Sketching statues on the State House lawn today, I found myself drawn to Major General John Stark's defiant stance beneath the falling maple leaves... As I drew, a boisterous school group passed through the plaza, and I heard a weary teacher saying, "Tommy, what did I just tell you? Don't try to be DIFFERENT, just GET … Continue reading John Stark Statue (Concord)
NHTI Parking Lot (Concord)
A back parking lot at the New Hampshire Technical Institute contains at least one surprising vehicle ... This rocket is actually a full-scale replica of a Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, built here for the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center. The Center is named after two famous New Hampshirites, educator Christa McAuliffe and astronaut Alan Shepard.
Stark Park (Manchester)
A visit to John Stark's grave as the light fades on 24 Hour Comics Day 2012 ... LINKS: Manchester's Stark Park (The Friends of Stark Park are currently raising funds for a restoration of the Stark family gravesite; see the Park's ABOUT page for more information about this and other projects.) 24 Hour Comics Day … Continue reading Stark Park (Manchester)
“Happy Child 1986” by Matt Reidsma (Guest Post)
Guest artist Matt Reidsma has granted his kind permission for us to repost this memoir about watching NH teacher Christa McAuliffe leave the Earth in 1986... GUEST ARTIST / artwork & story (c) 2009 Matt Reidsma / http://www.highmaintenancemachine.com/ 28 January 1986
“God almighty has hung out a sign…”
Daniel Webster's orating again... or IS he?!?! Drawn after attending Maggie Stier's talk "The Old Man of the Mountain: "Substance and Symbol" (NHHC-HTG catalog) hosted by the Antrim Historical Society. For more on the Old Man of the Mountain, visit NHStateParks.org or wikipedia...
Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
US Supreme Court justices argue their opinions in this 1977 FIRST AMENDMENT case...(And yes, they actually DO advocate bumper stickers as a means of exercising your constitutional rights!) << BEFORE: Live free in court @ Lebanon, NH ... NOTE: Although he does not appear in this comic, future Supreme Court Justice David Souter was NH … Continue reading Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
John Stark’s Last Orders
By 1809, the general is far too old and sick to travel... << BEFORE: "Your state motto is SO COOL!" NEXT: How it became the NH state motto >> This is how I imagine General John & Molly Stark may have composed his response to the 1809 invitation to a veterans' reunion for the Battle … Continue reading John Stark’s Last Orders
Daniel Webster on Slavery, the Constitution, and Secession
A career-defining speech on slavery and the constitution, given by NH native Daniel Webster to the US Senate on 7 March, 1850 ... << BEFORE: The ages of Daniel Webster ... SOURCE: Adapted from full text of speech @ DANIEL WEBSTER: Dartmouth's Favorite Son (There is really a WHOLE LOT MORE to the speech... you can read it for yourself!) … Continue reading Daniel Webster on Slavery, the Constitution, and Secession
Video: “John Weeks, 1911”
A sing-along music video based on the landmark Weeks Act of 1911... https://youtu.be/f5TBLWKyPWo ALSO SEE: The Weeks Act Comic! >> DOWNLOAD:Printable 2-page PDF 2-page JPG version: SOURCE MATERIALS: Here are some of the primary sources that helped make this song & comic possible: The Weeks Act itself = I looked up the pages from the 1911 … Continue reading Video: “John Weeks, 1911”
“Your state motto is SO COOL!”
Let's take a closer look at that little motto on our license plates... NEXT: General John Stark proposes a toast... >> You can read up on this topic on the "State Emblem" page at the state government's New Hampshire Almanac, and also on Wikipedia pages for John Stark and "Live Free or Die". (If you want … Continue reading “Your state motto is SO COOL!”
Civic Ignorance (w/ Justice David Souter)
A comics discussion with former Supreme Court Justice David Souter...
Daniel Webster, Young & Old
After drawing his statue at the State House, I started reading up on Daniel Webster and became captivated by these two images: Both these cartoon images come from original images made of Daniel Webster during his lifetime. Young Daniel is drawn from a painting by Francis Alexander (1834 or 1835), which appears to be a rather touched-up romanticized version … Continue reading Daniel Webster, Young & Old
Daniel Webster Statue (Concord)
Sketch of the Daniel Webster statue in front of the NH State House: The two state seals represent, obviously, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Technically, it's MA's coat of arms, and I didn't realize it was so intense! The latin motto translates as, "WITH SWORD, SHE SEEKS QUIET PEACE UNDER LIBERTY." Looks more like quiet peace … Continue reading Daniel Webster Statue (Concord)
John T. Gilman
Gilman served as governor of NH from 1794-1805, and again from 1813-1816. The town of Gilmanton is named after his family. He was governor when the state legislature passed NH's first mandatory voter check-list law. During the American Revolution he served in the "Minutemen" militia. Drawn from an engraving by Max Rosenthal. [Also see John Taylor Gilman … Continue reading John T. Gilman
Sarah Wilder Patterson
Drawn from a portrait in the reading room at Tucker Free Library (Henniker, NH): Like her husband James, Sarah was also a teacher.... The portrait is by NH painter Joseph Alexander Ames, who is of course the brother of Nathan Ames, the famous inventor of the modern escalator.
James Willis Patterson
Drawn from a portrait in the reading room at Tucker Free Library (Henniker, NH): Patterson taught school in New Hampshire, and later served as a Republican member of Congress during the Civil War, where he supported the establishment of Freedmen's Schools in the South. [Also see James W. Patterson on Wikipedia]
The Weeks Act Story (1911)
Here's a comic to celebrate the Weeks Act of 1911 & the origins of our National Forest system! Download the printable PDF >> "John Weeks 1911" music video >> Support this work @ Patreon >> PRIMARY SOURCES: The starting point for my research was the text of the Weeks Act itself: SOURCE: The official descriptive … Continue reading The Weeks Act Story (1911)
Live Free and Draw 📖 