Week Three in 250 to 250
This was the third week of videos from the 250 to 250 Project that we’re producing to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
We designed the videos to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity.
This week had some surprises—for me, anyway—which has been part of the fun of doing these. I knew who An Wang was, but not his story, and confess that while I had heard of the New Madrid earthquakes, I had no idea how important they were.
I hope you enjoy this week’s videos.
You can follow the project at the sites listed below, or under “videos” at my own YouTube page: Heather Cox Richardson. Or just wait until I send out the week’s roundup.
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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Narrated by Tom Perez
Tom Perez is a civil rights attorney, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and served as U.S. Labor Secretary under President Barack Obama. Perez tells us about the tragic 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the workplace reforms that it inspired.
New Madrid Earthquakes, Narrated by Conevery Bolton Valencius
Dr. Conevery Bolton Valencius is a Professor of History at Boston College, and author of The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes and The Health of the Country: How American Settlers Understood Themselves and Their Land. Dr. Valencius recounts the New Madrid earthquakes that reshaped the landscape, displaced Indigenous Americans, and prompted America's first disaster relief legislation.
Samuel Adams, Narrated by Stacy Schiff
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer whose works include the New York Times bestsellers Cleopatra, The Witches: Salem, 1692, and The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. Here, Schiff chronicles the life of Samuel Adams, the relentless agitator who shaped public opinion and pushed the colonies toward independence.
An Wang, Narrated by Representative Lori Trahan
United States Representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts is the granddaughter of immigrants who became the first in her family to graduate from college before embarking on a distinguished career that culminated in her election to Congress in 2018. Representative Trahan recounts the life of An Wang, the Chinese American computer engineer who invented magnetic core memory and embraced an ethic of philanthropy.
Everglades, Narrated by Jack E. Davis
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack E. Davis is a historian, longtime Florida resident, and Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Florida. In addition to other works, he is the author of An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century. Here Dr. Davis honors the Everglades, the Florida wetland known for its astounding beauty, and highlights the conservationism that ensured its protection.
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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy is an event that everyone should know about.
We still have cruelty in the workplace.
As someone who lives a few counties south of Reelfoot Lake, which was formed by the the New Madrid earthquakes, this is important history, lore, and warning in West TN. I imagine it’s the same in Missouri, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
I remember being scared as a kid by a Newsweek article that discussed the devastation that various strengths of earthquakes could cause, not just to large cities like Memphis and St. Louis, but to Chicago, Dallas, etc.