Not A Peaceful Sight!

This diorama featuring the Massachusetts 54th regiment fighting on Morris Island originally was built to be displayed in the Statue of Liberty. After several years at Fort Moultrie, it has been given to the Seashore Farmers' Lodge, where it is now displayed.

More History!!

Yes, I’m still caught up on the Massachusetts 54th Regiment’s history and its associations. Lodges such as Seashore Farmers’ Lodge No. 767 were, along with the church, the heart of the community. Communication and cooperation with other lodges in the area and annual lodge parades and gatherings helped cement ties with the wider African American community. If a member or a member’s family was ill the Lodge members would “nurture” them; they gave money if possible and provided assistance with the home and children. The Seashore Farmers’ Lodge also provided assistance, recreation and education for the community; they raised money for the local Sunday school, and hosted Vacation Bible School for the area children. The Lodge members were small farmers, bound together by familial and community ties. The building has a lateral gable roof of raised-seam tin with exposed rafters, wood clapboarding, concrete piers, and windows with wooden full-panel shutters as simple openings.

Growing Old Together!

We all work for the best things in life and can’t always afford the most expensive. We want things to go our way and make us happy. We marry and expect it to last a lifetime. (There’s a poignant story linked to this.) We have children that are products of our love and we pray that they are healthy, intelligent, and beautiful. We also hope that their lives would be better than ours and that our grandchildren would continue the tradition. We want to be major contributors to society, our community, and our country. We don’t want to be famous but remembered in a positive way. That’s correct, we want the right job, the right spouse, the right family and the right everything that will make us fit in our own limited world. Well, those of us that have lived long enough knows that not always life will give us what we want. And even if we meet some of those of goals, they don’t always last. If you noticed, I didn’t mention God or Christ until now. That’s what normally happens when we focus on the material things. We’re so busy trying to meet our goals that we leave God out of them. And when things fall apart, then we tend to remember Him. We wait until it’s almost too late. We should be grateful that He doesn’t think like we do. He knows that we change when we think we have control over our lives. We forget about humility and pride takes over. Things fail because we don’t include God in our plans at the offset. As we get older and realize our mistakes and failures, we remember to consult with Him first before we act.  Yes, life happens and we deal with it.  We have to!  We need God more than ever in our lives.  Too bad we wait until we're older when we give Him the honor and praise that is due.

A Proud American Soldier!

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment Storming Fort Wagner