After leaving Scranton, we headed south, stopping for the evening in Staunton, VA to visit the Woodrow Wilson birthplace and museum. Since the presidential library systems were not in place during his term, this facility is run entirely by private funding, originally incorporated as the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation in 1938.
The funds to purchase the Historic Manse came from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation of New York and the Virginia General Assembly. The Birthplace foundation purchased the “Manse” from Mary Baldwin College as the College had purchased the home from the Staunton Presbyterian Church in 1925. Woodrow’s father was a Presbyterian minister and the residence is referred to as a “manse”.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was a statesman, lawyer, and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921, and was the leading architect of the League of Nations. Wilson served as the president of Princeton University and as the 34th governor of New Jersey before winning the 1912 presidential election.
Born in Staunton, Virginia, Wilson spent his early years in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina. After earning a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University, Wilson taught at various schools before becoming the president of Princeton. As governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913, Wilson broke with party bosses and won the passage of several progressive reforms. His success in New Jersey gave him a national reputation as a progressive reformer, and he won the presidential nomination at the 1912 Democratic National Convention. Wilson defeated incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and Progressive Party nominee Theodore Roosevelt to win the 1912 presidential election, becoming the first Southerner to be elected president since the American Civil War.
President Wilson’s limousine was made by Pierce-Arrow in June 1919, this car was part of the White House fleet. Friends of his bought it so that it could be his personal car after the presidency. It was donated in 1925, the very first object to be a part of what would become the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum.
Located in the Manse, this wood-fueled stove was in the kitchen. This was more than a stove, because it provided a ‘range’ of different temperatures and is where we get the term ‘range’ applying to our everyday kitchen appliance.
It provided a range of heating temperatures, from very hot on the front two burners, to warm on the back burners , source of the term “back burner” There was also an oven built into the smokestack and two warming positions on top of the oven, where the iron is.
This original children’s cycle was powered by pumping the rear wheels with the hand levers and was steered with the feet. This device was designed exclusively for boys as girls clothing would get in the way when operated. In the background is a women’s side-saddle.
On display was a map of the United States, ca early 1800s. Notice that the “states” stop at or near the Mississippi river.
Hmmm, very similar to our current president’s slogan . .
My favorite Woodrow Wilson quote: “A man’s rootage is more important than his leafage”.
Alaska 2019 Recap:
Total trip mileage:
- Truck – 5,250 Fuel used – 262 gal
- Motorhome – 15,000 Fuel used – 1,705 gal
Books read –
- Indianapolis – The worst sea disaster in U.S. naval history
- Brutal Valor (James Mace) – The Tragedy of Isandlwana
- Crucible of Honour (James Mace) – The Battle of Rorke’s Drift
- Lost Souls – (James Mace) The Forgotton Heros of Eshowe
- Contact (Carl Sagan)
- 12 Strong – The declassified true story of the horse soldiers
- Fly Girls – How five daring women defied all odds and made aviation history
- Rise of the Rocket Girls – The women who propelled us from missiles to the moon
- We Were the Mulvaneys (Joyce Oates)
- The Quiet World – Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom
- Alaska – A History
- Grateful American (Gary Sinise)
- The Thomas Sowell Reader (Thomas Sowell)
- Great Presidents (Allan Lichtman)
- for Jason: Rush Revere and the Star Spangled Banner
- for Jason ; Rush Revere and the American Revolution
- for Jason: Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrams
- for Jason: Rush Revere and the Presidency
- for Jason: Little Donkey (Jodi Taylor)
Books purchased –
- Gold Fame Citrus – (Claire Watkins)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – (Mary Shaffer & Annie Barrows)
- I’ll Take You There – (Wally Lamb)
- Personal Justice Denied – Commission report on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
- Any Tonnage – Conversations with a Resolute Alaskan
- Beating the Odds on Northern Waters – A guide to fishing safety
- Raising Wild – Dispatches from a home in the wilderness
- The Day the Trees Bent to the Ground – Stories from the ’64 Alaska earthquake
- Klondike – (Pierre Berton)
- Last Letters from Attu – (Mary Breu)
- The Thousand-Mile War – WWII in Alaska
- The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Controversy – (Peter Coates)
- Etok – A story of Eskimo Power
- Black Elk Speaks – (John Neihardt)
- Wooden Leg – A Warrior who fought Custer
- Red Cloud – Warrior-statesman of the Lakota Sioux
- Where White Men Fear to Tread – (Russell Means)
- Our Stories, Our Lives – Transcribed interviews with elders of the Cook Island region
- And the Ice That Started a Fire – (John Muir)
- Take My Land, Take My Life – Congress’s settlement of Alaska native land claims
- Together on Top of the World – The first couple to climb the Seven Summits
- The Ghosts of K2– The first ascent
- To The Top of the Continent – The first ascent of Mt. McKinley
- Missoula – (Jon Krakauer)
- How Bernie Won – (Jeff Weaver)
and we weren’t going to purchase books this time . . . .
Wildlife spotted:
- Orcas (several pods)
- Humpback whale (1)
- Sea Otters (2), Sea Lions (dozens)
- Puffins (many), Bald Eagles (dozens)
- Grizzly Bears (7), Black bears (30), Panda bears (0)
- Deer (dozens), Elk (dozens), Caribou (hundreds)
- Pronghorn antelope (hundreds)
- Moose (dozens)
- Stone sheep (dozens), Dall sheep (3)
- Linyx (1)
- Black fox (1), Red fox (3)
- Coyote (2)
- Martin (1)
Running Events
- Deadwood (SD) 5K
- Deadwood (SD) Trail Half Marathon
- Fairbanks (AK) Golden Days 1Mi
- Valdez (AK) Uncle Salmon 5K
- Anchorage (AK) Mile
- Anchorage (AK) Half Marathon
- Anchorage (AK) Distance Classic 5K
- Coos Bay (OR) Prefontaine Memorial 10K
- Scranton (PA) Steamtown Marathon
Travelling with the Schinglers 