Issue #17: Of Presidents & Pausing
Relics of tragic events, haybales on the Thames, colossal heads, and taking a deep breath.
Happy New Year, my friends! I’ve been taking a break from writing lately, but I’m back at it, and I’m looking forward to some new works in the, well, works. I’m working on an article about the daughters of Sir Thomas More, pulling together some more book reviews, and more.
This week, I’ll share a bit about my recent trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan (including an awkward encounter in a historical artifact), some interesting articles from around the internet, and the usual book and artifact of the week! Enjoy!
Excursion at the Henry Ford
Last month, my husband Andrew and I went to visit a friend in Michigan. One of the things Andrew wanted to show me was the Henry Ford, a museum founded by the eponymous founder of the Ford Motor Company to showcase his collection of items related to technological innovation. It also houses a variety of other fascinating artifacts directly related to some of the most tragic and poignant events in American presidential history including the Kennedy and Lincoln assassinations.
There’s perhaps some debate around the ethics of displaying such remnants of our history. And yet, showing relics from both the good and horrible parts of history allow visitors to engage with the past in a more tangible way.
The Henry Ford also houses the bus in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama in December 1955, sparking a bus boycott.
(Not pictured: the couple sitting in the back of the bus making out while recording themselves. Awkward.)
Although I tend to prefer natural history or local history museums, the Henry Ford offers a little something for everyone! It’s definitely worth a trip if you’re in the Dearborn, Michigan area.
From Around the Web
Did you know that Gudrid the Far-Traveled was the first European woman to give birth in America? Or that supposedly no medieval woman traveled further than her? The story of this fascinating woman is one for the ages. (via Big Think)
England has a lot of unique and odd laws dating from its storied past. For one, maintenance workers hung a bale from the Millennium Bridge in London to signify a change in headroom beneath the bridge to comply with an ancient law. (via The Conversation)
In Dorset, England, the skull of a massive pliosaur emerged from the rocky Jurassic Coast cliffs, largely intact and bearing a toothy grin. (via BBC)
In another exciting paleontology discovery, researchers discovered a tyrannosaur fossil containing the remnants of its last meal. It’s the first discovery of its kind. (via CNN and Science Advances)
Book of the Week: Not Pink by Margaret Kasimatis
Not Pink follows the story of Mary Therese Panos, a troubled young woman caught between her Greek patriarchal upbringing and the roaring counterculture of the ’60s. This hard-hitting but highly readable novel explores Mae’s demons and how she struggles to overcome them. Will she succumb to them? Or will she learn to address them in order to be a better mother for her daughter?
Check out my full review below:
Artifact of the Week: Replica Olmec Head
This massive head, of which this is a plaster reproduction, originates from the Olmec people of Mexico, specifically around Veracruz and Tabasco. Heralded as the first great Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs served as the artistic forebears to other civilizations such as the Aztecs and Mayans.
Recovered artifacts of note include rubber balls, animal vessels, bowls, ceramic figures and colossal beads in addition to craftsmen's tools including greenstone polishing tools, drill bits, drilled basalt beads, and more.1
This head bears all the hallmarks of traditional Olmec busts of this style: a puffy and broad face, a headdress or helmet, ear ornaments, and highly realistic features. It's possible this head represents someone who played a well-known ball game (perhaps reminds me of the game in The Road to El Dorado).
The original head was found in San Lorenzo, one of the Olmecs' capital cities. Additionally, only 17 of these massive portraits have been found.
Thank you again for your patience and for reading this letter. Now that things have settled down for me, keep an eye out in your inbox every Friday for fresh new copies of Musings!
Cheers,
Cyphers, Ann. "From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán". In David C. Grove; Rosemary A. Joyce (eds.). Social patterns in pre-classic Mesoamerica: a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, October 9 and 10, 1993. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection and Trustees for Harvard University. pp. 155–181.
Doyle, James. “Olmec Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/olmc/hd_olmc.htm (accessed January 16, 2024).