Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a civil rights milestone. February 21st 1838 was the first time a woman appeared before a state legislature. Angelina Grimke addressed the Massachusetts House of Representatives: "I stand before you as a southerner, exiled from the land of my birth, by the sound of the lash, and the pitious cry of the slave. I stand before you as a repentant slaveholder. I stand before you as a moral being, endowed with precious and inalienable rights, which are correlative with solemn duties and high responsibilities; and as a moral being I feel that owe it to the suffering slave, and to the deluded master, to my country and the world, to do all that I can to overturn a system of complicated crimes, built up upon the broken hearts and prostrate bodies of my countrymen in chains." Grimke delivered petitions signed by twenty thousand wo...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Angelina Grimke, born in South Carolina, February 20th 1805. Despite her childhood with a slave-holding family, she and sister Sarah became prominent abolitionists. The two relocated to Philadelphia. William Lloyd Garrison made Grimke famous by publishing in his newspaper The Liberator an anti-slavery letter she had written him based on her first-hand experiences. This she followed with Appeal to the Christian Women of the South . Angelina and Sarah delivered speeches in sixty-seven cities. Grimke largely retired from politics after having children with abolitionist husband Theodore Weld. She did campaign for Abraham Lincoln's first presidential campaign and lecture in support of the Union war effort. She later advocated for women’s suffrage. A eulogist described her as "a spotless dove in the tempest." Back to Basics...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the first and last pictures of a Republican civil rights hero. Frederick Douglass was the most photographed American in the 19th century. He passed away on February 20th 1895, in Washington DC. This is the first photo of Frederick Douglass: and the last photo of Frederick Douglass, in life: and Frederick Douglass, in death: and the Frederick Douglass death mask: Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see  www.grandoldpartisan.com .  Here is a  YouTube Video  about this article. Here is a  TikTok Video  about this article. Here is an  Instagram Video  about this article. Here is my  ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor George Rye, born February 19th 1810. As an orphan, he was apprenticed to a saddle maker in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Unlike most of his neighbors, he opposed slavery. "Lay aside your prejudices" was his motto. March 1856, twenty-one national committeemen met at Willard's Hotel in Washington, DC for the first-ever meeting of the RNC. There, Rye signed on behalf of Virginia a call for the first Republican National Convention. He served as delegate for that historic gathering as well as candidate for presidential elector in 1860. Democrats hanged him in effigy. After the Civil War, Rye served as state treasurer and judge. In 1867, he chaired the Virginia GOP convention and was secretary of the state’s constitutional convention. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To q...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight Republican respect for civil liberties. February 19th 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4177, formally rescinding a Democrat outrage. Franklin Roosevelt's notorious Executive Order 9066 had authorized the internment of one hundred twenty thousand Japanese-Americans during WWII. "In this Bicentennial Year, we are commemorating the anniversary dates of many great events in American history. An honest reckoning, however, must include a recognition of our national mistakes as well as our national achievements. Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them." "I call upon the American people to affirm with me this American Promise — that we have learned from the tragedy of that long-ago experience forever to treasure liberty and justice for each in...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Ferdinand Barnett, born in Nashville, February 18th 1852. After purchasing the child's freedom, his parents moved the family to Canada. Returning after the Civil War, he attended Northwestern Law School and became the third African-American to pass the Illinois bar. In 1878, Barnett started publishing  The Chicago Conservator . This newspaper was later sold to his wife Ida Wells, the famed Republican journalist. He worked for the RNC during two presidential campaigns. In 1896, a Republican Governor appointed him assistant district attorney. Democrat Vote Fraud blocked his elections for judge and city councilman. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information...