I am sure most of you have heard of Le Louvre, it is the most famous and most visited museum in the world and houses the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. It is recognizable by the glass pyramids, but what I have learned is that the pyramids are surrounded by a massive fortress … Continue reading Historic Travels
Author: James Finck
Dr. James W. Finck was raised in the shadows of history in the great state of Virginia. Growing up it was difficult to travel too far without running into a monument or battlefield from the Revolutionary or Civil War. In this environment, Finck developed a love for studying the past and from his youth knew that he wanted to make it his life’s work. Finck received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He then studied under James I. Robertson and William C. Davis at Virginia Tech, while earning a Master’s degree. Finally, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas, under the direction of Daniel Sutherland. For five years, Finck taught at the University of Texas-Pan American before accepting his current position as American Historian at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2011. At a small liberal arts institution, Finck considers himself a generalist in history, but his specialties are the Civil War and American Politics. Finck has established himself in Oklahoma with the creation of the Oklahoma Civil War Symposium, which has brought in leading Civil War scholars for the past eight years, and he has spoken at many venues around Oklahoma, especially working with the Honey Spring Battlefield. Finck is the author of Divided Loyalties: Kentucky’s Struggle for Armed Neutrality in the Civil War, as well as Images of America: Chickasha. Finck is also the author of the syndicated newspaper column “Historically Speaking.”
Historic Travels
While planning my trip to Paris, as an American historian I thought it would be fun to visit sites dealing with WWI and WWII. What I came to find out was that the city was relatively spared from the Wars, in terms of physical damage and battles, so there are really no major sites to … Continue reading Historic Travels
Price of Progress
Every year in May a colleague and I take about a dozen students on some type of weeklong outdoor experience. In the past we have done backpacking or canoeing, but this year we camped at different historical and environmental locations in western Oklahoma. We spent a few days camping at Black Mesa, followed by a … Continue reading Price of Progress
Religious Intolerance 2022
Three years ago, I wrote an article about religious intolerance. My premise was that America had actually never been that religiously tolerant, that today religion, Christianity in particular, was the one area where intolerance was still acceptable, and that those who often cried for the most tolerance could be the most intolerant. I used the … Continue reading Religious Intolerance 2022
Class Notes
Class Notes Today is my last class for the semester and as such it will be my last class notes for a bit before I start up again in the fall. My summer classes are not lecture classes so I will not be posting class notes from those classes. I will continue to write my … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
In 1817, the American Colonization Society was formed. They were anti-slavery in that they wanted to keep the U.S. open to white workers as opposed to abolitionists who wanted to outlaw slavery because they thought it was a sin. The Colonization Society hated slavery, but also did not welcome a nation of free Blacks. To … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
With the start of the nation, it looked as if slavery might just fade away. It had in the North and it looked, especially in the upper South, like it might there too. However, the invention of the cotton gin changed everything. Where it once took a slave a day to pick 50 pounds of … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
After the Cherokees were ordered to leave their lands and move to Indian Territory, only about 2,000 had left by the designated date. The tribe had divided into those who felt they had no choice and left and those who stayed and fought. Those who stayed were later forced out at gun point and forced … Continue reading Class Notes
Class Notes
If you think politics are strange now, in 1828 southern legislatures pushed through a bill that would raise tariffs to an incredibly high rate. John Quincy Adams did not agree with the high rate in the bill but passed it anyway because he did not see it as his responsibility to veto a bill simply … Continue reading Class Notes
To Censor or not to Censor, that is a Difficult Question
One of the hot news stories is the bill in Florida banning discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools. The bill is called “Parental Rights in Education Bill” but has been dubbed the “Don’t say gay” bill. This, of course, has led to a national debate about censorship, decency, and age appropriateness. … Continue reading To Censor or not to Censor, that is a Difficult Question
Historically Speaking 