Good documentary on the Civilian Conservation Corps at American Experience. Nice that PBS lets us foreigners watch these programs on line. I added the link to "Other Sites."
It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
The CCC - an old idea whose time has come again. It sure as heck would reduce unemployment among America's youth.
ReplyDeleteThe CCC was indeed a great idea. Given the amount of money the government doles out in the way of welfare, unemployment comp, and other related costs, you would think Republicans and Democrats could come together on a jobs bill that would put these people to work on government-sponsored project that would improve the infrastructure of this country.
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