randolphwriting-blog

[randolphwriting-blog]

During my jog today, I couldn’t help but take a picture of a majestic ship that fascinated me when I was growing up. But I didn’t really appreciate its history when I was younger. This iteration of the USS Constellation, built in 1854, is a sail-only sloop-of-war ship, the last of its kind designed and built by the US Navy. Before the Civil War, slaves had yet to be emancipated in the U.S. but slave importation had been outlawed in 1808. In 1859, thanks to the abolitionist movement, the Constellation became the flagship of the African Squadron, an antislavery operation of the US Navy that identified and seized illegal slave traders at sea along the West African coast. Today, the Constellation is rightfully a National Historic Landmark. Baltimore locals and visitors can go on tours on top and inside this floating museum as it rests on the Inner Harbor. #knowyourhistory #localhistory #historicships #baltimore #blackhistorymonth (at Inner Harbor) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt7WxPPh8Vg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2ak3w5hmn2wd

[randolphwriting-blog]

“The lure of the Arctic is tugging at my heart. To me the trail is calling. The old trail. The trail that is always new.” - Happy Black History month! To kick off this special time for my #knowyourhistory series, I’m starting with the story of arctic explorer Matthew Henson. A fitting choice given the polar vortex engulfing the country, no?🥶 In 1866, Henson was born in Maryland as the son of sharecroppers, but would transcend his humble beginnings and make history not only for African-Americans, but the world at large. Henson was part of the expedition party thought to be the first to reach the geographic North Pole on April 6, 1909. I studied Henson as my first history research project in elementary school. There was a rumor in my family that we were descendants of Henson’s but I found out through my research that he had actually married into my family. Although he is not a blood relative, I still see Henson as an ancestor and his story inspires me today to be both a historian and world traveler. He is also coincidentally my namesake- we both share the same first and middle names: Matthew Alexander! #trailblazers #historymakers #familyhistory #worldtraveler #northpole (at Reginald F. Lewis Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtXW-cnhqKZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a8gi8sqrux8z

[randolphwriting-blog]

“Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity.” - Frederick Douglass - The best part about moving back to Baltimore has been rediscovering the city’s rich museum culture. I lucked out in having a friend tour me around the Fredrick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park today. Did you know Frederick Douglass worked as a ship caulker while a slave in Baltimore? #frederickdouglass #baltimore #history #blacklaborhistory (We’re only a week away from Black History Month! More #knowyourhistory posts await...) 🧐✊🏾 (at Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtNOMZlBJq7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bjlxoen4bf84

[randolphwriting-blog]

Happy Frederick Douglass bicentennial! 🎉🌟It’s been 200 years since the year he was born- 1818. Glad I stopped by Freddy D plaza @ UMD “Once you learn to read, you will always be free” #frederickdouglassplaza #historyfacts 📚 (at University of Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/BlHn_I7AwgB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1aj2mr064k6hg

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Carter G. Woodson’s birthday is in two days. He is known as the father of black history, but everyone should know about the legacy of this trailblazing historian. He wrote history but also made it: a child of slaves who worked hard and became the second African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard (after W.E.B. Du Bois.) I’m lucky I could attend the National Park Service’s celebration yesterday afternoon in D.C.! “When you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions.” 🤔✊🏾 #knowyourhistory #cartergwoodson #dchistory #historybuff (at Dr. Carter G Woodson Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brf50PghTiI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1na0shsy5aik0

[randolphwriting-blog]

This afternoon, after exploring the streets of Harlem and Washington Heights, I had no idea I had been literally walking in the footsteps of African-American novelist Ralph Ellison, author of “The Invisible Man,” who lived on Riverside Drive in Manhattan. The bronze sculpture on 150th street was created by the talented artist Elizabeth Catlett and unveiled in 2003. The Riverside Park Fund, along with a neighborhood group, the Ralph Ellison Memorial Committee, helped build support for the project through its fundraising efforts. I can only hope my writing can live up to Ellison’s legacy! Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses each day- who knows? You may come across a cool memorial in the process. There’s always history around every corner.😉🥰🧐#knowyourhistory #travel #writing #ralphellison #invisibleman #manhattan #historianintraining (at Riverside Park, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsgq9swBmpQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vl1tl5mzdz1a

[randolphwriting-blog]

You can see remnants of the Berlin Wall in the #newseum. It’s tragic that this exhibit is only blocks away from the Capitol and the White House, but many politicians will fail to see how the U.S. is perpetuating a global history of wall-building that will mean not protection and peace, but division and fear. Let’s build bridges, not walls. #knowyourhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/BsrFPq0B16G/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1u0xg2tpafsqb

[randolphwriting-blog]

So lucky to have an aunt that appreciates history as much as I do! We all need that aunt or uncle who understands that #knowledgeispower and takes us to inspiring museums. I wouldn’t be the budding historian that I am today without a family that supports my dreams every step of the way. Today we both learned that Alice Allison Dunnigan, born in Kentucky as the daughter of sharecroppers, was the first African-American woman journalist to receive White House Credentials in 1947. And we still need to read the autobiography she wrote that same year, “A Black Woman’s Experience: From Schoolhouse to White House.” ✍️🗞 And as #blackhistory month approaches...expect more #knowyourhistory posts from me haha #newseum #family #washingtondc #journalism (at Washington, District of Columbia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsrHVoOBczC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17id0km7u9m7s

[randolphwriting-blog]

Introducing Randolph Writing

Happy New Year from Baltimore, Maryland! I’m Matt Randolph and I am following through with my New Year’s resolution to start a blog dedicated to travel, history, and languages. After nearly two and a half years in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have returned home to Baltimore, Maryland. In the coming months, as I rediscover “Charm City,” I will uncover and share historical findings from Baltimore’s past. 

I’ll be in Baltimore from January through May 2019, when I'll embark on a backpacking trip throughout Europe for three months. I already purchased a round-trip ticket to Paris but I will be traveling to several other countries on the continent as well. In the meantime, I’ll be working part-time gigs here in Baltimore to save up for the trip. To prepare for my travels, I’m also building on my Spanish and Portuguese skills by studying French. I’m starting my weekly French class today at the French Academy of Baltimore. 

And finally, in September, I’ll (ideally) begin a graduate school program for a Ph.D. in history (*fingers crossed as I await acceptances in the coming months*). I am particularly interested in the history of the African diaspora, both in the United States but also throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. I hope those considering graduate study in history will find my reflections and experiences helpful for their own academic pursuits and career paths. 

While reconnecting with friends in Europe, I also hope to retrace the lives of American expats, especially African-American expats, such as James Baldwin and Josephine Baker who found a refuge from American racism by traveling and living abroad.

”Randolph Writing” also doubles as a resource for those interested in my research and writing consulting. If you want me to write for you, click “Have Matt Write For You” and learn about the research and writing services I offer.

I hope you’ll follow my adventures as I uncover history right here in Baltimore and abroad! 

- Matt Randolph

This is a photograph of fireworks over the Baltimore Harbor for New Year’s! For me, home is where the harbor is :D