Raisinghistory

Portrait of Michael Faraday 1842 by Thomas Phillips

#OnThisDay 9/22/1791, Michael Faraday was born.

Faraday is best known for his work on electricity & magnetism.

Later in life, he gave a series of Christmas lectures for young people for the The Royal Institution, a series which continues today.

#ScienceHistory #ChristmasLectures #selfeducation

Charlotte Cooper 1900

#OnThisDay Sept. 22nd, 1870 Charlotte Cooper was born.

1st female athlete to win Olympic gold in an individual event at the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

At 26, she lost her hearing.

She won 5 Wimbledon titles.
#SportsHistory #OlympicHistory #tennishistory #tennishalloffame #wimbledon #resilience

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel

Looking forward to traveling to #BuffaloNY to both attend the 12th Maritime Heritage Conference September 24th - 27th, & to also perform Augustin Fresnel: Through A New Lens for the lighthouse & maritime community!

#maritimehistory #maritimeheritageconference #lighthouses #Fresnellens #lighthouse

Happy #NationalLighthouseDay to all lighthouses in the United States! @uslhs.bsky.social

Keep Shining Your Lights!!!

#lighthouse #lighthouses #lighthouselovers #lighthousehistory #Fresnellens

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel next to the 4th Order Fresnel Lens at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, NJ Photo credit: Donna Dimino

So wonderful to surprise everyone last night at the 1st Friday Lecture at Custom House #Maritime #Museum Newburyport with an Augustin Fresnel virtual pop-up appearance at the end of the presentation by RADM Dan May, USCG, RET.
Congrats on the return of a 4th Order Fresnel Lens! #newburyport

Louise Blanchard Bethune c. late 1880's early 1890's

#OnThisDay in 1856, Louise Blanchard Bethune was born. She became the 1st American woman to work as a professional architect, primarily in the Buffalo, NY area. She was the 1st woman admitted to The American Institute of Architects in 1888.

#buffalohistory #womeninarchitecture #womenshistory

Me too...I think I have enough to open a small bookstore/library!

Engraving of Augustin Fresnel, Public Domain

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel (Photo courtesy of Leon Gurinsky, Fire Island Lighthouse)

#OnThisDay, 7/14/1827, Augustin Fresnel left this world.
His legacy, The Fresnel Lens - an invention with a technology ahead of its time, safeguarding countless lives navigating on the waters of the home we call Earth.
It's been an honor to portray you & I intend to continue for as long as I can.

Henry David Thoreau 1856

#OnThisDay in 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born.

"I am not alone if I stand by myself". - A Week on the Concord & Merrimack Rivers

"I have a room all to myself; it is Nature." - Journal, 1/3/1853

"I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." - Walden

Bill Haley 1974

#OnThisDay 100 years ago, one of the pioneers of Rock & Roll, Bill Haley, was born.
Bill Haley & His Comets would make their impact with "Rock Around The Clock" & their version of Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll". In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Robert Henri 1897

#onthisday 160 years ago, Robert Henri was born.

Painter & teacher, he is best known for founding the "Ashcan School", the urban realism of what he felt was "art for life's sake".
#AshcanSchool #UrbanRealism #ashcanart #arthistory #americanrealism #artlovers #americanart #museums #philadelphiaart

Robert Stevenson 1772 - 1850

Bell Rock Lighthouse drawn by Jane Stevenson

#OnThisDay in 1772, civil engineer Robert Stevenson was born. He would build & design such lighthouses as Bell Rock & Sumburgh Head. Northern Lighthouse Board Engineer from 1808 - 1842.

To Scotland's lighthouses: Keep Shining Your Lights!!!

#lighthouses #lighthouselovers #lighthousehistory

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1859

#OnThisDay in 1803, Ralph Waldo Emerson was born.

"Self-trust is the first secret of success."

"All great successes are the triumph of persistence."

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
#poetry

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse 150th

#OnThisDay last year as Augustin Fresnel at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse for their 150th. A rare outdoor performance.

I will be performing in 2025 for 2 more lighthouses celebrating their 150th!
#lighthouses #lighthouselovers #fresnellens #lighthousehistory

Entrance: Fresnel had his game face on!

Augustin Jean Fresnel

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel at Fire Island Lighthouse

Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel at Montauk Lighthouse (photo credit Doug Haak)

#OnThisDay 1788 Augustin-Jean Fresnel was born.

I've been honored to portray the inventor of the Fresnel lens for lighthouse & maritime orgs & I'm certainly looking forward to performing for many more in the future.
#lighthouses #lighthouselovers #lighthousehistory #maritimehistory #uslighthouses

Nellie Bly 1890

#OnThisDay May 5th, 1864 Nellie Bly was born.
In 1887 she went undercover for the NY World at an asylum for women on Blackwell's Island. She would later write "Ten Days in a Mad-House" that exposed the horrible conditions, paving the way for women & investigative reporting.
#womenshistory #nelliebly

Frederic Edwin Church, c.1868, albumen print (cabinet card) by Napoleon Sarony, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC

#OnThisDay American landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church was born in Hartford, Ct. He was a student of Thomas Cole & prominent in the Hudson River School of landscape painters, known for his large landscapes that included mountains, sunsets & waterfalls.
#hudsonriverschool #landscapepainting

Postcard of Staten Island Borough Hall

Postcard of Staten Island Borough Hall

#OnThisDay in Staten Island History:

May 2nd, 1906 - The Borough Hall of St. George, designed by the architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, is dedicated.

#StatenIslandHistory #NYCHistory #nycarchitecture #nycarchitect #historicbuildings

George Inness, after 1875, cabinet card by Napoleon Sarony

Joseph Smith, Performing Artist of Living History

#OnThisDay George Inness, American Landscape painter was born. Looking forward to celebrating this evening with the @mammontclair.bsky.social his 200th birthday!!!

"Art is a subtle essence. It is not a thing of surfaces, but a moving spirit." - Inness

#landscapepainting #arthistory #montclairnj

Joseph Smith as Frederick Law Olmsted Photo courtesy of Adam Grace - May 2022 for Friends of Anderson Park

Frederick Law Olmsted 1857

#OnThisDay we celebrate the 203rd birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, known as the "Father of American Landscape Architecture". I've been honored to portray him for several orgs. Who will be next one? @emnecklacebos.bsky.social
#olmsted203 #landscapearchitecture #publicparks #FrederickLawOlmsted

Edwin Markham 1919

#OnThisDay April 23rd, 1852.....The poet Edwin Markham is born.
He's known for the poems "The Man with the Hoe" and "Lincoln, the Man of the People", which he personally read at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922.
#NationalPoetryMonth #AmericanPoetry #poetry #poets #poetrylovers #poem

Daniel Chester French 1902

The Minute Man by Daniel Chester French

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Statue by Daniel Chester French

#OnThisDay 175 years ago, Daniel Chester French was born. Upon moving to Concord, Mass., it would be Louisa May Alcott's sister, May Alcott, who would introduce Daniel to the art & eventual profession of sculpture.

#sculpture #arthistory #artlovers #abrahamlincoln #architecture #architecturelovers

Catalog cover of 1st Impressionist Exhibition 1874

#OnThisDay the 1st Impressionist Exhibition opened in Paris. It featured 30 artists, among them Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Pierre Auguste Renoir & Camille Pissarro. Quite an "impressive" lineup!

#artmuseums #artmuseum #arthistory #artlovers #impressionism #WorldArtDay

Sister Rosetta Tharpe 1938 publicity photo

#OnThisDay in 1915, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, considered the "Godmother of Rock & Roll", was born.

Singer, songwriter & guitarist, she was a pioneer before there were pioneers, particularly '50's rock & was admired by many.

She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
#womenshistory

Photo of Lillian Wald 1900

#onthisday in 1867, Lillian Wald was born.

She was a nurse, activist & humanitarian who would in 1893 start the Henry Street Settlement to provide medical care & other social services for residents of the Lower East Side.

#NYCHistory #nurses #nursinghistory #womenshistory #WomensHistoryMonth

Photo of Kate Sheppard 1905

#OnThisDay March 10th, 1848, Kate Sheppard was born. She was a shining light of the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, and through her efforts, helped women gain the right to vote in 1893, making New Zealand the first country to do so.

#newzealand #newzealandhistory #suffragist

George William Curtis 1854 by Samuel Laurence

#OnThisDay George William Curtis was born in Providence, R.I.
Journalist, Editor, Lecturer, Author, Abolitionist, Co-founder of the Republican Party & Chairman of the Civil Service Reform Commission.

#rhodeislandhistory #StatenIslandHistory #literature #nychistory #olmsted #ushistory #lectures

Engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of March 9th, 1872

Article from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of March 9th, 1872

Article from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of March 9th, 1872

#OnThisDay The opening reception of @metmuseum.org is held at 681 Fifth Ave. This event was held for subscribers only to attend, with the public opening occurring later in the Spring.
Below is an engraving & article from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 3/9/1872.
#museum #arthistory #nychistory

Abraham Lincoln 1858

#OnThisDay in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born.

"The way for a young man to rise, is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that any body wishes to hinder him."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."

#abrahamlincoln

Joseph Smith as Philip Freneau, 2023 performance for the Borough of Matawan

Philip Freneau engraving by Frederick Halpin

#OnThisDay in 1752, Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution, was born.
I've had the pleasure of performing as Philip Freneau for many NJ historical organizations.

Joseph Smith as Philip Freneau, 2023
Philip Freneau engraving by Frederick Halpin
#livinghistory #njhistory #poetry #poets