Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

Confederate Memorial Day

Kennesaw, Ga-The original Constitution of the Confederate States of America will be on display tomorrow Tuesday, April 26, 2011, Confederate Memorial Day, in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library {on the 3rd floor of the Main Library} at the University of Georgia, in Athens. See details Ideal Memorial Day for Atlanta Confederates. Thin lines of Gray-Clad soldiers of the sixties were met with enthusiastic applause all along the route of the parade.—April 27, 1909, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

Old Times not forgotten in Dixie

Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack said in 1903, “These Confederate soldiers were our kinfolk and our heroes.” He also said, “The people of the South have the right to teach their children the true history of the War Between the States, the causes that led to it and the principles involved.”

America’s Great Locomotive Chase Story

Tuesday, April 12, 2011, marks the 149th anniversary of the "Great Locomotive Chase" that made "The General" famous. Jefferson Cain, an employee of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, was Engineer of The General. At 4:15 on the morning of April 12, 1862, Cain pushed the throttle of The General and drove the engine out of Atlanta,Georgia for Chattanooga, Tennessee as a cool spring rain fell on the city. During the spring of 1862, the peaceful town of Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) was paid not so peaceful a visit by Union spies led by James Andrews, who brought with him plans to disrupt Confederate supply lines. Andrews and his men boarded the train at Marietta, Georgia. They had spent the previous night at the Fletcher House now (Kennesaw House). Twenty boarded the train while two were left behind.

General Forrest License Plate in Mississippi

February 17th marks 60th Anniversary of “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain” premiere

When was the last time a movie made you laugh, cry or just feel good? In 1951, the “Golden-Age of Hollywood,” great family movies were at an all-time peak with such classics as: David and Bathsheba, the Day the Earth Stood Still and I’d Climb the Highest Mountain. Cleveland, Georgia is home of the Old Stovall Covered Bridge that bridges Chickamauga Creek. This 1890s structure appeared in the movie “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain.”

Black History Month’s Forgotten Story

The following true story should be part of Black History Month tributes in February. In 1989, a magazine article caught my eye which I had to read from beginning to end. This was not an ordinary story but about a black child, a Confederate President's First Lady and the Southern Presidential Family. The story was written by Gulfport, Mississippi freelance writer Mrs. Peggy Robbins and is entitled, "Jim Limber Davis." While Black History Month mostly focuses on black adults in history, this story is about a black child. This is a summary, in my own words, of Mrs. Robbin's splendid story.

Robert E. Lee: Remembering An American Legend

America has always loved her heroes like: Baseball Legend-Babe Ruth, Golf Great-Ben Hogan, Movie Actor-John Wayne and….. Wednesday, January 19, 2011, is the 204th birthday of General Robert E. Lee. Young people will get a school holiday in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King whose birthday is January 15th. But, will anyone tell them that January 19th is also the birthday of Robert E. Lee? Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910,

“The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”

71st Anniversary of Gone With The Wind

Two years before the United States entered World War II; there was jubilation throughout America , especially in the Southland, when…. Gone with the Wind premiered during the Christmas Season of 1939, just 74 years after the end of the “War Between the States” and Wednesday, December 15, 2010 marks the 71st anniversary of that classic movie which opens with:

“There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.”

Gone with the Wind won 8 Oscars for 1939, including Best Picture, and;

A Soldier’s Story of Christmas Past

Why do some merchants and media call it just a holiday? People stand in line at malls after Thanksgiving and rush through the doors to buy, buy and buy. Is this Christmas? Partly, but the true meaning of the Christmas Season is about the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is also about helping people.

Love Me Tender premiered in New York

Do you remember 1956? This was the year: Dwight Eisenhower was President, Fats Domino sang “I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill”, Buddy Holly and the Crickets appeared at New York’s Paramount Theater and “Love Me Tender” starring Richard Egan, Debra Paget and introducing Elvis Presley premiered at the Paramount Theater that is located at 43rd Street and Broadway in New York’s Time Square Theater District.

What does Thursday, November 11th, “Veterans Day” mean to you?

To me, Veterans Day is a special time to remember our Servicemen and women "living and dead" who for 234 years stood up in defense of this great nation. The Liberty Bell continues to ring because of people like: George Washington, Robert E. Lee, George S. Patton and the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II who supported the Constitution.

Wirz Memorial Set for Sunday, November 7th

How many Talk Show hosts or politicians speak about the men and women who helped make America the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave?” Glenn Beck, of the Fox News channel, often speaks about the Constitution, Bill of Rights and those who stood for America’s Independence.

140th Anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s death

A program commemorating the 140th anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s death is set for Monday, October 11, 2010, featuring a 12:15 PM lecture by Dr. William C. Davis, at Lee Chapel Auditorium at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The headline from a Richmond newspaper read:

“News of the death of Robert E. Lee, beloved chieftain of the Southern army, whose strategy mainly was responsible for the surprising fight staged by the Confederacy, brought a two-day halt to Richmond's business activities.”

The American flag, which Robert E. Lee had defended as a soldier, flew at half mast in Lexington, Virginia.

September through October is Hispanic History Month!

The Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans is commemorating the 150th Anniversary “Sesquicentennial” of the War Between the States.

When America was God’s Country

The United States of America is a vast melting pot of many people of different origins and religions….And, thank God, we are still free to worship at the church, synagogue or mosque of our choice as our nation celebrates her 234th birthday as an American-Christian Republic.

Amos Rucker—A Soldier Remembered

What is your community doing to commemorate the War Between the States Sesquicentennial-150th Anniversary “2011-2015?” See what the Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans is doing at: War Between the States Sesquicentennial August 10th marks the 105th anniversary of the death of a Southern soldier who was a friend to many--Amos Rucker. Black Confederates, why haven't we heard more about them? "I don't want to call it a conspiracy to ignore the role of the Blacks, both above and below the Mason-Dixon Line, but it was definitely a tendency that began around 1910"---Ed Bearss, National Park Service Historian.

The Gettysburg Reunion of 1913

Happy 234th birthday, America! The War Between the States Sesquicentennial, 150th Anniversary, runs from 2010 through 2015. The Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans has an information page. Make it a family affair to attend the events planned throughout the USA . The National SCV Sesquicentennial Commission has a website.

Remembering Jefferson Davis

"Nothing fills me with deeper sadness than to see a Southern man apologizing for the defense we made of our inheritance. Our cause was so just, so sacred, that had I known all that has come to pass, had I known what was to be inflicted upon me, all that my country was to suffer, all that our posterity was to endure, I would do it all over again.'' ----Jefferson Davis Monday, the 31st day of May, in the year of our Lord 2010, is Memorial Day. It was on Memorial Day--Wednesday May 31, 1893, when the remains of Jefferson Davis was re-interred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Confederate Memorial Day

Monday, April 26th, is Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas and Mississippi.

The Great Locomotive Chase

2010 marks the 54th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures great movie classic "The Great Locomotive Chase" starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter. Our nation's most famous locomotive "The General" is now home at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Ga. Kennesaw is about 45 miles north of Atlanta on the Old Highway 41.