September 10, 2016 University of Maryland Research Carrel College Park, Maryland If Emmett didn’t go back to WFS for the second half of the sophomore term (1901), what did he do? Knowing Emmett’s father, I doubt he lounged around on the porch swing or his father’s hammock smoking cigars, contemplating […]
December 28, 1900, 8 pmChipley, Florida I have to get out of here. This is not my home. I don’t think it really ever was…. I walked through the vestibule, to the hallway, and opened the kitchen door. In the kitchen, Esther glanced up at me and smiled, as she replaced […]
December 28, 1900, 7:30 pm Chipley, Florida “About done in there, Emmett?” Blake stuck his head around the door of the depot’s back office, where I sat at the telegraph, finishing the report for today’s telegraph messages. The key had been silent for the past 15 minutes or so, a […]
December 25, 1900, 6:35 pm,P&A Train Depot, Chipley, Florida The Chipley train depot is a long, gray-and-brown, rectangular wooden building that looks very much like the other Pensacola & Atlantic stations along the line. There’s nothing remarkable about it other than the fact it has been rebuilt a few times; it […]
Christmas Day, 1900 The Wilson Home,Chipley, Florida Have you ever seen pictures of seated royalty on their thrones? The ones featuring a king, with princes and other members of the royal family seated around a central authority figure in descending order of power? If you stood Father’s front yard that […]
December 22, 1900The F.C. Wilson House, 6th Street, Chipley When I reached the house, I was out of breath. The air was sharp and cold; I could see my breath as I exhaled. I stopped on the top porch step, and took in a few slow, deep breaths. I turned […]
December 22, 1900Dr. Francis C. Wilson’s Office, Downtown Chipley Continued from here. === I climbed the stairs and paused at the top; my heart was pounding. I closed my eyes, and counted to ten; rubbed the center of my chest. Touched the liquor flask hidden in my coat pocket. After […]
December 22, 1900The L&N Train DepotChipley The #22 L&N train pulled into the Chipley station a few minutes before 1 pm; it was a mild day for late December, about 55 degrees, an overcast, milky white sky. Chipley is a nice town, but it has never really felt like home […]
I have a fool-proof information gathering strategy that has been tremendously successful in every single research project: Isolate the topic Search all easily/readily available information via basic search engines Read everything (this can take weeks) Journal during the search/reading time Reflect on the information Organize the information Consult with a […]
The thin gold medal, looped with a blue silk ribbon laying across my palm was inscribed: “1st place, Interdepartmental Speech Competition.” The obverse: “Stetson University, 1904.” I coveted this medal because last year I was the runner up to my best friend Paul Carter. I never placed first in any […]
Tell my story. 