Jim Wald

Jim Wald

@citizenwald.bsky.social

Historian, ex-Hampshire College, Amherst MA Europe C18-20, book history, historic preservation Past service: SHARP sharpweb.org, Massachusetts Center for Book https://www.massbook.org/ Co-editor, Routledge History of Antisemitism http://tiny.cc/pb7xzz

5.2K followers1.5K following6.6K posts

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

October 26, 1825 Erie Canal opens "providing overland water transportation between the ­­Hudson River on the east & Lake Erie at the western end," "accelerated settlement of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, & the upper Midwest, "founding of 100s of towns" www.loc.gov/item/tod...

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Speaking of the Erie Canal, this shipping crate is a witness to an era in transition: sent to Daniel Dickinson (1793-1874) who lived 500 feet down the road, it traveled first via the Canal to the railroad, which brought it to Amherst, whose train connection dates from 1853

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

October 26, 1825 Erie Canal opens "providing overland water transportation between the ­­Hudson River on the east & Lake Erie at the western end," "accelerated settlement of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, & the upper Midwest, "founding of 100s of towns" www.loc.gov/item/tod...

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Apart from childhood memories of that song about the Erie Canal, most of us have no idea of the importance of canals in moving people & goods in the early nation. BTW that song was written only at the start of the 20th century nyheritage.org/exhib... #VastEarlyAmerica

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

October 26 1919 Senator Edward Brooke Born www.massmoments.org/... Imagine a Republican Party with room for a Black liberal decorated war veteran who "worked for civil rights, fair housing, consumer protection, & arms limitation" & was "1st senator to call upon Nixon to resign"

massmoments.orgSenator Edward Brooke BornOn this day in 1919, Edward Brooke, III, the first African American to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress, was born. A decorated veteran, he graduated from the BU School of Law in 1948 and began practicing in Roxbury. In 1966, after serving as the nation's first African American state Attorney General, Brooke …

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

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John F, Kennedy gave his last major address here @AmherstCollege on 26 October 1963. His call for an America whose greatness would be defined by democracy, morality, justice, wisdom, and beauty--"power" with "purpose"--seems at once more necessary and more elusive than ever 5/6

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Replying to @citizenwald.bsky.social

#JFK gave his last public speech on October 26 1963 at the groundbreaking of Robert Frost #Library @AmherstCollege : one of his greatest Ann & Joseph Blumenthal (typographer & publisher of Frost's poetry) produced 600 copies of this keepsake as a holiday greeting for 1964-65 4/6

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Replying to @citizenwald.bsky.social

JFK could not attend the February 1963 Robert Frost memorial service but he did speak at the groundbreaking for the new Frost #Library on October 26. www.amherst.edu/libr... In 2017, Amherst College celebrated the centennial of JFK's birth & anniversary of the library 3/6

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Replying to @citizenwald.bsky.social

In January 1963, John F. Kennedy received the gift of an unpublished #poem by Robert Frost. On 29 January, Frost died in Cambridge. JFK's personal secretary thanks the publisher for the poem & informs @AmherstCollege he will be unable to attend the February memorial service 2/6

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Amherst College just marked the 60th anniversary of the dedication of Frost #Library in 1965. Robert Frost taught there as a regular member of the faculty or visitor on and off from 1916 until his death in 1963 1/6

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

The aforementioned Spitalfields house is not yet open to the public, but you can visit Dennis Severs' House: a colorful US expat artist bought the building and turned it into a fantasy installation imagining a Huguenot family & their descendants from arrival to the 20th century

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Dr Karen McAulay
@karenmca.bsky.social

In honour of a hitherto unknown (& thus far uncertainly identified) compiler of a #whisky advertising songbook - & stormy weather - I indulged myself with a Lidl bourbon whisky cola this evening. Actually quite nice, & minimal driving to get it. karenmcaulaymusicologist.blog/2026/10/24/s...

karenmcaulaymusicologist.blogScottish Songs and Social History: ‘The Gaelic Hotch Potch of Story, Song and Music’An Unusual Anthology Whilst the rain pours and a breeze gets up outside, I decided that today was definitely a day for indoor pursuits, and – with my mind on a forthcoming lecture – I t…
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Kandinsky's Das bunte Leben sells for £31.6 million ($41.5 million) www.mutualart.com/Ar... important as work of art *and* as "one of the most significant restitution stories in recent years" Full details on the painting and its history here: press.christies.com/...

mutualart.comPeter Simon’s Monsoon Collection Makes History at Christie’s LondonChristie’s evening sales realized £218.6 million ($287.5 million) and were crowned by a restituted Kandinsky in the house’s strongest Frieze Week of the decade
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Meanwhile, I am equally interested in this one from his Bauhaus period: This Kandinsky Work Is Primed to Shatter the Artist’s Record: estimated to fetch between $60 million and $80 million—outstripping the artist's auction record of $44.8 million.

news.artnet.comThis Kandinsky Work Is Primed to Shatter the Artist's Record | Artnet News"Betonte Ecken," painted shortly after Kandinsky joined the Bauhaus in Weimar has been given an estimate of $60 million to $80 million.
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Live now online: Book Breaks with Annette Gordon-Reed on Jefferson on Race: A Reader Jefferson’s most revealing writings about African Americans, slavery, and Native Americans, enabling readers to directly explore his complex and contradictory thoughts marketing.gilderlehr...

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Yes, and my chance to remind/inform readers that the mastermind behind it was later beloved PBS journalist Bill Moyers, who came to be known as the "conscience of America." Back then he was an aide to LBJ. Later regretted this contribtution to negative campaigning www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/b...

nytimes.comBill Moyers, a Face of Public TV and Once a White House Voice, Dies at 91 (Gift Article)He was a renowned television correspondent and commentator who also had long ties with Lyndon B. Johnson, including as his press secretary.
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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

"Army office in possession of the globe had expected to consult with experts. . . . The history staffers were furloughed due to a partial government shutdown. . . . When the experts could not be reached, Hegseth’s staff decided to move the globe themselves"

Jim Wald@citizenwald.bsky.social

Like a child. Unfuckingbelievable Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it. Photos obtained by The Post show a gash in the World War II-era artifact that resulted from a botched relocation attempt inside the Pentagon. https://wapo.st/4soERRR 😭😭😭

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

There are Nazis, & there are forerunners of Nazism. Today is the birthday of Karl Lueger (1844), the Mayor of Vienna who, through his Christian Social Movement, not only improved the city & services, but also pioneered a new populist politics of resentment, including antisemitism

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

In the end, the city came up with a creative solution (though it did not satisfy all): a winning proposal resulted in tilting the statue 3.5 degrees to the right and adding contextual explanation and installations www.derstandard.at/s... viennabriefing.subst...

derstandard.atLueger-Denkmal: Wien kündigt "künstlerische Kontextualisierung" anEine Ausschreibung ist in Vorbereitung, die Umsetzung wird erst für 2023 erwartet. Stadträtin Kaup-Hasler stellt Zwischennutzung in Aussicht
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

To wrap up this little 🧵, here's a bonus: You can show your friends that you are more historically sophisticated than they are by correctly pronouncing Lueger as ˈlu̯eːɡɐ Both the u and the e are pronounced: they are not equivalent to ü Prosit!

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

There are Nazis, & there are forerunners of Nazism. Today is the birthday of Karl Lueger (1844), the Mayor of Vienna who, through his Christian Social Movement, not only improved the city & services, but also pioneered a new populist politics of resentment, including antisemitism

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Some see Lueger as a cynic: although he weaponized antisemitism, the Jews of Vienna were not molested, & he had Jewish friends (he famously said, "I determine who is a Jew"). But Richard Levy said, "it was under Lueger that Austrians became accustomed to the revilement of Jews"

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

There are Nazis, & there are forerunners of Nazism. Today is the birthday of Karl Lueger (1844), the Mayor of Vienna who, through his Christian Social Movement, not only improved the city & services, but also pioneered a new populist politics of resentment, including antisemitism

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Lueger--known as Handsome Karl--was popular as well as populist. Here, a condolence card to an unnamed recipient, and a medal in which "Christian Austria" (then and there, as here & now, the adjective is used pointedly) honors "the great man of the people" on his birthday in 1904

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

But when I went outside to photograph the mountains, the worst storm I have experienced came up out of nowhere: the sky darkened, temperature dropped precipitously, huge winds arose, followed by thunder & lightning, driving rain. Totally eerie: Wagnerian, my younger self thought

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

#Polish Novel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz (do Americans still read him?) died in Switzerland in 1916. In October 1924, as his body was brought home to #Poland, ceremonies were held along the way Invitation & ticket to memorial in #Prague National Museum #Czechia #Czechoslovakia

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

‘Eagle’s Nest,’ Nazi-Era Guesthouse in German Alps, Is Gutted by Fire www.nytimes.com/2026... -It's *Hitler's* guesthouse tho he didn't go there much -It's the Kehlsteinhaus. "Eagle's Nest"=silly name coined by French ambassador, popularized by Brit journo, used by banal US GIs

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Like a child. Unfuckingbelievable Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it. Photos obtained by The Post show a gash in the World War II-era artifact that resulted from a botched relocation attempt inside the Pentagon. https://wapo.st/4soERRR 😭😭😭

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Although the record price news.artnet.com/mark...) for Monet's irises (which he preferred to the water lily) is the big news in the art world today. I was actually more interested in this: This Kandinsky Work Is Primed to Shatter the Artist’s Record

news.artnet.comMonet’s Long-Hidden 'Iris' Blooms to Record $56.2M at Auction | Artnet NewsA collection of 28 unseen works from the secretive Schlumberger family, including a long-unseen Monet, made history tonight in Paris.
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

And likewise more interested in this than in the Monet: $34.3M Roman Marble Busts Through Antiquity Record at Sotheby’s news.artnet.com/mark... from a spectacular anonymous collection of 900+ (!) works, including Canaletto, Fragonard, Degas, Max Ernst, Picasso,

news.artnet.com$34.3M Roman Marble Busts Through Antiquity Record at Sotheby'sA 1st century C.E. marble of a Roman emperor sold for $34.3 million on Oct 21 in a white glove sale that netted $63 million.
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Of course, it is always newsworthy when a major sculpture of Antiquity comes on the market, given the problem of looting and murky provenance. And then there are the forgeries. One of my favorite films: Fakes in the art world - The mystery conman | DW

youtube.comFakes in the art world - The mystery conman | DW DocumentaryFake art sits unnoticed in galleries around the world. A talented fraudster has been playing the art market and ripping off collectors for years. Who is the mystery conman? Discover more in THE MYSTERY CONMAN - THE MURKY BUSINESS OF COUNTERFEIT ANTIQUES. Museum curators and art collectors want to s
Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Today's e-mail brought listings of some spectacular historical photos of the Middle East (totally unaffordable but a pleasure to peruse), e.g. 128-view photographic expedition along the Nile, 1875-94 enormous panoramic photograph of Cairo, 1870s www.19thshop.com/boo...

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

This reminds me! I have some similar journalistic and advertising copy from that era, which I've been meaning to share. Added to the to-do list

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Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

20 October, as noted, was #Czech Arbor Day, but you can never have enough trees, so here is a 1928 mountain scene by Otakar Štáfl. At this time, he was engaged in producing a vast series of works--from large oils to 120 watercolors--on his beloved Tatra Mountains links: alt text

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

Otakar Štáfl loved the mountains and spent a great deal of time in the Tatras and in his native Czech highlands. One of his paintings of the High Tatras furnished the design for a pair of Czechoslovak postage stamps in 1927

Jim Wald
@citizenwald.bsky.social

ICYMI a little 🧵

Jim Wald@citizenwald.bsky.social

That time we tried to make Canada the 14th state While serving as a Captain on Arnold's Quebec expedition in December 1775, Joseph Forward of Simsbury lost his gun and other equipment, for which Oliver Ellsworth authorizes payment by the state of Connecticut 21 October 1776