GO DOWN MOSES | Rhodes Statues Removed... Next, Robert Moses?

A statue of Cecil Rhodes in Capetown being removed
to an undisclosed location. 

June 21, 2020—The shocking killing of George Floyd has had national and global implications. It reenergized the Black Lives Matter campaign and then the long-time "Rhodes Must Fall" campaign for the removal of statues to Cecil Rhodes.

The campaigns, which have recruited from a wide range of voters, are now coming after the statue to Robert Moses in front of the Village Hall in Babylon, New York. More about that after three paragraphs of background.

Rhodes, of course, was the Brit who had a dream of a "Capetown to Cairo" British Empire in Africa. He helped realize that dream and had two countries named after him for many decades—Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, and Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He created the famed Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford, won by such American political successes as Senators Richard Lugar (Univ College, Oxford) and William Fulbright (Pembroke College, Oxford), and President Bill Clinton (Univ College, Oxford).

The Rhodes Must Fall campaign was successful in Capetown, South Africa, where the statue of Rhodes was lifted from its pedestal. However, the campaign to remove a statue of Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford came to a screeching halt when several alumni threatened to end their giving to Oriel if it acceded to the demands of the campaigners. At the time, the Rhodes Must Fall banner was not one that the Oriel Provost wanted to fight under. The resolution seemed reasonable—balancing the importance of keeping historical valuable monuments while facing up to the moral or other shortcomings of people who were once lionized.

What a difference the video of Floyd's killing has made! On June 9, a thousand RMF protesters descended on Oriel College. On June 17, the governing body of Oriel College voted to remove the statue to its alumnus, Cecil Rhodes. The next day (the 78th birthday of Sir Paul McCartney), Husayn Kassai, founder of the verification company Onfido, revealed that he promised to replace any funding commitments withdrawn by "racist" alumni donors who object to the removal of the memorial to Rhodes.

So, now, what about Robert Moses? His biographer, Robert Caro, has famously documented the man's aggregation of power. Moses was a New York City Parks Commissioner for 26 years. He built parks and parkways all over New York City and Long Island. He used his power to promote the automobile and higher-income residents. For example, he built bridges on his parkway with low clearance, to prevent busloads of poor people coming to use his park. There is a Rhodes connection. After Yale, Moses went to Oxford (Wadham College), graduating with a degree in jurisprudence in 1911. He was not himself a Rhodes Scholar, but he had some strong opinions about those who were Rhodes Scholars. The new campaign to remove his statue in Babylon gives new meaning to Paul Robeson's singing of Go Down Moses.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Virginia is determined to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse in Richmond. Which raises the question: What happens to statues that are taken down?

LONGHOUSE RESERVE | Reopening

Who is that masked visitor behind the King? (Alice Tepper Marlin at the
Yoko Ono chess board, LongHouse Reserve. Photo by JT Marlin. 

June 20, 2020—LongHouse Reserve is the top attraction in East Hampton. It has been closed during the coronavirus scourge. 

Now it is reopening, in stages. It's now open Wednesdays and Saturdays, with limited visiting hours, reservations required and  timed visits of 75 minutes. Only half the parking spaces are being used, to allow social distancing. Masks are required.

Four of us went today to see recent changes. I described our visit there in 2014 as part of a mini-reunion in the lead-up to the 50th Reunion of the Wellesley Class of 1966. We go back pretty much every year and it's always a new experience because new sculptures are added, old ones are moved around and the landscaping is always changing.

Cross in the Pond. This is reminiscent of the 9/11 memorial pool in New York
City. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Loehr, who was with us on the visit.

The interlude when the coronavirus kept everyone away was used to good effect by bringing the landscaping to an even higher level of perfection than we have seen in earlier years.

Fly Vision, 360. Photo courtesy of
Caroline Tepper-Marlin. 

Some of the sculptures seemed to be new, but were possibly there in previous years but I overlooked them. At left is one with the photographer looking back from a pole full of convex mirrors. It gave me the feeling of looking at the eye of a fly.

My favorite sculpture was and is Yoko Ono's colorless chess set.  It's a No-Logo experience, i.e., blank battle standards, borderless territory. With no way of being sure who The Enemy is or where the borders are, the game loses its point. Which is... The point. Imagine. The Fog of Peace.

Which reminds me that Paul McCartney celebrated his 78th birthday on Thursday. Happy Birthday, Sir Paul.

BLOG VIEWS | 220K, Top Ten Most-Read

This blog just passed 220,000 page views. Thank you for reading.

Here are the top ten most-read posts during the past month, i.e., May-June 2020.

Entry

WW2 | Tilly den Tex van Hall (1907-1988) Jul 28, 2015

WALLY VAN HALL | Movie in English Now May 27, 2018

U.S. FLAG | Why Its Origins Are Masked (Updated 2019) Jun 2, 2013, 2 comments

WINDMILLS | The Hook Mill, East Hampton Aug 25, 2014

WW2 | 1.The Boissevain Clan (Updated July 9, 2016) Oct 31, 2014

WINDMILLS | Beebe Mill, Bridgehampton, N.Y. Aug 13, 2013, 2 comments

WOODIN | LINKS–Bio, FDR's #1 Treas Sec (Updated Ma... Apr 20, 2015

WW2 | Halifax Bomber Models Jan 16, 2015

BENEDICTINES | The Venerable Bede May 28, 2020, 1 comment

WOODIN | 5. Will's Education, Marriage, Politics (... Apr 26, 2015

FDR'S SENATE ALLY | Joseph T. Robinson (1872-1937)

Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. 
Robinson. (Official Senate Portrait
from the Senate website.) 

As we look back to the astonishingly fast restoration of public confidence in Washington in 1933, we should look beyond FDR to the support he had from his Cabinet and from his Capitol Hill allies.

My special interest is the first Secretary of the Treasury, Will Woodin. In the Congress, the Congressional architect of the Federal Reserve System headed the Senate Banking Committee, Carter Glass (D-Va.).

But as I look at the record, I see another early ally in the Senate, Joseph T. Robinson (D-Ark., 1872-1937), Majority Leader.

Robinson was first elected a U.S. senator in 1913 under Wilson. He was elected by his fellow Senators minority (Democratic) leader in 1923, and became the first formally titled Senate majority leader in 1933 after FDR swept both houses of Congress. Robinson’s grandest moment was probably when he pushed FDR’s emergency banking bill through both houses in seven hours (Senate Leaders) and through the Senate, one report says, in just 40 minutes. A newspaper described the process as "brute animal strength.” He was FDR’s strongest ally in the Congress. (Senate bio.)

Born on a farm near Lonoke, Lonoke County, Arkansas, on August 26, 1872, he attended the local public schools and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He went on to the law school of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville; he was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Lonoke, Ark. (House bio.)

He was elected to the State general assembly in 1895, then as a Democrat to the 58th and four succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1903, to January 14, 1913, when he resigned, having been elected Governor. When he resigned he was chairman the Committee on Public Lands of the 62nd Congress. (House bio.)

He served only 55 days as Governor of Arkansas because he was elected Senator in 1913 to fill the seat vacated by the death of Senator Jeff Davis. He was reelected in 1918, 1924, 1930 and 1936 and served from March 10, 1913, until his death. (House bio)

In the Senate, besides serving minority leader and Democratic caucus chairman 1923-1933 and majority leader and Democratic caucus chairman 1933-1937, he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department (63rd and 64th Congresses), Committee on Claims (65th Congress), and unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1928. (House bio)

From the outset, Robinson impressed other Senators with his careful speeches that could incorporate a killer’s instinct for debate. He mastered the Senate's complex rules and practices; he possessed tenacious loyalty to friends and party and a passion for detail. Wedded to his job, he arrived early each day, stayed late, and studied legislation at home. (Bacon, 64.)

Robinson was regarded as a southern progressive, like Woodrow Wilson (Arkansas Governors), and he supported Wilson even when other Democrats faltered. He championed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act and worked to regulate railroads and other key industries. He led the Senate to arm merchant ships and voted to declare war on Germany. (Bacon, 69.) He also led the unsuccessful effort in the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. (Senate Leaders.)

Robinson gained influence in the Senate and later served as Chairman of the 1920 Democratic National Convention. In 1923, the Senate Democratic floor leader Oscar Underwood, who served as the Senate Minority Leader, resigned due to illness. By unanimous acclamation, Robinson replaced him as Democratic leader, a position he would hold until his death in 1937. (Senate Leaders.)

As minority leader, Robinson took over the distribution of patronage appointments and reformed the committee assignment process, decreeing that no senator would hold the top Democratic position in more than one important committee, a rule that survives to the Obama and Trump eras. A resident of Capitol Hill, he kept constant watch on any dissension within the Republican ranks, making deals on both sides of the aisle and helping to facilitate negotiations with the era's succession of GOP presidents. (Senate Leaders.)

At the Chevy Chase Country Club, a fellow golfer asked to move ahead of the senator's foursome. Robinson refused. During an angry exchange, Robinson socked the doctor, knocking him to the ground. The club expelled Robinson and the press called him the "pugilist" senator. (Senate Leaders.)

Robinson was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1928, as the running mate of Alfred E. Smith. Robinson clashed with Senator James Thomas Heflin, a Democrat from Alabama, who frequently made anti-Catholic comments. Robinson took issue: "I have heard [the senator] denounce the Catholic Church and the Pope of Rome … until I am sick and tired of it, as a Democrat.” Helfin shot back: "The Senator from Arkansas can not remain leader of the Democrats and fight the Roman Catholics' battle every time the issue is raised in this body." Robinson held a vote of confidence and all senators present (Heflin was not) pledged support to their leader against religious bigotry. (Senate Leaders.)

After Smith lost to Republican Herbert Hoover, Robinson's impassioned speeches made him a national figure. He continued to score victories as the Senate's minority leader, even though his cooperative relationship with Hoover annoyed members of his party. However, since no other senator possessed Robinson's tenacity and influence, they relied on his leadership. (Senate Leaders.)

Robinson became Senate Majority Leader by a unanimous vote in 1933 when Democrats became the majority, the first Democrat to have the formal title. Some Senators resented his autocratic style and in debate he could be terrifying. (Senate Leaders.)

A Senate press gallery attendant, Richard Riedel, remembered: "When [Robinson] would go into one of his rages, it took little imagination to see fire and smoke rolling out of his mouth like some fierce dragon. Robinson could make Senators and everyone in his presence quake by the burning fire of his eyes, the baring of his teeth as he ground out the words, and the clenching of his mighty fists as he beat on the desk before him." (Riedel, 142.)

Franklin (L) and Eleanor Roosevelt with Joseph
Robinson, Washington, D.C. 1933. (National
Archives photo.)

As Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal "marshal," he ensured the passage of countless bills relating to the Depression and social policy, his most impressive victory being the Emergency Banking Act, which he pushed through both houses of Congress in seven hours, and the Senate in 40 minutes. (Senate Leaders.)

The press referred to him as "scrappy Joe." He fought with other Senators. For example, when the United States entered World War I, Robinson denounced senators who opposed the war effort. When La Follette opposed the war, Robinson questioned his patriotism on the Senate floor; La Follette had to be restrained. Robinson's response to a guard who questioned his credentials at the 1920 Democratic National Convention was a punch in the face. (Senate Leaders.)

FDR’s controversial Supreme Court packing plan proved too much for the leader. Before a final vote came to pass in 1937, Robinson suffered a fatal heart attack. Roosevelt's Court packing plan was defeated. (Senate bio.)

Robinson died in Washington, D.C., July 14, 1937. The funeral was held in the Chamber of the United States Senate. He was buried in Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. (House bio.)

ANTI-LYNCHING BILL | Cory Booker, Kamala Harris

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA).

June 11, 2020—Earlier this month, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) spoke urgently about passing this year's anti-lynching bill, which for the first time would make lynching a federal crime.

In 1900, 120 years ago, the only black representative in the Congress introduced anti-lynching legislation. Rep. George Henry White (R-N.C.) had witnessed the previous year's Wilmington, N.C., race riot, during which white supremacists overthrew the city’s multiracial government, killing perhaps 60 black people.

White tracked down lynching victims and asked why the federal government wasn't doing anything about the crime. The bill did not get past Committee.

During the rest of the 20th century, 200 such bills were introduced. Five years into FDR's administration, 83 blacks had been lynched in the south. Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY) introduced an anti-lynching bill. FDR didn't pay it much attention because his party depended on southern Democrats for votes in the House.

Blanche Wiesen Cook (Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 2, pp. 440-443) shows that Eleanor Roosevelt was the main Roosevelt family champion of the anti-lynching bill in 1937. It passed the House, but was filibustered to death in the Senate, where Democrats had a six-to-one majority.

Maybe this year?

BENEDICTINES | The Venerable Bede

This painting by my sister Brigid Marlin was commissioned
by the Benedictines of St. Ottilien, near Munich, for a study
 room named after Bede. The model was Brigid’s son Chris.

May 28, 2020—The Venerable Bede was an English Benedictine monk based at two neighboring  monasteries.

One was the monastery of St. Peter and the other the  monastery of St. Paul, both in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles.

The location would now be in Tyne and Wear, named after two rivers.

The boroughs north of the River Tyne are part of the historic county of Northumber-land. Those to the south, including Sunderland (where George Washington's ancestors settled), belong to the historic county of Durham. In 1974-1986 Tyne and Wear was an administrative unit, but in 1986 its powers were devolved to its five constituent boroughs.

The two monasteries have been combined and go by the name of Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey in Tyne and Wear. Born on lands belonging to the twin monasteries, Bede was sent to Monkwearmouth at seven and later joined Abbot Ceolfrith at Jarrow, both of whom survived a 686 plague that killed a majority of the population there.

Bede spent most of his life in the monastery, but travelled to several other monasteries across the British Isles, visiting the archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria. He was an author, teacher and scholar. His most famous work was The  Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which earned him the title "The Father of English History".

Another important area of study for Bede was the academic discipline of computus, otherwise known to his contemporaries as the science of calculating calendar dates. For example, Bede tried to settle the dating of Easter. He also popularized the practice of dating forward from the birth of Christ (Anno Domini – in the year of our Lord).

Bede was one of the greatest teachers and writers of the Early Middle Ages and is considered by many historians to be the most important scholar of antiquity for the period between the death of Pope Gregory I in 604 and the coronation of Charlemagne in 800.

In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church, the only native-born Briton to achieve this designation. Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy.

Bede was also a skilled linguist and translator, and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons, which contributed significantly to English Christianity. Bede's monastery had access to an impressive library which included works by Eusebius, Orosius, and many others.

PANDEMIC | Updating Chuken Hachikō

The statue to Hachikō in Tokyo gets a mask
for the duration of the pandemic.

May 1, 2020 — Hachikō was born in 1923 on a farm near Odate in the Akita Prefecture of Japan. Hachi means the number eight, which is lucky in Asian countries. The suffix "kō" is a diminutive, like "kins" in the affectionate word "Daddykins".

His owner, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno at Tokyo University, had a heart attack when Hachikō was just three years old (1926) and did not return as scheduled in the evening at Shibuya Station.

For the rest of his life, Hachikō returned to Shibuya station every evening to wait for his master. That is why he is known as Chuken (loyal heart) Hachikō. While he was alive, he became famous, and some people gave him food, which may partly explain why his interest in showing up continued for a full nine years.

But I don't want to get in the way of a good story, which was made into a 2009 feel-good sad movie starring Richard Gere, based on a Japanese movie made in 1987.

A statue was erected to Hachikō at Shibuya Station, and people agree to meet there, since if Hachi could wait nine years... you could wait ten minutes?

H/t to RK!