New York in Photos

May 24, 2025June 11, 2025 / bigdiff / 1 Comment

Celebrating the Empire State!

African Burial Ground NM, Castle Clinton NM, Eleanor Roosevelt NHS, Federal Hall NM, Fire Island NS, Fort Stanwix NM, Franklin D Roosevelt NHP, Gateway NRA, General Grant NM, Governors Island NM, Guggenheim WHS, Hamilton Grange NM, Harriet Tubman NHP, Sagamore Hill NHS, Saint Paul’s NHS, Saratoga NHP, Statue of Liberty NM, Stonewall NM, Teddy Roosevelt Birthplace and Inaugural NHS, Van Buren NHS, Vanderbilt NHS and Women’s Rights NHP are all above. New York also has the Kate Mullany NHS, Lower East Side TM, and Thomas Cole NHS affiliate sites, four heritage areas—Champlain Valley, Erie Canalway, Hudson River Valley (including 5 parks above), and Niagara Falls— and parts of the Appalachian NST, Chesapeake Bay NHT, North Country NST, Upper Delaware SRR, and Washington-Rochambeau RR.

All Thomas Jefferson Sites

April 24, 2025June 11, 2025 / bigdiff / 3 Comments

Jefferson is more controversial than his $2 bill, but like his nickel, you rely on his legacy every day.

Not only was he one of many who signed our Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, but Jefferson was the primary author. Do you believe in freedom of religion? Jefferson ensured that Roger Williams’ ideas were enshrined in our laws, writing that “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious beliefs, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” His words are etched in granite in the Jefferson Memorial above in DC.

Jefferson was our second Ambassador to France after fellow inventor Franklin, the first Secretary of State, the second Vice President to his friend and rival John Adams, and friend of revolutionary patriots like Kosciuszko, Lafayette and Patrick Henry. Jefferson first engaged Dolley Madison as official hostess at the White House. Jefferson designed Monticello—below and on the back of the nickel—which is now a World Heritage Site that includes the University of Virginia, which he also designed.

Jefferson, like Washington, was a surveyor. Together they planned the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal route and mapped & owned Natural Bridge. Jefferson scouted Harpers Ferry from the hiking trail there. He designated the Natchez Trace and hired Gallatin, who built the first national highway. Jefferson was the driving force behind Lewis & Clark’s secret mission to map the route to the Pacific. His timely opportunistic purchase of Louisiana Territory—including part or all of 15 states—is recognized at Gateway Arch and now includes his face on Mount Rushmore.

But Jefferson will forever be remembered for his failure to apply his ideal that “all men are created equal” to all men including Native Americans and slaves. While he wrote that slavery was despotism, that slaves should be free and both admired and learned from Native Americans, Jefferson perpetuated both slavery and forced native removal, believing that their fated freedoms should be left to future generations to fulfill. Jefferson supported nullification—the supposed right of states to disclaim laws they did not like—, and such failures are why traitors like Jefferson Davis were named after him, and such failures forever defame Thomas Jefferson’s historic reputation.

Historic District of Old Québec

December 30, 2024June 11, 2025 / bigdiff / Leave a comment

Québec is my favorite city in North America. I love New Orleans, Philadelphia and San Francisco, but there’s a certain je ne sais quoi. Probably the food. UNESCO may have picked it as a World Heritage Site due to its history, architecture, culture, beauty, fortifications, statues, parks, narrow old streets, churches, magnificent vistas, harbor, citadel, Haute-ville, Basse-ville, museums, galleries, Parliament, battlefield, archaeological discoveries, and all the rest, but it’s really the food.

Although the funicular (above) is fun too, and the old shopping district is colorful, amidst several fine restaurants. There always seem to be festivals in all seasons, concerts, and other excuses to try something new to eat or drink. If you want to get out of the city, you can go to Île d’Orléans, by bridge from the north side of the Seaway. They have farms, berries, cheese, bakeries, jam, chocolatiers, wineries, cideries, sugar shacks with maple syrup treats, and a microbrewery. Basically, much of what you eat in Québec City is from the island. As much as I enjoy going around shops and stands there, I prefer leaving all the work to each restaurant’s wait and cook staff, so I order many different dishes and sample the best of everything. Bon appétit!

Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument

October 14, 2024June 11, 2025 / bigdiff / 3 Comments

This new park established by President Biden this August is still a fenced off construction area next to the railroad tracks, but there are several art installations dedicated to the riot, including the dove above and a mural at the Children’s Hospital next door. 11th Avenue along the site is known as Reconciliation Way, to commemorate the terrible events here in 1908.

In mid August 1908, in Springfield Illinois, a white mob of five thousand lynched 2 black men, killed 7 others, burned out millions of dollars worth of black homes and businesses and also targeted Jews and whites deemed sympathetic to the black community. The police did nothing to stop the riot. The burning, looting, ransacking and violence lasted 3 days until put down by the state militia, which resulted in 6 dead rioters.

Church leaders blamed the victims for being “sinful”. Although everyone knew the perpetrators and many were arrested, only one 15 year old was convicted after he confessed to stealing revolvers, shooting at black people and starting 15 fires. The others denied any responsibility, the witnesses denied seeing them, and the charges were dismissed. The judge denied that there was racism in Springfield.

Many Americans were shocked by the scale of the violence in Abraham Lincoln’s home town, and civil rights advocates like W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells helped form the NAACP in 1909 in response. In 1910 speaking before the NYC Republican Club (the party of Lincoln), Du Bois argued that if racial hierarchy were the natural order of the world, then there would be no need to use social and physical weapons to oppress a race.

“So soon as the prejudiced are forced into this inevitable dilemma, then the real bitterness and indefensibility of their attitude is revealed; they say bluntly that they don’t care what [slurs] may be capable of—they do not like them and they propose to keep such folk in a place of permanent inferiority to the white race—by peaceful policy if possible, but brute force if necessary.
And when a group, a nation or a world assumes this attitude, it is handling dynamite.
There is in this world no force as the force of a man determined to rise.
The human soul cannot be permanently chained.”
W.E.B. Du Bois

Louisiana in Photos

July 13, 2024June 4, 2025 / bigdiff / Leave a comment

Celebrating the Pelican State! Below find a park visit photo each for Cane River Creole, Jean Lafitte, New Orleans Jazz and Poverty Point, which is also a World Heritage Site. (A tiny part of Vicksburg is also in Louisiana). This diverse, fascinating state also includes both the Atchafalaya and Cane River NHAs, as well as El Camino Real de las Tejas. I always enjoy traveling in Louisiana, especially the heavenly food, so go visit!