Sunday, May 8, 2011

Comment

This is an argument to somebody's friend on facebook.... and for obvious reasons I decided not to post it on fb... 2093 words? Really? Anyways, here's the article "http://sites.google.com/site/congregationofyahweh/article2232" but this is really just between me and him/her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are my disagreements for several of your paragraphs:




(“When the Messiah was born into the world......following the example of their Master.”)

Are you suggesting we should follow the law? I think you’re seriously mis-using this passage:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:17-20.
   
Jesus THEN goes on to tell us that, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

We cannot possibly live the life required by the law. He doesn’t want us too. I’m thinking of verses like, Gal 2:17-3:5, among dozens of other similar verses.
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“Not only was the Sabbath dropped from the new religion.... and the birthday of the Sun-god took their place as Christmas.”)

Rom 14:5-6 “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“Sprinkling took the place of immersion;”)

That’s Catholism, which I personally have a few disagreements with (none of which you raised). I personally was dunked. I don’t have a problem with sprinkling, however, what’s important is what it symbolizes (being buried with Him and raised with Him) - not what it is in of itself. I know an older lady who got sprinkled at the same time I was immersed because she couldn’t get into the water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“immortality of the soul, adopted from paganism, replaced the doctrine of conditional eternal life; the resurrection and day of judgment were forgotten, and a continuous judgement was taught through which the dead entered heaven, or hell, for eternity, no resurrection being necessary in this program.”)

I don’t understand this accusation, it’s written slightly confusingly. I personally (as a “Christian”, please note) believe that in the resurrection of the dead, heaven, hell.... I also believe in the immortality of the soul, whether that soul goes to heaven or hell.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


(“The kingdom of heaven, as an actual earthwide government under the whole heavens was ignored, as the members of the new religion sought to please the "powers that be."”)

The kingdom of heaven will come whenever Jesus - Yeshua - returns. We don’t have anything to do with that part except to wait and pray, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“Truly, as Hurlbut said, "We find a church in many aspects different" from that of St. Paul, St. Peter, and the Messiah.  This new church, so differet, was Christianity; and for its deities it adopted various ones from the heathen, discarding the Most High of the Jewish Scriptures, and His blessed Son, Yahshua.“)

Um... no? We’ve “discarded” some of the Jewish Scriptures because we’re “no longer under the law but under grace” and His blood.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“The inflexible Protestantism of the primitive missionaries, with fiery denunciations of heathendom, had been exchanged for the supple policy, the easy tolerance, the comprehensive charity of shrewd ecclesiastics, who clearly perceived that if Christianity was to conquer the world it could do so only by relaxing the too rigid principles of its Founder, by widening a little, the narrow gate which leads to salvation.”)

      This I can sort of agree with. Certain denominations and “Christian” leaders have watered down the gospel. But, again, we’re under grace, not under the law, and no longer have to follow the entire OT law. God’s the one who widened... actually, OPENED the gate at all, so that through belief in His son’s (Yeshua/Jesus’) atoning death on the cross. Again with the above Galatians verse... and if you have a problem with that one there’s tons of others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“The new religion was not the old paganism....church festivals with change of name and worship."”)

This was mainly an effort of the Catholics to subdue and “convert” pagan holidays. And as long as we’re celebrating Yeshua/Jesus/Yahweh/God.... does it really matter what the ancient history behind that holiday was? The holiday is no longer celebrating heathen deities but Christ, ehem, excuse me, “the Messiah”.... isn’t that a good thing?


On two of the points not related to holidays:
We got the Trinity from Yeshua’s teachings about his “Father”/Yahweh/Almighty God/Creator, from the Yeshua’s teachings on how we would be filled with His Spirit/the Holy Spirit, and from, obviously, Yeshua himself as the Son. 

    John 10:30-33 and 36-38: “I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”3“We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”.....“What about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.””
    Rom 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
    Matt 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
    Is 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
  
Jesus is called all three parts of the Trinity here... Counselor (Holy Spirit is often called this), Everlasting Father/Mighty God (Yahweh), and, himself, “Prince of Peace”. I personally don’t think it’s humanly possible to “understand” the Trinity/the relationship between Yahweh/God, Yeshua/Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but I think the concept of the “Trinity” might be the closest we can get on this earth... three “parts” of God, distinct but one. Confusing. Either way, I couldn’t find much evidence it came from gnosticism.

      And the immorality “from the pagan greeks” we actually got from basically the whole New Testamant.. you know, the whole fact that we’re either going to heaven to live with him for eternity.
      Rev 21:6-7 “He [Yeshua] said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”     
     1 John 5:11-12 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
      Either that or we’re going to the lake of fire...
Matt 24:46 ““Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“The heathen had been worshipping Diana.....so was born Christianity.”)

      Um... no. There’s a difference between worshiping Zeus under the name of God and worshiping Yahweh/Yeshua under the name of God. And I do disagree with the Catholic deification of Mary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“After the death of the disciples... graven images." - Isa. 42:8.”)

    Oh my goodness. Are you saying that whenever I pray to God, the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, the only true God, who is omnipotent, omnipresent and all-powerful, he doesn’t hear me or accept my prayers because I’m not using the right name? Um... and from what I’ve heard, at least, ‘Yahweh’ isn’t for certain even the correct pronunciation of His name, because (A) in Hebrew writing it had no vowels, and because (B) NO JEW EVER USES GOD’S TRUE NAME BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IT IS SACRED AND SHOULDN’T BE USED (and are afraid they might accidentally use His name in vain.) And, if God is all powerful, if he really wanted us to use his “only” name, don’t you think he would have laid that on the Biblical translator’s hearts to put that in instead of “God” or “Lord”?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“Our translated Scriptures say that Yahweh's son's name is Jesus..... now known to us as Jesus.”)

    History and etymology here. Hebrew “Yeshua” (translated Joshua in English) means “Yahweh is Salvation” (or something similar).  Greek “Iesus” (Translated Jesus in English) means “Yah[weh] will save”. It’s the difference between two different languages, and I’m pretty sure Jesus was actually called Iesus while he walked the earth. At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Romans (who spoke Greek) had taken over and ruled Israel. As a consequence of that, the main language was Greek, although the Israelites still spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. When the Apostles wrote the gospels, THEY WERE WRITTEN IN GREEK. The original manuscripts were in Greek, the language of the entire civilized world at the time. “The books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek, the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible#Original_language  Annnnnnnnd a lot of the things I mentioned about “Yahweh” above stand the same. As long as we’re worshiping him and not Zeus, does it really matter? The name isn’t what’s important... it’s what the name is naming... ie, the Savior of the world as described in the Bible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(“The new religion was known as Christianity... and it was now known as the new Christian (Krisna) faith.”)

Where on earth you getting this stuff from? Can you put in some links? At least I’m using Wiki. And the Bible, come to think of it ;). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ  “Christ is the English term for the Greek Χριστός (Khristós) meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ), usually transliterated into English as Messiah.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



So yeah, I just have a few little arguments on the passage. Personally I think Catholics are too legalistic with their traditions and are trusting on works instead of on Christ, but that wasn’t part of your argument. I also think that Christians (some times and places more than others) have deviated from the religion set out in the gospel by Jesus Christ, but in my opinion your arguments have nothing to do with this, and I’m sick of typing. ;)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Homeschooling and Regulation

 This is an essay I wrote for the scholarship contest from New Threats to Freedom, addressed to the second video, Max Borders on our Compulsive Urge to Regulate.

As a homeschooled teen, I and my family are all for de-regulation as much as possible. We don’t want the government upsetting our basic rights… especially the right to educate one’s children. My mother, as a leader of our local homeschool group, has personally led the efforts against regulation of homeschooling in our state.

In our state of RI, especially in the town my family lives, regulations are fairly low. Homeschoolers are required to send in a letter of intent, once a year, basically declaring  their intent to complete the subjects required by law. That doesn’t stop the districts from attempting to regulate us, though. Last year our town changed their homeschool policy, without informing homeschoolers, as their constituents. Many of our town’s homeschooling parents and their children turned up at the next meeting in protest and they eventually agreed to go back to the old policy.

Many of the regulations, as with regulations on food and health safety, result from the odd mishap or abnormal case, where people react with outrage and the government overreacts to ensure that such a thing never happens again. For instance, recently in a nearby town, the school board declared that homeschool students had to register with all children present. This happened because a “homeschool” mother living in a hotel was using homeschooling as an excuse to keep her children out of school… the family was already on the social service’s radar and was an atypical case. Because of this one woman, who was clearly not the average homeschooler, the town changed its policy and several homeschoolers were visited by the truant officer – before even being informed of the town’s changed policies!

Often the worst opponent of homeschooling are administrators… they would love to micromanage homeschooling, or even get rid of it altogether. What does it say about public schools in general – when a bunch of “amateurs”, regular parents, teach children whose test scores are consistently higher than the average public school student? They say they want to ensure that homeschooled children are well-educated and socially adept.... and I can see why they think this way, but by now they should admit that the evidence points to the contrary – that homeschooled students are polite, sociable, well-educated, and excelling academically.

Basically, all homeschoolers want is to be left alone. We fight very hard against regulation; we don’t want to jump through hoops in order to be allowed to teach our children. We want the freedom to discipline, educate and train our children as we see fit, and not how the State sees fit. If we can’t trust loving parents to do the best for their children, how can we trust a impersonal government to do any better?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Why is Jesus Called the Son of Man?

Soooooo I was bored, so I decided to look up every single time the phrase “Son of Man” is used in the Bible, and exactly what it means. When I was younger, I sort of half assumed he was referring to his humanity, his humility, or something like that. It confused me and I didn’t pay much attention to the phrase. Then I read a side note in one of my bibles that “The Son of Man”, is actually referring to the Angel/God/Messiah like reference in Daniel 7:13-14. I wasn’t going to blindly except this, of course (heh heh), so I looked up the verse, and it certainly LOOKS like that might be what he was referring too, but I couldn’t be sure… so I looked up every time Jesus refers to himself as “Son of Man” and what it’s connected too…
       Most of the references to him being the Son of Man are either connected to his death/resurrection, the second coming, or some aspect of his divinity. Some other important passages are in Revelation, which describe Jesus in nearly identical terms to Dan. 7:13-14. Also interesting are a couple of places in Psalms where there is a mention of a “son of man”, that while could be about a regular human, hint of the Messiah.
        Please note that there is one other person, the prophet Ezekiel, who is referred to as “Son of Man” (by God, who is addressing him) about 93 times. (Jesus refers to himself as “Son of Man” 81 times… including overlap from the gospels, which there is a lot of, btw). I don’t have any idea what that’s supposed to mean. I haven’t read Ezekiel in a long time. There is a footnote in Ezekiel 2 on Biblegateway.com that “Ezekiel 2:1 - The Hebrew phrase ben adam means human being. The phrase son of man is retained as a form of address here and throughout Ezekiel because of its possible association with “Son of Man” in the New Testament.”
Feel free to give imput on this point, I think it's probably unrelated... also read the Wiki page on it, apparently "Ben Adam" was a pretty generic term for "human being", or "humanity", in ancient Israel.
        So Ezekiel is referred to in Hebrew as “Ben Adam”, Daniel 7 is the Aramaic (Wiki says “kibar 'anash”) “Ben Enash”, Daniel 8 (where Daniel himself is referred to as “son of man”) is Hebrew “Ben Adam”, the Psalm verses are both “Ben Adam. And of course all NT verses are the Greek, “Huios Anthropos”. Wiki is also has a page on the phrase, “Son of Man”. I might be missing some because of the translation (NIV), NKJV links). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_man

Also I wrote this post just to play with Blueletterbible's cool linky thingy. :)

Main Prophecy
Daniel 7:13-14

Jesus revealed as Son of Man
Revelation 1:12-16
Revelation 14:14-16

Prophecy
Hebrews 2:5-9 / Psalm 8:4-6
Psalms 80:15-19

Jesus Foretells His Death (and Resurrection)
(The three times that the NIV gives as headers ;)
1. Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22
2. Matt 17:22-23, Mark 9:31-32, Luke 9:44
3. Matt 20:18-19, Mark 10:33-34, Luke 18:31-33
After the transfiguration: Matt 17:9,12, Mark 9:9,12
Aaand a bunch of random times, Matt 26:2, Mark 12:40 John 12:23-26
John 3:12-15 (Please note this passage also mentions that he is from Heaven.)

Jesus Foretells his Return
Main passages (compare to Daniel): Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21
Secondary prophecies of return:
1. No one knows when he will return: Luke 12:40
2. Will Judge: Matt 25:31-46, John 5:24-30
3. It will be obvious when he returns: Luke 17:20 –37
4. If Anyone is Ashamed of the Son of Man, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him -Matt 16: 26-28, Mark 8:36-38, Luke 9:25-26,
5. Blessings/Rewards to the Faithful: Matt 10:22-23, Matt 19:28- 30, Luke 6:22-23, Luke 12:8-10
6. (Random): John 1:50-51, Luke 18:7-8 (will he find faith?)


Other Passages refer to The Son of Man as:
Bread of Life: John 6:26-27, 53, 61-63
Lord of the Sabbath: Matt 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5
Has Authority to Forgive Sins: Matt 9:6, Mark 2:10, Luke 5:24
The Father is with Him: John 8:27-30
Sows the Good Seed: Matt 13:37,41
Came to Serve and be a Ransom: Matt 20:28, Mark 10:45
Will be A Sign like Jonah: Luke 11:29-30
Came to Seek and Save the Lost: Luke 19:9-10
Has no Place to Lay His Head (context): Matt 8:20, Luke 9:58
Has come to Judge: *John 9:35-39
Misc.: Matt 12:32, Matt 11:18-19, Luke 7:33-35,

Who is the Son of Man?
Matt 16:13-17 – Peter Confesses Jesus (the Son of Man) as Messiah
John 12:34-36- People ask who Son of Man is – I’m not sure whether Jesus is saying the Son of Man is the Light, or if he’s just doing a rapid (and in my opinion not very smooth) change of topic here. ;) Read whole chapter for a clearer context.

Jesus, the Son of Man, is Betrayed:
(At the last Supper): Matt 26:23-24, Mark 14:20-21, Luke 21:20-22, John 13:31
(In the Garden): Matt 26: 45-46, Mark 14:41

Jesus Calls Himself the Son of Man: – in a way that makes it obvious that he’s calling himself the Son of God.
Matt 26: 63-66, Mark 14:61-64, Luke 22:66-71

After The Resurrection:
Luke 24:5-7 – Angels remind the women what Jesus said about his resurrection.
Acts 7:54-56 – Stephen sees Jesus.

Notes:
* NIV has “Son of Man” (ben adam), NKJV has “Son of God”.

PS: If any of the links are wrong, please tell me. Thanks. It's very late at night so I'm not about to check.




Friday, January 29, 2010

American History through American Photographers


I'm a firm believer in the saying "A picture speaks a thousand words". In this blog post, I have documented American's history through significant photographers and their photos. I have divided the sections by photographic themes. If you notice any significant events missing and/or any inaccurate dates/information, please comment and I will try to fix it. Most of the photos are historically significant, but I have tried to go for more artsy photos than not. It's likely this thing'll give me a hard time when I attempt to post it, but hopefully you'll be able to click on the photos to make them bigger. 

CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 - The War between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. The North was led by Abraham Lincoln, the South by Jefferson Davis. Obviously, the North won, because who's ever heard of Jefferson Davis? The war began when Republican abolitionist Abraham Lincoln was elected president against the South's will. The South almost immediately seceded from the Union. When the war was over, slavery was abolished and the reconstruction began. Unfortunately, African-Americans were still discriminated against until nearly a hundred years later.

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardener

Mathew Brady started as a portrait photographer of many famous people, and then brought his photo studio to the battlefield with the beginning of the Civil War. He himself did not go out on the battlefield much, on account of his failing eyesight, instead, he sent several young photographers out to capture images of the battles of the Civil War. These men included Alexander Gardner, James Gardner, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, William Pywell, George N. Barnard, Thomas C. Roche, and others.

Alexander Gardener left Mathew Brady, probably annoyed that the man gave himself all the credit for his apprentice’s work. He went on to photograph the Battle of Gettysburg, later he took the last photo of Lincoln before the president’s assassination, and photographs of the conspirators of the assassination.



Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States (March 1861- April 1865), led the North against the South in the Civil War. He was assassinated right after the war ended. (Mathew Brady)

Civil War battlefield, (Mathew Brady... accepting credit, apparently, for Timothy O'Sullivan)


Confederate dead behind a stone-wall at Fredericksburg, VA. (Mathew Brady)


Gettysburg, PA, a dead confederate soldier in Devil's Den (Alexander Gardener)


John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theater a mere four days after Robert E. Lee surrendered. (Alexander Gardener)

FACTORY WORKERS, etc. - This is around the Gilded age & the Progressive era of the USA. During the Gilded age hundreds of thousands of immigrants migrated to America. Most of these people ended up in the big cities and worked at factories. They lived in filthy conditions with sometimes over 4,000 people stuffed into just one city block. Corrupt machine bosses, such as boss Tweed, helped the immigrants in exchange for their votes in order to gain power. These men often made millions off of taxpayer dollars. Men such as Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie invented vertical & horizontal integration, by which the entire work of a factory, from mining to selling, was combined in one company, making goods cheaper. During the Progressive Era, people worked to expose the corrupt workings of politics. Women's suffrage and other civil rights movements also characterized this era.

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine

Jacob Riis was another social reformer and photographer. He focused mainly on improving conditions in the tenement slums of NY City. His book, "How The Other Half Lives", he wrote to raise awareness of the deplorable conditions in the city.

Lewis Hine, a progressives, started out as a teacher, before realizing his real talent lay in photojournalism. He was hired by the National Child Labor Committee to photograph children workers in their petition for child labor laws. He photographed for the American Red Cross relief in Europe and later he was hired to photograph the building of the Empire State Building.



1888
"Bandit's Roost, from How the Other Half Lives. This image is Bandit's Roost at 59½ Mulberry Street, considered the most crime-ridden, dangerous part of New York City." (Jacob Riis)

1889
"Italian Mother and Baby, Ragpicker"(Jacob Riis)

Mullen's Alley (Jacob Riis)

1889
"Five Cent Lodging" (Jacob Riis)

1890
"Minding Baby, Cherry Hill"(Jacob Riis)


1910
“Joseph Severio, peanut vender, age 11 [seen with photographer Hine]. Been pushing a cart 2 years. Out after midnight on May 21, 1910. Ordinarily works 6 hours per day. Works of his own volution. All earnings go to his father. Wilmington, Del.” – (Lewis Hine’s original caption. Click this to see more of his photos.)

An eleven-year-old factory girl catches a glimpse of life outside. Rhodes Mfg. Co. Lincolnton, N.C. (Lewis Hine)

 
 February 1910
Addie Card, twelve year old spinner. (Lewis Hine)


1930
Workers sitting on a steel beam of the Empire State Building. (Lewis Hine)

1930
Working on the Empire State Building (Lewis Hine)

NY City stickball game. (Lewis Hine)

March 25, 1911
Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire victims. 146 people, mostly women, died. This incident led to improved factory safety standards. (Brown Brothers, Sterling, Penn.)


USA NATIONAL PARKS and INDIANS: Photographs of the midwest parks like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, etc, and of the American Indians. (See photographer profiles).

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS: Edward Curtis and Ansel Adams 

Edward Curtis (1868 - 1952) was another photographer Midwest photographer who focused mainly on the Native American people. In 1906, J.P. Morgan offered Curtis $75,000 to photograph the Native Americans and their traditions before their way of life faded away. He took over 40,000 photos of more than 80 tribes, and wrote biographical sketches of many Indian chiefs.

Ansel Adams (1902- 1984), was a photographer and environmentalist, famous for his photos of the American midwest.


1909?
I have decided to add a photo of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the US (1901-1909), a conservationist president who set apart a lot of land out west for National Parks. This is a photo of him on safari in Africa after his presidential term.


(Edward Curtis, Self Portrait)

1904
Navajo in Canyon De Chelly. (Edward Curtis)

1908
White-Man-Runs-Him, a Crow scout who served in the US Army. (Edward Curtis)

1910
Nez Perce Warrior on Horseback. (Edward Curtis)

Jicarilla maiden (Edward Curtis)

Taos Water Girls. (Edward Curtis)

Dancing to an Eclipsed Moon. (Edward Curtis)

"Oasis" (Edward Curtis)


1923
A Smokey Day at the Sugar Bowl - Hupa. (Edward Curtis)


1944
Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite, CA


Moon and Half DomeYosemite, CA

1942
White House Ruins

1951
Pasture, Sonama County, Ca

1960
Redwoods, Bull Creek Flat, CA


1942
Moonrise, Hernandez

1942
The Tentons and Snake River


HINDENBURG - A large German airship, it flew from March 1936 to May 6, 1937. On May 6th it caught on fire at the end of its transatlantic journey, in NJ. I am just putting this here because these are awesome photos.

May 6, 1937
(Murray Becker)


May 6, 1937
Fall of the Hindenburg


GREAT DEPRESSION - began with the stock market crash of 1929, and lasted until America joined WWII. In the USA, unemployment raised to 25%. The country was not helped by the Dust Bowl, caused by drought and erosion in the Midwest, which displaced hundreds of thousands from their now useless, windblown farms. (Please note that the photos in this section overlap with WWII, the next section, although all of these are on the same subject matter. I also happen to be a bit of a photo enthusiast and may have gotten a little bit carried away with this particular section (and no doubt others when I get to them. ;) )

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS: Dorothea Lange and Jack Delano

Dorothea Lange, a well-known photographer of the Great Depression, also started as a portrait photographer in her own personal studio. She only took one class in photography, and mostly learned by working for various photographers in her area. Later she started working for SERA (State Emergency Relief Administration) with Paul Taylor, whom she later married. After that she worked for FSA (Farm Security Administration), to show the country the destitute migrant workers. At the beginning of the US entry into WWII, she was also hired to take photos of Japanese being evacuated. To see more of her photos, click here.

Jack Delano was another photographer for the FSA to help raise awareness of conditions. He went on a 1941 trip to Puerto Rico for FSA and when the FSA was dumped by the government he went on to be a musical composer. To see more of his photos click here.)

If you want to see other photos by FSA photographers of the Depression/Civil War, try Walker EvansGordon Parks, Sheldon Dick, Russell Lee, John Vachon, Marion Post Wolcott, Carl Mydans (Photos here) and Arthur Rothstein. (Please note I haven't done a lot of research on these persons but in my search stumbled upon them and their interesting photos.)


March 1936
"Migrant Mother", Florence Owens Thompson, a destitute pea-picker with seven children, became the face of the Depression when photographed by (Dorothea Lange).

1933
A man at White Angel Bread Line. (Dorothea Lange)

Children of migratory parents. (Dorothea Lange)

Children living in camp, CA. (Dorothea Lange)

1939
Sick Migrant Child, Wash. (Dorothea Lange)

1936
"People living in miserable poverty, Shacktown, Oklahoma. (Dorothea Lange)



1940
A little girl washing eggs for sale at a nearby Farmers co-op, Penn. (Jack Delano)

Waiting room of Union Station, Chicago, IL. (Jack Delano)

Mrs. Estell Wilson, Conn. (Jack Delano)

1941
Foggy Night, New Bedford, Mass.

Locomotive shop (Jack Delano)

1942
Children in Puerto Rico. (Jack Delano)

1940
Family in NC. (Jack Delano)

1942
"American Gothic", government cleaning woman Ella Watson (Gordon Parks)

Sharecropper (Walker Evans)

1935
Allie Mae Burroughs (Walker Evans)

1938
(Original Caption) "Negroes talking on porch of small store near Jeanerette, Louisiana." (Russell Lee

1942
American Shepherd, Montana (Russell Lee)


World War II (1939 - 1945) - The War, involving almost the entire world, between Germany, Japan and other Axis forces against UK, USSR and other Allied forces (Scroll to bottom to see list of countries joined). The War began when Adolph Hitler and Germany invaded Poland. The United States was hesitant about joining the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor, which enraged and convinced the USA to join the Allied forces. On June 6, 1944, D-day, Allied forces invaded French and pushed back the German forces until the German forces surrendered on May 7th, 8th (VE, Victory in Europe day) and 11th, 1945 (different places/armies). The Allied forces then demanded Japan to surrender; when they didn't, the USA dropped atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Afterwards, Japan finally surrendered. (Yes, I know, I'm leaving things out. How about YOU try to right a summary of WWII, bub!)

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Alfred Eisenstaedt and Various

Alfred Eisenstaedt took the famous VJ day photo of the sailor kissing the nurse. He was a LIFE photographer. I highly recommend looking at his photos: here... mostly because I like them and am really sad I can't fit them in this blog post.

Various: Because this was a WORLD war, many of the photos here are not taken by an particular person. Instead I have tried to find the most iconic, artistic, and monumental photos possible.

December 7, 1941
The bombing by Japanese at Pearl Harbor first incited the USA to join the war. This led, unfortunately, to Japanese Americans being prosecuted for their ethnicity. Many Japanese Americans were sent to Japanese Internment camps.

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister and leader of England during WWII. (Yousuf Karsh)

November 28 - December 1, 1943
The "Big Three", leaders of the Allies, Churchill (UK), Roosevelt (US) and Stalin (USSR) at the Tehran conference.
Adolf Hitler, visiting Paris. (One curious little fact, did you know that Adolph Hitler was an artist? Maybe if he had gotten into art school none of this ever would have happened. Just goes to show, even the most infamous and cruel dictator of the century can paint beautiful, peaceful scenes.)

November 8, 1942
Operation Torch, landing on French controlled North Africa.

June 6, 1944
Invasion of Normandy, code name Operation Overlord. Allied troops moving in on D-day at Omaha beach.

June 6, 1944
Invasion of Normandy, code name Operation Overlord. Allied troops moving in on D-day at Omaha beach.

June 6, 1944
Invasion of Normandy, code name Operation Overlord. Allied troops moving in on D-day at Omaha beach. An interesting story about this photo (and the other 11 photos that survived). The photographer, Robert Capa, who swam with the soldiers to the beach, took 106 photos but due to a darkroom mistake only 11 survived. (Robert Capa)

October 20, 1944
Battle of Leyte, General Douglas MacArthur walking to shore. The Battle of Leyte was part of the Pacific campaign to gain control of the Phillipines.

January, 1945
Children in Auschwitz concentration camp rescued by the Red Army.

1945
Holocast victims at the Ebensee, Austria concentration camp. (Samuelson)


May 8, 1945
Winston Churchill pronouncing VE day (Victory in Europe).

February 19, 1945
The Battle of Iwo Jima, where the USA fought against the Japanese to win control of two airfields on the island. This photo, taken by (Joe Rosenthal), is of 5 Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the US flag on Mt. Suribachi. Joe Rosenthal later said, when asked about his photo, "I took the picture, the Marines took Iwo Jima." (Joe Rosenthal)

I'm sorry. I had to. Albert Einstein shows that genius' can have a sense of humor. In all seriousness, Albert Einstein was one of the many scientists in the race to create the atomic bomb. (Which you should know if you've ever watched 5 minutes of any history program on tv.)

Crew of the Enola Gay, which dropped "Little boy" on Hiroshima.

August 6, 1945
The Hiroshima atom bomb went off at 8:15 Hiroshima time. (I love this photo. <3 )

August 9, 1945
Atomic bombing of Nagasaki, which led to the Japanese surrender.

August 14, 1945
Sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square after the president announced VJ (Victory over Japan) day. Apparently the photographer was taking photos when he saw a sailor running around kissing every woman in sight. He took a picture of the man kissing a nurse. It is one of the most famous photos shown by LIFE magazine. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

A mother and her child in the desolate landscape of post-bombed Hiroshima Japan. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

"The right photograph shows the shadow made by the heat rays. This place is about 800 meters from the hypocenter, and the unshielded asphalt surface was scorched, whereas the surface shielded by the handrail appears to be a whitish shadow."- (This is a direct quote from a website I found.)



AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT - Ever since the end of the Civil War, African-Americans, while free, still were discriminated against in many ways. This movement, lead by Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Debois and others, gradually led to the US outlawing racial discrimination. (Please note this overlaps with JFK's Presidency and the Moon landing.)

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHER: Flip Schulke and Various

Flip Schulke was a LIFE photographer who photographed many famous people, including JFK, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Jacques Cousteau. Unfortunately, the miracle Wikipedia does not have any information on him, but luckily, I happen to own his book.

Various: Many of these photos are taken by other people.... Yeah.


February 22, 1956
Rosa Parks being fingerprinted for organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott (she and other African Americans had started this boycott because of the unfair and unequal treatment in Montgomery buses after Rosa was arrested for sitting in "white" seating on a bus.)

December 21, 1956
Rosa Parks celebrates Supreme Court ruling that segregation is illegal on buses by sitting in the front of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.


September 4, 1957
Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who first entered the newly unsegregated Little Rock School. The group had to be escorted in by the army because of the violent protests (Sep. 25). The girl shouting is Hazel Massery. (Will Counts)


Spring 1960
Ruby Bridges, the first African-American student to enter all-white William Frantz elementary school, is escorted to school. Her father lost his job because of it, and many parents removed their children from the school when the 6yr old started attending. Only one of the teachers would teach her, and no other students would be in the same classroom with her. Also portrayed in Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With”.

June 15, 1963
Myrlie Evers mourns at her husband’s funeral. Medgar Evers was a African-American civil rights activist who was shot at his home in Jackson, Miss., by a member of the Klu Klux Klan. (Flip Schulke)

August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr., the famous African American civil-rights leader, activist, and preacher. He helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, etc. (Flip Schulke)

August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. giving his famous "I have a dream." speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. (Flip Schulke)



Coretta Scott King at her husband's funeral; he was assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn.


JOHN F. KENNEDY, democrat, was the 35th President of the United States (1961- 1963). "Events during his administration include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African American Civil Rights Movement and early events of the Vietnam War."... or at least, that's what Wiki says. He was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald, at 46yrs old. (Please note this overlaps with the Moon Landings and the American Civil Rights Movement.) 

John F. Kennedy

1960
John and Jacquelyn Kennedy, NYC.


JFK greeting the masses.

John Kennedy Jr. peeking out from beneath his father's desk in the Oval Office.

November 22, 1963
Newspapers proclaim JFK's assasination

November 22, 1963
Newspapers proclaim JFK's assasination

November 25, 1963
JFK Jr, saluting his father's casket



ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN
ONE GREAT LEAP FOR MANKIND - The Space race between the USSR and the USA to place the first man on the moon. We won. ;) I apologize sincerely if the dates here are wrong... some sources claimed different dates. (Please note this overlaps with JFK's Presidency and the American Civil Rights Movement.)

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHER: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) - An agency of the government concerned with outer space.

July 19, 1969
Apollo 11 takeoff.

The Blue Marble, Apollo 17

24, December 1968
Earthrise, Apollo 8, taken by Bill Anders.

First footprint on the moon,
it will last forever.

July 11, 1969
Buzz Aldrin saluting with the US flag on the moon.

July 20, 1969
Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

11, February 1984
Bruce McCandless II outside US Space Shuttle Challenger.

So, I hope you've enjoyed my presentation of American Photographers over the ages. My sources included Wikipedia and whatever books I happened to have lying around the house: Witness to Our Times (Flip Schulke) by Flip Shulke, America through the Lens by Martin Sandler (I didn't use this book very much, fyi), and Restless Spirit (Dorothea Lange) by Elizabeth Partridge. And, of course, thank you to the countless websites I pulled photos from.