Our viewpoints come from our ability to see from a particular place or range of vision. Unfortunately, many live within unsafe ranges due to war and other traumas. Fortunately, my family is healthy and wealthy in family/friend connections; we continue working on being wise. We don’t mind changing a bit of the ole’ proverb, as Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack repurposed the proverb from a 1639 book authored by Rev. John Clarke. I follow the initial words – “Early to bed and early to rise.” Winter sunrises are a special treat these days.

My urburb (urban suburb) is a special kind of town. Recently it has become a sanctuary for immigrants sent here from Texas. Many of the newcomers are from Venezuela and arrive without winter clothing. It is an amazing story that brings them to the U.S. One might argue with the Texas governor’s approach to immigrants but realistically, one state cannot take in everyone who crosses the Texas border. The church members in Oak Park have poured their compassion into housing, feeding, and clothing immigrants. The long lines of tables holding clothing and blankets at a local Catholic church were incredible this fall. Volunteers sort through bags of donations that just keep arriving. With weather changes, the sorting operation moved into the spacious sanctuary with the pews overflowing with winter supplies on weekdays.

When were your ancestors the immigrants? Wasn’t it just a few generations ago? I have most details about my maternal grandfather, Joseph Edward Whitacre. Our ancestor, Quaker John Whitacre (1678-1737), was born in England and traveled to Philadelphia, PA on the ship Brittania in 1698-1699 according to a ship passenger list. One individual’s view of this 14-week voyage of Quakers seeking religious freedom is really chilling to read – of the 140 passengers, 56 died at sea and at shore another 20 died. There had been an epidemic in the Philadelphia area (presumed to be yellow fever). Within a 10-week period, nearly 200 Quakers died (this was occurring at the time of the arrival of the Britannia which was dubbed “that sick ship from Liverpool”). The Quaker Meeting folks took care of the numerous orphans.

Yellow fever was lethal to many English settlers who continued a steady stream of border crossings following the “Pilgrims” who arrived in 1620, but this disease was especially devastating to Native Americans (see 11-20-23 blog). Have you collected your immigrant stories? They provide a special point of view.

In ancient Egyptian views, the Eye of Horus carried significance as the “good eye,” a symbol of healing, protection from harm, and knowledge. Wisdom is precious and hard to find in much of our planet’s politics today. Let’s aim our “good eye” toward collective wisdom. The original Christmas story told of three wise men, but undoubtedly there were wise women as well. Let’s increase the numbers of both!                                                             

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

245. What stands out in your immigrant family stories?

246. How do you increase your wisdom on a daily basis?  

Could you use a few personal stop signs for a more peaceful life? Our planet could use a few global stop signs to curb all ways of violence.

William Phelps Eno, referred to as “Father of Traffic Safety” is given credit for inventing and promoting usage of stop signs. Born in New York City in 1858, he experienced an indelible memory as a 9-year-old child with his mother in Manhattan when they were entangled in a horse-and-carriage traffic jam. Later Eno quipped, “There were only about a dozen horses and carriages involved, and all that was needed was a little order to keep the traffic moving. Yet nobody knew exactly what to do; neither the drivers nor the police knew anything about the control of traffic.”

In 1900, Eno wrote his essay, Reform in Our Street Traffic Urgently Needed. Three years later Eno created the first known traffic code for New York City. Following up, he developed traffic plans for Paris and London.

Recipient of a hefty inheritance when his father died, Eno had freedom to create a brand-new career — traffic management. In addition to realizing a desperate need for stop signs, Eno also designed the pedestrian crosswalk, the one-way street, the taxi stand, and pedestrian safety islands. He is perhaps most famous for his “traffic circles.” There were almost daily accidents at Columbus Circle (Manhattan) where his rotary planning coalesced in 1905. Eno specified that traffic must keep to the right and circle the driving pattern in one direction, not two different directions. With safety as his muse, Eno continued his rotary plans at the Arc de Triomphe (Paris, 1907), and Piccadilly Circus (London, 1926).

Eno established the Eno Center for Transportation (Washington, D.C.), a think tank for improving transportation that continues today. He espoused 3 ingredients for accomplishing any worthwhile project:

1. “We must have concise, simple and just rules, easily understood, obeyed and enforced under legal enactment.

2. These rules must be so placed and circulated that there can be no excuse for not knowing them.

3. The police must be empowered and ordered to enforce them…men [and women] should be trained for that purpose.”

With Eno’s law-and-order legacy, it is curious that he never drove a car — he never learned to drive, despite being given an honorary driver’s license in France in 1912. Were traffic accidents unresolved trauma for him? He lived a long (and presumably safe) life, dying at age 87 from pneumonia. Perhaps Eno felt safer on water than on city streets; he was the first owner of the steam yacht named Aquilo, meaning “the ancient Roman personification of the north wind.”

Our planet could benefit from less long-winded rhetoric and more “urgently needed” agreement on “simple-and-just” rules for safe living, both on roads and elsewhere. Stop signs are reminders that everyone’s safety counts.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

237. Where do you need a stop sign in your personal life?

238. What rules might you suggest for the safety of everyone?                   

November is National Native American Heritage Month. American school children have been fed a regurgitated Pilgrims-and-Indians Thanksgiving story which continues to permeate our culture today. Early in the 20^th century a Seneca Indian, Dr. Arthur C. Parker, requested the Boy Scouts to recognize a day honoring “first Americans.”

Parker was born in 1881 on the Cattaraugus Reservation (Seneca Nation of New York) to Frederick Ely Parker, who was one-half Seneca, and Geneva Hortenese Griswold, of Scots-English-American and Christian missionary heritage, a schoolteacher on the reservation. Parker’s family moved to White Plains, New York, where he entered public school at age 11 with a budding interest in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He became an assistant archaeologist there before attending college. Befriended by Frederic Putnam, professor of anthropology at Harvard, Parker was encouraged to study anthropology. It took years before following through, as Parker first tried on his grandfather’s plan for him to be a minister; he left seminary before graduation.    

Parker became an incredible historian for his culture, as well as an archaeologist, folklorist, and museologist. He was one of the founders of the Society of American Indians to educate the public about Native cultures. His devotion to Native American lore is best demonstrated by this noble account of a fire in the New York State Capitol:

“Parker entered the building while it was ablaze and made his way up to the 4th floor…to save priceless historical artifacts. He brought a tomahawk, which had been passed down through the generations in his family, and began smashing display cases, saving as many items as he could. Of the approximately 500 Iroquois artifacts…he was able to rescue about 50 of them before the spreading fire made any further salvage efforts impossible.”

In 1990 President George H.W. Bush signed into law the month of November to honor the pearls of Native American culture, traditions, and achievements. One way to honor “first” heritage is to acknowledge the land you’re on – the Art Institute of Chicago built on lands of the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Odawa Native Americans.

According to historian and Potawatomi member John Low, the Potawatomi believed, “…the land is Mother Earth. You can’t own it — it’s like owning air, owning the stars.” The local tribes were tolerant and welcoming to Europeans, assuming these newcomers’ intentions were peaceful. Diagonal trails became Milwaukee Avenue and Ogden Street.

In 1833, the Treaty of Chicago outlined how members of the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe nations living in Chicago had to leave. Along with cash payments for their land, the tribes were promised other land — east of the Mississippi River, in northern Wisconsin or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. John Low’s people, the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi, possessed a bargaining chip to remain; they had converted to Catholicism. What happened to freedom of religion?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

235. When do you remember to give thanks for Native American contributions?

236. What ways can you incorporate your thanks into your Thanksgiving preparations?