Day Three - Walking Around Arlington

Allow me to start by saying a very happy anniversary to my wife Sarah.  For the second year in a row, I am in DC on our anniversary.  At least last year, she was here with me.  But she is special in that she understands and supports me in my grad school studies, and in all of my passions.  She is a wonderful wife, and the love of my life.  Thank you dear for who you are and what you mean to me.

Today was centered around class followed by a 3 hour walking tour of Arlington National Cemetary with Professor Ed Smith of American University.  First, the class, then the stories from the tour.

Class:
One thing I appreciated on the first day is that we got an opportunity to talk to and hear from most (if not all) of the professors.  Dr. Belz gave the morning lecture, then we broke into our small sections (each of us with one of the professors), then in the afternoon met with two other professors.  So my small section got to hear and discuss with each professor.  I wonder if the Foundation and the professors did this to keep us on our toes, or if you are a pessimist, keep us off balance.

Today, Dr. Dreisbach gave the morning lecture.  We discussed was is meant by English Common Law, and then tried to delve into why the colonists, who were in the midst of their "revolution" went back to this idea of a system of common law based on the English tradition.  Why not take the opportunity to start over?  Besides the practicality of immediately rewriting a legal tradition, we discussed the fact that the revolution was against the institutions that governed the colonies, not the traditions associated with them.

But Dr. Morrison took it a different way in the afternoon session.  He asked about the word REVOLUTION (n.), and particularly what verb is the root of the word.  All of us, being good history teachers, immediately said "revolt".  Of course, that is a correct answer, and certainly the colonies did revolt against the British, particularly Jefferson (a radical revolutionary).  But is there another possibility?  What about "revolve" which means return?  Could it be interpreted that the American Revolution is a return or reaffirmation of the principles of natural rights that the British Crown has gotten away from?  This idea can co-exist with the "revolt", but gives us a better understanding of the American mind.

Arlington:
Our tour was led by Dr. Ed Smith of American University (http://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/esmith.cfm).  Among his many achievements, he served as a speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, is responsible for getting a statue and memorial to President Lincoln in Richmond, VA, the capital of the Confederacy, and the reason that the World War II Memorial was situated in its place on the National Mall.  He is an amazing storyteller, a few of which I will share below.  His major point that he made to us is that nowhere else in the National Mall or Smithsonians can you tell many of the stories that can be told at Arlington.  The artifacts are elsewhere, yet the essences, the people themselves, are in Arlington.  When you find yourself at Arlington National Cemetery, don't just hit the highlights, dig into what other stories can be told and discovered.

-Thurgood Marshall is buried with several other notable Supreme Court Justices, including Burger, Brennan, Stewart and Holmes.  Ultimately, 13 Supreme Court Justices are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

-Daniel "Chappie" James was the 1st African American Four-Star General in American history.  He was one of the Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II.  He also served in the Korean War and Vietnam War.

-Though hard to see, the tall headstone in the back is that of boxer Joe Louis.  Louis was an African-American boxer in the 1930s and 40s.  In the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Hitler had to stomach the fact that Jesse Owens, a black man, won multiple golds against the German "master race".  But he took pride in the fact that the German boxer Max Schmeling defeated Louis in that same year.  In 1937, Louis got his rematch.  As he was getting taped up for the bout, President Roosevelt called him.  FDR told him to not think about this fight as a black man versus a white man, but as an American versus a German.  He then gave Louis an order, as his Commander-in-Chief... "Kick his @$$".

-Found on the back side of the Robert E Lee house, this is the original tomb of the unknown soldier.  At this spot are the remains of 11 Civil War soldiers.

Two facts that I found very interesting, especially when placed side-by-side:
     1- 60% of the battles of the Civil War were fought in Virginia
     2- Of the 500,000 free African Americans at the time of the Civil War (of 4 million blacks in America), the state with the largest number of free blacks was Virginia.

-The three pictures above are tied together as only history can do.  Two important notes for those that don't know their Civil War history.  Robert E Lee married into the Washington family.  Martha's first marriage produced two sons that were adopted by George Washington, and that lineage produced Mary Custis, later Lee's wife.  At the onset of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln personally asked General Lee to command the Union troops.  Lee stated that he could not raise his sword against his Virginian brethren, and left to command the Southern troops.


The first picture is the burial site of Montgomery C Meigs, and the sarcophagus of his son John.  John was a soldier in the Union army who was killed, not in battle, but murdered by members of the Confederacy.  Meigs was so enraged, he called the Secretary of War and demanded that Lee's property be taken and used as a burial site for Union soldiers killed in the war.  So Arlington was born out of Vengeance.  


Following the end of the Civil War, and the burial of some 80,000 soldiers, and after the death of Robert E Lee in 1873, Lee's son, George Washington Custis Lee (named after President Washington, which shows the reverence Lee had for the first president), argued that the Union had taken the land illegally and demanded it back.  After the Radical Republicans in Congress refused, Lee took the case to through the court system, eventually up to the US Supreme Court.  In 1882, the Court, by a 5-4 margin, ruled in US v. Lee that the land was in fact taken illegally, and should be returned to the Lee family.  Which meant that any person living or dead on the land was trespassing.  The Secretary of War, Robert Lincoln (son of President Lincoln) met with George Lee (son of General Lee) to determine what this ruling would mean.  Lincoln asked, "What would our fathers do?" to which Lee responded "The honorable thing."  Even though many Virginians hated him for it, George Lee sold the land to the government for $100,000 so that the resting place of so many would remain intact.  Because of his respect of the Lee family, Robert Lincoln decided that Arlington would be his final resting place, rather than joining his father in Springfield, Illinois.  


The Robert E Lee house is the only part of Arlington that is designated a National Park.  When the Lincoln Memorial was being designed, the question arose as to where it should be placed, it was determined that because of the connection between Lincoln and Lee is so strong, the Lincoln Memorial should be placed in line with Arlington Cemetary and the Lee House.  Hence the third picture, which shows the Lincoln Memorial, across Memorial Bridge from the Lee house, forever connecting the two.


Man, can history tell a story!!

Meet the Fellows: Rachel Kohl teaches at Ket'acik & Aapalluk Memorial School in Alaska.  The school and village is made of Yupik Eskimos.  Her village is not accessible by car, only by bush plane or boat.  They do have roads, however, so that the snowmobiles and four-wheelers can get around.  


TOMORROW: Class is the only thing on the agenda, and I hope to get back to more of a reflection on my observations of the experience, other than material class lessons.