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Separation of Church & State – Catholic concern in early 1800’s…
November 14, 2022 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
On April 23, 1804, The Order of Ursuline Nuns from New Orleans penned a letter to then President Thomas Jefferson. In their letter, they expressed concerns about their property being confiscated. The letter said in part: “they [those within the Order] cannot but be anxious to know that the property which is to enable them to fulfil these duties will be secure to them”. Just seven months later, Jefferson replied with the following:
“To the Soeur Therese de St. Xavier farjon Superior, and the Nuns of the order of St. Ursula at New Orleans:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana. the principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority. whatever diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under. be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.
I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship & respect.
Th: Jefferson”
The POLITICAL OBSERVATORY, November 17, 1804, carried the entire letter with Jefferson’s signature.
Ironically, within the next 30 years, a very different story was recorded. The October 11, 1834, NILES’ WEEKLY REGISTER, had multiple pages of coverage of the August 11 and 12, 1834 Ursuline Convent riots in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Wiki states these riots were, “fueled by the rebirth of extreme anti-Catholic sentiment in antebellum New England.”
Perhaps the Nuns of 1804 had a prophetic gift enabling them to foresee troubles to come.
Veterans – War’s end is rarely met with the end to their battles…
November 10, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Once the battle is over and the smoke has cleared, the life of a veteran has not always been rosy and gay. Quality healthcare, needed family benefits, receipt of back pay, sufficient re-entry counselling, quality care for wounded warriors, ongoing honor for their service, etc. have often been less than desirable, and far below the need. This isn’t to say strides over time have not been made, but like many societal issues, much work still needs to be done.
One step in the right direction took place in 1942 and was reported in The New York Times for June 23rd. It told of FDR signing the G.I. Bill of Rights and was accompanied by a nice photo of the signing.
Thankfully, the trek did not end here and continues to this day. The following link will take you to a chronological journey through issues with content related to veterans (you may need to select the individual issue’s link to see/read the content):
Announcing: Catalog #324 for November, 2022 – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…
October 31, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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November’s catalog (#324) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
A Fly on the Wall at the Constitutional Convention of 1787…
October 17, 2022 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
It is not uncommon these days to hear people discussing The Constitution. How they discuss this crucial founding document may differ radically and the accuracy with which they discuss it may vary as well. As you can imagine, those of us at Rare Newspapers fall into the “Perhaps the best secular document ever written” camp. So, I am sure it will not surprise you to know that I have always longed to have been “a fly on the wall” during the Constitutional Convention. Given the writings of the Founders, I have to imagine we would all be blown away by their passionate discussions. Just the other day I heard someone discussing various states’ desire to hold a Constitutional Convention… to make some changes. His comment went something like this (paraphrased)…
– I have been in favor of a current day Constitutional Convention in the past however, as I look at where we are today as a nation, I do not think we can be trusted as a people to open this precious document and leave it vulnerable to changes made by this culture. –
He went on to say (again, paraphrased) … -I believe the day may come in the future when we could be trusted with such a sobering task, but today is not that day. –
For now, we will just need to content ourselves with protecting this amazing document as is until/if that day comes.
Note: The image shown above announcing a quorum had finally been reached at the Constitutional Convention was taken from THE INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER; OR THE CHRONICLE OF FREEDOM, Philadelphia, May 26, 1787.
The End of an Era at Rare & Early Newspapers… Thanks Mike!
September 29, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · 3 Comments
For nearly 20 years we were blessed to have Mike Hiller as an “active member” of our Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers family. His sense of humor delighted us daily, his attention to detail was second-to-none, and his work ethic and commitment to excellence were an inspiration to all who had the privilege of working with him. If you purchased a newspaper from us during his reign as “Warehouse Supervisor and Shipping Extraordinaire” you likely had a chance to see his handiwork. While he certainly made all of our lives easier, his greatest contribution was in his unofficial capacity as “Exemplary Role Model of Guy and Laura’s Children” – a task he took quite seriously. The top photo is of Mike taken on his last day of work, and the one shown below is of him with each of our kiddos – all who benefited from his example (he’s the one in the middle).
Mike,
We pray you and your wife will thoroughly enjoy this next chapter of your lives – the so-called “retired phase”. Thank you for being you.
With love and respect,
Guy & Laura Heilenman
Although we are saddened to see this era come to an end, we are grateful Mike has agreed to accept a new position: “Occasional ‘Special Projects’ Guru”. The Rare & Early Newspaper’s world is not ready to cut the ties that bind.
Announcing: Catalog #322 for September, 2022 – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…
September 2, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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September’s catalog (#322) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
Announcing: Catalog #321 (for August, 2022) – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…
July 29, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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August’s catalog (#321) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
Announcing: Catalog #320 (for July, 2022) – Rare & Early Newspapers (for purchase)…
July 1, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
One small step backward for humanity(?)… One giant leap forward for A.I.!
June 20, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Dystopian movies featuring A.I. as the antagonist abound. The thought of a world in which a soulless “entity” is in the lead role with humanity at its behest is terrifying. How will the relationship between A.I. and humans play out over time is anyone’s guess, but with all the benefits artificial intelligence brings to the table, I feel a little like “a moth to a flame”, and it bugs me.
Why the angst? We recently came across a Los Angeles Times dated May 12, 1997, which had coverage of the historic(?) chess match between Gary Kasparov, the reigning world champion at the time, and “Deep Blue”, an IBM supercomputer. The strings of o’s and 1’s ruled the day, defeating Kasparov in the deciding game in 19 moves. I wonder if many moons from now, when/if A.I. decides to write its own developmental timeline, if this achievement will be listed as one of significance?
Note: In case anyone is wondering, upon its victory, “Deep Blue” was NOT crowned the new World Champion of Chess.
Journalism from Early America to the Digital Age… Election Fraud and more…
June 10, 2022 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Someone recently brought to my attention an article posted on the website “Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas”. While scanning the article I was intrigued by the presence of illustrations of newspapers we have or have previously offered. One in particular which caught my attention was the timely political cartoon by Thomas Nast found in the Oct. 7, 1871 issue of Harper’s Weekly. While a degree of election fraud is (unfortunately) part-and-parcel of the election process, I was inspired to read through the entire article, and in so doing, found it to be quite informative… and wondered if the friends of Rare & Early Newspapers might also find it interesting. Hopefully you will also enjoy reading it:
“Journalism from Early America to the Digital Age”