#10 February 1763

[rabbitcruiser]

French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ended the war and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain on February 10, 1763.

[insanityclause]

EXCLUSIVE: Sigourney Weaver will make her West End stage debut as storm-creating sorcerer Prospero in The Tempest and Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell will play sparring lovers Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing when director Jamie Lloyd returns Shakespeare early this winter to the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a landmark venue in Covent Garden owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Weaver, star of Ridley Scott’s Alien movies and James Cameron’s Avatar epics, last starred in one of Will’s plays when she played Portia in a 1986 off-Broadway revival of The Merchant of Venice. 

As a sophomore at Stanford in 1979, she played Goneril in a traveling production of King Lear. 

The star once revealed that she pretended “I was doing Henry V the entire time” she was playing Ripley in Alien. “I thought, ‘Well, as a woman, I’ll never be cast as Henry V, so this is my Henry V,” Weaver told New York magazine in a 2012 interview. 

“Sigourney knows her Shakespeare, she knows theater, and I  could not be more excited that she has agreed to play this role,“ Lloyd told Deadline.

He also said that he’s “thrilled” that “my dear friends Tom and Hayley” are headlining the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing in his Jamie Lloyd Company Drury Lane Shakespeare season.

The first preview of The Tempest is December 7, and it runs through February 1.

The first Much Ado About Nothing preview is on February 10, and that runs until April 5.

Built in 1763, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane became a popular venue for performances of Shakespeare. David Garrick and the ancient thespian greats played the Bard’s work there.

Lloyd Webber and his LW Theatre company spent an estimated $77M on a superbly realized restoration of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and he’d noted several times that he wanted Shakespeare back at The Lane, as it’s affectionately known, because he fondly remembers at age 9 being taken to see Gielgud in The Tempest “and it clearly made an impression on him,” said Lloyd.

The two men formed a close bond when they worked together on the now-Broadway-bound Olivier Award-winning Sunset Boulevard starring an incandescent Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond.

“Andrew told me the story about Gielgud snapping Prospero’s staff on the last night and announcing that The Lane would be lost to musicals forever,” the director said.

Oklahoma! and other shows had preceded The Tempest, and it was to be immediately followed by My Fair Lady and many other musicals since.

One day, unexpectedly, the composer and impresario told Lloyd ,”Look, I’ve always wanted Shakespeare back at Drury Lane.”

Lloyd was shown around the theatre, was open to exploring “all the possibilities” and felt excited to be the first company to bring Shakespeare back to The Lane.

It made sense that The Tempest needed to be the one that marked the return.

Lloyd told us that he had an epiphany one night that Sigourney Weaver playing Prospero would “create theatrical electricity.”

He fired off an email Weaver’s agent, who responded that it was unlikely that she’d want to engage because Weaver hadn’t performed Shakespeare in public for over 30 years, and the last time she was on a stage was when she did Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in NYC in 2012.

The very next morning, Lloyd continued, ”There was an email in my inbox with the subject, “Hello from Sigourney.” And she wrote me this amazing email — really passionate, excited email. We got on Zoom straight away, and we had an amazing, inspiring conversation. She’s such a lovely, witty person. So insightful. She’d read the play, especially from a perspective of a woman playing Prospero. And that really excited her and it made sense and illuminated the play in new ways. And so she’s coming to make her West End debut at Drury Lane playing Prospero in The Tempest.”

He added that he kept coming back to Weaver’s performances “in all those iconic movies — Ghostbusters, Gorillas in the Mist, Working Girl, all of them.” 

Lloyd went a little bit fanboy and told her that he’d seen “Alien more times than any other movie. And I just thought, ‘How amazing would it be to work with someone that you’ve admired since you were a kid?’ Oh, wow. And to bring her to London. And again, it just feels like such an event.” 

The director believes that Weaver’s “commanding presence, huge charisma and that amazing power” is perfect to play Prospero. And that she can “clearly get into the complexity of the role” of this person “with delusions of vengeance, this kind of ruthless revenge against the people that have sent her away, to learning about forgiveness and love and compassion. There’s a real journey in that, isn’t there? And there’s a real internal struggle. And we talked about how a shipwreck can become a new kind of hope. Can’t there? I mean, really, that’s my sort of key thinking about the entire season, is that I just want this to be a really joyful season. And both of the plays are about the hope of the future and not dwelling on the past, maybe,“ he said. 

Lloyd added that he felt “honored” that Weaver even responded to his email because he thought “it bode so well in terms of just a direct email straight away; it’s very personal. As we know, sometimes people kind of do things through their teams and managers. But actually, she knows what theater is, and she knows it’s about relationships.”

Lloyd’s well aware of that too. 

He goes way back with Hiddleston, even further with Atwell.

Back in early 2019, Lloyd directed a hauntingly sublime version of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal with Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox at the Harold Pinter Theatre. It quickly transferred to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre for a limited run, where it was nominated for four Tony Awards.

Lloyd has remained close to his cast ever since.

Similarly with Atwell, who he directed in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s 2011 play The Faith Machine at London’s Royal Court Theatre. They reunited two years later in a revival of Kaye’s The Pride, in which Atwell excelled, at the Trafalgar Studios. The drama was an early example of Lloyd’s then-nascent Jamie Lloyd Company, which at the time was in partnership with ATG Entertainment.

He added that it’s “very meaningful” in terms of the season for him to be working with “those two old collaborators, they’re Jamie  Lloyd Company alumni. And I think they’re both two of the finest of our generation, aren’t they? And they know each other well. So there’s an instant chemistry between the two of them, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for Benedick and Beatrice.”

Lloyd’s enjoyed watching Hiddleston and Atwell on screens both big and small. He mentioned Hiddleston’s performance in The Night Manager — he’s in the midst of shooting its sequel — and the actor’s adventures playing Loki in the various levels of the Marvel Universe. “And he still comes home to the theatre whenever he can,” Lloyd marveled.

Atwell soared in the Marvel Universe as well, plus she has been starring with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One and its follow-up Mission: Impossible 8. She was remarkable in a a revival of Rosmersholm, directed by Ian Rickson at the Duke of York’s in 2019, the year before she played Isabel for director Josie Rourke in Measure for Measure at the Donmar Warehouse. 

“So she’s the real deal,” Lloyd declared. “Both are, and they’re also both very witty people. … They’ve got this great intelligence, this great wit,” Lloyd observed, perfect qualities for Much Ado About Nothing, which he called “a joyful play.”

Although he complained that he has seen it played a touch too “broad.”

He said that it doesn’t need to be played at a “slapstick pace” to be fun. “The language in its own right is funny. I think they’ll be amazing sparring partners but also hint at that kind of tenderness under the surface.”

Both productions of The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing will be stripped back, and he will ponder with frequent collaborator Soutra  Gilmour on how the shows will look and feel. 

There’s a shipwreck in The Tempest, but Lloyd won’t reveal whether he’s tempted or not to place one on the Drury Lane’s boards.

However, unlike his Sunset Boulevard and Romeo and Juliet productions, he won’t be using video as part of the performance for the Drury Lane shows.

“They’ll be stripped down, but no video. I’m saving all the video energy for Sunset Boulevard on Broadway,” he explained.

The two Shakespeares will run between Disney’s Frozen, which closes September 8, and musical Hercules, which begins performances in summer 2025.

“That’s why the Shakespeare season is a strictly limited total of 16 weeks,” said Lloyd. He added that there have been no discussions about the plays being captured by the National Theatre’s NT Live cameras, nor has there been talk of transferring to Broadway. 

“I always just make something for the theatre in which it’s meant to be performed, and then we see the after that,” Lloyd said during a conversation at the Jamie Lloyd Company offices located in a wing of Somerset House on the Strand, literally a stone’s throw from the Drury Lane.

We first touched base about the possibility of Shakespeare at Drury Lane late last year and have kept talking, on and off, since.

All kinds of names were bandied about by a few in the know. “Tom Hanks,” someone gleefully told me. Wrong Tom, old boy.

“Margot Robbie,” another boasted. 

“It’s so funny. I’ve heard these names, “ said Lloyd, “but no, not true. I mean, I would love to work with Margot Robbie on a play. I think she’s remarkable, isn’t she? And she came to see A Doll’s House that we did with Jessica Chastain. And that would be a dream come true to work with her.”

However, he revealed that he had spoken to Robbie “a couple of times” but “not” about Shakespeare.

“I think, as I say, one day, she’d like to explore the idea of doing a play, but let’s see what happens,” he cautioned.

Lloyd soon heads back to New York to begin rehearsals for Sunset Boulevard.

He and Weaver plan to meet up while he’s there to discuss her Prospero. He noted that the name won’t switch gender to Prospera as happened with Julie Taymor’s 2010 film of The Tempest, where the revengeful noble magician was played by Helen Mirren.

“It will remain Prospero,” Lloyd insisted.

Rehearsals for The Tempest will begin in London on October 28, “literally a week after we open Sunset on Broadway,” Lloyd said. 

His Jamie Lloyd Company will produce the season alone without the participation of ATG Entertainment.

The 16-week Shakespeare season will feature 25,000 tickets for £25 [US$32] and they’ll be “ring-fenced exclusively” for under-30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits. He said that he’s “well aware” that in the past wealthier folk who can afford to pay steeper prices have taken unfair advantage and gobbled up specially priced cheaper seats.

“These are good seats too,” he beamed. But they will introduce new methods to ensure the cheap seats go to the “right people.”

Working on The Tempest at Drury Lane will sort of complete a circle of coincidence for Weaver. 

She’ll be taking on a role last performed there by Gielgud.

Her first Broadway credit in 1975 was to work on a revival of W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife, starring Ingrid Bergman.

Weaver worked as an assistant stage manager and understudy.

The production was directed by John Gielgud.

[schnitzelsemmerl]

THIS IS LONG OVERDUE BUT ANYWAY. ANNA MASTERPOST (using fancy english for this) (TW for some heavy topics, such as SH, drinking, abuse, depression, drinking and lots of tragic death)

Anna Lewis (née Anna Baumgartner) was born to her mother Clara Auer and Martin Baumgartner on February 28th, 1745. Her parents were teens (with Clara being 16, Martin being 18) at the time of her birth.

They lived in Vienna, specifically the part of the city called "Favoriten". Her parents worked a lot during her childhood, once selling things on the market, once sewing, whatever job they could find, so she was usually home alone.

When she was 10, her mother had 2 more kids: Johann and Elisa (August 3rd, 1755, twins). As a kid, Anna was closer with her paternal grandparents, who lived in the apartment below them.

When Anna was 12 (Christmas Eve 1757) the house got on fire. Her grandparents and siblings were away at that time. She survived with minimal injuries. But it made her first realize how shitty her situation was, when her family couldn't afford to fix anything. From that day on until her late teens, she dreamed of "greatness". Which meant "marrying rich to support her family". She helped her parents with work.

When she turned 16, she packed up her bagsand simply left. She sneaked onto various ways of transports: eventually reaching the city of London (May 1761). Eventually (2 weeks later), she met a young man her age: Stephen Lewis. His family was wealthy, owning a fabric business. His mother, Jane, a rich widow, approved of the marriage. Anna's mother Clara, however, did not.

She told Anna: "Annerl, wenn du den Deppen da heiratest, brauchst du nicht mehr heimkommen," ("Annerl (equivalent to Annie), if you marry that idiot, don't bother coming back home.") and Anna officially got kicked out from the home she had left.

Jane did take her in. Anna made a friend, Stephen's 15-year old cousin Caroline and was acquaintanced with Caroline's 23-year old stepsister Abigail "Abby" Waterton. Abigail granted Anna to become an apprentice at her sewing shop in Brighton, which Anna had to decline, due to the distance. Abigail sent the young woman money occasionally.

Anna and Stephen would get married on July 22nd of that same year. And on March 20th of 1762, their first son was born prematurely. Unfortunately, he didn't make it.

Luckily, they had another son. Eduard Lewis was born to Anna and Stephen on November 1st, 1763, being baptized the day after.

The young couple was in truly in love, the other being their soulmate. Anna had another child, a daughter: Katharina "Katja" Lewis (August 10th, 1766).

After the birth of Katja, the marriage spiralled downwards. The child wasn't most at fault (Stephen was disappointed he had gotten a daughter, though), but Stephen's mother, Jane, died of cancer only 4 months after the birth of her granddaughter.

Anna was suffering heavy postpartum depression and self-esteem issues. She began to question her choice of marrying. Stephen was mourning his mother and also questioning if Anna was truly "the one" for him. He began to gamble, spending their money. Anna even attempted self harm a few times. Stephen came home drunk more and more often.

Then, over Christmas and New Years of '68. Stephen, Anna and Katja caught an illness and were bedridden. They never found out what it was, but it left Anna with scars she would be insecure about her whole life.

So, she began to doll herself up more. Maybe Stephen would prefer her that way? And he did. He stopped hitting her. Anna had a strong temper and normally wouldn't take shit from anybody. Except from Stephen, who, in her eyes, could do nothing wrong.

They actually could live comfortably again. On April 19th, 1775, the Revolutionary War started. Stephen was a die-hard patriot. While Anna couldn't even speak English properly. She wasn't integrated into Britain at all, but would rather die than go back to her family in Vienna.

They joined the war immediately. The children were left behind at a cousin of Stephen's home: the cousin's name was Jeremiah Lewis, and the name of his "friend" who lived with him, was Isaac Johannson. (And they were roommates). Jeremiah was a priest, while Isaac was a theology teacher. Eduard and Katja would switch between their home and the home of Isaac's sister, Mercy. Eduard deeply respected Mercy, naming his future first-born daughter after her. Later, Jeremiah and Isaac were convicted to sodomy, imprisoned and hanged.

Mercy was in a deep state of mourning over her brother. And when she later found out about her young love (a woman named Mary) dying, she fell in a deep depression and spent her life alone in her home, eventually moving to the seaside. She began to drink. Eduard and Katja still lived in her house, but Mercy isolated herself so much that they didn't even see her anymore. Mercy died of her alcoholism.

Back to the battlefield. Anna worked as a nurse in the British camp, where she met Adele Antos from @imobsessedwiththeatre. The two immediately became friends. Anna also met Frederick Kenneth from @lil-gae-disaster, who taught her English. (There are more people, too)

Stephen didn't even last a month in the war, dying by a shot wound on February 13th of 1776. Anna deeply mourned her shitty husband. Her and Adele (who developed a crush on her) began secretly dating. Adele was the love of her life.

One night at a tavern (Anna was dragged along so she could make more friends), she met a man. His name was Francis van der Berg, son of an old Dutch families who settled in New York. The two took some time to get to know eachother, Anna left the army in October 1781.

So in January of 1782, her and Francis, who were good friends, moved in together in a house just outside New York. Anna was in regular contact via letters with Eduard and Katja. Katja had grown slightly bitter against her mother. Especially when she left them and failed to protect them.

Anna wasn't made to be a mother. She didn’t see her children as her children, but moreso as adults. She wrote a few angry letters at Katja, a literal teenager, which Francis kept her from sending. Thank God.

Francis and Anna got married in secret. Anna's name was now "Lady Anna van der Berg" and she visited the Netherlands with her husband a few times. He called her "his dear tulip". Adele and some other friends tried to contact Anna, but she never responded to any letters.

On December 6th, 1783, Anna gave birth to her daughter: Franziska "Franzie" van der Berg. Franzie's last name was later changed to be "Lewis" by Eduard and Caroline, the cousin mentioned earlier. The Lewis family pretty much despised Francis.

On December 7th, Anna died due to childbirth complications. Her last words to her husband were "Sag Adele, dass ich sie liebe. Ich liebe dich." ("Tell Adele that I love her. I love you.")

Francis died of a broken heart on December 24th, 1783. Anna's children were raised by Frederick Kenneth and his beloved Jonathan.

Anna herself wished to never return to Vienna. But her brother, Johann, let her body be buried at the Friedhof (cemetary) Oberlaa in Favoriten against her will. She got an unmarked grave.

[ltwilliammowett]

Mary Lacy - female sailor and shipwright

Mary Lacy (everything here is based on her self-written biography and should therefore be viewed with caution) was born on 12 January 1740. Although she came from a very poor family, she was quite educated and could even read and write. Although she had to help support her family through manual labour from an early age, she was finally sent to work as a servant in a household at the age of 12. The work there did not make her happy and so she packed her bags, disguised herself as a young man and disappeared to Chatham in 1759.

Mary Lacy, The female shipwright, 1800 (x)

There, as William Chandler, she became assistant to the Carpenter of HMS Sandwich, a newly launched ship of the line with 90 guns. From him she learned everything she needed for the carpenter's trade, even if her master was not always pleased with her. But she managed to make a name for herself among the men by winning boxing matches. However, she began to develop rheumatoid arthritis at an early age. This sent her to the sickbay for a long time. Fortunately, the Sandwich was on blockade duty off Brest, so she was able to recover in peace. Unfortunately, there are no detailed records of Mary's work on board as she skilfully omitted this from her biography. What she did recount was that a very strong storm repeatedly damaged the ship's main mast, forcing her back to the Plymouth for repairs. In November, it was the storm that held up the Sandwich until two days after Admiral Hawke caught up with and destroyed the French fleet in the Bay of Quiberon, one of the great victories of the English Navy. So Mary did not take part in the battle that ended the threat of a French invasion of England, but the war continued and the blockade of the French coast continued.

HMS Sandwich laying her mooring at sunset, by Jack Spurling, 1932 (x)

In 1760, when the Sandwich returned to Portsmouth, Mary was transferred to the hospital as she was again suffering from a severe rheumatic attack, she was under treatment but no one knew of her true sex. Somewhat to her chagrin, the Sandwich sailed without her, so she signed on with HMS Royal Sovereign, 100 guns. Like many men and women at sea, Mary suffered from scurvy. Although the Royal Sovereign was stationed in an English port, which meant that the crew would be supplied with fresh meat and vegetables, there was never enough to prevent the dreaded disease from affecting the men. The boatswain on board the Royal Sovereign. took fatherly care of Mary, and it was here that she was able to attend school on board, where she learned to "cast accompts [sic]". After a full year and nine months on board the ship, without having gone ashore once, the crew was finally paid off and discharged in December 1762.  Ashore in Portsmouth, Mary soon decided to begin an apprenticeship with a ship's carpenter. But after the signing of the peace treaty with Paris on 10 February 1763, many men had returned home and were looking for work. Nevertheless, Mary persisted. 

The flagship Royal Sovereign saluting at the Nore, by L. de Man (fl. c. 1725) (x)

Normally, a shipwright's apprenticeship was passed down from father to son. But in the spring of 1763, still pretending to be a man, Mary Lacy managed to learn a new trade. As an apprentice, she worked alternately in the dockyard or on a ship and thus learned the trade. Eight years after Mary Lacy left home, she received permission to visit her parents.  She was now twenty-seven. She found her family very well off and did not mention in her writing what her family thought of her living as a man. Only her family and a few close family friends knew the true identity of the visiting sailor. One of these family friends, a Mrs Low, later moved to Portsmouth, and although she had promised Mary never to reveal her secret, the woman began to tell anyone who would listen that William Chandler was a woman.  For several more years Mary managed to dispel the rumours about her gender, even going so far as to flirt with women and find herself a girlfriend to spend several months with without revealing her sex. 

Mary Lacy (detail) (x)

Finally, in the spring of 1770, after seven years of working towards it, Mary Lacy received her certificate and was officially declared a ship's carpenter.  For the first time, she received a living wage, even if the money was paid slowly. However, Mary's rheumatism kept flaring up, and finally, towards the end of 1771, with the help of a family lawyer friend, she applied for and received an invalid pension from the Navy as a woman. Mary Lacy, commonly referred to as Mrs Chandler according to the Navy Department, received twenty pounds a year. She published her memoirs The Female Shipwright in 1773 which brought her some money. But a year earlier she married the shipwright Josias Slade with whom she had 6 children by 1784, of whom only her first-born daughter and her last-born son reached adulthood. Both of them tried to get higher positions as servants in the dockyard, but their efforts were ignored. Mary finally died in 1801 and was buried at St Paul's, Deptford, Kent on 3 May 1801. Her husband, died in 1814 and was buried in St Paul's, Deptford, Kent, on 13 February 1814.

[weirdestbooks]

The Shot Heard Around the World Chapter 2

Why Are There So Many Treaties in Paris? (Wattpad | Ao3)

Table of Contents | Prev | Next

February 10, 1763

Paris, France

The war had been brutal on Canada’s grandmother. She had lost a lot of his island half-siblings to Britain, and today, she would be surrendering to Britain and his allies. Canada was nervous. Treaty signings were a big deal, and this would involve much of his family being given to Britain.

And it would involve Canada being given to Britain. 

Ever since he had found out, he had been talking around his grandmother’s home in Paris numbly, taking in the sights, not knowing if he would ever see it again. The places Canada would miss were his room, Louisiana’s room, and the kitchen with the excellent cook who had taught Canada how to make some of his favorite pastries.

He had also been grabbing little trinkets, reminders of his life here, packed into his bag with the rest of his stuff.

“Canada! Your grandmother is waiting! You do not want to be the reason she’s late, especially with the treaty happening today.” Canada’s father, New France, said.

“I’m scared, Father,” Canada said, “I don’t want to go with Britain, and I don’t want you to die.”

With Canada being given up to Britain and Louisana surrendering to Spain, New France would die. His father was about to die, and Canada was just going to leave him.

It felt wrong.

“It’s okay, Canada. I’m not afraid of death.” New France said with a gentle smile.

“But you’re New France! You should be the one living, not me!”

“Britain made it clear. He gets you. Spain gets Louisiana. I’m both of you, my last surviving children, and I cannot take the place of either of you. You two will live on for me, and I will watch from heaven with your deceased sisters, Plaisance and Acadia. I made my peace with that long ago. Now you need to—no use crying over what you can’t stop. Now, go. You know your Grandmother isn’t a patient woman.” His father said.

“Can you walk me down, Father? I…” Canada trailed off, not sure how to word his request. 

He just wanted to make sure that he got to see as much of his father as possible before he died.

“Sorry, Canada, but…I have a place I’d like to die, and I need to get there. Now hurry.” New France said before he rushed off. Canada sighed, taking one last look at his father before biting down his tears.

Canada then turned and quickly rushed outside, slowing as he approached his Grandmother’s carriage, bowing his head slightly at her.

“Where have you been?” Grandmother snapped, smacking Canada lightly on his head as he got in.

‘I’m sorry, Grandmother. I was just saying goodbye to my Father.” Canada said. His grandmother’s eyes softened a bit.

“I see.” She said, glancing out the window, “Well, you haven’t made us late. We still have time to get there.”

Canada had known his grandmother long enough to know that was her way of apologizing for his father’s death.

Not that he blamed her. He only blamed Britain. Britain had been forcing his people out of their land for so long and had been slowly replacing them with his own–

Canada’s hand flew to his forehead as another headache wracked him. 

Some of him hated Britain for what he was doing to his people. Another part of him…seemed to love him. Canada knew it had something to do with the expulsion of his people and Britain replacing them with his people.

He just didn’t know what it meant yet.

Canada was scared.

The carriage continued down the streets of Paris until it reached a building Canada didn't recognize. The pit in his stomach grew.

“You’ll be alright, Canada.” His grandmother said, patting his hand as she exited the carriage. Swallowing his nerves, Canada did the same.

They walked into the building where Canada saw Britain, surrounded by several of his grandmother’s islands and some unfamiliar ones. Spain was there, too, and Canada recognized Spanish Florida, who looked happy to be here, a strange sight since most of the colonies looked nervous and apprehensive.

"France," Britain said in English before switching to French, "Are you ready to sign the treaty?"

The Kingdom of France nodded before speaking again. "I am giving you Canada, all territories east of the Mississippi, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Tobago, and all captured territories. In return, you give me back my Indian factories, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Gorée."

Canada walked over to Britain as his grandmother said that, careful to keep his head bowed so as not to agitate him. His Aunt Dominica grabbed his hand as he did so, squeezing it gently before letting go.

"You give me back Manila and Havana, and I will give you back all British territory I captured, along with Spanish Florida." Spain then said, his voice sounding annoyed, his eyes scanning over the colonies being given to Britain. 

Spain then signed the treaty, followed by my grandmother and Britain. As soon as Canada’s grandmother signed it, he tried not to break into tears, knowing that his father had just died.

"Well, now that this is over with, get out of my country, Britain," My Grandmother said, “I think you have some colonies to get set up in that hideous place you call a home.”

Britain nodded before walking out the door, and Canada nervously followed him, but not before turning around and looking at his grandmother and family one last time.

“Now I expect you all to learn English quickly, as I don’t appreciate other languages spoken in my home. Now that you are a part of my country, you are expected to act like it.” Britain said, his voice stern but not unkind. It wasn’t like how Canada imagined him to be, and the part of him that was convinced Britain was a good person was singing in delight. Almost as if he could read his mind, Britain turned to face Canada with a small smile, “I expect you to be the best Quebec and to help the new colonies learn.” 

“Why me?” Canada asked as he gripped his bag tighter. Britain frowned at that.

“I don’t appreciate being questioned, but you’re new, and I know you’ll learn well. After all, most of your people were mine, and they want you to succeed just as much as I do. You’re already British, Quebec. All you need is a bit of guidance.” Britain said.

And despite himself, Ca–Quebec smiled.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[josefavomjaaga]

Napoleonic birthday calendar

A quick first attempt at a combined calender; I hope I have not accidentally dropped somebody on the way [searches floor]. Whom or what else should we add? I’ve already taken the liberty to add Junot and Duroc.

And just for the record: All the work was done by @northernmariette, I’m just posting on her behalf due to technical problems.

January

3 Jan 1777: Elisa Bonaparte-Baciocchi

7 Jan 1768: Joseph Bonaparte

🎖 10 Jan 1769: Marshal Ney

🎖 26 Jan 1763: Marshal Bernadotte

February

🎖 13 Feb 1768: Marshal Mortier

March

🎖 2 Mar 1770: Marshal Suchet

🎖 13 Mar 1763: Marshal Brune

20 Mar 1822: Napoléon II,

25 Mar 1782: Caroline Bonaparte-Murat

🎖 25 Mar 1767: Marshal Murat

27 Mar 1746: Charles (Carlo) Bonaparte

🎖 29 Mar 1769: Marshal Soult

April

10 Apr 1783: Hortense de Beauharnais-Bonaparte

🎖 10 Apr 1769: Marshal Lannes

🎖 13 Apr 1764: Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr

🎖 25 Apr 1767: Marshal Oudinot

🎖 29 Apr 1762: Marshal Jourdan

May

🎖 6 May 1758: Marshal Masséna

🎖 7 May 1763: Marshal Poniatowsky

🎖 10 May 1770: Marshal Davout

21 May 1775: Lucien Bonaparte

🎖 28 May 1735: Marshal Kellerman

🎖 31 May 1754: Marshal Pérignon

June

23 June 1763: Joséphine Bonaparte

July

🎖 20 Jul 1774: Marshal Marmont

🎖 31 Jul 1754: Marshal Moncey

August

🎖 6 Aug 1768: Marshal Bessières

15 Aug 1769: Napoléon Bonaparte

24 Aug 1750: Laetitia Ramolino-Bonaparte

September

2 Sept 1778: Louis Bonaparte

3 Sept 1781: Eugène de Beauharnais

24 Sept 1771: Junot

October

20 Oct 1780: Pauline Bonaparte

🎖 21 Oct 1759: Marshal Augereau

🎖 23 Oct 1766: Marshal Grouchy

🎖 25 Oct 1755: Marshal Lefebvre

25 Oct 1772: Duroc

November

15 Nov 1784: Jérôme Bonaparte

🎖 17 Nov 1765: Marshal Macdonald

🎖 20 Nov 1753: Marshal Berthier

December

🎖 7 Dec 1764: Marshal Victor

🎖 8 Dec 1742: Marshal Serurier

12 Dec 1791: Marie-Louise Bonaparte

[polizwrites]

PoliZ's WIP Update - 14 Feb 2024

Another busy IRL week, which cut into my writing time/energy.   I touched  5 fics (2 new works & 3 WIPs) for a total of 1763  words.  

On Ao3, I posted: 

Chapter Two of  The Sultan’s Gifts  - Stuckony Dom/Sub PWP fic.  

Scaredy-Cat  - a Stony No Powers ficlet

Every Second of The Night I Live Another Life -  mutual pining Stony semi-angsty ficlet. 

To Hold The Dragon’s Heart - Fantasy AU with prince!Tony and dragon!Steve. 

On Tumblr I posted: 

Every Second of the Night I Live Another Life -  basically the same fic as on Ao3  😁

I’m juggling  18 😬 active/semi-active WIPs with my current  deadlines being the Tony Stark Bingo & Stony AU Bingo which both wrap tomorrow.    

See  below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc.  As always, feel free to send me   prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding  any of these projects  or any other WIPs I’ve got out there.   Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

Bucky Barnes Bingo  - [BBB_R5]   (Ends 10 31 Jan 2024)

Ended up with twenty-six fills  and  an assisted blackout!   Masterpost. 

Tony Stark Bingo Round 7  - [TSB_R7]   (ends 15 Feb)

Twenty-seven  fills and one WIPs as of the moment  - getting an assisted blackout, thanks to a couple of adopted squares! 

* A2 - KINK: Concubine -  Posted Chapter Two of  The Sultan’s Gifts  which also filed my SAUB Gentle Dom square and the Build a Bucky Bingo February prompt Fingering.  It came in at 1071 words and will post on Friday. 

* K5 - AU: Anime - I had Vague Ideas of doing a “Battle of the Planets” (my first anime and a childhood favorite)  fusion, with Tony as Princess, Steve as Mark and Bucky as Jason - but wasn’t sure who to put in as  Tiny (Happy? Thor?) or  Keyop (Vision?) -  JARVIS would have been their 7-Zark- 7 of course….  

* Jan Adoptable: Enemies to Lovers -  Posted   To Hold The Dragon’s Heart  this morning.  It was written for prompt  [#FFF237 A Fool’s Quest] and is also filling my SAUB AU: Fantasy square.  The fic is inspired by CoffeeOwl’s really cool dragon!Steve/ indebted!Tony prompt in the STB Discord server.  It came in at 1325 words. 

Stony AUniverse Bingo  [SAUB_R1] (ends 15 Feb)

Another brand-new bingo I’m helping co-mod!   I’m up to fourteen  fills, four  WIPs and several  crossover ideas in play.  Not sure I’m going to get a blackout - but I’ll do my best!  

* S3 - AU: Wings -   Ran out of time on this - but will hopefully be able to carry it over to the next round  and perhaps  do a second remix of some part of Take What Was Wrong (And Make it Right) from Steve’s POV - since  the first remix  is Bucky POV (and therefore tricky to make Stony-focused) 

* S5 - Accidental Baby Acquisition  - Another carry-over with the eventual Chapter 2 of  Peresmešnik, (aka Three Avengers and a Baby)

* T1 - AU: Fantasy -  see TSB  Enemies to Lovers. 

* T2 - Adopting a Cat -  Posted  Scaredy-Cat  yesterday.  This No Powers established Stony ficlet where Tony’s rescuing a stray cat and Steve helps out  was a crossover with  the Flash Fiction Friday promot  [#FFF236 Fight or Flight]and came in at  388 words. 

* O2 - Omegaverse - wrote up a mostly platonic  Stony fic inspired by @kandisheek’s lovely art piece and crossing over with my SRB  Alpha Steve square.  A Time to Rest is coming in at 325 words and will post tomorrow.   

* O3 - FREE - used this in combination with a previous  Flash Fiction Friday prompt:   [#FFF235 Little Pink Houses]  to come up with  Those Old Crazy Dreams (Just Kind of Came and Went) which was posted to Tumblr and came in at 461 words.  I may tweak it a bit before posting to Ao3 tomorrow.   

* N2 - Mutual Pining - crossover with CABB Royal Knight?

* N3 - Gentle Dom - see TSB KINK: Concubine above

* N5 - AU: Multiple Identities - Posted  The Secrets That We Keep  to Ao3 this morning.  It’s a first person present tense alternating POV ficlet with mutual pining (and secret identity) Stony. Inspired by the  Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF225 I Can't Tell], the ficlet came in at 340 words.

Captain (America) Bottom Bingo - Round 2 [CABB] (ends 28 Feb 2024)

I signed up for a 3x3 card for this bingo and have six fills, two WIPs and a couple of crossover ideas.

* B2 - FREE -  Using this toward Chapter Three of   The Sultan’s Gifts  which will also fill my SRB Multiple Submissives.  Finished the first draft this morning - it’s coming in at 1033 words and will post by the end of the month.  

* B3 - Royal Knight - possibly match up with SRB  A5 - Red Skull?  

Post July Break Bingo  [JBB_23p] (Ends Apr 2024)

One fill on my  2x3 non-fandom-specific card - still working on  potential crossovers.

* A1 - “It’s you. It’s always been you.” - I may be including this in a Canon Divergence prompt I have on one of these cards 😁

* B2 - Character’s personality is split into two different beings – I’ve never played with Bucky & the Soldier being two different people, but this seems like the perfect opportunity! Will see what might be a good crossover on one of my open cards.

*  C1 - Touch Starved – another good fit for a Bucky-centric fic. (Steve or Tony or Clint).

Steve Rogers Bingo - Round 3 [SRB_R3] (ends  15 Jun 2024)

Seven  fills and one WIP - need to ponder possible crossovers, especially with  CABB.  

* A1 - Steve can actually dance just fine - Matched this up with the Flash Fiction Friday prompt  [#FFF238 Take My Hand]  for   Finding a Partner -  where Steve & Natasha go dancing (potential pre-slash). It came in at  239 words and will post to Ao3 before the event is over.    

* B4 - Fix it  - See SAUB AU: Canon Divergence

* C5 - Exes to Lovers  - crossover with  CABB - "B1 - "All I wanted was for you to be happy."  – Bucky or Tony as the Ex?   SAUB S4 - Arranged Marriage  might be an additional crossover  

* D1 - Multiple Submissives -  see  TSB  KINK: Concubine

Bucky Barnes Connect Four - Alt Jun-iverse [BBC4_R2]  {Ends June 2024}

The good folks over at @buckybarnesevents  have opened this event up early!  You sign up for a single row card of four squares and the challenge is to see if you can combine any/all into a single Bucky-centric AU fanwork - although you can also create 2-4 separate fanworks if you want.  

The combo of prompts on my first card [Reality Show,  Omegaverse, Talent/Manager, Royalty] sparked an idea that I’m about 230 words + misc notes into already -  Alpha!Bucky as a technical prince   who gets talked into joining a reality show that is supposed to match him up with an omega… but there’s a twist!   I’m torn between striking while the iron is hot vs spending time on the fics that have a looming deadline…  🙃

Hawkeyes Bingo [HB_R2] {Ends TBD] 

Just signed up for this fun Tumblr event - got a 3x3 card and want to swap out one square, but otherwise am looking forward to creating more  Clint-centric content and trying my hand at a bit of  Kate Bishop fic as well!    

*A1 - Werewolf AU -  possible inspiration to continue A Hairy Situation? 

* A3 - Awkward Flirting – this might be a good entry into my first femslash fic with Kate/Yelena?    

Build-A-Bucky Bingo [BaBB_R1] {Ends Oct 2024}

Another fun year-long  event from the folks at  @buckybarnesevents!  Each month there’s a list of prompts and you choose (at least) one  each month for your card!

* November:  Crackfic - DONE  

* December: Wingman  - DONE

* January: Wingfic  - DONE

*January: Polyamory - DONE

* February -  Fingering -  see TSB: Concubine 

Warm and Fluffy   Bingo  [WFB]   (no end date)

Four  fills on my card, courtesy of   @warmandfluffybingocards  - need to try for another crossover or two! 

————

On  other creative fronts:  I am working on the Monica Rambeau (aka Photon) figure for one of my Marvel Trumps Hate  auction winners.

If  you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations, check  out Stuffed With Character    over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 150!).   These soft stuffed figures are  mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC   and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design   requests  for any fandom!

[bnnbharat]

10 फरवरी का इतिहास : आज का इतिहास : Today in History

आज यानी 10 फरवरी की ऐतिहासिक घटनाये इस प्रकार हैं।   10 फरवरी की ऐतिहासिक घटनाये : History of 10 February 1763 – फ्रेंच और भारतीय युद्ध: पेरिस की संधि का युद्ध समाप्त हो जाता है और फ्रांस ने क्यूबेक को ग्रेट ब्रिटेन में सौंप दिया था. 1814 – नेपोलियन युद्ध: चंपाबर्ट की लड़ाई रूसी और प्रशिया के ऊपर फ्रेंच जीत में समाप्त हुई थी. 1840 – यूनाइटेड किंगडम की रानी विक्टोरिया ने सक्से-कोब्रग-गोथ के…

[the-paintrist]

Joséphine Bonaparte (born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was Empress of the French as the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Joséphine's marriage to Napoleon was her second. Her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until five days after his execution. Through her children by Beauharnais, she was the grandmother of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the Brazilian Empress Amélie of Leuchtenberg. Members of the current royal families of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway and the grand ducal family of Luxembourg also descend from her. Because she did not bear Napoleon any children, he had their marriage annulled and married Marie Louise of Austria. Joséphine was the recipient of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist.

A patron of art, Joséphine worked closely with sculptors, painters and interior decorators to establish a unique Consular and Empire style at the Château de Malmaison. She became one of the leading collectors of different forms of art of her time, such as sculpture and painting. The Château de Malmaison was noted for its rose garden, which she supervised closely.

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (4 April 1758 – 16 February 16, 1823) was a French Romantic painter and draughtsman best known for his allegorical paintings and portraits such as Madame Georges Anthony and Her Two Sons (1796). He painted a portrait of each of Napoleon’s two wives.

Pierre Paul Prud'hon - The empress Joséphine, 1805.

[your-disobedient-servant]

I started, while waiting for this peace to be made, a work of Rousseau of Geneva. The book is titled Émile, and in truth, madame, it brings me back to your opinion: all these new works are not worth much; they are a rehash of things that we have known for a long time, decorated with some bold thoughts and written in an elegant enough style. But nothing original, little sound reasoning, and much impudence on the part of the authors; and this boldness that comes from insolence upsets the reader, so that the book becomes unbearable to him, and he tosses it in disgust.

— Frederick the Great to the duchess of Saxe-Gotha, 10 February 1763

J'ai commencé, en attendant que cette paix se fasse, un ouvrage de Rousseau de Genève. Le livre a pour titre Émile, et en vérité, madame, il me ramène bien à votre sentiment : toutes ces productions nouvelles ne valent pas grand' chose; c'est un rabâchage de choses qu'on sait depuis longtemps, décoré de quelques pensées hardies et écrites en style assez élégant. Mais rien d'original, peu de raisonnement solide, et beaucoup d'impudence de la part des auteurs; et cette hardiesse qui tient de l'effronterie indispose le lecteur, de façon que le livre lui devient insupportable, et qu'il le jette par dégoût.

the reviews are in and they say YEET

[rabbitcruiser]

French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ended the war and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain on February 10, 1763.

[scotianostra]

13th February 1728 saw the birth of John Hunter, the Scottish physician and anatomist.

Born at Long Calderwood, his actual birth date is unknown, another source gives July 14th but the majority plump for February 13th.

Hunter was the youngest of 10 children. He had little formal education. Moving to London in 1748, he was initially hired as a dissection assistant by his older brother, physician William Hunter, a famed anatomist whose lasting contribution would be in obstetric anatomy. John proved to be a gifted anatomist himself and was soon running practical dissection classes and giving lectures.

In 1753 he was elected a master of anatomy at Surgeon’s Hall, responsible for reading lectures. He began his own private lectures on the principles and practice of surgery in the early 1770s. In addition, he had teaching duties from 1768 at St. George’s Hospital, to which he had been elected surgeon in 1758. In 1760 Hunter accepted a commission as an army surgeon. He returned to London in 1763, where he continued in private practice until his death. In 1776 he was named surgeon extraordinary to King George III.

Hunter not only made specific contributions of great importance in surgery but also attained for surgery the dignity of a scientific profession, basing its practice on a vast body of general biological principles. In an attempt to demonstrate that gonorrhoea and syphilis are manifestations of a single disease, he inoculated a subject (sometimes said to have been himself) with pus from a person with gonorrhoea. The subject developed symptoms of both diseases.

Hunter wrote a number of books on surgery throughout his life, he owned a house in London’s Earls Court that had large grounds which were used to house a collection of animals including ‘zebra, Asiatic buffaloes and mountain goats’, When the animals died he would boil the bones down and use them for animal anatomy, a newspaper article reported that many animals there were 'supposed to be hostile to each other but … in this new paradise, the greatest friendship prevails’, and he may have been the inspiration for the Doctor Dolittle literary character.

John Hunter’s death in 1793 was due to a heart attack brought on by an argument at St George’s Hospital concerning the admission of students. He was originally buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields, but in 1859 was reburied in the north aisle of the nave in Westminster Abbey, reflecting his importance to the country.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé),[1] was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) in 1723, the kingdom was ruled by his grand-uncle Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France. Cardinal Fleury was chief minister from 1726 until his death in 1743, at which time the king took sole control of the kingdom.

His reign of almost 59 years (from 1715 to 1774) was the second longest in the history of France, exceeded only by his predecessor, Louis XIV, who had ruled for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715). In 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He ceded New France in North America to Great Britain and Spain at the conclusion of the disastrous Seven Years' War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorraine and the Corsican Republic into the Kingdom of France. Historians generally criticize his reign, citing how reports of his corruption embarrassed the monarchy, while his wars drained the treasury and produced little gain. A minority of scholars dispute this view, arguing that it is the result of revolutionary propaganda. His grandson and successor Louis XVI inherited a large kingdom in need of financial and political reform which would ultimately lead to the French Revolution of 1789.

Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French subject and portrait painter.

Jean-Baptiste van Loo: Luís XV de Francia aos 17 anos (1727)

[didanawisgi]

This article was published online on February 10, 2021.

“Massachusetts abolished enslavement before the Treaty of Paris brought an end to the American Revolution, in 1783. The state constitution, adopted in 1780 and drafted by John Adams, follows the Declaration of Independence in proclaiming that all “men are born free and equal.” In this statement Adams followed not only the Declaration but also a 1764 pamphlet by the Boston lawyer James Otis, who theorized about and popularized the familiar idea of “no taxation without representation” and also unequivocally asserted human equality. “The Colonists,” he wrote, “are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.” In 1783, on the basis of the “free and equal” clause in the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, the state’s chief justice, William Cushing, ruled enslavement unconstitutional in a case that one Quock Walker had brought against his enslaver, Nathaniel Jennison.

Many of us who live in Massachusetts know the basic outlines of this story and the early role the state played in standing against enslavement. But told in this traditional way, the story leaves out another transformative figure: Prince Hall, a free African American and a contemporary of John Adams. From his formal acquisition of freedom, in 1770, until his death, in 1807, Hall helped forge an activist Black community in Boston while elevating the cause of abolition to new prominence. Hall was the first American to publicly use the language of the Declaration of Independence for a political purpose other than justifying war against Britain. In January 1777, just six months after the promulgation of the Declaration and nearly three years before Adams drafted the state constitution, Hall submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature (or General Court, as it is styled) requesting emancipation, invoking the resonant phrases and founding truths of the Declaration itself.

Here is what he wrote (I’ve put the echoes of the Declaration of Independence in italics):

The petition of A Great Number of Blackes detained in a State of Slavery in the Bowels of a free & christian Country Humbly shuwith that your Petitioners Apprehend that Thay have in Common with all other men a Natural and Unaliable Right to that freedom which the Grat — Parent of the Unavese hath Bestowed equalley on all menkind and which they have Never forfuted by Any Compact or Agreement whatever — but thay wher Unjustly Dragged by the hand of cruel Power from their Derest frinds and sum of them Even torn from the Embraces of their tender Parents — from A popolous Plasant And plentiful cuntry And in Violation of Laws of Nature and off NationsAnd in defiance of all the tender feelings of humanity Brough hear Either to Be sold Like Beast of Burthen & Like them Condemnd to Slavery for Life.

In this passage, Hall invokes the core concepts of social-contract theory, which grounded the American Revolution, to argue for an extension of the claim to equal rights to those who were enslaved. He acknowledged and adopted the intellectual framework of the new political arrangements, but also pointedly called out the original sin of enslavement itself.

Hall’s memory was vigorously kept alive by members and archivists of the Masonic lodge he founded, and his name can be found in historical references. But his life has attracted fresh attention in recent years from scholars and community leaders, both because he deserves to be widely known and celebrated and because inserting his story into the tale of the country’s founding exemplifies the promise of an integrated way of studying and teaching history. It’s hard enough to shine new light on an African American figure who has been long in the shadows, one who in important ways should be considered an American Founder. It can prove far more difficult to trace an individual’s “relationship tree” and come to understand that person, in a granular and even cinematic way, in the full context of his or her own society: family, school, church, civic organizations, commerce, government. Doing so—especially for figures and communities that have been overlooked—gives us a chance to tell a whole story, to weave together multiple perspectives on the events of our political founding into a single, joined tale. It also provides an opportunity to draw out and emphasize the agency of people who experienced oppression and domination. In the case of Prince Hall, the process of historical reconstruction is still under way.

When I was a girl, I used to ask what there was to know about the experience of being enslaved—and was told by kind and well-meaning teachers that, sadly, the lack of records made the question impossible to answer. In fact, the records were there; we just hadn’t found them yet. Historical evidence often turns up only when one starts to look for it. And history won’t answer questions until one thinks to ask them.

John Adams and Prince Hall would have passed each other on the streets of Boston. They almost certainly were aware of each other. Hall was no minor figure, though his early days and family life are shrouded in some mystery. Probably he was born in Boston in 1735 (not in England or Barbados, as some have suggested). It is possible that he lived for a period as a freeman before he was formally emancipated. He may have been one of the thousands of African Americans who fought in the Continental Army; his son, Primus, certainly was. As a freeman, Hall became for a time a leatherworker, passed through a period of poverty, and then ultimately ran a shop, from which he sold, among other things, his own writings advocating for African American causes. Probably he was not married to every one of the five women in Boston who were married to someone named Prince Hall in the years between 1763 and 1804, but he may have been. Whether he was married to Primus’s mother, a woman named Delia, is also unclear. Between 1780 and 1801, the city’s tax collectors found their way to some 1,184 different Black taxpayers. Prince Hall and his son appear in those tax records for 15 of those 21 years, giving them the longest period of recorded residence in the city of any Black person we know about in that era. The DePaul University historian Chernoh M. Sesay Jr.’s excellent dissertation, completed in 2006, provides the most thorough and rigorously analyzed academic review of Hall’s biography that is currently available. (The dissertation, which I have drawn on here, has not yet been published in full, but I hope it will be.)

Hall was a relentless petitioner, undaunted by setbacks. When Hall submitted his 1777 petition, co-signed by seven other free Black men, to the Massachusetts legislature, he was building on the efforts of other African Americans in the state to abolish enslavement. In 1773 and 1774, African Americans from Bristol and Worcester Counties as well as Boston and its neighboring towns put forward six known petitions and likely more to this end. Hall led the formation of the first Black Masonic lodge in the Americas, and possibly in the world. The purpose of forming the lodge was to provide mutual aid and support and to create an infrastructure for advocacy. Fourteen men joined Hall’s lodge almost surely in 1775, and in the years from then until 1784, records reveal that 51 Black men participated in the lodge. Through the lodge’s history, one can trace a fascinating story of the life of Boston’s free Black community in the final decades of the 18th century.

Why did Hall choose Freemasonry as one of his life’s passions? Alonza Tehuti Evans, a former historian and archivist of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, took up that question in a 2017 lecture. Hall and his fellow lodge members, he explained, recognized that many of the influential people in Boston—and throughout the colonies—were deeply involved in Freemasonry. George Washington is a prominent example, and symbolism that resonates with Masonic meaning adorns the $1 bill to this day. Hall saw entrance into Freemasonry as a pathway to securing influence and a network of supporters.

Hall submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature requesting emancipation, invoking the resonant phrases and founding truths of the Declaration of Independence.

In a world without stable passports or identification documents, participation in the order could provide proof of status as a free person. It offered both leverage and legitimacy—as when Prince Hall and members of his lodge, in 1786, offered to raise troops to support the commonwealth in putting down Shays’s Rebellion.

In the winter and spring of 1788, Hall was leading a charge in Boston against enslavers who made a practice of using deception or other means to kidnap free Black people, take them shipboard, and remove them to distant locations, where they would be sold into enslavement. He submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature seeking aid—asking legislators to “do us that justice that our present condition requires”—and publicized his petition in newspapers in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

In the summer of that year, a newspaper circulated an extract of a letter from a prominent white Bostonian who had assisted Hall on this very matter. The unnamed author of the letter reports that he had been visited by a group of free Black men who had been kidnapped in Boston and had recently been emancipated and returned to the city. They were escorted to his house by Hall, and they told the story of their emancipation. One of the men who had been kidnapped was a member of Hall’s Masonic lodge. Carried off to the Caribbean and put on the auction block, the kidnapped men found that the merchant to whom they were being offered was himself a Mason. Mutual recognition of a shared participation in Freemasonry put an end to the transaction and gave them the chance to recover their freedom.

Prince Hall’s work on abolition and its enforcement was just the beginning of a lifetime of advocacy. Disillusioned by how hard it was to secure equal rights for free Black men and women in Boston, he submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature seeking funds to assist him and other free Blacks in emigrating to Africa. That same year, he also turned his energies to advocating for resources for public education. Through it all, his Masonic membership proved both instrumental and spiritually valuable.

Founding the lodge had not been easy. Although Hall and his fellows were most likely inducted into Freemasonry in 1775, they were never able to secure a formal charter for their lodge from the other lodges in Massachusetts: Prejudice ran strong. Hall and his fellows had in fact probably been inducted by members of an Irish military lodge, planted in Boston with the British army, who had proved willing to introduce them to the mysteries of the order. Hall’s lodge functioned as an unofficial Masonic society—African Lodge No. 1—but received a formal charter only after a request was sent to England for a warrant. The granting of a charter by the Grand Lodge of England finally arrived in 1787.

In seeking this charter, Hall had written to Masons in England, lamenting that lodges in Boston had not permitted him and his fellows a full charter but had granted a permit only to “walk on St John’s Day and Bury our dead in form which we now enjoy.” Hall wanted full privileges, not momentary sufferance. In this small detail, though, we gain a window into just how important even the first steps toward Masonic privileges were. In the years before 1783 and full abolition of enslavement in Massachusetts, Black people in the state were subjected to intensive surveillance and policing, as enslavers sought to keep their human property from slipping away into the world of free Blacks. Membership in the Masons was like a hall pass—an opportunity to have a parade as a community, to come out and step high, without harassment. That’s what it meant to walk on Saint John’s Day—June 24—and to hold funeral parades for the dead.

Whether that stepping-out day remained June 24 is unclear. As Sesay writes, “Boston blacks, including Prince Hall, first applied to use Faneuil Hall in 1789 to hear an ‘African preacher.’ On February 25, 1789, the Selectmen accepted the application of blacks to use Faneuil Hall for ‘public worship.’ ” By 1820, the walk on Saint John’s Day appears to have become African Independence Day and was celebrated on July 14, Bastille Day, much to the displeasure of at least one newspaper. An unattributed column in the New-England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine complained about the annual parade in recognizably racist tones (the mention of “Wilberforce” at the end is a reference to William Wilberforce, the British campaigner against enslavement):

This is the day on which, for unaccountable reasons or for no reasons at all, the Selectmen of Boston, permit the town to be annually disturbed by a mob of negroes … The streets through which this sable procession passes are a scene of noise and confusion, and always will be as long as the thing is tolerated. Quietness and order can hardly be expected, when five or six hundred negroes, with a band of music, pikes, swords, epaulettes, sashes, cocked hats, and standards, are marching through the principal streets. To crown this scene of farce and mummery, a clergyman is mounted in their pulpit to harangue them on the blessings of independence, and to hold up for their admiration the characters of “Masser Wilberforce and Prince Hall.”

Well after Hall’s death, the days for stepping out continued in Boston—an expression of freedom and the claiming of a rightful place in the polity. The lodge that Hall founded continued too. It is the oldest continuously active African American association in the U.S., with chapters now spread around the country. Its work in support of public education has endured. In the 20th century the Prince Hall Freemasons made significant contributions to the NAACP, in many places hosting the first branches of the organization. In the 1950s alone, the group donated more than $400,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (equivalent to millions of dollars today). Thurgood Marshall was a member.

for all of what we now know to be Prince Hall’s importance, I learned of him only recently. In 2015 the National Archives held a conference about the Declaration of Independence, inspired by my own research on the document. At the conference, another colleague presented a paper on how abolitionists had been the first people to make use of the Declaration for political projects other than the Revolution itself. A few months earlier I had come across the passage from Hall’s 1777 petition that I shared above, and that so beautifully resonates with the Declaration; at that conference, I suddenly learned the important political context in which it fit. I had published a book on the Declaration of Independence—Our Declaration—in 2014, but until the spring of 2015, I had never heard of Hall.

Yet I have been studying African American history since childhood. When I was in high school, my school didn’t do anything to celebrate Black History Month. My father encouraged me to take matters into my own hands and propose to the school that I might curate a weekly exhibit on one of the school’s bulletin boards. The school was obliging. It offered me the one available bulletin board—in a dark corner in the farthest remove of the school’s quads. This was not the result of malice, just of a lack of attention to the stakes. But I was glad to have access to that bulletin board, and I dutifully filled it with pictures of people like Carter G. Woodson and Mary McLeod Bethune and Thurgood Marshall, and with excerpts from their writings.

I am deeply aware of how much historical treasure about Black America is hidden, and have been actively trying to seek it out. While I was on the faculty of the University of Chicago, I helped found the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, a network of archival organizations in Chicago dedicated to connecting “all who seek to document, share, understand and preserve Black experiences.” And while I was at Chicago—somewhat in the spirit of that old bulletin board—I curated an exhibit for the special-collections department of the campus library on the 45 African Americans who’d earned a doctorate at the university prior to 1940—the largest number of doctorates awarded to African Americans up to that time by any institution in the world. Even so, I had not known about Prince Hall.

Having discovered Hall at the ridiculous age of 43, I have since made it a mission to teach others about him. At Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, we have undertaken a major initiative to develop civic-education curricula and resources. Among the largest projects is a year-long eighth-grade course called “Civic Engagement in Our Democracy.” One of the units in that course is centered on Hall’s life. Through him and his exploration of the meaning of social contracts and natural rights, and of opportunity and equality, we teach the philosophical foundations of democracy, reaching through Hall to texts that he also drew on, and whose authors are required reading for eighth graders in Massachusetts—for instance, Aristotle, Locke, and Montesquieu. These writers and thinkers were important figures to Freemasons in Hall’s time.

Too much treasure remains buried, living mainly in oral histories, not yet integrated into our full shared history of record. That history can strike home in unexpected ways. Not long ago, I was talking with my father about Prince Hall and the curriculum we were developing. His ears pricked up. Only then did I learn that my grandfather, too, had been a member of the Prince Hall Freemasons.”

This article appears in the March 2021 print edition with the headline “A Forgotten Founder.”

DANIELLE ALLEN is a political philosopher and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard. She is the author of Talking to Strangers, Our Declaration, and Cuz.

[zedwilliamsbct]

Acoustic Treatment Update

*Project direction has diverged from building a diffuser to bass trapping / absorption*

Reasons that informed this decision:

I intend to complete this project with a piece of acoustic treatment that provides utility in my work-space, which most of the time is an unideal setting for production. This treatment also needs have a degree of portability, as my home-production environment will frequently change over coming years.

Diffusion vs absorption: Diffusion & absorption are similar in objective, but differ in application. Diffusers work to reduce localised reflections by evenly scattering sound waves throughout a space, whilst absorption provides a porous medium to absorb and dampen sound. (soundwaves are absorbed and lose energy) [1,2]. Diffusion lends itself towards mid - high frequencies due to the relationship between smaller wavelengths and the attributes of moderately-sized diffusers, whilst absorption is effective across the board, especially for low frequencies.

Low frequency build up is a common issue presented by the nature of small, untreated rooms. These low frequencies (Sub-250Hz) are difficult to manage due to their large wave length, high energy, and omnidirectional behaviour [3,4]. This low frequency build-up is common along hard surfaces like ceilings, walls and corners; bass traps occupy the corners of a space, providing effective echo reduction through its materials dense, absorbent composition.

It is important to attend to low frequency issues first, as otherwise treatment approaches focused towards higher ranges will be less effective, hence I have chosen to switch to an absorbent approach/ bass trapping.

Portability & Simply assembly:

Acoustic treatment is generally not portable in design and often requires permanent changes to a room. My design aims to be easily transportable whilst simple to install. To fasten the treatment into a corner, it features a counterpressure-dependant mechanism extending from the top face. 

For transport / portability the bass traps slot together and fasten with a connecting strap, which passes through the ends and centre of each.

The name bass trap is rather misleading as low frequencies are never really trapped or fully absorbed, but rather lose energy and divert in direction in relation to the sound source. We want to transform / dissipate as much of this low frequency energy as possible, using as little space and material as possible; we don’t want an enormous, heavy piece of treatment. This is where the materials and dimensions of the design come into play.

The dimensions and composition of the treatment determines the frequencies it can absorb, so it is crucial that this aspect is done correctly as to ensure frequencies are actually losing energy when they meet the treatment, opposed to just passing through or reflecting. What this means for low frequencies is that we generally require a larger, thicker/more dense treatment, in order to effectively manage their high energy and large wavelength. The material is key, as specific membranes lend themselves in favor of specific frequency bands;

Porous materials come in 2 forms, each providing slightly different utility[5,6].

Open cell membranes

Open cell structure allows sound to easily permeate

Aerated structure, cells are connected

Light weight , cheap, accessible

Useful for trapping sound, absorbing reflections

Less effective for low frequencies

Closed Cell membranes

Closed cell structure effectively absorbs & dampens sound

Dense composition & more surface area

Particularly useful for low frequencies

Some commonly used examples of porous acoustic materials:

Rockwool

Foam

Fiberglass

Rockwool treatment. Retrieved from https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-whats-right-type-rockwool 

Foam bass trap. Retrieved from http://www.lojahmcustom.com/Corner-Bass-Trap-121224cm-ustic-Sound-Studio-Foam 

Fibreglass acoustic panel. Retrived from https://m.made-in-china.com/product/Studio-Acoustic-Panels-Fiberglass-Acoustic-Wool-Panel-866917445.html

I am yet to decide on the specifics of my material, although I am leaning towards foams as they're cheap and accessible.

Identifying the problem areas:

As we know, the size & shape of a room directly impacts how sound behaves within it, thus it is important to identify what frequencies are being exaggerated or cancelled out as a result of reflections and resonances. We can identify this in a few different ways:

Pink noise test:

Pink noise consists of the entire audible frequency spectrum (20Hz - 20Khz) playing at equal amplitude[7].

The test involves playing pink noise from one or various high-fidelity monitors, and moving around the room to determine problematic areas through your perceived change in sound. From here we are able to asses where different forms of treatment are appropriate.

Calculating what frequencies correspond to the size of you room:

If the size of a room directly corresponds to the length of a wave, that frequency may reflect at the angle of inception and reinforce the initial wave. This largely contributes to counter-productive reflections that exaggerate a relative band of the frequency spectrum, disrupting the stereo image and sound-source clarity.

We can calculate what frequencies our room is exaggerating by measuring the length of the room and finding what wavelength corresponds. Wavelength is calculated by dividing the speed of sound -1,130ft/second - by the frequency -(X)hz, so, a 40hz wave (1,130/40 = 28.25) has a wavelength of 28.5ft, meaning that it would reproduce greatly in a room around 28.5ft.[8]. Thus, if we divide the speed of sound by our room length, we have the resonating frequency.

As part of ensuring the bass traps effectiveness, it must be positioned 1/4 of the given frequency's wavelength away from the corner. This is referred to as the 'quarter wavelength rule', in which describes the point of highest amplitude and energy of a sound wave[9]. It is considered to be the ideal placement for treatment to have significant impact on the strength/ energy of a wave. So, utilizing our prior example, if our wavelength is 28.5ft long (28.5/4=7.125), theoretically our treatment should be 7.125 ft from the wall / thick. Now, while this is not a practical example, the principle is the same; this is why treatment for very low frequencies (sub100) usually requires pressure-reactive devices such as Helmholtz resonators or diaphragmatic absorbers[10,11].

Sources:

1. Shao, C., Long, H., Cheng, Y., & Liu, X. (2019). Low-frequency perfect sound absorption achieved by a modulus-near-zero metamaterial. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49982-5

2. Herrero-Durá, I., Cebrecos, A., Picó, R., Romero-García, V., García-Raffi, L. M., & Sánchez-Morcillo, V. J. (2020). Sound Absorption and Diffusion by 2D Arrays of Helmholtz Resonators. Applied Sciences, 10(5), 1690. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10051690

3. Zhang, L., Fan, X., Zhao, J., Liang, B., Cheng, J., Wu, Y., & Landi, M. (2018). Efficient emission of directional sound waves by using subwavelength meta-cavities. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(3), 1763–1763. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5067802

4. Audio Technology. (2005, September 29). Demystifying Directional Bass. Retrieved July 4, 2021, from AudioTechnology website: https://www.audiotechnology.com/tutorials/demystifying-directional-bass

5. Soundproof Central Contributors. (2021, February 23). Does Closed Cell Foam Absorb Sound? Retrieved August 7, 2021, from soundproofcentral.com website: https://soundproofcentral.com/does-closed-cell-foam-absorb-sound/

6. Gaulon, C., Pierre, J., Derec, C., Jaouen, L., Bécot, F.-X. ., Chevillotte, F., … Leroy, V. (2018). Acoustic absorption of solid foams with thin membranes. Applied Physics Letters, 112(26), 261904. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5025407

7. says, B. C. (2016, August 3). Testing Room Acoustics for Musicians. Retrieved August 4, 2021, from Musika Lessons Blog website: https://www.musikalessons.com/blog/2016/08/testing-room-acoustics/

8. PreSonus. (n.d.). How To Mitigate Problematic Room Acoustics. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from PreSonus website: https://www.presonus.com/learn/technical-articles/how-to-mitigate-problematic-room-acoustics

9. Foley, D. (2015, November 3). The Quarter Wavelength Rule And Why It’s Important To You – Acoustic Fields. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from Acoustic Fields website: https://www.acousticfields.com/quarter-wavelength-rule/

10. Fahy, F. (2001). Helmholtz Resonator - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved August 8, 2021, from www.sciencedirect.com website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/helmholtz-resonator

11. Primaacoustic. (n.d.). MaxTrap & FullTrap Science. Retrieved August 5, 2021, from Primacoustic website: https://www.primacoustic.com/maxtrap/science/

[dr-archeville]

On This Day: 2021 February 10

On This Day

1763: The Treaty of Paris ended what we call the French-Indian War. Britain got Canada.

1855: U.S. laws were amended to grant citizenship to all children born abroad to citizens.

1885: The General Assembly legally recognized the Lumbees. (The legislation designated them “Croatan,” a reference to the so-called Lost Colony.)

1897: The New York Times debuted the slogan, “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”

1937: Grammy winner Roberta Flack was born in Black Mountain.

1962: Jim Beatty, who grew up in Charlotte and attended UNC, became the first man to run the mile indoors in under four minutes.

1967: The 25th Amendment, which governs presidential disability and succession, was ratified.

1996: IBM computer Deep Blue defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov.

One Year Ago

The New York Times, A1, Feb. 10, 2020: “‘Parasite’ Earns Best-Picture Oscar, First for a Movie Not in English”

One Century Ago

The New York Times, A1, Feb. 10, 1921: “J.D. Rockefeller's Income $33,000,000 by Federal Figures”

Rockefeller’s taxable income in 1918 was $33 million. He was the only person to have a taxable income that year north of $5 million. The Times estimated his wealth at between $800 million and $1 billion.

According to this inflation calculator, Rockefeller’s taxable income in 1918 works out to about $565 million today.

Rockefeller’s $800 million net worth translates to $13.7 billion.

For comparison, Elon Musk, the modern world’s richest man, has an estimated net worth of about $185 billion. Maybe we should talk about income inequality.