The U.S. Army is openning the National Museum of the United States Army starting on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020. Building construction and exhibit installations are now complete, and the museum is ready to open its doors to the public for the first time. The National Museum of the U.S. Army, located on a publicly accessible area of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, will be the first and only museum to tell the entire history of the U.S. Army since its establishment in 1775. Highlighting the experiences of Soldiers, both renowned and lesser known, the Museum honors the accomplishments, commitment, and sacrifice of those who have served and creates a rich tapestry of history in times of war and peace. Each soldier’s story adds a new thread to the fabric of the American story.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a beloved Jewish figure who helped pioneer the feminist legal field and served on the Supreme Court for more than a quarter century, died from complications of cancer on Friday at the age of 87. Ginsburg had defiantly remained on the court as she battled five bouts of cancer and numerous recent hospitalizations, for fear of leaving another vacancy for President Trump to fill with a far-right conservative. NPR reported that not long before she died, Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932–March 23, 2011) was a British-born American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She continued her career successfully into the 1960s, and remained a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend.
Norwood Penrose "Pen" Hallowell (April 13, 1839 – April 11, 1914) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. One of three brothers to serve with distinction during the war, he and his brother Edward Needles Hallowell both became commanders of the first all-black regiments. He is also remembered for his close friendship with and influence upon future Supreme Courtjustice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who was his classmate at Harvard and his comrade during the war. Hallowell's fervent abolitionism led him to volunteer for service in the Civil War, and he inspired Holmes to do the same. He was commissioned a first lieutenant on July 10, 1861, joining the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry with Holmes. Hallowell fought in the Battle of Ball's Bluff on October 21, 1861, in which he distinguished himself by leading a line of skirmishers to hold off Confederate forces.
A museum dedicated to examining Jewish life and culture in the South will make its New Orleans debut early this fall — eight years after its original Mississippi location closed its doors for the final time. Renovations began last February to transform part of the former office building at 818 Howard Ave. into the new home of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience (MSJE), which will span across two stories and contain 9,000 square feet of exhibition space. (Above: Portrait of the Strauss Family)
