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(image credit: William J. Milne Progressive Arithmetic (New York: American Book Company, 1912)43) In 1885, Philadelphia lawyer, Thomas Donaldson, planned to buy Walt Whitman a horse and buggy. This expensive gift required donations from Whitman’s extensive social network, including Mark Twain and Oliver Wendell Holmes. According to David S. Reynolds, on September 17, 1885, a […] […] The College of Physicians of Philadelphia began collecting materials for a museum of pathological anatomy in 1849. In 1856, Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, in poor health and intending to retire from teaching, offered the museum the contents of his personal collection of “bones, wet specimens, plaster casts, wax and papier-mâché models, dried preparations, and medical […] […] The seventeenth national suffrage convention was held in Washington DC on January 20 – 22, 1885. Susan B. Anthony, in her book History of Women Suffrage, notes “the custom of the newspaper reporters to give a detailed description of each one of the speakers. The public was informed, one lady wore a small bonnet made […] […] Whitman’s admiration for mothers was inspired by the love that he had for his own mother. This loves manifests itself in Whitman’s poetry especially in “As at thy Portals Also Death” in which Whitman seeks to immortalize himself and his mother through poetry. “As at Thy Portals Also Death” As at thy portals also death, […] […] Morgan’s Hall was located at the corner of Fourth and Market Streets in Camden. Construction on Morgan’s Hall was completed on October 5, 1848. Originally named Odd Fellows Hall at a dedication ceremony on November 8, 1849, the three-story building was designed to host local lodges. After a lack of interest, Odd Fellows Hall was […] […] During his stay in Camden NJ, Walt Whitman lived at the house on 330 Mickle Street. It was when Louisa Whitman, his mother, grew ill. Walt soon visited her, but she tragically died only three days after he came to Camden. After a brief return to D.C. he would move to Camden to live with […] […] On May 31, 1889, Walt Whitman’s seventieth birthday, 2,209 people were killed when the South Fork Dam failed, sending a wall rushing water and debris cascading into the riverside town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It was the largest civilian loss of life in American history up to that time (McCullough, 4). It was also one of […] […] Chestnut Street – Between Broad and Fourth Whitman’s writing directly connected to this material topic is “The First Spring Day on Chestnut Street” from Whitman’s Specimen Days collection. In this piece of prose from around 1880-1881, Whitman expresses his joy and satisfaction at the scene on “Chestnut street — say between Broad and Fourth,” and […] […] |