Understanding Backwards: Coming to Terms with the Past in Oxford, Mississippi

October 16, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” That quote by the 19th century philosopher Kierkegaard lies at the heart of the novels written by William Faulkner, one of the giants of American literature. Faulkner believed the reality of one’s life experience almost invariably falls short…

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The Midwest, Wisconsin

Hell on Earth: The Forgotten Firestorm of Peshtigo, Wisconsin

September 11, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

On the night of October 9th, 1871 sailors on the deck of the schooner C.I. Hutchison two miles off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan saw something incredible. Wind driven cinders fell from the sky, setting the boat’s rigging on fire. Five miles further out, flaming roof shingles landed…

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Massachusetts, The East

The Memory Holes: Debunking the Myths Surrounding the Pilgrims in Plymouth, MA

June 26, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

It was idealism that motivated them, idealism and a self-righteous belief in their own rectitude. Prickly is a word that might have been used to describe them, as well as narrow minded and intolerant. They were not easy people to get along with. They left England because they feared persecution…

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Massachusetts, The East

Losing Nantucket: How Massachusetts’ Iconic Whaling Port is Being Slowly Hunted to Extinction

June 19, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

Nantucket is under threat. Like a humpback whale pursued by a skillful harpooner, the charming 18th century seaport is under siege from the modern world at every turn. Even the ferries that carry 1,600 visitors a day to the island each summer have been a target. In June of 2021,…

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New Jersey, The East

Ghost Towns of New Jersey

May 22, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

When I first learned of the ghost towns of New Jersey, I could hardly believe it. How could a state with more than 1,200 people per square mile have ghost towns in it? In New Jersey there are people everywhere. And the traffic? Hell, you can’t even make a left…

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California, The West Coast

Burned: The Fire that Destroyed Paradise and the Company That Caused It

February 13, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

Sometime during the night of November 7th, 2018 the winds shifted over the Sierra Nevada. Winds blowing east from the Pacific were supplanted by winds blowing west out of the Great Basin of Nevada. They gathered strength as they swept down the slopes of the mountains and entered the canyons….

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California, The West Coast

Confinement: Enduring a Lockdown on Alcatraz Island

January 30, 2021 / by Malcolm Logan

On December 6th, 2020 San Francisco locked down for the second time in nine months. You could almost hear the collective groan from residents long accustomed to enjoying the lively social life the city has to offer. For at least the next eight weeks San Franciscans were to remain in…

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Texas, The Plains States

Single Gun Theory: Visiting the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas

March 8, 2019 / by Malcolm Logan

In the parking lot of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, freelance tour guides wrangle tourists onto the grassy knoll and make wild claims about the Kennedy assassination. “51 people saw two gunmen shoot the president from this spot!” The obvious question: “And none of them…

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Kansas, Missouri, The Midwest, The Plains States

Two Presidents, One Day, Sixteen Years: Visiting the Presidential Museums in Kansas & Missouri

May 15, 2018 / by Malcolm Logan

The years 1944-1960 saw the greatest expansion of the American economy we may ever know. They saw the end of Second World War, the dawn of the nuclear age, and the beginning of the Cold War. They were among the most challenging and rewarding years in American history, and they…

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historical places

Understanding Backwards: Coming to Terms with the Past in Oxford, Mississippi

Hell on Earth: The Forgotten Firestorm of Peshtigo, Wisconsin

The Memory Holes: Debunking the Myths Surrounding the Pilgrims in Plymouth, MA

Losing Nantucket: How Massachusetts’ Iconic Whaling Port is Being Slowly Hunted to Extinction

Ghost Towns of New Jersey

Burned: The Fire that Destroyed Paradise and the Company That Caused It

Confinement: Enduring a Lockdown on Alcatraz Island

Single Gun Theory: Visiting the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas

Two Presidents, One Day, Sixteen Years: Visiting the Presidential Museums in Kansas & Missouri

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