I was pleased to have an article published in the Sept/Oct. issue of Maryland Life. T
itled “Land Grab: How DC snagged some prime Prince George’s real estate,” it examined the period when the nation was concerned with establishing a permanent home for the federal government on the Potomac River. It was a fun piece to put together and I had the pleasure of using the excellent research facilities of the Prince George’s County Historical Society. They have an able, helpful staff there and it was a pleasure to work with the volunteers and their collections.
Category: Published Articles
Delmarva Quarterly: “Walking the Beat, Walking an Era”
The summer 2009 edition of Delmarva Quarterly, an excellent regional magazine, contain
s an article I wrote on Jesse Carmine, a police officer in Crisfield for almost half-a-century. I’d first met the 82-year-old Mr. Carmine about five years ago when I stopped by city hall to find someone to talk to about law enforcement in the small town. The clerk at city hall asked if I’d like to talk with the gentleman. He’d started in police work on December 25, 1953. Of course, I would and as we talked for hours he was so very helpful.
Over the years I’ve discovered that someone who has worked the streets and back alleys of a small town night and day for decades, will know that place better than anyone else. Mr. Carmine was an excellent source and I enjoyed our conversation thoroughly. Last winter Chief Carmine passed away, but I had been fortunate to get to know him and I shared my experience in exploring a small town through the eyes of a public servent for about half-a-century.
Maryland Life: Bridge Over Troubled Waters: What Killed George Askew?
The February 2009 edition of Maryland Life has an article I did on railroad engineer, George Askew. He was killed in 1903 in a tragic railroad accident on a bridge over the Elk Creek. What most interested me in this story was that his great-grandson, an investigator for the federal government, walked in one day with the railroad man’s pocket watch in hand. Family stories had it that he was killed in Elkton, but there weren’t many details beyond that so the relatives wanted to know if we could piece together this story. I said I thought so and this tragic story emerged, providing details on the pocket watch forever frozen in time at 8:43. It was the exact time Engineer Askew died, according to the coroner’s report.
Click this link to read a blog post about George Askew.
The Other Iranian Crisis – 1935 on the Eastern Shore
I just had a piece published in Chesapeake Life called “To Catch a Diplomat, the Other Iranian Crisis.” In 1935, Elkton’s new police chief, weeks on the job, encountered the ambassador from Iran speeding through town. Never having heard of diplomatic immunity, he proceeded to lock up the dignatary. This caused a major diplomatic incident, which resulted in the breaking of relations with the U.S. It’s a funny story, greatly reflective of 1930s policing and the Eastern Shore. Check out the Dec. edition of Chesapeake Life for the entire humorous story.