A Rainy but Merry Walk through Old Sherwood Town

A rainy day cannot prevent these merry folk from their agreed upon, self- appointed rounds. Like working for the Post Office.

Clyde List Editorial: The Stimulus

NOTE: This Comment is not Endorsed by the Sherwood Oregon Historical Society
A group of Governors from the poorest States in the Union is "thinking of refusing" the Federal Government's stimulus money. It may be because they are smarter than average. They are very intelligent, well educated people indeed. But then again, as an amateur historian, I keep thinking about a book that was published in 1996. Honor and Slavery by Kenneth Greenberg (Princeton University Press). In this book, Greenberg explains why the nation's black folk burned down their cities during the years of President Johnson's Great Society. It turns out that the President inadvertently pushed their Mad Button every time he tried to give them things!

In the Old South, gift giving can dredge up some ugly memories. In slave times, the Master would pick a special day to distribute gifts to his slaves. It seemed like a nice thing to do. However: "Between master and slave, gifts could only flow in one direction. A slave could own nothing and therefore could give nothing back." Nothing back... except of course, their very lives. They might see their gramma worked to death on some irrigation project or their children marched off to the auction house with chains around their necks. But a slave was always careful to say "Thankyou" for a new ball to play with or some cheese or a new string of beeds. They may have surrendered every facet of their earthly existence to this Man, and yet the Slave Master does not say "Thank You!" to a Slave.

Now it is the 21st Century. It is the Slave Master's great, great grand childrens' turn to line up and get gifts from the Man. It's their turn to say "Thank you Sir!" These governors are behaving as strangely as those folks in the Watts District of Los Angeles and in Newark, New Jersey during the Johnson years.

Let's hope it turns out okay and they don't burn their cities down.

FOR EXTRA CREDIT: Which U.S. President bought a Plantation and named it "Sherwood Forest?"
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Books about Oregon's 150 Year History

Here's the "Best Ever" Book List on Oregon History.

Celebrating Oregon's 150th Birthday!

At right, in Salem February 14: Horace Greeley and Lilly Morgan bump into each other at the Oregon Convention Center. At left, in Portland February 15: The banjo-in-hand Sherwood Trail Guide is sketched by a little girl at the Oregon Historical Society.Everything went well during this very significant weekend in Oregon, except that a Native American lady from Grande Rond told Mr. Horace Greeley that she did not think very highly of him. We failed to get a snapshot of her, but Mr. Greeley and the Trail Guide did manage to capture a moment with Miss Teenage Oregon. The poor girl is, of course, standing a few fractions of an inch closer to the banj0 picker than the newspaper man. Wouldn't you say so, Mr. Greeley?