Black History: Hidden Figures and The Underground Railroad
In recognition of Black History Month, this last post in February is about two experiences I’ve had this month related to African-American history. At the start of the month, I saw the movie, Hidden Figures, based on the non-fiction book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who […]
Why Did the Emigrants Head West? For Prosperity, Health, or “Manifest Destiny”?
I decided to write about the Oregon Trail in part because the concept of leaving home for an unknown wilderness so far away is such an alien concept to me. I’ve moved across the country on a few occasions, but I don’t like spending time in the wilderness. Why did the emigrants choose to leave? I […]
Pompeii: A Lesson in Life and Death . . . and History
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I was aware from a very young age of the power of volcanoes. Not that I ever experienced one, but we learned about them in geography, and I knew that the mountains all around us were volcanic. Indian legends told of past eruptions, and we knew that many of […]
Jumping Off! I’m Launching a Website — Theresa Hupp, Author
When the pioneers to Oregon left the settled territories for the West, they said they were “jumping off.” Communities like Independence and St. Joseph, Missouri, were known as “jumping off places.” It was from these last bastions of civilization that the emigrants headed into the unknown, into a land of both promise and hardship.I feel […]
Story & History: One writer’s journey through life and time
This page contains all the posts from my WordPress.com blog, Story & History: One writer’s journey through life and time, as well as new posts
Yo, Mom: An Introduction to the Teenage Years
I’ve written before about our family’s trips to the Absaroka Ranch in Wyoming, where we spent a summer week riding horses, except for occasional breaks to hike or go river-rafting. On our last trip in 1994, my son was twelve. It was his third time to the ranch (or the fourth?), and he was an […]
Avoca Blankets: Evoking the Generations
In the summer of 2001, a few months before September 11, my daughter and I took a trip to Ireland. The trip was sponsored by her all-girls Catholic school. About ten mother/daughter pairs went, along with two teachers. The school had arranged several such trips over the years, but due to shenanigans on a previous […]
Infrastructure, circa 1962
There’s been a lot in the news in recent years about infrastructure. Which projects are “shovel ready”? Which will create more jobs? How do we bring our aging roads and bridges into the twenty-first century? When I hear about infrastructure, I think of the development of the interstate highway system in the late 1950s and […]
Lavender Lotion and “Temps Perdu”
I don’t use much scented lotion. I’m allergic to many floral scents, particularly roses and lilies. They make me sneeze. So I buy hypoallergenic brands. Gifts of scented hand lotions tend to sit on my counter for a long time, to be used only on special occasions when I want to feel pampered and don’t […]
Godetta: A Mexican Casserole
As I’ve written before, I am not a fan of green peppers. In fact, I detest them. So a lot of Mexican food is off-limits for me. I’ve been given many Mexican recipes over the years. I smile politely, and, if the recipe contains green peppers, I throw it in the trash as soon as […]