Posts by Rick Chromey
Rome Sweet Rome: When Romans Stopped Being Romans (Part 2)
Part Two: When Romans Stopped Being Roman Imagine yourself living somewhere in the Roman Empire around A.D. 400. Your grandfather keeps telling you Rome isn’t what it used to be.…
Read MoreAmerica: Just Another Ancient Rome? (Part 1)
Rome didn’t fall in a day. That’s a historical myth. On September 4, A.D. 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. At least that’s the date historians eventually…
Read MoreLiberating the Black: Why the Civil War Wasn’t Enough (Part 3)
Abraham Lincoln knew there was only one way to correct the grievous, sinful injustice of slavery. Furthermore, he knew it would likely require either a miracle from God or a war…
Read MoreJuneteenth: Perfecting the Republic (Part 2)
.. Let’s be honest: the Civil War was far from “civil.” And this social conflict composes more than a North-South geography, despite the narrative of the Mason-Dixon line. Neither was…
Read MoreJune 19: Why “Juneteeth” Matters to Black America (Part One)
June 19. Also known as “Juneteenth.” Since June 17, 2021, it’s been a federally-recognized national holiday, signed into law by President Joe Biden. It’s been a “Black American Holiday” for…
Read MoreMission Drift: The Forgotten Story of the Y.M.C.A.
It did not begin with a gymnasium. There were no basketballs, no locker rooms, no swimming pools echoing with whistles and laughter. Long before the letters Y–M–C–A became synonymous with…
Read More“A Standing Miracle”: Washington’s Farewell to His Army on November 2, 1783
. …the singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving, while the unparalleled perseverence of the Armies of…
Read MoreWhen Faith Rang Louder than War: The Back Story to “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
The bells should not have mattered. Yes, it was Christmas morning. But the nation was at war. Cannons thundered across battlefields. Homes mourned sons who would never return. And in…
Read MoreArlington: The Odd Founding of America’s Military Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery has been burying American soldiers since the Civil War. Due to the high casualty rate of the Civil War, Union fatalities quickly populated established military cemeteries in…
Read MoreSeparation of Church and State? Not Originally!
Over the past 60 years, American culture has slowly abandoned it’s Judeo-Christian moorings and became more secular. But it wasn’t always that way. In fact, for nearly two centuries, America…
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