The Female Giants had to overcome strong opposition just to play baseball. — The New York Times of Tuesday, May 27, 1913, tells the story. On the previous Sunday the New York Female Giants baseball team had held a practice game at the Lenox Oval, a sports field at Lenox Avenue and 145th Street in New York City. The 32 members of the…

Why are those happy slaves shooting at us? — Before and during the American Civil War, most whites in the slave-holding Southern states professed an unwavering conviction that their slaves were happy and content in their bondage, and extremely loyal to their masters. That’s why they were so often surprised, then outraged, when enslaved men ran away and returned…

He made me realize I can’t continue to hate the men who fought to maintain slavery — As someone who reads a lot of history, whenever I came across the name of Dorsey Pender I would, figuratively, curl my lip in disdain. When I first read of his death in battle, I may have felt, deep in my heart, something akin to satisfaction. Pender was a West…

Refusing to worry doesn’t mean you won’t! — I’ve been thinking about a time a few years ago when I was feeling really down, but for no reason I could put my finger on. Things were going reasonably well at that point in my life. In fact, there were some distinctly positive possibilities on the horizon. But still…

God seems to love small beginnings! The whole human race started with one man paired with one woman. The nation Israel, through whom God promised that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3) began with just one couple, Abraham and Sarah. Most importantly, it was through one Man, born in an obscure…

Will killing off your hero make your story more “significant”? — Robert A. Heinlein was one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time. With 32 novels to his credit (including four Hugo award winners), along with 59 short stories and assorted film, television, and radio scripts, he was widely acknowledged as “the dean of science fiction writers.” …

I can’t wait to get things done! Well, actually, I can. — It’s been more than 40 years now, but I still remember the slogan Orson Welles made famous in those commercials he did for a California winemaker: “We will sell no wine before its time.” I really identify with that. In fact, in my own life I’ve extended it to say…

Medium may not be the best option for everything you write. — If you are a good writer, you should be writing on HubPages. Not instead of on Medium, but in addition to Medium. Why? Take a look at the stats for one of my Medium stories: