Last week I wrote about the first bridge across the Missouri River. Completed in 1869, it was known as the Hannibal Bridge (after the railroad responsible for its construction). This bridge was the reason, in part, for the rapid growth of Kansas City as a railroad and meatpacking hub. The Hannibal Bridge had a long and eventful career. In 1886, a tornado hit the bridge and collapsed its middle span. The fallen span was replaced, and the bridge continued to support rail, pedestrian, and vehicular traffic until its replacement in 1917.
I took two languages when I was in high school. I had five years of French and two years of Italian. One day, we got a new student in my Italian class. Her name was Audrey, and she was an exchange student from France. I immediately wondered why she would be in an Italian class when she was still in the process of learning English. She told me it was not uncommon in her country for a student to take several languages. This was interesting to me, considering that in the United States most students never take a foreign language at all.
Remember putting "kick me" signs on fellow classmates or friends as a child? Or playing little jokes on others on April Fool’s Day and then yelling "April Fools!!" to them afterwards? These little things were the extent of my April Fool’s Day gags and pranks, and I haven’t celebrated or really acknowledged April Fool’s Day since childhood; but we all know there are adults out there who do acknowledge it every year and who even perform complex pranks on others.
On March 23rd, a lot of people gathered in Park Hill South High School to celebrate the ethnic and cultural diversity in the Northland. The Northland Ethnic Festival featured ethnic displays, music and dancing, children's crafts, and genealogy help. The Festival has been a huge success for 10 years now. It is coordinated by the Platte County University of Missouri Extension, Park Hill School District, Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods, Mid-Continent Public Library, and the Ethnic Enrichment Commission.
Pure Dead Bizarre! Meet the Addams Family of Scotland
Do you remember the television show The Addams Family? Or, maybe you saw one of the movies? For those unfamiliar with the series, the show told the story of a most unusual family that included: a tremendously large butler, a decapitated hand called "Thing," and an extremely hairy cousin named "Itt." Not to mention the assorted animal occupants that ranged from an octopus to a man-eating plant. Well, if you enjoyed that wild family, there is another you might love just as much. Let me introduce you to the Strega-Borgia clan of Scotland.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am fascinated by the history of Kansas City. A question that I find particularly intriguing is why Kansas City grew faster and larger than rival cities back in the early 1800s. At one point, Independence, Westport, and even Weston were bigger than what was to become Kansas City, Missouri. In my readings, the consensus is that a primary driver behind Kansas City’s expansion was the railroads, and in particular, the opening of the first railroad bridge across the Missouri River in 1869.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is hard to believe that in 2013 there are still those who think that women either don’t have an aptitude for science, or are simply not interested in science. Only recently, the head of an Ivy League university continued to perpetuate this myth. One of the reasons that I think this stereotype continues to be passed around is because most people are hard pressed to name many women scientists.
If you grew up in the United States sometime during the last four decades, you have probably at some point watched Sesame Street. The PBS show began back in 1969 as a production of the Children’s Television Workshop and has now educated nearly three generations of children. The show combines learning the alphabet and how to count with other important lessons, such as manners and how to deal with feelings. And, it has never shied away from real life, addressing both September 11th as well as the death of one of the principal characters, Mr. Hooper.
At the beginning of the year, a challenge was issued to library staff to read as many pages as possible of children’s and/or young adult books before March 1.
When I was in High School, I had the opportunity to travel to France for a week with my French class. We arrived in Nice towards the end of Mardi Gras and even got the chance to see the burning of the King on the Mediterranean (the King was a paper mache statue that looked out over the celebrations). Visiting Paris and the Eiffel Tower was also a great experience, but unfortunately we didn’t get to go to the Louvre. It was closed for renovations. This was, for me, a once in a lifetime trip that probably will not be repeated.
