Another Idea, BIRTHPLACES...

One of the most interesting things we personally like to do is visit the birthplace, childhood home or the last home of famous people.  On our route to a new location we pull out our map book and see some of the interesting place place listed in red. We get to learn more of the personal details of the person such as, the home life when he/she was growing up, the family circumstances, what made them famous and how soon did that become apparent.

Some of the famous person homes we've been to include:
Oliver Hardy of the comedy duo Laurel & Hardy was born in the little town of Harlem, Georgia. It's just 20 miles west of Augusta. They hold Laurel & Hardy celebration the first week of every October.

Marion Robert Morrison, aka John Wayne was born in Winterset, IA. If the name of the town sounds familiar that is because it's also the town about which the movie, "Bridges of Madison County" was filmed.

James Brown, the "God Father of Soul" was born in Barnwell, SC.  He was born in a one-room shack in the woods of South Carolina, a few miles east of the Georgia border. His parents split ways when he was very young, and at the age of four, Brown was sent to Augusta, Georgia, to live with his Aunt Honey, the madam of a brothel. Growing up in abject poverty during the Great Depression, a young Brown worked whatever odd jobs he could find, for literally pennies. He danced for the soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon, picked cotton, washed cars and shined shoes.  The other day, we attended a hockey game in the James Brown Arena in downtown Augusta.

George Washington, the first President of our country. He was born on a tobacco farm near Oak Grove, VA. It's now a National Park Service place to visit. Everyone know about his home, Mount Vernon, but few know about this gem.

Thomas Jefferson, everyone knows about Monticello, near Charlottesville, VA, but have you visited nearby Shadewell, VA where he was born?

Born nearby to Charlottesville and a few years later in the little town of Staunton, one can visit Woodrow Wilson's birth place and Presidential library.

In Ohio, Patterson Township you'll find the birthplace of Annie Oakley famed of the old west. Whether it be a pistol, rifle, or shotgun, the legendary markswoman Annie Oakley was masterful with them all. Dubbed "Little Sure Shot" by Chief Sitting Bull (she was 5 feet tall), her sharp shooting in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show won her many awards and captivated audiences far and wide.

So you see, famous people have been born in common everyday America. Remember they weren't born famous in Hollywood or the White House. They grew up, most of them, much like you and me. If you check your map book for the little red letter indicator you'll find some amazing places to visit. Some of these places are free or nearly so.  Get out and see America, you'll find some great people there...

Visit Spanish Missions

California (21)

The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, and gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land. The settlers introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, cattle, horses and ranching into the California region; however, the Spanish occupation of California also brought with it serious negative consequences to the Native American populations with whom the missionaries came in contact. The government of Mexico shut down the missions in the 1830s. In the end, the mission had mixed results in its objective to convert, educate, and "civilize" the indigenous population and transforming the natives into Spanish colonial citizens. Today, the missions are among the state's oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments. There are 21 missions.

                                                                 

Texas (18)

The Spanish Missions in Texas comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans, but with the added benefit of giving Spain a toehold in the frontier land. The missions introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the Texas region. In addition to the presidio (fort) and pueblo (town), the misión was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories. In all, twenty-six missions were maintained for different lengths of time within the future boundaries of the state.

Since 1493, Spain had maintained a number of missions throughout New Spain (Mexico and portions of what today are the Southwestern United States) in order to facilitate colonization of these lands. The East Texas missions were a direct response to fear of French encroachment when the remains of La Salle's Fort Saint Louis were discovered near Matagorda Bay in 1689.

Following government policy, Franciscan missionaries sought to make life within mission communities closely resemble that of Spanish villages and Spanish culture. In order to become Spanish citizens and productive inhabitants, native Americans learned vocational skills. As plows, farm implements, and gear for horses, oxen, and mules fell into disrepair, blacksmithing skills soon became indispensable. Weaving skills were needed to help clothe the inhabitants. As buildings became more elaborate, mission occupants learned masonry and carpentry under the direction of craftsmen contracted by the missionaries

                                                        

 

Florida

Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France. Spanish Florida originally included much of what is now the Southeastern United States, although Spain never exercised long-term effective control over more than the northern part of what is now the State of Florida from present-day St. Augustine to the area around Tallahassee, southeastern Georgia, and some coastal settlements, such as Pensacola, Florida. A few short-lived missions were established in other locations, including Mission Santa Elena in present day South Carolina, around the Florida peninsula, and in the interior of Georgia and Alabama.

The missions of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia were divided into main four provinces where the bulk of missionary effort took place. These were Apalachee, comprising the eastern part of the what is now the Florida Panhandle; Timucua, ranging from the St. Johns River west to the Suwanee; Mocama, the coastal areas east of the St. Johns running north to the Altamaha River; and Guale, north of the Altamaha River along the coast to the present-day Georgia Sea Islands. These provinces roughly corresponded to the areas where those dialects were spoken among the varying Native American peoples, thus, they reflected the territories of the peoples. Missionary provinces were relatively fluid and evolved over the years according to demographic and political trends, and at various times smaller provinces were established, abandoned, or merged with larger ones. There were also ephemeral attempts to establish missions elsewhere, particularly further south into Florida

Arizona (8)

In the Spring of 1687, a Jesuit missionary named Father Eusebio Francisco Kino lived and worked with the native Americans in the area called the Pimería Alta, or "Upper Pima Country," which presently is located in the areas between the Mexican state of Sonora and the state of Arizona in the United States. During Father Eusebio Kino's stay in the Pimería Alta, he founded over twenty missions in eight mission districts. In Arizona, unlike Mexico, missionization proceeded slowly.

Father Kino founded missions San Xavier and San Miguel at the Piman communities of Bac and Guevavi along the Santa Cruz.

                                                 


Missions of Arizona

Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores founded on March 13, 1687. This was the first mission founded by Father Kino. By 1744, the mission was abandoned. The cemetery remains on the site of the Tumacácori National Historical Park in Southern Arizona.

• Mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori was founded in 1691, then moved in 1751 and renamed Mission San José de Tumacácori. The farming land around the mission was sold at auction in 1834 and the mission was abandoned by 1840. The remains are part of the Tumacácori National Historical Park in Southern Arizona.
• Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was also established by Father Kino, one day after Tumacácori, in January 1691.
• Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama, first founded by the Jesuits in 1691. The present structure is located on a part of the Tumacácori National Historical Park in Southern Arizona.
• Mission San Xavier del Bac, located South of Tucson, active religious use, founded in 1692.

·         Mission San Agustín del Tucsón, also known as San Cosme y Damián de Tucsón, was established by Father Garcés as a visita or daughter church of San Xavier del Bac in the O'odham village of Chuk-Son in 1775. This community becomes to be called Tucson in the following century.

• Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas was established in November 1756 by Jesuit Father Francisco Pauer.
• Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción was founded in October 1780 by Father Francisco Garcés.
• Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer was founded in January 1781 by Father Francisco Garcés.

Georgia (18)

The Spanish missions in Georgia comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics in order to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans. The Spanish chapter of Georgia's earliest colonial history is dominated by the lengthy mission era, extending from 1568 through 1684. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida.

The early missions in present-day Georgia were established to serve the Guale and various Timucua peoples, including the Mocama. Later the missions served other peoples who had entered the region, including the Yamassee.

• Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de de Puturibato (1595–1597), on Cumberland Island
• San Buenaventura de Guadalquini (1605–1684), on St. Simons Island
• Mission San Diego de Satuache (ca. 1610-1663), on the mouth of the Ogeechee River
• Mission San Joseph de Sapala (ca. 1605-1684), on Sapelo Island
• San Lorenzo de Ibihica (ca. 1620-1656), near Folkston
• San Pedro de Mocama (1587-ca. 1660), on Cumberland Island
• Mission San Phelipe de Alave (ca. 1610-ca. 1670), on the North Newport River
• Mission San Phelipe II (ca. 1670-1684), on Cumberland Island
• Santa Catalina de Guale (1602–1702), on St. Catherines Island, Sapelo Island, and Amelia Island
• Mission Santa Clara de Tupiqui/Espogache (1595-ca. 1670), on the Sapelo River
• Mission Santa Cruz de Cachipile (ca. 1625-1657), near Valdosta
• Santa Isabel de Utinahica (ca. 1610-ca. 1640), at the forks of the Altamaha River
• Mission Santa Maria de los Angeles de Arapaja (ca. 1625-1657), on the Alapaha River
• Mission Santiago de Oconi (ca. 1620-1656), on the Okefenokee Swamp
• Mission Santo Domingo de Asao/Talaje (1595–1661), at the mouth of the Altamaha River
• Mission Santo Domingo de Asao/Talaje II (1661–1684), on St. Simons Island
• Mission Talapo (1595–1597), on the mainland near Sapelo Island
• Mission Tolomato (1595–1597), on the mainland near St. Catherines Island

 New Mexico (21)

The Spanish Missions in New Mexico were a series of religious outposts in the Province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México — present day New Mexico. They were established by Franciscan friars under charter from the monarchs of the Spanish Empire and the government of the Viceroyalty of New Spain for Indian Reductions of the Native Americans—Indians into Christianity.

They attempted to Hispanicize the indigenous peoples. The affected included the rich cultures and tribes of: many of the 21 distinct Puebloan groups; the Tiwa; the Navajo; and the Apache. The missions also aimed to pacify resistance to the European invasion of the tribes' Pre-Colombian homelands and loss of traditions. The missions introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and small-scale industry into the Southwest region. They also introduced European diseases that the native people had no immunity against.

Fray Marcos de Niza, sent by Coronado, first saw the area now known as New Mexico in 1539. The first permanent settlement was Mission San Gabriel, founded in 1598 by Juan de Oñate near what is now known as the San Juan Pueblo.^{[citation needed]}

                                                            

Visit Presidential Libraries

Presidential Libraries can be found across the country, from Massachusetts to California. Visit one soon, and give yourself and your family the opportunity to explore the history of our nation and the leaders who helped shape our society. At Presidential Libraries you will find:

·                          museums featuring interactive exhibits

·                          interesting and fun public programs

·                          important educational events

·                          vast archives available for scholarly research

Presidential Libraries Locations

Herbert Hoover Library - http://www.hoover.archives.gov/

                                                                     

                                                                              

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library - http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/

 

Harry S. Truman Library - http://www.trumanlibrary.org/

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library - http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/

 

John F. Kennedy Library - http://www.jfklibrary.org/

 

Lyndon B. Johnson Library - http://www.lbjlibrary.org/

 

Richard Nixon Library - http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/index.php

                                                              

Gerald R. Ford Library - http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/

                                                           

Jimmy Carter Library - http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/

 

Ronald Reagan Library - http://www.reaganlibrary.gov/

 

George H. W. Bush Library - http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/

 

William J. Clinton Library - http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

 

George W. Bush Library - http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/

           Picture not available for G.W. Bush

 NOTE: There are perhaps as many Presidential Libraries and Museums as there have been Presidents. Such as the one for George Washington at Mount Vernon, Virginia and Thomas Jeffersons Monticello near Lynchburg, Virginia but the following is a list of the N.A.R. A. funded facilities.

Recent U.S. presidents have established presidential libraries in their home states in which documents, artifacts, gifts of state and museum exhibits are maintained that relate to the former president's life and career. Each library also provides an active series of public programs. When a president leaves office, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) establishes a presidential materials project to house and index the documents until a new presidential library is built and transferred to the federal government. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library became the eleventh presidential library on November 18, 2004, and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum became the twelfth on July 11, 2007.

The presidential library system is made up of thirteen presidential libraries operated by the NARA. Libraries and museums have been established for other presidents, but they are not part of the NARA presidential library system, and are operated by private foundations, historical societies, or state governments, including the William McKinley, Rutherford Hayes, Calvin Coolidge, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson libraries. For example, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is owned and operated by the State of Illinois.

The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace was not originally part of the presidential library system. While the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, which administers the Nixon presidential materials under the terms of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, is part of NARA, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace was run by a private foundation. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. In March 2005, the Archivist of the United States and John Taylor, the director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation, exchanged letters on the requirements to allow the Nixon Library to become the twelfth federally funded Presidential library operated by the NARA by 2007. On October 16, 2006, Dr. Timothy Naftali began his tenure as the first federal director of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, and in the winter of 2006 NARA began transferring the 30,000 presidential gifts from the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff in College Park, Maryland to Yorba Linda, California.^[1][2] On July 11, 2007, the Nixon Foundation deeded the Library and Birthplace to the government of the United States. On the same day, the newly-renamed federal Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum officially opened

The Presidential library system formally began in 1939, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt donated his personal and Presidential papers to the federal government. At the same time, Roosevelt pledged part of his estate at Hyde Park, New York to the United States, and friends of the President formed a non-profit corporation to raise funds for the construction of the library and museum building. Roosevelt's decision stemmed from his belief that Presidential papers were an important part of the national heritage and should be accessible to the public. He asked the National Archives to take custody of his papers and other historical materials and to administer his library.

In 1950, Harry S. Truman decided that he, too, would build a library to house his Presidential papers and helped to galvanize congressional action.

The thirteen Presidential Libraries maintain over 400 million pages of textual materials; nearly ten million photographs; over 15 million feet (5,000 km) of motion picture film; nearly 100,000 hours of disc, audiotape, and videotape recordings; and approximately half a million museum objects. These varied holdings make each library a valuable source of information and a center for research on the Presidency.

The most important textual materials in each library are those created by the President and his staff in the course of performing the official duties. Libraries also house numerous objects including family heirlooms, items collected by the President and his family, campaign memorabilia, awards, and the many gifts given to the President by American citizens and foreign dignitaries. These gifts range in type from homemade items to valuable works of art. Curators in Presidential libraries and in other museums throughout the country draw upon these collections for historical exhibits.

Other significant holdings include the personal papers and historical materials donated by individuals associated with the President. These individuals may include Cabinet officials, envoys to foreign governments, political party associates, and the President's family and personal friends. Several libraries have undertaken oral history programs that have produced tape-recorded memoirs. A third body of materials comprises the papers accumulated by the President prior to, and following, his Presidency. Such collections include documents relating to Roosevelt's tenure as Governor of New York and Dwight D. Eisenhower's long military career.

With the exception of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and upon their own deaths, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, every American president since Hoover is or has chosen to be buried at his presidential library. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery; Johnson is buried at his ranch in the hill country of Texas, west of Austin; Carter plans to be buried near his home in Plains, Georgia.^[5] George W. Bush has a burial plot in the Texas State Cemetery ^[6]
Unlike all other Presidents whose libraries are part of the NARA system, Ford's library and museum are geographically separate buildings, located in different parts of Michigan; Ford is buried at his museum in Grand Rapids instead of his library in Ann Arbor.

We hope you'll consider going to some of the libraries, as we have enjoyed the few we've been too so immensely.