is still interesting to see these types of news pieces and vignettes sprouting up around the Internet.  
How about that for Civil War memory of the Navy? 

In other news, just a few more links to keep you busy this fine Sunday:

• There is a relatively new blog that is out about the Civil War Navy, titled "Running the Blockade." Might be an interesting read for you CWN 150 fans, especially since it is updated frequently with day-to-day accounts.
• Here is a recent news article from Appen Newspapers about a book about the Confederate mastermind James D. Bulloch.
• CWN Guest Blogger and Marker Hunter Craig Swain writes a clever article on incorporating Civil War history into Google's latest and greatest.

We have a very exciting month coming up for CWN 150 commemorations, including the Battle of Shiloh and Farragut's gamble at New Orleans. Stay tuned.

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Matthew T. Eng

Full Speed....er...Ahead?

Photo by Margot Kline

A few months ago, we posted a short series of stories about a marker denoting the Knoxville area birthplace of historic first Admiral David Glasgow Farragut was missing.  The 111-year old marker sat  idle on the property of Farragut's supposed birthplace at Lowe's Ferry until this summer when it was reported that the marker went missing.  Speculation arose that the influx of trespassers may have taken it, according to the original report.   

It quickly became a huge discussion of history and memory and private and public ownership.  Preservationists, armchair historians, and concerned citizens alike flocked to the cause of the stone marker.  Many grew aware of the event in fear that the owner would go forward with a plan to develop parts of the birthplace into a residential area.  (Note:  No excavations have been done to verify that the house where Farragut was born is still there in some capacity)

A few weeks after the initial missing report, The Tennessean reported that the owner did in fact remove the marker, giving it to a private collector for safe keeping.  Things have changed again this week, possibly for the better.   

The Knoxville News reports this week that the owner of the property, Lylan Fitzgerald, would consider offering the marker up for public display either in a museum, nearby park, etc.  Ms. Fitzgerald has at least expressed interest in offering it for public display - just not on her property. 

The New York Times, 16 May 1900

  

Full Speed Ahead?
Craig Swain reported about the marker immediately following the initial disappearance.  At that time in August (Tuesday 39 August), MetroPulse writer Jack Neely knew very little about the marker beyond the fact that it was recently missing.  It is interesting that Neely reported that the owner did not tell her lawyer that she removed the marker and given it to a historic collector. 

Read Craig's post on Marker Hunter for more information on the legality and controversy initially surrounding the marker.  Both Craig's and the Knoxville News articles show that the loss of the marker, be it in either a physical or metaphysical sense, has drummed up support long before it went missing.  In fact, speeches, dedications, articles, and blogs have sprouted up in recent years in popular support for keeping the site there (or as a National Park, etc.).  Even Admiral DeLoach, the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, spoke of the marker during a 2010 dedication of a nearby park in the town of Farragut. 

The Debate Continues
Where is it now?  According to the Knoxville News, it "might possibly be in Texas," presumably with the private collector she mentioned in The Tennessean.  When approached with the idea to put it near her property again, she responded that that "is not going to happen." 

Surprisingly, the reaction of the marker's possibility for public viewing has stirred up quite a bit of commentary, with 75 responses from readers in just a few days.  Ranging from the poignant to the absurd, these comments dictate how the general public truly feels about preserving a valuable piece of American and naval history.    

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Admiral Farragut is one of the most famous naval officers in the history of the United States.  Nobody would dispute that.  Having the marker dedicated by an officer equally as influential (Admiral Dewey) stands reason to give this debate some national attention.  Should it stay there? Should it go?  Our collective memory is held captive by these recent events.   

What do you think?  Please your thoughts here or tweet them @civilwarnavy

Farragut Marker: Problem Solved?

Admiral Farragut Monument, Madison Square, NYC

It was reported HERE at the end of August that the Knoxville area marker of Admiral David G. Farragut's birthplace was missing. According to Jack Neely's report, the marker's owner "had no plans to bother the marker, told us he had not been in touch with the owner lately, and had not heard that the marker was gone."

Six days ago, WATE.COM reported in Hardy Boys-esque fashion that the "Mystery of the Admiral Farragut Marker" was solved. According to the WATE.COM report, "Lylan Fitzgerald, who owns the land where the marker used to sit, said she was tired of the controversy over the stone and the historic property, so she removed it." The article ends on a somber note, with the owner wishing that interested parties would simply "leave her alone," as the marker sits on private property.

Just 19 hours ago, The Tennessean shed more light on the matter. According to today's report, Fitzgerald removed it because of issues she was having with trespassers. Because of this, Fitzgerald gave the removed marker to a historic collector. Although Fitzgerald is pleased with these new developments, other local residents are concerned. According to West Knox County resident Margot Kline stated in The Tennessean that the DAR hopes that the marker is replaced within public view, perhaps within a museum or historic monument in the future. No word on any of these future developments at the moment. You can read the full Tennessean article HERE.

Are the sentiments of Ms. Kline your own? Post your comments here, or tweet your thoughts @civilwarnavy. This is an interesting and haunting development in the cultivation of our collective memory of the Civil War.

Farragut Birthplace Marker Reported Missing

The Metroplus, a Knoxville, Tennessee area media outlet reports that a marker sited at Admiral David G. Farragut's birthplace is missing.


(Picture of marker by Margot Kline of Knoxville, Tennessee, courtesy of HMDB.org.)

Jack Neely reports:

At the center of a years-long controversy concerning possible private development of the old Lowes Ferry site, also known as Stoney Point, off Northshore just east of Admiral Farragut Park, is a large stone monument denoting the birthplace of David Glasgow Farragut. It's been there for 111 years, until lately, that is. Sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the marker was installed in 1900 when a flotilla of riverboats bearing national press and dignitaries, chief among them naval hero Admiral George Dewey, steamed to the site from downtown Knoxville....

Since the 1970s, it's been behind a fence, on formally private property. John Fitzgerald owned it then; after his death a few years ago, his widow and heir Lylan proposed to develop the peninsula without necessarily insuring public access to the birthplace and monument, though local officials had been hopeful about working something out, if only a walking trail from the adjacent county park....

We got word Tuesday that the marker itself is missing. The owner's attorney, who told a reporter last year that the owner had no plans to bother the marker, told us he had not been in touch with the owner lately, and had not heard that the marker was gone.

(Read the full story on the MetroPulse site)