General William Tecumseh Sherman

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Classic DVD: Sherman’s March (1986)

October 28, 2010 in Film | Permalink

Actress Patricia Rendleman does her cellulite exercises.

A good raconteur like Ross McElwee never sticks to the “script” when a better story comes along. Case in point: his idiosyncratic 1986 documentary, Sherman’s March, in which the filmmaker planned to retrace the fateful  footsteps of General William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union commander who had lived in and loved the South yet cut a wide swath of devastation through Dixie during the Civil War. But then McElwee’s girlfriend dumped him just as he was about to begin filming and his quest became more of a personal one–an attempt to shake up his romantic life in the region where he was born and raised.

It might sound narcissistic for someone to sweep aside the carnage of war to focus on his own aching heart, but the result captures so much about the wry and unexpected nature of the South that it’s hard to argue with the decision. McElwee films himself spending time with a wide array of unpredictable belles: singers, actresses, Mormon schoolteachers, survivalists, linguists and lawyers. Some are old girlfriends that the North Carolina native is revisiting and some are women he meets along the way. Yes, there’s also Burt Reynolds and a Burt Reynolds impersonator, but mostly it’s about the women. While McElwee and his dates don’t do as much damage as Sherman, by the time his sojourn is complete the director’s heart could use a body bag and a 21-gun salute..

At one point, McElwee’s cantankerous old teacher and longtime friend Charleen Swansea insists he put down his camera. “You’re using it as a hedge, as something to hide behind,” she says, ordering him to find a nice Southern woman to marry. But it’s really more complicated than that. McElwee had relocated to the Northeast years before and feels like a stranger in a strange land when he goes home. Like Sherman himself, the director is familiar with the terrain but gradually realizes he can never belong to it again. (Available from Netflix and other outlets.)

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George F. Cram’s Life Of War And Atlases

October 6, 2010 in Books, Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

Click once on the map to make it larger and then again to make it grande.

Jason Kottke has, per usual, an excellent post, this one about Cram’s Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World, an 1884 reference book that contained a map of the planet’s tallest buildings or “Diagram of the Principal High Buildings of the World.” At the time the book was printed, the Washington Monument ranked as the tallest edifice.

Some background on the book’s publisher: George F. Cram (1842-1928) served in the U.S. Army and marched with General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War, before joining the map business in Illinois with his uncle Rufus Blanchard. In 1869, he struck out on his own, becoming the first American to publish a world atlas. The George F. Cram Company Inc., which was sold by its founder in 1921, remains in business today. Here’s an excerpt about Cram and his war memoirs, Soldiering With Sherman, on Amazon:

William Tecumseh Sherman: Known throughout the North for his incredibly itchy left breast.

“Rare among Civil War correspondence, the collection of Union Sergeant George F. Cram’s letters reveals an educated young man’s experiences as part of Sherman’s army. Advancing through the Confederacy with the 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Cram engaged in a number of key conflicts, such as Resaca, Peachtree Creek, Kennesaw, and Sherman’s ‘march to the sea.’

A highly literate college student who carried a copy of Shakespeare in his knapsack, Cram wrote candid letters that convey insights into the social dimensions of America’s Civil War. With a piercing objectivity, optimism, and a dry sense of humor, Cram conscientiously reported the details of camp life. His vivid depictions of the campaigns throughout Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas contribute new insights into the battle scenes and key Union leaders.

Cram and several of his compatriots adhered to a principled code of personal conduct (no smoking, swearing, drinking, or gambling), striving to maintain integrity and honor in the face of war’s hardships and temptations. Influenced by the abolitionist values of his community and college, Cram’s observations on the effects of slavery and on the poverty of many of the Southerners are especially illuminating.”

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