Sadly the show (Idol, that is) was a bore. Anyway I'll post my interview with Marky in the next few days. Now for a trip farther back in time...
On Easter afternoon my mother and I went to Lincoln's Cottage down in D.C. I'd taken both my parents to this little-known gem about 7 years ago, before it was spruced up and opened to the public. And a gem it is.
The Gothic Revival home, on the grounds of what was formerly known as the Soldiers' Home (initially for poor, displaced German and Irish veterans of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars) is where Lincoln spent a total of thirteen months, a full quarter of his presidency. For our greatest president it was an escape from the office seekers that would line up for him daily -- and other time-sucking trivial obligations that came with his office. (I need a cottage to escape email.) Plus, sitting at the third-highest spot in Washington, it was a respite from the heat.
It was here that Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation.
Readers of this blog know that my three favorite people are Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Loretta Lynn. (I also love Pope John Paul II, Billie Jean King and educator Marva Collins. The 1981 TV movie based on Collins' life in the Chicago Public School system moved me deeply.) Well seventh place belongs not to an individual, but to a whole class of people: Docents.
I love docents. Trained museum (also walking tour) guides are wonderful people who've certainly enriched my life. In these uncertain times, we're all grasping for connection with our national past. We want to know what it means to be American. Time (and population growth) is working against us in certain respects: Soon we will no longer be the world's economic superpower. Not long afterward we will lose our distinction as the world's unrivaled military power. If we're not the moral superpower, the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world, well then we might as well be The Netherlands. Just some upscale-ish, medium-sized country with a manageable underclass and a bunch of fancy shops.
Luckily docents are committed to guiding us through our past and reminding us of what our forebears did for us and the world. Docents are interpreters (often their preferred title).
Our docent today was the incomparable Shira L. Gladstone. My blackberry camera photos from the day are frustratingly blurry so I'll do my best to describe the scene. Shira's look was updated Lisa Loeb: sexy glasses with neat medium length brown hair. (Overall she had a very healthy sheen.) Her camel-colored toggle coat was a perfect fit over her ecru turtleneck. A student at GWU, Shira could have gone the slovenly route, using her Foggy Bottom late nights as an excuse to look like crap. Instead she gave us all the sense that she respected us and, more importantly, Lincoln. (Come to think of it, she was more Diana Prince than Lisa Loeb.)
She approached the subject matter with energy and appropriate earnestness. A couple more interesting points from the tour:
- The cottage, three miles from the White House, was a thirty minute drive by carriage. The route was rural back then, and the drive was extremely dangerous, what with so many people trying to knock off Abe. (A shot even penetrated his stovepipe hat on one ride.)
- Washington was ringed with forts throughout the war. At Fort Stevens, only a mile and a half from the cottage, Lincoln came under fire - the only president in our history to come under fire during wartime.
It was a memorable and moving visit, thanks largely to Shira. (The reason I've never forgiven Bill Richardson is that years ago I wrote him a letter commending the docent from Santa Fe's Palace of Governors/New Mexico History Museum. But I never received any acknowledgment from his office for my letter.)
Do you like docents, too? Have you had any great docent experiences lately?
My mother standing in front of the Gothic Revival Lincoln Cottage.
Shira with our group inside the cottage. (I don't know what that man is looking at.)
Most of what's in the cottage is a reproduction or period piece, rather than original Lincoln artifact. But the banister is original. Lincoln touched this!
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 4)
1. Aw Mo,
By way of a docent story.
If you happen to pass through CT on the I-95 corridor, stop in New London and visit Monte Cristo Cottage, the summer home of Eugene O'Neill.
I am sure it has a wonderful docent, but you don't really need one. Just bring along "Long Day's Journey Into Night." You will have an out of body experience.
As far as the Richardson letter goes, he probably used it as a napkin. (Joke courtesy Alice Kramden).
JG^^
John Giza at 10:15AM on Mar 28th 2008
2. Hi Mo,
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I had a wonderful docent on my visit to Mount Vernon, however, I have no idea what he was wearing or even the color of his hair - I think he may have been bald. You are extremely observant! I guess that's why you're good at what you do. It's those little extra tidbits that you give us that make all the difference.
I remember thinking the same think when I touched the stair rail at Mount Vernon - George Washington touched this! And when I stood out front at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue (back when you could do get that close). It was a bit awe inspiring! I hope that's not to nerdy to say out loud? It sounds like you feel the same way.
I read on here that you have visited ALL of the President's homes throughout the USA. I would love to do that too someday. If you have time to respond, I would love to know which home was your favorite and why.
History rocks!
Nancy at 11:30AM on Mar 28th 2008
3. I'm taking a tour of all the state's capitol buildings. I've never taken the guided tour. Perhaps I'll try it once to see if I like it.
Mostly, I don't like going at someone else's pace. Also, the things I find interesting might not be on the tour and vice versa. Some places have pretty good pamphlets.
mo-NEEK-a at 11:29AM on Mar 28th 2008
4. Good for you, Mo! I'm sure you were thrilled, getting to touch a piece of history. Your mother looks lovely, also.
PS -Ring dings and ding dongs are essentially the same formula in different shapes. I think there's another one too...yodels?
Gabrielle at 11:30AM on Mar 28th 2008
5. I was very impressed with the docents at Carlsbad Caverns. However, it wasn't so much the historical or geographical facts they gave. It was more that one nice lady told me that it was only $6 for the tour, and another informed me that it was self-guided. It shows alot of courage, I think, for a docent to just sit back and make sure you don't touch things.
Ken at 12:03PM on Mar 28th 2008
6. I share your enthusiasm for the wonderful Lincoln Cottage, which arguably is the most signficant Lincoln site in the country. Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, asked me to write a book about it, so I followed the restoration from its very beginning seven years ago. Those planning a visit to the Cottage will find my book a useful, rather unusual supplement to the guided tours. It's titled "Lincoln's Other White House: THe Untold Story of the Man and His Presidency," and was published by John Wiley & Sons.
Elizabeth Smith Brownstetin at 12:57PM on Mar 28th 2008
7. marry me. well do tours together and eat ding dongs around your christmas tree.
jibletbean at 12:56PM on Mar 28th 2008
8. As a history major, I've ran into docents here and there. In the historic sections of Philadelphia, the docents usually dress in period garb and provide casual walking tours of the cobblestone streets. At the old Trenton Barracks, they occasionally fire off a replica revolutionary-era musket, much to the discontent of the nearby fire house.
My last run in with some docents, if you'd even call them that was at the NBC Studios Tour in Rockefeller Center. I considered it a general rip-off. My guides, two fresh out of college girls happily paraded us into a small theater where we watched a century’s worth of NBC history fly by, narrated by Matt Laurer and Meredith Vieira. They seemed like they were probably coerced into doing it last minute.
From there, my guides happily crammed us into an elevator to explore a few parts of the GE building. We glimpsed at the SNL studio, the studio of Brian Williams where the nightly news is broadcast, and well, that was it. They concluded with a childish game where two members of the tour group got to be pretend newscasters. It was painful. I repeat: the NBC Studio Tour is a rip-off.
This is why I usually like to just research on my own and find the places that interest me and gather more information there. Knowing extensively about New York has made me my own personal docent, and if you like colorful fun facts being spouted non-stop, then book me for your next New York venture. Did you know the clock in Grand Central Terminal is primarily made out of opal, estimated to be worth around 20 million dollars? Did you know NYU’s original campus was actually in the Bronx before it went bankrupt and remnants of it still stand today? How about the Washington Square Arch, it was made originally of wood for the anniversary of Washington’s inauguration before later being replaced with a permanent stone version. Do you know what originally stood in place of Madison Square Garden, that’s right. A giant railway station made out of Italian marble that could rival ancient Roman bath-houses. And it’s famous stone eagles? Why, they flank the entrances to a variety of American buildings and roads throughout the country, including the US Merchant Marine Academy. One of those eagles managed to stay home and proudly stands guard outside the main MSG entrance. Furthermore, did you know that the Times Building in Times Square, is empty and unoccupied? Say hi to Father Duffy’s statue for me the next time you’re around there.
How about Mo’s prowling ground where he conducts his on-the-street interviews? Tompkins Square? It was home to a brutal riot in 1988, bringing up the issue of the NYPD’s presence there and its use of violence to quell the rioters. And if you really look around the little park, you’ll see a small memorial to the General Slocum tragedy, a 1904 boating accident where 1,000 people died. The Hare Krishna elm tree also is located there.
You’ll get bang for your buck with Blayze’s NY Tours! Call today!
Blayze at 12:58PM on Mar 28th 2008
9. Confused. So did this occur 7 years ago? Or did you revisit it for a 2nd time this past Easter?
Also-- you are quite the photographer...
LisaHam at 1:06PM on Mar 28th 2008
10. Dear Mo,
It gives me hope to see a son honor his mother so wonderfuly well.
It is the right thing to do:to celebrate docents!
They illuminate and are usually entertaining. The best are those that almost shiver with joy when you appreciate and reflect back what you've learned.
I like to have the second tour by myself...to absorb the first tour de force.
Ken, I agree the Carlsbad Cavern docents "rock"!-docent joke. :)
got to boast, mo-NEEK-a's one of my favorite docents for the state capital buildings...:)-thanks M. you've documented things I genuinely would never picked up.
Mo,
had you the opportunity, which museum would you like to be a docent in?
One thing I do know...J.Q. would be the best docent of choice for a Mo Rocca museum...must have his portrait with a Mona Lisa smile and where his eyes follow you. (throw in Will's "ghost" to boot)
John-will heed your suggestion, thx..:)
Blayze! we'll all be there with our visors,fanny packs and cameras...:)
ah,Clem at 1:30PM on Mar 28th 2008
11. Aw Mo,
I just saw on the Internet that someone has found video footage to refute President Lincoln's recollection that he came under fire from Confederate Sharpshooters at Fort Stevens.
Go to: WWW.McClellanforPresident'64.
Gaby, tell that to my ding dong.
JG^^
John Giza at 2:09PM on Mar 28th 2008
12. Clem,
Mo Rocca Museum, I like it!
I hope the collection includes CRUSTY!
Either JQ or Blayze would make a decent docent.
JG^^
John Giza at 2:19PM on Mar 28th 2008
13.
j.g. you bet your sweet carapace it will contain "Crusty" along with a brass plaque-recounting the transfixing details of the bold rescue co-op headed by the Roccat A-Team. Pity he lost a pipecleaner in the chaos.....
and yes!!!!, Blayze would truly make a great Mo docent!
(I get to be the "spooky" groundskeeper with the inability to discern personal space,tho)
ah,Clem at 2:42PM on Mar 28th 2008
14. thanks, Kate!
mo-NEEK-a at 3:07PM on Mar 28th 2008
15. Aw Mo,
Interestingly, Lincoln's preserved Log Cabin birthplace doesn't have a docent at all.
Well, maybe now, after someone stole an Easter Island ear.
And,
no,
no relation to Crafty.
Crusty at 4:53PM on Mar 28th 2008