1.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
Rock Island Arsenal
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The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres, located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois and it is home of First Army headquarters. The island was established as a government site in 1816. It is now the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States and it has manufactured military equipment and ordnance since the 1880s. In 1919–1920 one hundred of the Anglo-American or Liberty Mark VIII tanks were manufactured and it is designated as a National Historic Landmark. Established as both an arsenal and a center for the manufacture of leather accoutrements and field gear, today it provides manufacturing, logistics, the Arsenal is the only active U. S. Some of the Arsenals most successful products include the M198 and M119 towed howitzers, about 250 military personnel and 6,000 civilians work there. The 2000 census population was 145, from the autobiography of Black Hawk, When we arrived we found that the troops had come to build a fort on Rock Island. It was our garden, like the people have near their big villages. The island facilities were converted and built in 1863, they were not yet completed in December of that year, the first prisoners were 468 Confederates captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee. That month more than 5,000 Confederates would swell the population of Rock Island military prison and they were kept in 84 barracks, each holding around 100 prisoners. A total of 41 Confederate prisoners successfully escaped during the prison’s operation, most died from disease, since sanitation was primitive as in all army encampments, and exposure to heat and humidity during the summers and freezing temperatures during winters. In 1864, deadly smallpox epidemics raged through the prison, the prison camp operated from December 1863 until July 1865, when the last prisoners were freed. After the war, the facility was completely destroyed. During its two years in operation, the camp housed a total of more than 12,400 Confederates. Following the war, the government retained ownership of Arsenal Island and developed it for use as an arsenal and ordnance manufacturing center. The Rock Island Arsenal Museum was established on July 4,1905 and it is the second-oldest US Army Museum in the US after the West Point Museum. The museum has been closed twice, during World War I and World War II, exhibits interpret the history of Rock Island Arsenal and the Union prison camp during the American Civil War, and the sites role as a military industrial facility
3.
Moline, Illinois
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Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 43,977 in 2010, it is the largest city in Rock Island County, Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has an estimate of 381,342. The city is the ninth-most populated city in Illinois outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. S, Quad City International Airport, Niabi Zoo, Black Hawk College, and the Quad Cities campus of Western Illinois University-Quad Cities. Moline is a hub for the Illinois Quad Cities, as South Park Mall. In the mid-1990s, the city undertook major efforts to revitalize its central business district, today, Molines downtown again serves as one of the civic and recreational hubs of the Quad Cities, many events take place at the 12, 000-seat iWireless Center and at John Deere Commons. Downtown Moline features hotels such as Radisson and Stoney Creek Inn, and commercial areas such as Bass Street Landing, the city of Moline is nestled beside and on a broad bluff situated between the banks of the Mississippi River and Rock River in Rock Island County, Illinois. The citys highland areas are cut across by many ravines that break up the city into natural neighborhoods. The city is bounded to the east by East Moline and to the west by Rock Island, Moline is located approximately 165 miles west of Chicago and approximately 164 miles northwest of Springfield, Illinois. The area is served by four highways, Interstate 74, Interstate 280, Interstate 80. This airport is the third busiest one in the state of Illinois, following Chicagos OHare International Airport and Midway Airport. According to the 2010 census, the city has an area of 16.66 square miles. Temperatures reach 100 °F only several years per decade, and −20 °F readings are even rarer, the average window for freezing temperatures is October 10 thru April 24, allowing a growing season of 168 days. Snowfall averages 31.6 inches per season, but has ranged as low as 11.1 in in 1901–02 to 69.7 in in 1974–75, on average, measurable snow occurs from November 21 to March 26, and rarely in October. Unlike much of the Midwest, measurable snow has never occurred in May. Indigenous peoples of varying cultures inhabited areas along the river over thousands of years, using it for transportation, water and this tribe saw the land between the Rock and Mississippi rivers as ideal for farming and fishing. In 1832 Chief Black Hawk declared war on the United States, when the war ended later that year, Black Hawk and his people were forced to leave the area and go north, paving the way for more European-American settlers to enter the Mississippi Valley. Sears and a group of associates built a 600-foot stone-and-brush dam across Sylvan Slough, thereby connecting the southern bank of the Mississippi River to what is today called Arsenal Island
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
United States National Cemetery System
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United States national cemetery is a designation for 147 nationally important cemeteries in the United States. A national cemetery is generally a military cemetery containing the graves of U. S. military personnel, veterans and their spouses, there are also state veteran cemeteries. The best known national cemetery is Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, outside Washington, some national cemeteries, especially Arlington, contain the graves of important civilian leaders and other important national figures. Some national cemeteries also contain sections for Confederate soldiers, the Department of the Army maintains two national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and United States Soldiers and Airmens Home National Cemetery. The National Park Service maintains 14 cemeteries associated with historic sites, the American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent agency, maintains 24 American military cemeteries and other memorials outside of the United States. The first national cemeteries were set up after the United States Civil War by Edmund Burke Whitman, congress passed a law to establish and protect national cemeteries in 1867
6.
Rock Island, Illinois
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Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is the largest island on the Mississippi River and it is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 39,018 at the 2010 census, located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities has a population of about 380,000, the city is home to Rock Island Arsenal, the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the US, which employs 6,000 people. Theres a wide variety of housing available in Rock Island including historic homes, new downtown condos, new construction in the heart of the city, the Rock Island-Milan School District, Rockridge School District along with private schools, serve the city. The District has art galleries and theaters, nightclubs and coffee shops, golf courses, parks, a casino, botanical center, marina, historic tours, bike paths, and festivals offer entertainment opportunities. In 2015 Rock Island was ranked the 32nd Best Small City in the based on economic health, affordability. Rock Island made the list of the nations 25 Most Affordable Housing Markets and this area has been a fortuitous place first for settlement and then for steamboat traffic, bridges, and railroads. Various Native American tribes occupied this area for thousands of years before settlement, by the early nineteenth century, it was occupied chiefly by the historic Sauk tribe. Their major village of Saukenuk was located on the side of Rock Island. After the War of 1812, the United States built Fort Armstrong on the island for defensive reasons in 1816, Saukenuk was the birthplace of the Sauk war chief Black Hawk, for whom the Black Hawk War of 1831–1832 was named. Fort Armstrong served as the US militarys headquarters for the war, today the Black Hawk State Historic Site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, includes much of the site of the original village of Saukenuk. The park includes a museum and a number of hiking trails along the Rock River, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was founded here in 1851. It was informally known as the Rock Island Line, as part of later nineteenth-century development, two first-class hotels, the Harper House and the Rock Island House were built in town. Rock Island Arsenal has manufactured military equipment and ordnance for the U. S. Army since the 1880s, the railroad was liquidated in bankruptcy in 1980. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built between Arsenal Island and Davenport in 1856, two weeks after the bridge opened, the steamboat Effie Afton collided with the bridge, caught fire, and damaged the bridge. The owner of the Effie Afton sued the company for damages. This test case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, although the original bridge is long gone, a monument exists on Arsenal Island marking the Illinois side
7.
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
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The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. While veterans benefits have been provided since the Revolutionary War, the Veterans Administration itself was founded in 1930, with a total 2009 budget of about $87. In 2012, the budget for VA was $132 billion. VA2014 budget request for 2014 was $152.7 billion and this included $66.5 billion in discretionary resources and $86.1 billion in mandatory funding. The discretionary budget request represented an increase of $2.7 billion, or 4.3 percent and it is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The Continental Congress of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the American Revolutionary War by providing pensions for soldiers who were disabled, direct medical and hospital care given to veterans in the early days of the U. S. was provided by the individual states and communities. In 1811, the first domiciliary and medical facility for veterans was authorized by the federal government, in the 19th century, the nations veterans assistance program was expanded to include benefits and pensions not only for veterans, but also their widows and dependents. After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, many state veterans homes were established, since domiciliary care was available at all state veterans homes, incidental medical and hospital treatment was provided for all injuries and diseases, whether or not of service origin. Indigent and disabled veterans of the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, Congress established a new system of veterans benefits when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Included were programs for disability compensation, insurance for servicepersons and veterans, the establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when Congress authorized the president to consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans. The three component agencies became bureaus within the Veterans Administration, brigadier General Frank T. Hines, who directed the Veterans Bureau for seven years, was named as the first Administrator of Veterans Affairs, a job he held until 1945. The close of World War II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran population, in addition, during the late 1940s, the VA had to contend with aging World War I veterans. During that time, the clientele of the VA increased almost fivefold with an addition of nearly 15,000,000 World War II veterans and approximately 4,000,000 World War I veterans. Prior to World War II, in response to scandals at the Veterans Bureau, programs that cared for veterans were centralized in Washington and this centralization caused delays and bottlenecks as the agency tried to serve the World War II veterans. As a result, the VA went through a decentralization process, the World War II GI Bill was signed into law on June 22,1944, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The United States government began serious consolidated services to veterans in 1930, the GI Bill of Rights, which was passed in 1944, had more effect on the American way of life than any other legislation - with the possible exception of the Homestead Act. VA health care facilities provide a spectrum of medical, surgical. The responsibilities and benefits programs of the Veterans Administration grew enormously during the six decades
8.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
9.
Union Army
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The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War,1861 to 1865. It included the permanent regular army of the United States, which was augmented by numbers of temporary units consisting of volunteers as well as conscripts. The Union Army fought and eventually defeated the Confederate Army during the war, at least two and a half million men served in the Union Army, almost all were volunteers. About 360,000 Union soldiers died from all causes,280,000 were wounded and 200,000 deserted. When the American Civil War began in April 1861, there were only 16,000 men in the U. S. Army, and of these many Southern officers resigned and joined the Confederate army. The U. S. Army consisted of ten regiments of infantry, four of artillery, Lincolns call forced the border states to choose sides, and four seceded, making the Confederacy eleven states strong. The war proved to be longer and more extensive than anyone North or South had expected, the call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists, and even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over 10,000 Germans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincolns call, as more men were needed, however, the number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be turned to. Nevertheless, between April 1861 and April 1865, at least two and a million men served in the Union Army, of whom the majority were volunteers. It is a misconception that the South held an advantage because of the percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the Confederate army. At the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the U. S, Military Academy on the active list, of these,296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became Confederate officers. Of the approximately 900 West Point graduates who were civilians,400 returned to the Union Army and 99 to the Confederate. Therefore, the ratio of Union to Confederate professional officers was 642 to 283, the South did have the advantage of other military colleges, such as The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, but they produced fewer officers. The Union Army was composed of numerous organizations, which were generally organized geographically, Military Division A collection of Departments reporting to one commander. Military Divisions were similar to the modern term Theater, and were modeled close to, though not synonymous with. Department An organization that covered a region, including responsibilities for the Federal installations therein. Those named for states usually referred to Southern states that had been occupied and it was more common to name departments for rivers or regions. District A subdivision of a Department, there were also Subdistricts for smaller regions
10.
Oakdale Memorial Gardens
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Oakdale Memorial Gardens, formerly Oakdale Cemetery, is located in east-central Davenport, Iowa, United States. It contains a section for the burial of pets called the Love of Animals Petland, in 2015, the cemetery was listed as an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, and as a local landmark on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties. It is also listed on the Network to Freedom, a National Park Service registry for sites associated with the Underground Railroad. The cemetery board hired Captain George F. de la Roche and it was designed as a rural or garden cemetery, but it transitioned to a landscape-lawn cemetery beginning in the late 19th century. It covers more than 78 acres, some of the graves in the cemetery had been transferred from the overcrowded City Cemetery in the west end. The cemetery is located across Eastern Avenue from the former Iowa Soldiers Orphans Home, there are also at least 11 graves of former slaves who escaped to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad, which led to its inclusion on the Network to Freedom. Two special receiving vaults were built in the cemetery, although neither exists anymore, a brick vault was constructed in 1873 for those who died in the winter when the ground was frozen. A wooden vault was built next to it in 1918 because of the number of deaths as a result of the Spanish flu epidemic. The cemetery entrance is marked by a set of monumental gates, construction of the gates was completed in 1896. The cemetery is home to several private mausoleums. William D. Petersen was the son of J. H. C, Petersen who founded a department store in Davenport that has become Von Maur. He also was responsible for the development of the citys riverfront and his mausoleum was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Davenport architects Rudolph Clausen & Walter Kruse. It was inspired by his wife Saras desire for a similar to the ones she saw in Europe. It was constructed by Presbrey Leland of Valhalla, New York in 1921 for $60,000, the exterior is composed of limestone from Greece. The interior features crypts that were carved from Greek marble and a ceramic tile ceiling that was designed and completed by the Guastavino Tile Company of Woburn, joseph W. Bettendorf was an industrialist for whom the city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named. His mausoleum was built in 1923 in the Egyptian Revival style for $150,000 and its exterior is composed of Barre Granite from Vermont. The interior features crypts carved from marble and Egyptian-inspired stained glass windows. The mausoleum built for Johannna Schricker, widow of Davenport lumber magnate Lorenzo Schricker, was designed in the Neoclassical style by Davenport architect John W. Ross and it was built by the Vermont Marble Company in 1899 at a cost of $6,489
11.
Davenport, Iowa
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Davenport was founded on May 14,1836 by Antoine Le Claire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk War stationed at nearby Fort Armstrong. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 99,685, located approximately halfway between Chicago and Des Moines, Davenport is on the border of Iowa and Illinois. The city is prone to frequent flooding due to its location on the Mississippi River, there are two main universities, Saint Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, which is where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. Several annual music festivals take place in Davenport, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, The Mississippi Valley Fair, an internationally known 7-mile foot race called the Bix 7 is run during the festival. The city has a Class A minor league team, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Davenport has 50 plus parks and facilities, as well as over 20 miles of paths for biking or walking. Four interstates and two major United States Highways serve the city, Davenport has seen steady population growth since its incorporation, with an exception being the 1980s, when the population decreased due to job loss. The Quad Cities was ranked as the most affordable metropolitan area in 2010 by Forbes, in 2007, Davenport, along with neighboring Rock Island, won the City Livability Award in the small-city category from the U. S. In 2012, Davenport as well as the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area was ranked among the areas in the nation in the growth of high-tech jobs. The current mayor of Davenport is Frank Klipsch, the land was originally owned by the Sauk people, Meskwaki, and Ho-Chunk – indigenous peoples of the Americas. In 1803 France sold it to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase, lieutenant Zebulon Pike was the first United States representative to officially visit the Upper Mississippi River area. On August 27,1805, Pike camped on the present day site of Davenport, in 1832, a group of Sauk, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo people were defeated by the United States in the Black Hawk War. The United States government then concluded the Black Hawk Purchase, sometimes called the Forty-Mile Strip or Scotts Purchase, the purchase was made for $640,000 on September 21,1832 and contained an area of some 6 million acres, at a price equivalent to 11 cents/acre. Although named after the defeated chief Black Hawk, he was being held prisoner at the time, the purchase was therefore agreed to by Sauk chief Keokuk, who had remained neutral in the war. It was made on the site of present-day Davenport, army General Winfield Scott and Governor of Illinois, John Reynolds, acted on behalf of the United States, with the future Davenport founder, half-Native, Antoine Le Claire serving as translator. Chief Keokuk gave a portion of land to Antoine Le Claires wife, Marguerite. Antoine built their home on the spot where the agreement was signed. Antoine did so, finishing the Treaty House in the spring of 1833, Davenport was established on May 14,1836 by Le Claire, and named after his friend Colonel George Davenport, who was stationed at Fort Armstrong during the war
12.
Confederate States Army
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The Confederate States Army was the military ground force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. S. Military Academy and colonel of a regiment during the Mexican War. In March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a more permanent Confederate States Army, the better estimates of the number of individual Confederate soldiers are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 men. This does not include a number of slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for the army, such as construction of fortifications. Since these figures include estimates of the number of individual soldiers who served at any time during the war. These numbers do not include men who served in Confederate naval forces, although most of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription, primarily as a means to force men to register and to volunteer. In the absence of records, estimates of the percentage of Confederate soldiers who were draftees are about double the 6 percent of Union soldiers who were conscripts. Confederate casualty figures also are incomplete and unreliable, one estimate of Confederate wounded, which is considered incomplete, is 194,026. These numbers do not include men who died from causes such as accidents. Other Confederate forces surrendered between April 16,1865 and June 28,1865, by the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted. The Confederacys government effectively dissolved when it fled Richmond in April, by the time Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States on March 4,1861, the seven seceding slave states had formed the Confederate States. The Confederacy seized federal property, including nearly all U. S. Army forts, Lincoln was determined to hold the forts remaining under U. S. control when he took office, especially Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, C. S. troops under the command of General P. G. T, Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13,1861, forcing its capitulation on April 14. The Northern states were outraged by the Confederacys attack and demanded war and it rallied behind Lincolns call on April 15, for all the states to send troops to recapture the forts from the secessionists, to put down the rebellion and to preserve the Union intact. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy. The Confederate Congress provided for a Confederate army patterned after the United States Army and it was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. Although the two forces were to exist concurrently, very little was done to organize the Confederate regular army, the Provisional Army of the Confederate States began organizing on April 27. Virtually all regular, volunteer, and conscripted men preferred to enter this organization since officers could achieve a rank in the Provisional Army than they could in the Regular Army
13.
Gene Baker
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He threw and batted right-handed, and was listed at 6 feet 1 inch,170 pounds. After his release from the Navy, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League as their regular shortstop during 1948 and 1949. Bobby Bragan, manager of the Angels’ chief rivals, the Hollywood Stars, said Baker was as good a shortstop as I’ve ever seen –, the Cubs purchased Gene Bakers contract and he made his major league debut September 20,1953. He primarily played second base for the Cubs and Pirates during eight seasons and he was a reserve infielder for the 1960 World Series champion Pirates and made three pinch-hit appearances during the Series. In 1961, Baker became the first African-American manager in Organized Baseball when the Pirates named him skipper of their Batavia Pirates farm club in the New York–Penn League. In 1962, he became the first black coach in Organized Baseball when the Pirates named him player-coach of their Triple-A International League affiliate Columbus Jets, in 1963, the Pirates promoted him to coach on the Major League team. He was the second coach in the big leagues, following Buck ONeil by a half-season. Baker then spent many years as a scout for the Pirates and he died in Davenport at the age of 74. He is buried in Rock island National Cemetery, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference
14.
Lane Evans
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Lane Allen Evans was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of Illinois. Evans announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2006 and retired at the end of the 109th Congress, Evans was born in 1951 in Rock Island, Illinois, and attended Alleman High School and Augustana College there. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, after leaving the Marines in 1971, Evans enrolled at Augustana College in Rock Island, graduating in 1974. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University in 1977, in 1982, Evans ran for and won the Democratic nomination for Illinois 17th congressional district, which included most of Illinois share of the Quad Cities area. It had been renumbered from the 19th District since Illinois lost two districts after the 1980 census, the district had been in Republican hands for all but two years since 1939. However, the brand of Republicanism that prevailed in the district had traditionally been a moderate one, Evans got a significant boost when 16-year incumbent Tom Railsback was defeated for renomination by the more conservative Republican, State Senator Kenneth McMillan. Evans faced almost no opposition in his next four campaigns, in 1994, however, Evans only won by nine points over an unknown Republican who spent almost no money. This emboldened the Republicans for 1996, when Evans faced Mark Baker, although Bill Clinton carried the district by a healthy 30,000 votes, Evans defeated Baker by only 5 percentage points. A1998 rematch was even closer, with Evans only winning by 6,000 votes, a third run by Baker in 2000 saw Evans win by almost 10 points, however. Redistricting after the 2000 census made Evans safer, decatur and part of Springfield were added while some more rural areas were taken out. The redistricting process, guided by House Speaker and 14th District Congressman Dennis Hastert and 3rd District Congressman Bill Lipinski, Evans was re-elected in 2002 and 2004. Beginning in 1995, Evans battled Parkinsons disease, however, this tactic backfired, and Evans won handily. During his tenure, Evans was one of the most liberal members of the House, on June 27,2005, Evans campaign committee agreed to pay $185,000 to settle an investigation by the Federal Election Commission. According to the FEC press release, The FEC contended that the Evans Committee created the Victory Fund during the 1998 election cycle in order to assist with the Congressman’s reelection campaign, the Evans Committee then largely directed the Victory Fund’s operations during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. During this period the Victory Fund raised and spent more than $500,000, Congressman Evans and his staff raised a majority of the money contributed to the Victory Fund, including more than $200,000 in labor union treasury funds, which are prohibited in federal campaigns. The Victory Fund spent at least $330,000 on voter identification, the FEC found that these campaign focused activities were so closely coordinated with the campaign that they represented contributions from the Victory Fund to Evans. The contributions exceeded federal limits and included funds from prohibited sources, the Rock Island Democratic Central Committee, for its part, agreed to a civil penalty of $30,000. The penalties were paid without any admission of guilt, but federal judge Joe Billy McDade wrote in the settlement that Evans personal culpability in the scheme was clear, Evans won the Democratic primary in 2006 and was poised for a rematch against Zinga
15.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
16.
Illinois's 17th congressional district
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The 17th Congressional District of Illinois is represented by Democrat Cheri Bustos. It includes most of the portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peoria. The 17th congressional district has shifted northward after the 2012 redistricting and it lost Quincy and Decatur, as well as its share of Springfield. It was generally thought that the map would allow the district to revert to the Democrats. As expected, one-term Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling was defeated by Democratic opponent Cheri Bustos in the 2012 election cycle, all or parts of Canton, East Moline, Freeport, Galesburg, Kewanee, Moline, Peoria, Rock Island, Rockford, Pekin and Sterling are included. The representatives for these districts were elected in the 2012 primary and general elections, from 2003 to 2013 the district was known as the rabbit on a skateboard for its unusual shape devised as the outcome of gerrymandering. The boundaries were drawn in a deal to protect both Democratic incumbent Lane Evans and neighboring Republican incumbents. The lines of the district were drawn to move Republican voters into neighboring districts and to include Democratic neighborhoods in Springfield, as of May 2015, two former members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Illinoiss 17th congressional district are alive. The most recent representative to die was Lane Evans on November 5,2014, Illinoiss congressional districts List of United States congressional districts Gerrymander Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, the Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts
17.
Private first class
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Private first class is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel. In the United States Army, recruits usually enter service as a private, Private, designated by a single chevron, is typically an automatic promotion after six months of service. Private first class, equivalent to NATO grade OR-3, is designated by a single chevron, soldiers who have achieved an associate degree or its equivalent are entitled to enter the Army at this pay grade. Advancement from private first class is typically to specialist, although occasionally it may be to corporal, the rank of private first class has existed since 1846 and, prior to 1919, its insignia consisted of the branch of service insignia without any arcs or chevrons. The Secretary of War approved an arc of one bar under the branch of service or trade insignia for privates first class on 22 July 1919. From August 5,1920 to May 28,1968, the insignia for private first class was a single chevron. On May 28,1968, the insignia was changed to its current form, consisting of a single chevron with one arc. In the United States Marine Corps, the rank of Private First Class is the second lowest, just under Lance Corporal and just above Private, equivalent to NATO grade OR-2, at the time the two ranks were directly equivalent. However, since 1968 when the US Army redesignated the E-3 paygrade as PFC, france has the rank of Soldat de première classe indicated with a single red chevron. The rank of private first class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of private and lance-corporal, introduced in 1983, it is awarded to hardworking conscript citizen-soldiers who performed well in their National Service term. Privates first class wear an insignia of a single chevron pointing down. The PFC rank is rarely awarded nowadays by the SAF since 2010s, all private enlistees are eligible to be promoted directly to lance corporal should they meet the minimum qualifying requirements and work performance. In the Vietnam Peoples Army, private first class is the highest junior enlisted rank, Private first class is below corporal and above private second class. The rank of private first class is similar to its original American counterpart, the insignia consist of a single chevron with a triangle below. The rank is also in use with the Philippine Marine Corps, comparative military ranks Gefreiter U. S. Army enlisted rank insignia U. S. Marine Corps enlisted rank insignia U. S. uniformed services pay grades United States military pay
18.
Medal of Honor
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The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U. S. Congress. There are three versions of the medal, one for the Army, one for the Navy, personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version. U. S. awards including the Medal of Honor do not have titles and while there is no official abbreviation. The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States armed forces, because the medal is presented in the name of Congress, it is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the name is Medal of Honor, which began with the U. S. Armys version. Within United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor, in 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as National Medal of Honor Day. The capture saved the fort of West Point from the British Army, although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. 539 Certificates were approved for this period and this medal was later replaced by the Army Distinguished Service Medal which was established on January 2,1918. Those Army members who held the Distinguished Service Medal in place of the Certificate of Merit could apply for the Army Distinguished Service Cross effective March 5,1934. There were no awards or medals at the beginning of the Civil War except for the Certificate of Merit which was awarded for the Mexican-American War. Scott however, was strictly against medals being awarded which was the European tradition, after Scott retired in October 1861, the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. Senator James W. Secretary Wells directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new military decoration, on May 15,1862, the United States Navy Department ordered 175 medals with the words Personal Valor on the back from the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia. Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, the resolution was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12,1862. During the war, Townsend would have some medals delivered to recipients with a letter requesting acknowledgement of the Medal of Honor. By mid-November the War Department contracted with Philadelphia silversmith William Wilson and Son, the Army version had The Congress to written on the back of the medal. Both versions were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint,1863, Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration. On March 3, Medals of Honor were authorized for officers of the Army, the Secretary of War first presented the Medal of Honor to six Union Army volunteers on March 25,1863 in his office. 1890, On April 23, the Medal of Honor Legion is established in Washington,1896, The ribbon of the Army version Medal of Honor was redesigned with all stripes being vertical
19.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
20.
Jeff Pfeffer
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Edward Joseph Pfeffer born in Seymour, Illinois, was a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. His older brother Francis was known as Big Jeff Pfeffer and he helped the Robins win the 1916 and 1920 National League pennants. In the 1916 World Series, he recorded a save in Game 3 and was the losing pitcher of the series-ending Game 5. Pfeffer led the National League in hit batsmen in 1916 and 1917, in 1916 he gave up Rogers Hornsbys first home run. In 13 seasons he had a 158–112 win-loss record with 10 saves in 347 games, as of the end of the 2014 season, Pfeffer ranked 96th on the MLB career ERA list and tied for 73rd on the MLB career hit batsmen list. He is the Dodgers career leader in ERA and he died in Chicago at the age of 84, and is interred at Rock Island National Cemetery. Top 100 Major League Baseball hit batsmen leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
21.
Thomas Jackson Rodman
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Thomas Jackson Rodman was an American artillerist, inventor, ordnance specialist, and career United States Army officer. He served as a Union Army general during the American Civil War, in which he was noted for his many improvements and innovations concerning the artillery used by the Union forces. He is especially remembered for developing the Rodman gun, which in various sizes saw extensive use in coastal defenses and this resulted in increased muzzle velocities with lower maximum pressures when compared to performance with conventional ball powder. The Rodman seven perforation grain was named after Rodman, and similar propellant grain shapes are still in use today in artillery, rockets, and automotive airbag inflators. After the conflict Rodman remained with the U. S. Army in his chosen profession, thomas Jackson Rodman was born in 1816 on a farm near Salem in Washington County, Indiana. He was a son of James Rodman and his wife Elizabeth Burton, in 1837 Rodman entered the United States Military Academy in West Point, and graduated four years later, standing seventh out of 52 cadets. On July 1,1841, He was appointed a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Ordnance Department. On December 13,1843, Rodman married Martha Ann Black, and his two daughters were named Florence and Ella Elizabeth, and his sons were named, John B. Thomas Jackson Jr. Robert S. and Addison B, two of Rodmans sons also attended West Point. Addison Burton Rodman was admitted on July 1,1877, John Black Rodman was admitted on September 1,1863, graduated on June 15,1868, served initially with the 20th U. S. Infantry, and rose to the rank of colonel before retiring. Rodman also saw limited action in 1846–48 during the Mexican–American War. Starting in 1844, Rodman began running experiments to overcome the limitations of cast iron cannon due to the way they were made. Up to that time, all cannon barrels made of iron were cast solid and then cooled only on their outside, made in this way, the cannons could crack during the cooling process, break apart during shipment, or worse burst as they were fired. Although it took him years, Rodman developed a way to solve these drawbacks and he found that if he cast the iron around a hollow core and then applied a steady stream of water within the barrel for cooling, a much more reliable and stronger product was made. His method, and the result, has described as. Rodmans manufacturing method, now known as the wet chill process, doing this forced the thickest material toward the center of the barrel, and Rodman would then patent this invention. On March 3,1847, Rodman was promoted to first lieutenant, Rodman experimented for almost a decade at the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, testing his theory and performing trial runs of his cannon barrels. After viewing the results, the U. S, War Department approved construction of a fifteen-inch smoothbore columbiad of Rodmans design in 1859
22.
Rodman gun
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The Rodman gun is any of a series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by Union artilleryman Thomas Jackson Rodman. The guns were designed to fire shot and shell. These heavy guns were intended to be mounted in seacoast fortifications and they were built in 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch bore. Other than size, the guns were all identical in design, with a curving bottle shape. Rodman guns were true guns that did not have a powder chamber. Rodman guns differed from all previous artillery because they were hollow cast, guns had been traditionally cast solid and the bore was bored out of the solid metal. With this traditional method, the gun cooled from the outside inward, as each succeeding layer cooled it contracted, pulling away from the still molten metal in the center, creating voids and tension cracks. Drilling out the bore removed the voids, but the tensions in the metal were still toward the outside, Rodman devised a method of hollow casting where the gun cooled from the inside out, so that as cooling occurred, it created compression rather than tension. This resulted in a stronger gun. With Rodmans method of casting, a cooling core was placed in the mold before casting and this core consisted of a watertight cast iron tube, closed at the lower end. A second, smaller tube, open at the bottom was inserted into the first, as the molten iron was poured into the mold, water was pumped through the smaller tube to the bottom of the larger tube. The water rose through the space between the two tubes and flowed out at the top, the water continued flowing as the metal cooled. To further ensure that the gun cooled from the inside out, for an 8-inch Rodman columbiad, the core was removed 25 hours after casting and the flow of water continued through the space left by the core for another 40 hours. Over 50,000 gallons of water was used in the process, for larger guns, the cooling periods were longer and more water was used. After cooling the gun the machining process began, the bore was bored out to proper size, the exterior was turned smooth, the trunnions were turned on a trunnion lathe, and a vent was drilled. Columbiads were not the only guns cast using Rodmans method, dalgren XV-inch shell guns for the U. S. Navy were also hollow cast. A 20-inch hollow cast gun, which may not have been identical to the two guns supplied to the U. S. Army, was sold to Peru. Rodman guns were cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, boston, Massachusetts, and the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York
23.
Frank P. Witek
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Private First Class Frank Peter Witek was a United States Marine who was killed in action on August 3,1944, in the Battle of Finegayan, Guam. For his heroism and sacrifice of life, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the 28th Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II, Frank Peter Witek was born on December 10,1921, in Derby, Connecticut. When he was 9, the moved to Chicago. It was there he finished his student days at Crane Technical High School, on January 20,1942, he left for recruit training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. He left almost immediately for Pearl Harbor and in January 1943, from there he went to Bougainville where he fought in three major battles. Then he went to Guadalcanal for a rest, on July 21,1944, the 3rd Marine Division invaded Guam. PFC Witek was a Browning automatic rifleman and scout behind the Japanese lines, on September 8,1944, his mother received a telegram from Washington informing her that her son had been killed on August 3. According to a combat correspondents release, he was slain at the battle of the Mount Santa Rosa road block and he had only eight cartridges left out of an original 240 rounds when he was found. On Sunday, May 20,1945,50,000 people, including his mother and Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, met in Soldier Field, Chicago, to do honor to his memory. PFC Frank Peter Witek,23 years old, had earned the highest military award his country could give him — the Medal of Honor. Initially buried in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Cemetery on Guam, PFC Witeks remains were reinterred in the Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois, in 1949. The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRANK P and he gallantly gave his life for his country. /S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT In 1946, a Gearing-class greyhound destroyer, the destroyer was launched on February 2,1946 and was christened by Witeks mother, Mrs. Nora Witek. The USS Witek was commissioned on April 25,1946 and it was formally de-commissioned on August 19,1968. In 1999, Witeks hometown, Derby, Connecticut has named the PFC Frank P. Witek Memorial Park in his honor, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation awards a memorial scholarship in honor of PFC Frank Witek. The area near the village of Yona on Guam, where Witek perished, was named Marine Camp Witek, although the camp closed decades ago, Guam natives still refer to the area as Camp Witek. List of Medal of Honor recipients This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps, private First Class Frank Peter Witek, USMC
24.
Quad-City Times
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The Quad-City Times is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area. According to the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Quad-City Times has a circulation of 61,366, the newspaper is owned by Lee Enterprises, which is also located in Davenport. The Quad-City Times grew from several predecessors, including the Democratic Banner, the Democratic Banner was founded in 1848, was sold in 1855 to a group of businessmen and rechristened the Iowa State Democrat. The Iowa State Democrat published its first edition on October 15 of that year, the newspaper underwent many changes through its early history, and by 1899, its circulation was 1,300 daily and 2,500 weekly. The newspaper was sold to Lee Enterprises in 1915, thereafter Cram become editor and publisher, the Blue Ribbon News began publication in 1878, by 1886, it was known as the Davenport Daily Times. The newspaper, which struggled for years, was sold in 1899 to A. W. Both newspapers continued to grow in circulation, before combining operations in 1964, the formerly separate newspapers became known as the Times-Democrat. By 1974, with circulation expanding throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois, in December 1989, the Quad-City Times moved into its current building at 500 E. The facility, completed at a cost of $23.8 million, includes a press room, mail room, warehouse. The facility also houses Trico, the commercial printing business. The Quad-City Times has been on the edge of technology. Electronic pagination began in 1988, with all-digital photography taking root by 1994, current Quad-City Times columnists include Don Doxsie, Alma Gaul, Barb Ickes and Bill Wundram. The current editor is Autumn Phillips, deb Anselm is the publisher of the Quad-City Times. The newspaper receives Iowa political news from Lee Enterprises Des Moines bureau, previously, the Quad-City Times published additional editions, which have since been discontinued, An Afternoon Edition that circulated for many decades only in Davenport and Bettendorf. An Illinois Edition that circulated in the Illinois Quad Cities, and throughout Rock Island, Henry and this edition went to Clinton and Jackson counties in Iowa, and Carroll and Whiteside counties in Illinois during the week. All separate editions have since been discontinued, the Quad-City Times is available on the Amazon Kindle book reader, however without ads, classifieds and most photos and tables. On Thursdays, the Bettendorf News is published, and the tabloid-sized included in newsstand and subscriber copies in Bettendorf, Le Claire, Pleasant Valley, from 1927 through sometime in the 2000s decade, the Bettendorf News was a stand-alone weekly newspaper. Since 1975, the newspaper has been owned by Lee Enterprises, and during the 2000s decade, in the past, special weekly sections were also published for the Clinton, and both the upper and lower Rock Island County markets, but these have since been discontinued
25.
Heritage Documentation Programs
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These programs were established to document historic places in the United States. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written reports, in 1933, NPS established the Historic American Buildings Survey following a proposal by Charles E. Peterson, a young landscape architect in the agency. It was founded as a constructive program for architects, draftsmen. Guided by field instructions from Washington, D. C. the first HABS recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of Americas architectural heritage, by creating an archive of historic architecture, HABS provided a database of primary source material and documentation for the then-fledgling historic preservation movement. Earlier private projects included the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, notable HABS photographers include Jack Boucher, who worked for the project for over 40 years. The Historic American Engineering Record program was founded on January 10,1969, by NPS, HAER documents historic mechanical and engineering artifacts. Since the advent of HAER, the program is typically called HABS/HAER. Today much of the work of HABS/HAER is done by student teams during the summer, eric DeLony headed HAER from 1971 to 2003. In October 2000, NPS and the American Society of Landscape Architects established a sister program, a predecessor, the Historic American Landscape and Garden Project, recorded historic Massachusetts gardens between 1935 and 1940. That project was funded by the Works Progress Administration, but was administered by HABS, the permanent collection of HABS/HAER/HALS are housed at the Library of Congress, which was established in 1790 as the replacement reference library of the United States Congress. It has since expanded to serve as the National Library of the United States, U. S. publishers are required to deposit a copy of every copyrighted and published work, book monograph. As a branch of the United States Government, its works are in the public domain in the US. Many images, drawings, and documents are available through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, including proposed, demolished, and existing structures, locales, projects, and designs. Jack Boucher, former HABS/HAER photographer Jet Lowe, former HAER photographer National Register of Historic Places HAER,30 Years of Recording Our Technological Heritage, IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. Documenting Complexity, The Historic American Engineering Record and Americas Technological History, IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. National Park Service−NPS, official Heritage Documentation Programs website
26.
Find a Grave
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Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry. com, the worlds largest for-profit genealogy company, the site was created in 1995 by Salt Lake City resident Jim Tipton to support his hobby of visiting the burial sites of celebrities. He later added an online forum, Find a Grave was launched as a commercial entity in 1998, first as a trade name and then incorporated in 2000. The site later expanded to include graves of non-celebrities, in order to allow visitors to pay respect to their deceased relatives or friends. In 2013, Tipton sold Find a Grave to Ancestry. com, burial information is a wonderful source for people researching their family history. In a September 30,2013, press release, Ancestry, as of March 2017, Find a Grave contained over 159 million burial records and 75 million photos. The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from around the world, american cemeteries are organized by state and county, and many cemetery records contain Google Maps and photographs of the cemeteries and gravesites. Individual grave records may contain dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs, Interment listings are added by individuals, genealogical societies, and other institutions such as the International Wargraves Photography Project. Contributors must register as members to submit listings, called memorials, the submitter becomes the manager of the listing but may transfer management. Only the current manager of a listing may edit it, although any member may use the features to send correction requests to the listings manager. Managers may add links to other listings of deceased spouses, parents, members may post requests for photos of a specific grave, these requests will be automatically sent to other members who have registered their location as being near that grave. Find a Grave also maintains lists of memorials of famous persons by their claim to fame, such as Medal of Honor recipients, religious figures, Find a Grave exercises editorial control over these listings. Canadian Headstones Interment. net National Cemetery Administrations Nationwide Gravesite Locator Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Tombstone tourist Colker, web site answers grave concerns about stars. Web site attracts millions of grave-seekers, Find VIPs who R. I. P. through online cemetery. Genealogy, Find a Grave tremendous on many different levels, terre Haute, Indiana, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. Archived from the original on May 14,2011, tip, Find a Grave has info youre dying to know. Tracking Down Relatives, Visiting Graves Virtually, media related to Images from Find A Grave at Wikimedia Commons Official website
27.
Contributing property
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Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts, the first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931. Properties within a district fall into one of two types of property, contributing and non-contributing. A contributing property, such as a 19th Century mansion, helps make a historic district historic, while a non-contributing property, such as a medical clinic. The contributing properties are key to a districts historic associations, historic architectural qualities. A property can change from contributing to non-contributing and vice versa if significant alterations take place, the ordinance declared that buildings in the district could not have changes made to their architectural features visible from the street. By the mid-1930s, other U. S. cities followed Charlestons lead, an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution led to the 1937 creation of the Vieux Carre Commission, which was charged with protecting and preserving the French Quarter in the city of New Orleans. The city then passed an ordinance that set standards regulating changes within the quarter. Other sources, such as the Columbia Law Review in 1963, the Columbia Law Review gave dates of 1925 for the New Orleans laws and 1924 for Charleston. The same publication claimed that two cities were the only cities with historic district zoning until Alexandria, Virginia adopted an ordinance in 1946. The National Park Service appears to refute this, in 1939, the city of San Antonio, Texas, enacted an ordinance that protected the area of La Villita, which was the citys original Mexican village marketplace. In 1941 the authority of local controls on buildings within historic districts was being challenged in court. In City of New Orleans vs Pergament Louisiana state appellate courts ruled that the design, beginning in the mid-1950s, controls that once applied to only historic districts were extended to individual landmark structures. The United States Congress adopted legislation that declared the Georgetown neighborhood in Washington, by 1965,51 American communities had adopted preservation ordinances. By 1998, more than 2,300 U. S. towns, contributing properties are defined through historic district or historic preservation zoning laws, usually at the local level. Zoning ordinances pertaining to historic districts are designed to maintain a historic character by controlling demolition and alteration to existing properties. It can be any property, structure or object that adds to the integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, either local or federal. Definitions vary but, in general, they maintain the same characteristics, another key aspect of a contributing property is historic integrity
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Historic districts in the United States
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Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts greatly vary in size, some have hundreds of structures, the U. S. federal government designates historic districts through the United States Department of Interior under the auspices of the National Park Service. Federally designated historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, state-level historic districts may follow similar criteria or may require adherence to certain historic rehabilitation standards. Local historic district designation offers, by far, the most legal protection for historic properties because most land use decisions are made at the local level, local districts are generally administered by the county or municipal government. The first U. S. historic district was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931, Charleston city government designated an Old and Historic District by local ordinance and created a board of architectural review to oversee it. New Orleans followed in 1937, establishing the Vieux Carré Commission, other localities picked up on the concept, with the city of Philadelphia enacting its historic preservation ordinance in 1955. The Supreme Court case validated the protection of resources as an entirely permissible governmental goal. In 1966 the federal government created the National Register of Historic Places, conference of Mayors had stated Americans suffered from rootlessness. By the 1980s there were thousands of federally designated historic districts, Historic districts are generally two types of properties, contributing and non-contributing. In general, contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context, in addition to the two types of classification within historic districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are classified into five broad categories. They are, building, structure, site, district and object, all but the eponymous district category are also applied to historic districts listed on the National Register. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is governmental acknowledgment of a historic district, however, the Register is an honorary status with some federal financial incentives. The National Register of Historic Places defines a historic district per U. S. federal law, a district may also comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history. Districts established under U. S. federal guidelines generally begin the process of designation through a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, the National Register is the official recognition by the U. S. government of cultural resources worthy of preservation. While designation through the National Register does offer a district or property some protections, if the federal government is not involved, then the listing on the National Register provides the site, property or district no protections. If, however, company A was under federal contract the Smith House would be protected, a federal designation is little more than recognition by the government that the resource is worthy of preservation. Usually, the National Register does not list religious structures, moved structures, reconstructed structures, however, if a property falls into one of those categories and are integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria then an exception allowing their listing will be made. Historic district listings, like all National Register nominations, can be rejected on the basis of owner disapproval, in the case of historic districts, a majority of owners must object in order to nullify a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
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National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
