Publication process.

Kublai Khan endorsed a proposal by Liu Bingzhong and Wang E 王鹗 (1190-1273) for the compilation of historic records of the Song, Jin, and Liao dynasties but the compilation effort stalled for some time. In March 1343, the third year of Ukhaantu Khan, Emperor Huizong of Yuan's Zhizheng Era (至正年号), an Imperial edict ordered the creation of histories of the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties. Under the overall supervision of Toktogan, Temür Daš (Chinese Tiemuertashi 铁木儿塔识/鐵木兒塔識), He Weiyi, (贺惟一/賀惟一), Zhang Qiyan (张起岩/張起巖), Ouyang Xuan (欧阳玄/ 歐陽玄) Li Haowen (李好文), Wang Yi (王沂) and Yang Zongduan (楊宗端) were given responsibility for the project with Woyuluntu (斡玉伦徒/斡玉倫徒), Taibuhua (泰不华/泰不華), Yu Wenzhuan (于文传/于文傳), Gong Shidao (贡师道/貢師道), Yu Que (余阙/餘闕), Jia Lu (贾鲁/賈魯) Wei Su (危素) and 23 others appointed as historiographers. Toktogan resigned in May 1344 to be replaced on the project by Prime Minister Alutu, even though the latter was not familiar with Chinese characters. The final book took only two and a half years to produce and was published in Zhejiang Province in 1346, the sixth year of the Zhizheng Era.

Content.

The "History of Song" with its 496 chapters is the largest of the 24 Dynastic Histories. It contains 47 chapters of Imperial biographies, 162 chapters covering Song dynasty records (志/誌 "Zhì"), 32 chapters of tables (showing genealogy etc.) and 255 chapters of historical biographies. A work of enormous breadth, the History of Song contains more than 2,000 individual historical biographies, more than twice as many as the Old Book of Tang that chronicles the history of the Early Tang dynasty. In the section of the book covering Song dynasty records there are fifteen separate categories "viz": astronomy, the system of five phases known as Wu Xing, the legal calendar (律历/律曆), geography, rivers and water ways, Confucian rites, music, ceremonial weaponry and bodyguards (仪卫/儀衛), military dress (舆服/輿服), elections, government positions, consumer goods, the army and punishment together with art and culture. Altogether these chapters make up one third of the work. The historical biographies section of the "History of Song" is unsurpassed by any of the other Dynastic Histories; there are detailed descriptions of Song government structures from the central down to the local level. Sections covering consumer goods and the army are also well written with much more detail than found in the other Dynastic Histories. The fourteen chapters on consumer goods contain seven times the amount of information as the corresponding chapters of the Book of Tang. A total of seven chapters contain biographies of traitors and rebels including Cai Jing, Huang Qianshan (黃潛善), Qin Hui, Zhang Bangchang (張邦昌) and Liu Yu (劉豫) whilst the four chapters on Confucian scholars feature individuals such as Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi.  Chien includes a translation to English of the treatise on the salt monopoly contained in volumes 181–183. This treatise is the largest of the treatises in the Finance and Economics (食貨) section. Chien also includes maps in English corresponding to the main administrative regions described in volumes 85-90 comprising the Geography (地理) section.

Evaluation.

The ideology behind the "History of Song" is that of Neo-confucianism, with coverage of the Confucian doctrines of loyalty, righteousness and ethics regarding the well-known scholars Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi amongst others. No less than 278 individuals feature in the section on loyalty and righteousness (忠義傳 "Zhōngyì Zhuàn"). Qing dynasty historian Qian Daxin (錢大昕) once said: "The "History of Song" esteems neo-confucianism, especially the school of Zhu Xi". Its compilation follows the principles of Confucian life. Fine logic and language is used to convey morality whilst eschewing utilitarianism. The book's style is also highly regarded and considered a model example. Wang Anshi's Xining Reforms (熙寧變法) are rejected by the "History of Song" whilst political reform campaigners including Lu Huiqing (呂惠卿), Zeng Bu (曾布) and Zhang Dun (章惇) feature in the section on traitors and rebels, Shi Miyuan (史彌遠) however, despite his involvement in the suicide of Emperor Ningzong of Song's eldest heir, does not feature in this section or indeed the entire "History of Song". Famous general Wang Jianzai (王堅在), regardless of his valiant combat record, is also omitted as are many other individuals involved in Mongol defeats by the Song.  Despite both the "History of Song" and the "History of Jin" being completed at the same time they are different in many ways. the "History of Song" records Yue Fei emerging victorious from every battle with the Jin dynasty, yet the "History of Jin" barely mentions Emperor Taizu of Jin's capture of Bozhou, Shunchangfu (顺昌府), Ruzhou and Songzhou (嵩州) when Yue Fei and other commanders withdrew from the battle. Information in the "History of Song" regarding Yue Fei all comes from a work by his descendant Yue Ke's (岳珂) "Eguo Jintuo Zuibian" (鄂國金佗稡编 "literally: Record of the Jin in Hubei"), the reliability of which is questioned by some sources, for example whether the Battle of Yancheng (郾城之戰) really was a great victory for the Song and if the claim regarding Yue Fei's twelve gold medals is true. Furthermore, there remains the issue of whether Yu Fei's troops left the people unharmed as is sometimes claimed. Qing dynasty poet and historian Zhao Yi (趙翼) covers this in his Twenty-two Historical Sketches (二十二史劄記) under a section regarding observations on the Song and Jin armies (宋金用兵需參觀二史).  Because the "History of Song" was prepared in a hurry and is the work of many editing it contains a number of unavoidable errors and contradictions; for example an individual with two biographical entries such as Li Xijing (李熙靖) who appears in chapter 116 of the historical biographies section then again in chapter 222. The work also covers the Northern and Early Southern Song Dynasties in detail with only an outline of the later Southern Song dynasty. There are more biographies of individuals from the Northern Song period, for example the "Wenyuan Zhuan" (文苑傳) covers a total of 96 people of which only 11 are from the Southern Song era. The "History of Song" is also considered the most disordered of the 24 Dynastic Histories. Zhao Yi comments: “When the Yuan dynasty wrote the history of the overthrown Song they probably just arranged preexisting Song texts.” The Qing dynasty "Siku Quanshu" (四庫全書總目) collection of books says that the “main purpose of the "History of Song" is as a tribute to the Song emperors and their Confucianism. Attention is not paid to other matters so there are a great number of errors”. In 1977, Zhonghua Publishing issued a new version of the "History of Song" with corrections to the punctuation.

Later influence.

Since the time of its publication, successive dynasties have produced commentaries on the "History of Song". In 1546, Ming dynasty author Wang Zhu (王洙) completed his 100 chapter "Supplement to the History of Song" to be followed in 1561 by Ke Weiqi's (柯維祺) 200 chapter "Songshi Xinbian" (宋史新編) and the 250 chapter "Songshi Ji" (宋史記) written by Wang Weijian (王惟儉). During the Qing dynasty, Chen Huangzhong (陳黃中) wrote the "Songshi Gao" (宋史稿) running to 219 chapters whilst Chen Xinyuan (陸心源) produced the 40 chapter"Songshi Yi" (宋史翼). In Korea Li Suan (李算) of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910 CE) penned the Songshi Qian (宋史筌) with 148 chapters. All these works correct some of the shortcomings of the "History of Song" but are no substitute for the original.  During the final years of the Qing Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796 CE), historian Shao Jinhan (邵晉涵) along with Qian Daxin (錢大昕) and Zhang Xuecheng (章學誠) worked hard to revamp the "History of Song". Shao produced his Biographical sketch of the Southern Song (南都事略) then went back to work on the "History of Song" but died before it was completed.

External links.

"This article is based on a translation of 宋史 in Chinese Wikipedia"

The History of Song or Song Shi (Sòng Shǐ) is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the Twenty-Four Histories of China that records the history of the Song dynasty (960–1279). It was commissioned in 1343 and compiled under the direction of First Minister Toqto'a and Prime Minister Alutu (阿鲁图/阿魯圖) during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) at the same time as the "History of Liao" and the "History of Jin". Running to a total of 496 chapters, the "History of Song" includes biographies of the Song Emperors along with contemporary records and biographical sketches of Song dynasty politicians, soldiers and philosophers.

LHistoire des Song ou Song shi () est un traité historique de la Chine médiévale. Comme son nom l'indique, il traîte de la période de la dynastie Song (960–1279). Il est l'œuvre de l'historien Toktogha (, également auteur de l"Histoire des Liao" et de l"Histoire des Jin". Il a été finalisé en 1345. Comportant 496 volumes, c'est la partie des Vingt-Quatre Histoires comportant le plus grand nombre de livres.


Senior line: counts of Auvergne and Boulogne.

Although various La Tours are mentioned in the documents from the 11th and 12th century, the family history remains unclear until the 13th century, when they owned the lordship of la Tour in the county of Auvergne, hence the name.  The medieval family was related through marriages to other notable families of the French south, including Ventadour, La Rochefoucauld, and Levis-Mirepoix.  The la Tours d'Auvergne maintained close ties with the Avignon popes, and many of them became bishops and cardinals, particularly after 1352, when Guy de la Tour married Marthe Rogier of Beaufort, Popes Gregory XI's niece and Clement VI's grand niece. Their son (1375–1423) married a rich heiress, Marie I, Countess of Auvergne, in 1389, with their son succeeding as Count of Auvergne and Boulogne in 1437.  Bertrand V's grandson Jean III de la Tour d'Auvergne (1467–1501) was the last medieval Count of Auvergne, Boulogne, and Lauraguais. By his marriage to Jeanne of Bourbon-Vendôme, he had two daughters:  John's elder sister, Jeanne de la Tour d'Auvergne, married Aymar de Poitiers. They were the grandparents of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France.  The cadet line of this family, extinct in 1497, also owned the lordship of Montgascon. Anne de la Tour d'Auvergne, the last of this line and heiress to this lordship, married three times:

Junior line: viscounts of Turenne and princes of Sedan.

Coat of arms of viscountcy of TurenneBertrand de La Tour d'Auvergne, owner of Olliergues and several other seigneuries, was the author of the junior line of the family.  He died in 1329 and was buried in Clermont-Ferrand. His great grandson William de la Tour became bishop of Rodez and Catholic Patriarch of Antioch. The latter's nephew, Agne IV of Oliergues, married in 1444 his cousin, viscountess Anne of Beaufort, succeeding to the viscounty of Turenne upon her death.  Among his children, the younger, Antony Raymond, lord of Murat, became the ancestor of the obscure line of "la Tour-Apchier", which rose to prominence shortly before its extinction in the 19th century.  Agne IV's fifth and eldest surviving son, Anthony de la Tour, succeeded him as viscount of Turenne and had two children. The youngest, Gilles de la Tour, lord of Limeuil, had issue, including Isabeau of Limeuil, known as the mistress of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and mother of his natural children.  Francis II de la Tour d'Auvergne, viscount of Turenne (1497–1532) was the eldest son of Anthony de la Tour and husband of Anne de la Tour de Montgascon (see above). Their grandson, Henry de la Tour d'Auvergne (1555–1623), is remembered as a faithful adherent of Henri IV's Huguenot cause and Marshal of France. His first wife was Charlotte de la Marck, heiress to the principality of Sedan and to the duchy of Bouillon. Upon her death, Henry inherited her titles and dominions and remarried Elisabeth of Orange-Nassau, William the Silent's daughter.  Hoping to succeed the Orange rulers of the Netherlands, their son and heir Frederic Maurice of the Tour d'Auvergne (1605–1652) remained in the Dutch service until his marriage to Eléonore-Catherine-Fébronie de Wassenaar de Berg, which was effected against his family's wishes in 1634 and led to his conversion to Catholicism.  Compromised in the Cinq-Mars conspiracy, he was pardoned on condition that he would exchange his principalities of Sedan, Jametz, and Raucourt - highly important strategically - for the titles of duke of Albret and duke of Château-Thierry in the French peerage. This exchange was formalized in 1651. Although Frederic Maurice was promised to take rank from the original creation of the duchy of Château-Thierry for Robert III of the Marck in 1527, this could never be effected due to vocal opposition of other dukes-peers.  The younger brother of Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, (1611–1675), is undoubtedly the most illustrious member of the family. Among the most successful generals in French military history. A grateful Louis XIV honored Turenne with burial at the royal necropolis at Saint-Denis and Napoléon considered him to be the greatest military commander of all times.

Later history: Dukes of Bouillon and Albret.

Frederic-Maurice's son, Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne (1641–1721), was the first member of his family to become a truly sovereign duke of Bouillon. This happened in 1678 when the Duchy of Bouillon was finally reconquered from the Spaniards by the Marshal de Créquy. Apart from his ducal titles, Godefroy-Maurice also held the title of Count of Évreux. He became the Grand Chamberlain of France in 1658 and governor of Auvergne in 1662. All these titles would remain in the La Tour d'Auvergne family for more than a century.  The family were created Foreign Princes in France in 1651, this entitled them to the style of "[Most Serene] Highness" at the French court in which they lived. Godefroy-Maurice's younger brother, Count Frederic Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne (1642–1707), was a prominent general in the service of the Dutch. He married Henrietta von Hohenzollern (1648–1698), heiress to the marquessate of Bergen-op-Zoom, a title which passed to their children. After their line became extinct in 1732, Bergen devolved upon Count Palatine Johann Christian von Sulzbach (1700–1733), who had married an heiress, Marie Henriette Leopoldine de La Tour d'Auvergne, in 1722.  Godefroy-Maurice's wife, Marie Anne Mancini (1649–1714), best remembered for her literary pursuits and for her patronage of La Fontaine, was a niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Their eldest son Louis married the heiress to the dukedom of Ventadour but predeceased his parents. The Duchy of Bouillon and other titles passed to their second son, Emmanuel Théodose (1668–1730), whose fourth wife was Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine. Another son, Frédéric-Jules, Prince d'Auvergne (1672–1733), married an Irish adventuress.  Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne (1706–1771) was Emmanuel-Théodose's son and the 5th Duke of Bouillon. His wife was his brother's widow, Maria Karolina Sobieska, the granddaughter of King John Sobieski of Poland. Their only daughter, Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne de La Tour, was a famous adventuress and was guillotined in 1793. Although officially married to Jules de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon, she had an illegitimate son who died in infancy by her cousin, Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.  Her brother, Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne (1728–1792), was the 6th Duke of Bouillon. He married Louise de Lorraine, known prior to marriage as "Mademoiselle de Marsan". He served with distinction in the Seven Years' War and was elected to the Royal Academy of Sculpture and Painting in 1777. In just three months, he squandered almost a million livres on his mistress, an opera singer, thus bringing his family to the verge of ruin. Although the 6th duke embraced the French Revolution enthusiastically, the Duchy of Bouillon was annexed by the Republic within three years after his death. His only son, Jacques Léopold Charles Godefroy, incapacitated by a road accident, died in 1802, leaving no issue of his marriage to a Princess of Hesse-Rheinfels. As a consequence, the main line of the La Tour d'Auvergne family became extinct.

Bouillon Succession.

In 1780, the 6th Duke of Bouillon developed a friendship with Philippe d'Auvergne, a British naval officer imprisoned in France. As a family legend had it, the Dauvergne family represented a collateral branch of the ancient Counts of Auvergne, which had moved to the island of Jersey sometime in the 13th century. In 1787, the 6th Duke recognized this legendary connection and adopted Philippe d'Auvergne, calling on him to succeed his own son in the case the latter were to die without male issue.  In 1809 Napoleon endorsed an arrangement, whereby the La Tour estates and liabilities pertaining to the 1651 exchange devolved upon the French state. The 6th Duke's Château de Navarre and the Hôtel d'Évreux in Paris were bequeathed to the Empress Josephine and her relatives. The Hôtel d'Évreux was subsequently renamed the Élysée Palace and currently serves as the official residence of the President of France. As for the Duchy of Bouillon, its citizens recognized Philippe d'Auvergne as their legitimate ruler and duke.  The Congress of Vienna, however, awarded the sovereignty of the duchy to the King of the Netherlands, whereas the private property holdings of the former dukes were to be redistributed by special arbitration either to Philippe d'Auvergne or to an Austrian claimant, Charles-Alain-Gabriel de Rohan-Guéméné, who was the last duke's closest relative in the female line. The issue was eventually settled in Rohan's favor. Philippe d'Auvergne committed suicide September 16 or 18, 1816, in the Holmes Hotel, a small hotel located at Great Smith Street in Westminster.  In 1817, Rohan was sued by other claimants to the La Tour d'Auvergne estate, including the duc de Bourbon, the duc de La Tremoille, the princesse de Bourbon-Condé and the princesse de Poix. All were related to the 7th duke of Bouillon on his maternal side. Seven years later, their claims were upheld by a court in Liège, and Rohan had to step down as duke.  In the 1820s, the La Tour name and inheritance were disputed between the families of La Tour d'Auvergne d'Apchier, which represented the last known surviving line of the La Tour d'Auvergne before its eventual extinction in 1896, and "La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais", a family whose kinship to the Dukes of Bouillon is unestablished. From the latter family, Prince Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais (1876–1914) married in 1904 Elisabeth Berthier de Wagram (1885–1960), daughter of the third Prince de Wagram and a descendant, in female line, of the Rothschild dynasty.

La Tour d'Auvergne () was a noble French dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of Auvergne and Boulogne, for about half a century. Its cadet branch, extinct in 1802, ruled the duchy of Bouillon in the Southern Netherlands from 1594, and held the dukedoms of Albret and Château-Thierry in the peerage of France since 1660. The name was also borne by Philippe d'Auvergne, an alleged collateral of the original Counts of Auvergne, and was adopted by the famous soldier Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne, who descended from an illegitimate line of the family.

La maison de La Tour d'Auvergne, olim de La Tour, est une famille noble française d'extraction éteinte, originaire de La Tour (qui ne s'appelait pas d'Auvergne avant le ) dont elle possédait la seigneurie et où elle avait sa résidence jusque vers les années 1280, époque où elle s'établit au château de Saint-Saturnin, près de Clermont-Ferrand.


Architecture.

Saint-Ambroise Church was built between 1924 and 1925. It is part of an architectural ensemble that also includes the presbytery and École Anthelme-Verreau. All three buildings were designed by Montreal architect Ernest Cormier. Also located nearby is École Saint-Ambroise which was designed by Jean-Omer Marchand.  Saint-Ambroise Church was one of the first major works by Ernest Cormier. The Church's architecture was inspired by the Pre-Roman architecture of Northern Italy, notably for the layout and the simple form of the ensemble. The belltower is reminiscent of St Mark's Campanile in Venice. The facade and the walls of the church are covered in brown brick.

Art.

In the tympanum above the door there is an icon representing St. Ambrose of Milan dressed as a bishop with the pastoral staff and pen to write. An angel inspires with the breath in his ear what he has to write.  To understand this representation, we must know that St. Ambrose was born in Trier around 340 and died in 397, Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, is one of the Fathers of the Latin Church. It was said of St. Ambrose it was more a theologian than a catechist, because everyone can understand what he wrote.  It is known as a writer and poet. He has written to protect the Church. It is one of the protagonists of debates against Arianism. It is to him that Augustine of Hippo converted to Christianity.  He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church and celebrated on the December 7.

Saint-Ambroise Church () is a church in the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is situated on Beaubien Street, between de La Roche Street et de Normanville Street.

L'église Saint-Ambroise est une église du quartier La Petite-Patrie à Montréal. Elle est située sur la rue Beaubien, entre les rues de La Roche et de Normanville.


Background.

Munthe was born in Elverum to physician Christopher Pavels Munthe (1816–1884) and his wife Christine Margrethe Pavels Aabel (1827–1887). He was a brother of historian Hartvig Andreas Munthe, writer Margrethe Munthe and military officer Carl Oscar Munthe. He was also a nephew of historian and cartographer Gerhard Munthe and an uncle of genealogist Christopher Morgenstierne Munthe, librarian Wilhelm Munthe and painter Lagertha Munthe. Through his mother he was a nephew of Andreas Leigh Aabel and Oluf Andreas Aabel, and a first cousin of Hauk Aabel.

Personal life.

In December 1886 he married Sigrun Sandberg (1869–1957). Between 1886 and 1890 Bjørn Bjørnson was his stepfather-in-law. Munthe and Sandberg settled in Sandvika and later Lysaker. Also, Munthe had a studio at Ringstabekk for a short period. The couple divorced in 1919, the same year she married Fridtjof Nansen. Munthe was a prolific letter writer, and also published several articles, some of which were collected and published in 1919 as "Minder og meninger".

Career.

When Munthe moved to Christiania in 1863, his intention was to study medicine like his father, but his father advised him to take up the arts. He studied under Johan Fredrik Eckersberg in 1870, and continued under Morten Müller and Knud Bergslien until 1874. Between 1874 and 1876 he studied under Andreas Achenbach and his third cousin Ludvig Munthe in Düsseldorf. From 1877 to 1882 he lived in Munich most of the time. However, many of his motifs were taken from Norway. At this time he painted in the naturalist style. He is represented with several works in the National Gallery of Norway. Internationally he took part at the Exposition Universelle of 1900, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and elsewhere.  From the 1890s he experimented with decorative art in the Arts and Crafts style. From 1896 to 1899 he was occupied with illustrating the works of Snorri Sturluson, together with Erik Werenskiold, whom he had met in Munich. Some of his works were woven into large tapestries. He also created monumental decorations, some of which have been lost, as was his house at Lysaker which was consumed by fire in 1982.  Munthe was a member of the selection committee at Høstutstillingen from its start in 1882 to 1890. He was a member of the board of the National Gallery of Norway from 1892 to 1905 and "Den norske Husflidsforening" from 1897 to his death, and chair of the National Gallery from 1905 to 1907. He was made a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and a Knight of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star. He died in Bærum, but was buried in Elverum.

Gerhard Peter Frantz Munthe (19 July 1849 in Elverum, Hedmark – 15 January 1929 in Lysaker, Bærum) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator.

Gerhard Munthe, né à Elverum le, et mort à Lysaker le, est un peintre, illustrateur et designer norvégien, représentant de l'Art nouveau en Scandinavie.


Polish-Catholic Church of Republic of Poland

History.

The Polish-Catholic Church, known within Poland until 1951 as the Polski Narodowy Kościół Katolicki (PNKK), has its origins in the final decade of 19th century. During this time, Polish immigrants in the United States, referred to as "Polonia", participated in the protests of lay people in Roman Catholic parishes against the domination of clergy from German and Irish origins. The parishioners demanded insight into the financial matters of parishes, the use of vernacular in liturgy, and the appropriate care and treatment of clergy from their own ethnic group. After the unsuccessful presentation of their requests to the Vatican in 1897, the Polish National Catholic Church was formally founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, out of a number of independent Polish parishes. After the consecration of the Reverend Franciszek Hodur as a bishop in 1907, the newly organized church community became a member of the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches.  After realizing the necessity of establishing and maintaining contact with Poland, Bishop Hodur worked to establish the PNCC in that country. According to the religious and social precepts of the PNCC, there was an obligation to serve their country of origin, Poland. They especially sought the independence of their native land. The church worked to maintain this tradition among Polish immigrants, along with defending Polish national interests. Independence in Poland was gained in 1918, although the missionary work of the church was impeded due to lack of legalization. The efforts of the church for legal recognition were unsuccessful until 1939. It was not until February 1946 that the church gained legal status on the basis of the decision of Polish Ministry of Public Administration.  After 1945, Polish Communist authorities were not supportive of legalising the Polish National Catholic Church because its leader, Bishop Hodur, was a United States citizen. In 1951, under pressure from the Communist regime, the Polish diocese of the original Polish National Catholic Church declared itself independent of its parent church in the United States. This was partially due to the arrests of Bishop Joseph Padewski and Father Edward Narbutt-Narbuttowicz. In the autumn of 1951, the church changed its name to the Polish Catholic Church. The new leader of the church was Father Józef Dobrochowski who, in close cooperation with Father Eugeniusz Krieglewicz, followed the orders of the Communist authorities. The Polish government now had complete control over the church in that state authorities appointed and removed bishops, managed church personnel and financed church operations.  The duties of the new church included organizing Masses for the celebration of the anniversary of the 1952 Polish Constitution which occurred on July 22, a Communist holiday not supported by the Roman Catholic Church, and sending letters of congratulation to the authorities concerning other anniversaries.  Full regulation of the church’s legal status occurred after the Polish Parliament, on June 30, 1995, passed the Bill on Mutual Relations Between the State and Polish Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland (Dz. U. Nr 97, poz. 482). On May 26, 2000, the Polish Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church of Poland agreed upon mutual respect and cooperation.

Theology.

According to the church law which is currently in force, the Polish Catholic Church professes Catholic faith, morality and principles as set forth in the Bible, formulated in common symbols of faith and decisions of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. The Polish Catholic Church has many similarities to the Roman Catholic liturgy in that it expresses Trinitarian doctrine, Marian devotion and reverence for the saints. The church also employs the traditional Catholic liturgical calendar.  The central point of spiritual life within the church is the Eucharist, which is understood as the re-presentation of the redeeming sacrifice of Christ. The church also pays reverence to the angels, apostles, martyrs and saints, keeping among them a special place for the Virgin Mary.  According to the church, a sin is an intentional and voluntary breaking of God’s or the church’s commandments. The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, lust, anger, greed, sloth, and gluttony. Penitents gain the absolution of sins by participating in the sacrament confession, where sins are confessed in the presence of a priest in order to gain absolution. The conditions of a good confession are:  There are two forms of confession exercised in Polish Catholic Church: individual and corporate. Individual confession takes place privately with a priest, while corporate confession is exercised as a separate public ceremony in front of the altar, or as a part of Mass during the Act of Penitence. Individual confession is obligatory for children and youth under the age of 18; it is also recommended for adults any time they feel the need to participate. It is believed that proper and frequent reception of the sacrament of confession will allow an individual to grow in the spiritual life.

Clergy.

In 2009 the Polish Catholic Church consisted of 80 parishes with 111 priests. A priest must be male, a graduate of the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw specialising in Old-Catholic Theology, and a graduate of the Higher Clerical Seminary of the Polish Catholic Church in Warsaw. Candidates also need approval from Church authorities. Clergy of the Polish Catholic Church are not bound to celibacy.  All candidates for bishop must be episcopally consecrated by at least three bishops who are members of the International Conference of Old Catholic Bishops, known as the Utrecht Union. The presiding bishop of the church is selected by the national synod.

Church of Poland (The Polish Catholic Church) - () is a Polish-Catholic Church in Poland which is part of the Union of Utrecht. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Polish Ecumenical Council. It is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Wiktor Wysoczański was chosen as the church's superior in 1995.

La Kościół Polskokatolicki w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Église polonaise-catholique en République de Pologne) est une église vieille-catholique en Pologne qui appartient à l'Union d'Utrecht. Elle est également membre du Conseil œcuménique des Églises. En 2009, elle compte environ fidèles.


Location.

Sciences Po Aix is housed in a hôtel particulier, considered a Monument historique, designed by architect Georges Vallon in 1734. The building is located on the Place de l'université ("town square of the university"), opposite Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur on the rue Gaston de Saporta in Aix-en-Provence. This building previously housed the Faculty of Law of Aix-Marseille University.

Overview.

As a "grande école", its admissions process is highly selective. Entry to Sciences Po Aix is conditioned by selection tests. The main test is designed for students who would like to join the institute as freshmen. Each year, there are more than 10 000 candidates. The selection rates are inferior to 10%. Sciences Po Aix specializes in political sciences. Therefore, the institute offers courses in economics, history, law, international relations, social sciences and business.  The IEP provides students with a general training in law, economics, general knowledge and history. Its students are selected through a competitive entrance examination. Some of its students have become company directors or government officials. Many students move on to careers in journalism, finance, state administration, diplomacy or communications.  The academic course lasts five years. It is composed of a three-year undergraduate programme and a two-year graduate programme. The primary diploma is equivalent to a master's degree. The third year of the Sciences Po Aix curriculum is a year of mobility abroad. Students have the choice, they can spend two semesters in a foreign university, one semester in a university and one semester internship or they also have the opportunity to spend two semesters as a trainee.  Thereby, Sciences Po Aix have concluded more than 130 exchange partnerships with different universities around the globe so that Sciences Po students can study in many countries during their third year. All continents of the world are represented, there are some partnerships in the United States (Wellesley College, Loyola University Chicago, Arizona State University, Florida International University...), in Canada (University of Montreal, University of Ottawa) in South America (University of Buenos Aires, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Africa (Rhodes University), in Asia (Shanghai International Studies University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Waseda University in Tokyo), in Oceania (University of New South Wales in Sydney, University of Canterbury) and also in Europe (Free University of Berlin, LUISS University in Roma, Middlesex University in London...).

History.

Sciences Po Aix was established in 1956. It is the heir of the "École Libre des Sciences Politiques", created by Émile Boutmy in 1872, in response to a need for reform for the society and the republican state that has just been born, after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.  In September 2007, Philippe Séguin (1943–2010), then President of the Court of Audit (in French Cour des comptes), was elected President of the Administration Council, succeeding Jean-Paul Proust (1940–2010), Minister of the Principality of Monaco. In July 2010, the former French minister of economy and current managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, member of the Administration Council since 2008 and 1977 graduate, was elected President.

Directors.

The directors of Sciences Po Aix are elected for a five-year term by the executive board of the school. Some members of this board have been elected such students, teachers and staff representatives. The executive board votes the pedagogical and administrative orientations and reforms proposed by the director, the budget of the school as well as the conventions with the foreign universities.

Notable alumni.

Many top-tier politicians were students at Sciences Po Aix:  In addition to the politicians, there also some alumni of Sciences Po Aix that have occupied major positions in the culture, the state administration and also the business world.

Sciences Po Aix, also referred to as Institut d'Études Politiques (IEP) d'Aix-en-Provence, is a "Grande École" of political studies located in Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France. It is associated with Aix-Marseille University and is part of a network of ten Institut d'études politiques, known as IEP.

Sciences Po Aix, également appelé « Institut d’Études Politiques d'Aix-en-Provence », est un établissement public français d'enseignement supérieur fondé en 1956, situé à Aix-en-Provence.


Design and description.

Originally designed as a sister ship to the broadside ironclad, the navy was dissatisfied with that ship as it believed that foreign developments had made her obsolete. So the ship was redesigned as a low-freeboard twin-turret ship with full rigging, much like the ill-fated British ship. Already launched when "Captain" capsized in a storm in 1870, "Minin" was reconstructed as an armored cruiser with her armament on the broadside and improved machinery.  The ship had an overall length of, a beam of and a draft of. She displaced at deep load. Her hull was sheathed with copper to reduced biofouling and her crew numbered approximately 545 officers and men.  "Minin" had a vertical compound steam engine that drove a single propeller, using steam provided by a dozen cylindrical boilers. The engine produced which gave her a maximum speed around. The ship carried a maximum of of coal which gave her an economical range of at a speed of. She was ship-rigged with three masts. To reduce drag while under sail, the single funnel could be lowered.  The ship had four, a dozen and four rifled breech-loading guns. She had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that ranged in thickness from amidships to 6 inches at the ends of the ships. The belt had a total height of, of which was below the waterline. "Minin" had a steel deck thick at the top of the belt, but her armament was entirely unprotected.

Construction and career.

"Minin", named after Kuzma Minin, was laid down by Baltic Works in Saint Petersburg on 24 November 1864 as a turret ship armed with four gun in two turrets and four 6-inch guns. The ship was launched on 3 November 1869 and began a complete reconstruction the following year. "Minin" was finally completed in 1878.  The ship was converted into a minelayer in 1909–11 and renamed "Ladoga". Her rigging was reduced to 2 pole masts, her armament was reduced to four guns, and she could carry 1000 mines. "Ladoga" helped to lay the mine barrier in the Gulf of Finland in 1914 and was sunk in the Baltic on 15 August 1915 by mines laid by SM UC-4.

The Russian cruiser "Minin () was an armored cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1860s and 1870s. She was renamed Ladoga" in 1909 when converted to a minelayer. The ship was sunk in 1915 when she struck a mine laid by a German submarine in the Baltic Sea.

Le Minine, en russe : "Минин", croiseur blindé (frégate blindée) construit pour la Marine impériale de Russie. Ce navire fut construit selon le projet du capitaine-ingénieur naval N.A. Samoïlov, la supervision de la construction fut effectuée par A.M. Gazehus. La construction du "Minine" et du "Prince Pojarsky" ("Князем Пожарским") fut réalisée dans le même temps.


Early life and family.

He was born on Vaucluse Plantation in Virginia, the eldest son of Albert Fairfax (April 15, 1802 – May 9, 1835) and Caroline Eliza Snowden (April 21, 1812 – December 28, 1899), who were married on April 7, 1828.. His younger brother was John Fairfax, 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (September 13, 1830 – September 28, 1900), who became the 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron upon Charles' death in 1869. His paternal grandfather was Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1762–1846). On May 1, 1838, his mother married William R. Saunders..

Lineage.

He was collaterally related to Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax, who was a Parliamentary general during the English Civil Wars. He was also related to Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who relinquished his English estates to his brother Robert Fairfax, 7th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and emigrated to America, where he settled on a plantation of more than five million acres (4,000 km2) in Virginia, which he inherited from his mother, Catherine Colepeper. Thomas Fairfax was the first person to employ George Washington as a surveyor.  The 7th Lord, Robert Fairfax, died without issue in 1793 and the title passed to an American second cousin, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1736–1802), a priest of the Episcopal Church and rector of a parish in Alexandria, who was the son of William Fairfax (1691–1757) of Belvoir and Deborah Clarke (1707–1747). The clergyman then became the 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Bryan Fairfax, whose wife was Elizabeth Cary (1730–1757), was succeeded in 1802 by his eldest son, Thomas Fairfax (1762–1846).  Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron married three times; his son by his third wife, Margaret Herbert (1783–1858), Albert, who had died during the lifetime of his father, left two sons, Charles and John. Therefore, Charles S. Fairfax, the grandson of Thomas, the 9th Lord, succeeded to the title of Lord Fairfax in 1846—a title, however, that he never claimed, preferring to live as an American citizen.

California.

Fairfax, still the potential 10th Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, left Richmond with 74 other gold-seekers on the ship "Glenmore". After disembarking and crossing Panama, he boarded a second ship, the steamer "California", and arrived in San Francisco on June 23, 1850.  The life of a miner in the mother lode of California might have been somewhat of a shock to Fairfax, who grew up as a gentleman farmer, but he stuck with the endeavor for a while. He prospected extensively, only to lose whatever money he made as fast as he got hold of it. There were stories of him working for others, pushing a wheelbarrow, or tending a mule pulling a cart of gravel and sloshing about in the mud of the diggings.  In 1851, he abandoned the goldfields and turned to a new calling—politics—and became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Fairfax was a member of the California State Assembly, first representing Yuba and Sierra Counties from 1853 to '54, then Yuba County alone from 1854 to '55. He served as Speaker of the Assembly in 1854. He subsequently served as Clerk of the Supreme Court of California, 1856–'61. From 1865 to 1867, he was a Supervisor of Marin County.

Personal life.

In 1854, Fairfax met his wife, Ada Benham (1833–1888), in San Francisco. They were married on January 10, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky, at the home of her stepsister, Henrietta Prentice. They had no children.

Estate in California.

After their return to San Francisco, Fairfax and his bride visited his boyhood friend Dr. Alfred Taliaferro at his country home in Marin County. When they expressed their great admiration of his estate, he gave them the property as a wedding gift. Thus, in 1855, the couple became residents of what would eventually become the town of Fairfax.  They made many improvements to their new property. Fairfax imported game birds to satisfy his zeal for hunting and improve his chances for success. Ada planted trees and flowers around the home and grounds and named the estate Bird's Nest Glen, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places as California Registered Historical Landmark No. 679.  They entertained lavishly and it became so customary for their friends to say, "Let's go to the Fairfax's," or "Let's go to Fairfax," that the area took on the identity of Fairfax, which continued long after their departure, up to the time of the town's incorporation in 1931.  The Fairfax estate was also the site of the last political duel fought in California, on the afternoon of May 25, 1861, between State Assemblymen Daniel Showalter and Charles W. Piercy. Though Fairfax served them lunch and tried to dissuade them, the two men walked to a grassy meadow and fired rifles at 40 paces; Piercy was killed by the second volley.

Death.

Charles S. Fairfax died suddenly, at age 40, at Barnum's City Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, after having traveled east as a chairman of the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention, which was assembled in New York City. He is interred in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., as is his widow.  Fairfax was thoroughly identified with the state of his adoption, and was well known and respected on the Pacific coast. He stood high in the Masonic fraternity, the members of which arranged to send a large delegation at the time of his death.

Charles Snowdon Fairfax, 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (March 8, 1829 – April 4, 1869) was an American Democratic politician of California. He was of Scottish noble descent, and held a Scottish peerage. Fairfax was lured west as part of the gold rush. The town of Fairfax, California, is named for him.

Charles S. Fairfax (1829 – 1869) était un homme politique démocrate américain, écossais d'origine membre de la famille noble écossaise des Fairfax dont il était le Lord qui émigra aux États-Unis attiré en Californie par la ruée vers l'or en Californie. La ville de Fairfax (Californie) lui doit son nom.


Background.

Before writing "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" at the age of forty, Angelou had a long and varied career, holding jobs such as composer, singer, actor, civil rights worker, journalist, and educator. In the late 1950s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met a number of important African-American authors, including her friend and mentor James Baldwin. After hearing civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak for the first time in 1960, she was inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. She organized several benefits for him, and he named her Northern Coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She worked for several years in Ghana, West Africa, as a journalist, actress, and educator. She was invited back to the US by Malcolm X to work for him shortly before his assassination in 1965. In 1968, King asked her to organize a march, but he too was assassinated on April 4, which also happened to be her birthday. For many years, Angelou responded to King's murder by not celebrating her birthday, instead choosing to meet with, call, or send flowers to his widow, Coretta Scott King.  Angelou was deeply depressed in the months following King's assassination, so to help lift her spirits, Baldwin brought her to a dinner party at the home of cartoonist Jules Feiffer and his wife Judy in late 1968. The guests began telling stories of their childhoods and Angelou's stories impressed Judy Feiffer. The next day she called Robert Loomis at Random House, who became Angelou's editor throughout her long writing career until he retired in 2011, and "told him that he ought to get this woman to write a book". At first, Angelou refused, since she thought of herself as a poet and playwright. According to Angelou, Baldwin had a "covert hand" in getting her to write the book, and advised Loomis to use "a little reverse psychology", and reported that Loomis tricked her into it by daring her: "It's just as well", he said, "because to write an autobiography as literature is just about impossible". Angelou was unable to resist a challenge, and she began writing "Caged Bird." After "closeting herself" in London, it took her two years to write it. She shared the manuscript with her friend, writer Jessica Mitford, before submitting it for publication.  Angelou subsequently wrote six additional autobiographies, covering a variety of her young adult experiences. They are distinct in style and narration, but unified in their themes and stretch from Arkansas to Africa, and back to the US, from the beginnings of World War II to King's assassination. Like "Caged Bird", the events in these books are episodic and crafted as a series of short stories, yet do not follow a strict chronology. Later books in the series include "Gather Together in My Name" (1974), "Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas" (1976), "The Heart of a Woman" (1981), "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" (1986), "A Song Flung Up to Heaven" (2002), and "Mom & Me & Mom" (2013, at the age of 85). Critics have often judged Angelou's later autobiographies "in light of the first", and "Caged Bird" generally receives the highest praise.  Beginning with "Caged Bird", Angelou used the same "writing ritual" for many years. She would get up at five in the morning and check into a hotel room, where the staff were instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She wrote on yellow legal pads while lying on the bed, with a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, "Roget's Thesaurus", and the Bible, and left by the early afternoon. She averaged 10–12 pages of material a day, which she edited down to three or four pages in the evening. Lupton stated that this ritual indicated "a firmness of purpose and an inflexible use of time". Angelou went through this process to give herself time to turn the events of her life into art, and to "enchant" herself; as she said in a 1989 interview with the BBC, to "relive the agony, the anguish, the "Sturm und Drang"". She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even during traumatic experiences like her rape in "Caged Bird", to "tell the human truth" about her life. Critic Opal Moore says about "Caged Bird": "...Though easily read, [it] is no 'easy read'". Angelou stated that she played cards to reach that place of enchantment, to access her memories more effectively. She has stated, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in "telling the truth".

Plot summary.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" follows Marguerite's (called "My" or "Maya" by her brother) life from the age of three to seventeen and the struggles she faces – particularly with racism – in the Southern United States. Abandoned by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother (Momma) and disabled uncle (Uncle Willie) in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya and Bailey are haunted by their parents' abandonment throughout the book – they travel alone and are labeled like baggage. Many of the problems Maya encounters in her childhood stem from the overt racism of her white neighbors. Although Momma is relatively wealthy because she owns the general store at the heart of Stamps' Black community, the white children of their town hassle Maya's family relentlessly. One of these "powhitetrash" girls, for example, reveals her pubic hair to Momma in a humiliating incident. Early in the book, Momma hides Uncle Willie in a vegetable bin to protect him from Ku Klux Klan raiders. Maya has to endure the insult of her name being changed to Mary by a racist employer. A white speaker at her eighth grade graduation ceremony disparages the Black audience by suggesting that they have limited job opportunities. A white dentist refuses to treat Maya's rotting tooth, even when Momma reminds him that she had loaned him money during the Depression.

Style and genre.

Angelou's prose works, while presenting a unique interpretation of the autobiographical form, can be placed in the long tradition of African-American autobiography. Her use of fiction-writing techniques such as dialogue, characterization, and thematic development, however, often lead reviewers to categorize her books, including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", as autobiographical fiction. Other critics, like Lupton, insist that Angelou's books should be categorized as autobiographies because they conform to the genre's standard structure: they are written by a single author, they are chronological, and they contain elements of character, technique, and theme. In a 1983 interview with African-American literature critic Claudia Tate, Angelou calls her books autobiographies.  At first, Angelou intended to return to poetry and play-writing after completing "Caged Bird" and write no more autobiographies, but she chose the genre as her primary mode of expression because of its challenge and so that she could "change it, to make it bigger, richer, finer, and more inclusive in the twentieth century". In a 1989 interview, she stated, "I think I am the only serious writer who has chosen the autobiographical form to carry my work, my expression". As she told journalist George Plimpton during a 1990 interview, "Autobiography is awfully seductive; it’s wonderful". She also told Plimpton that like the tradition begun by Frederick Douglass in slave narratives, she used the literary technique of "speaking in the first-person singular talking about the first-person plural, always saying I meaning 'we'". As critic Susan Gilbert states, Angelou was reporting not one person's story, but the collective's. Scholar Selwyn R. Cudjoe agrees, and sees Angelou as representative of the convention in African-American autobiography as a public gesture that speaks for an entire group of people.  Scholar Joanne M. Braxton sees "Caged Bird" as "the fully developed black

Form.

When Angelou wrote "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" at the end of the 1960s, one of the necessary and accepted features of literature, according to critic Pierre A. Walker, was thematic unity. One of Angelou's goals was to create a book that satisfied this criterion, in order to achieve her political purposes, which were to demonstrate how to resist racism in America. The structure of the text, which resembles a series of short stories, is not chronological but rather thematic. Walker, in his 1993 article about "Caged Bird", "Racial Protest, Identity, Words, and Form", focuses on the book's structure, and describes how it supports her presentation of racism. According to Walker, critics had neglected analyzing its structure, choosing to focus instead on its themes, which he feels neglects the political nature of the book. He states, "One serves Angelou and "Caged Bird" better by emphasizing how form and political content work together". Angelou structures her book so that it presents a series of lessons about how to resist racism

Themes.

Identity.

In the course of "Caged Bird", Maya, who has been described as "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America", goes from being a victim of racism with an inferiority complex to a self-aware individual who responds to racism with dignity and a strong sense of her own identity. Feminist scholar Maria Lauret states that the "formation of female cultural identity" is woven into the book's narrative, setting Maya up as "a role model for Black women". Scholar Liliane Arensberg calls this presentation Angelou's "identity theme" and a major motif in Angelou's narrative. Maya's unsettled life in "Caged Bird" suggests her sense of self "as perpetually in the process of becoming, of dying and being reborn, in all its ramifications". African-American literature scholar Dolly McPherson agrees, stating that Angelou

Racism.

Stamps, Arkansas, as depicted in "Caged Bird", has very little "social ambiguity": it is a racist world divided between Black and white, male and female. Als characterizes the division as "good and evil", and notes how Angelou's witness of the evil in her society, which was directed at Black women, shaped Angelou's young life and informed her views into adulthood. Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird struggling to escape its cage, described in Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, as a prominent symbol

Rape.

Angelou's description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the autobiography, although it is presented briefly in the text. Scholar Mary Vermillion compares Angelou's treatment of rape to that of Harriet Jacobs in her autobiography "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl". Jacobs and Angelou both use rape as a metaphor for the suffering of African Americans; Jacobs uses the metaphor to critique slaveholding culture, while Angelou uses it to first internalize, then challenge, twentieth-century racist conceptions of the Black female body (namely, that the Black female is physically unattractive). Rape, according to Vermillion, "represents the black girl's difficulties in controlling, understanding, and respecting both her body and her words".  Arensberg notes that Maya's rape is connected to the theme of death in "Caged Bird", as Mr. Freeman threatens to kill Maya's brother Bailey if she tells anyone about the rape. After Maya lies during Freeman's trial, stating that the rape was the

Literacy.

As Lupton points out, all of Angelou's autobiographies, especially "Caged Bird" and its immediate sequel "Gather Together in My Name", are "very much concerned with what [Angelou] knew and how she learned it". Lupton compares Angelou's informal education with the education of other Black writers of the twentieth century, who did not earn official degrees and depended upon the "direct instruction of African American cultural forms". Angelou's quest for learning and literacy parallels "the central myth of black culture in America": that freedom and literacy are connected. Angelou is influenced by writers introduced to her by Mrs. Flowers during her self-imposed muteness, including Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare. Angelou

Reception and legacy.

Critical reception and sales.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is the most highly acclaimed of Angelou's autobiographies. The other volumes in her series of seven autobiographies are judged and compared to "Caged Bird." It became a bestseller immediately after it was published. Angelou's friend and mentor, James Baldwin, maintained that her book "liberates the reader into life" and called it "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death". According to Angelou's biographers, "Readers, especially women, and in particular Black women, took the book to heart". By the end of 1969, critics had placed Angelou in the tradition of other Black autobiographers. Poet James Bertolino asserts that "Caged Bird" "is one of the essential books produced by our culture". He insists that "[w]e should all read it, especially our children". It was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, has never been out of print, and has been published in many languages. It has been a Book of the Month Club selection and an Ebony Book Club selection. In 2011, "Time Magazine" placed the book in its list of 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.  Critic Robert A. Gross called "Caged Bird" "a "tour de force" of language". Edmund Fuller insisted that Angelou's intellectual range and artistry were apparent in how she told her story. "Caged Bird" catapulted Angelou to international fame and critical acclaim, was

Influence.

When "Caged Bird" was published in 1969, Angelou was hailed as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African-American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life. Up to that point, Black women writers were marginalized to the point that they were unable to present themselves as central characters. Writer Julian Mayfield, who called "Caged Bird" "a work of art that eludes description", has insisted that Angelou's autobiographies set a precedent for African-American autobiography as a whole. Als insisted that "Caged Bird" marked one of the first times that a Black autobiographer could, as Als put it, "write about blackness from the inside, without apology or defense". Through the writing of her autobiography, Angelou became recognized as a respected spokesperson for blacks and women. "Caged Bird" made her "without a doubt... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Although Als considers "Caged Bird" an important contribution to the increase of Black feminist writings in the 1970s, he attributes its success less to its originality than to "its resonance in the prevailing Zeitgeist" of its time, at the end of the American Civil Rights Movement. Angelou's writings,

Censorship.

"Caged Bird" has been criticized by many parents, causing it to be removed from school curricula and library shelves. The book was approved to be taught in public schools and was placed in public school libraries through the U.S. in the early-1980s, and was included in advanced placement and gifted student curricula, but attempts by parents to censor it began in 1983. It

Film version.

A made-for-TV movie version of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was filmed in Mississippi and aired on April 28, 1979, on CBS. Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay; the movie was directed by Fielder Cook. Constance Good played young Maya. Also appearing were actors Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography describing the early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of "Caged Bird", Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.

Je sais pourquoi chante l'oiseau en cage (titre original : "") est un roman autobiographique publié en 1969 sur les jeunes années de l'activiste et écrivaine américaine Maya Angelou. Premier d'une série de sept volumes, ce roman initiatique illustre combien force de caractère et amour de la littérature peuvent aider à affronter le racisme et les traumatismes. Le récit commence lorsque Maya, alors âgée de trois ans, et son frère aîné sont envoyés dans la ville de Stamps, dans l'Arkansas, afin d'y vivre chez leur grand-mère et se termine lorsque l'auteur devient mère à l'âge de dix-sept ans après avoir été violée par son beau-père. Le livre raconte comment Maya, victime de la xénophobie, de l'abus de pouvoir et souffrant d'un complexe d'infériorité, se transforme petit à petit en une femme digne, sûre d'elle, capable d'affronter le racisme.


Politics.

The region was subdivided into nine electoral constituencies: Mpungu, Kahenge, Kapako, Rundu Rural West, Rundu Urban, Rundu Rural East, Mashare, Ndiyona, and Mukwe.  Ambrosius Haingura, a prominent SWAPO organizer during the Namibian War of Independence, served as the region's first Regional Governor from 1993 to 1995. Maurus Nekaro, the Governor of Kavango Region from December 2010, died in office on March 4, 2013. Samuel Mbambo was appointed as Kavango's last Governor in April 2013.  The Fourth Delimitation Commission of Namibia, responsible for recommending on the country's administrative divisions suggested in August 2013 to split the Kavango Region into two. The president Hifikepunye Pohamba enacted the recommendations. As a result, the new Regions of Kavango East and Kavango West have been created.

Population.

The region was characterised by an extremely uneven population distribution. The interior is very sparsely inhabited, while the northernmost strip, especially along the Kavango River, has a high population concentration. Largest urban settlements were the capital Rundu and the towns of Nkurenkuru and Divundu.

Economy and infrastructure.

Kavango was the region with the highest poverty level in Namibia, more than 50% of the population were classified as poor. According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the Kavango Region is 29.8%. Economic activities included farming and tourism. Subsistence fishing also played a role in the nutrition of the people residing near the Kavango River.  Kavango had 323 schools with a total of 77,314 pupils.

Transport.

There was a particular dearth of north-south roads in the Region, apart from the Rundu-Grootfontein main road. Rundu has a small airstrip to accommodate medium-sized tourist or cargo aircraft in daylight only. The poor condition of the roads and the long distances had a negative effect on tourism; this situation was improved by the completion of the Trans–Caprivi Highway. A major highway connecting Rundu to western Kavango and the Ohangwena Region is under construction.

Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu.

Kavango est le nom d'une ancienne région administrative de la Namibie. Sa capitale était Rundu. Le la région a été scindée en deux nouvelles régions, Kavango East, qui a conservé Rundu comme capitale, et Kavango West, avec Nkurenkuru comme capitale.


History.

The origin of Albion College lies not in the city of Albion, but about southeast of the present location of the college. On March 23, 1835, Methodist settlers in Spring Arbor Township obtained a charter for the Spring Arbor Seminary from the Michigan Territorial Legislature. Foundations for a building were begun in 1837 at a location about southwest of the current village of Spring Arbor but were soon abandoned due to the economic turmoil caused by the Panic of 1837. No classes were ever held at the Spring Arbor location. The trustees applied to move the seminary to Albion in 1838, and the legislature approved the move in 1839.  With 60 acres (243,000 m2) of land donated by Albion pioneer Jesse Crowell, the cornerstone was laid for the first building in 1841. The seminary, now named the Wesleyan Seminary, first held classes in 1843, in the local Methodist Church. In 1844, classes began in the newly constructed Central Building, which was rebuilt as the present Robinson Hall in 1907.  The Albion Female Collegiate Institute was founded in 1850 by the Wesleyan Seminary Corporation. The two schools merged in 1857 under the name The Wesleyan Seminary and Female College at Albion.  On February 25, 1861, both schools were completely merged under the name Albion College when the school was fully authorized by the State legislature to confer a full four-year college degree upon both men and women.

Academics.

The Albion College student body is composed of approximately 1,500 students. The student–to–faculty ratio is 11:1. The average class size of under 19 is comparable to other small liberal arts colleges. Albion College employs more than 100 full-time faculty, of whom more than 95% have earned the highest degree offered in their field.  Albion College appears on the "U.S. News & World Report" list of America's Top Liberal Arts Colleges. Also, Albion is a member of "The Princeton Review"'s 376 Best Colleges and Best Midwestern Colleges list.

Academic programs.

Albion College offers approximately 30 academic majors leading to Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. In addition to the academic majors, numerous concentrations, academic institutes, and special programs are offered. These include the Prentiss M. Brown Honors program, The Center for Sustainability and the Environment, Fritz Shurmur Education Institute, the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service at Albion College, the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management, and pre-professional programs in engineering, medicine, and law.  In addition to the facilities on Albion's campus, Albion College also offers many opportunities for students to travel and study at other institutions. Programs are offered in Philadelphia, Chicago, London, Heidelberg, Tübingen, Tokyo, Seoul, Cape Town, Aix-en-Provence, Ballyvaughan, Athens, Brussels and Paris, to name a few. Albion offers more than 100 different off-campus programs in over 60 countries on six continents.

Academic facilities.

Of the numerous academic buildings at Albion College, the largest is the Science Complex. The Albion College Science Complex comprises four academic buildings: Norris Hall, Kresge Hall, Putnam Hall, and Palenske Hall, which house the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. The four buildings are connected by a 7,000-square foot Atrium. Kresge Hall features labs for introductory chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry on the third floor. Downdraft hoods in the intro and inorganic chemistry spaces help to maintain air quality. The organic labs are equipped with 12 six-foot ventilation hoods so students can learn chemical techniques and transformations. Research space for organic and inorganic chemistry faculty can also be found on the third floor. Biochemistry research and teaching spaces are found on the second floor. These spaces were designed to share a central preparation space that houses equipment used in both research and teaching applications. Proximity to the biology department encourages collaboration between students and faculty in the different disciplines. The first floor contains various classrooms and zoology and research labs for the biology department, as well as a greenhouse. The ground floor contains a majority of the biology labs, including an aquatic lab and temperature-control suite.  Putnam Hall features research labs for analytical and physical chemistry, and an analytical chemistry teaching lab on the third floor. The second floor has three "Enhanced Classrooms" with fixed projectors for computers, DVDs, and a port to plug in additional equipment, as well as the building's primary computer lab. All four levels of Putnam Hall feature faculty and staff offices, with the third floor home to chemistry faculty offices, second floor home to biology and computer science offices, and the first floor home to the main building office. Palenske Hall features the physics, geology, and math departments. The third floor features physics faculty offices, as well as the main physics labs and electronics lab. The second floor contains the math faculty offices as well as the classrooms for math and computer science. The first floor contains the faculty offices for the geology department, as well as the main geology labs and the GIS lab. The ground floor also has several specialized geology and physics labs. Norris Hall is home to several multi-use lecture classrooms, which hold between thirty and one hundred students. The classrooms in Norris are used for a number of classes, as well as for after-hours study sessions and special programs. In addition, the Science Complex has been awarded silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system.  The Whitehouse Nature Center plays an important role in classroom instruction at Albion College and offers its facilities and services as an environmental education area to public schools and the community. The Whitehouse Nature Center features six miles of trails, 400 plant species, almost 170 bird species, 25 acres of oak-hickory and flood-plain forest, a tall-grass prairie and spring in the Adele D. Whitehouse Wildflower Garden, an arboretum of Michigan trees and shrubs, 34 acres of farmland and research projects, and an interpretative building with classrooms, observation room, porch, and restrooms.

Campus life.

Residential life.

Albion College's campus houses 89% of the students that attend the college in four dormitories (Wesley Hall, Seaton Hall, Whitehouse Hall, and the Mitchell Towers), upper-class apartments (the Mae Harrison Karro Residential Village, Munger Place, the Burns Street Apartments, and the Briton House Apartments), nine women-only housing options (Ingham Hall, Fiske Hall, Dean Hall, and six women-only annexes), one men-only housing option (711 Michigan Avenue), and six fraternity houses. In addition to campus housing, students live at The Goodrich Club, a housing cooperative founded in 1932. Wesley Hall traditionally houses mostly first-year students. Wesley Hall is, by far, the largest residential building on campus with over 450 residents. Mitchell Towers and Whitehouse Hall typically are home to Sophomores and some Juniors. The Burns Street Apartments and the Briton House Apartments house mostly Juniors and some Seniors, while The Mae Karro Residential Village (commonly called "The Mae") and Munger Place house Seniors. Fiske Hall is open to Sophomore, Junior, and Senior women, while Ingham Hall is open to only Junior and Senior women. The majority of rooms in Wesley and Seaton Halls house two students with residents of each hallway sharing one community bathroom. All other dormitories have suite-style housing with two rooms sharing one bathroom between them.  In 2006 Albion College designated one of the schools annexes as the "Environmental House". Since then the students who live in the house have worked towards self sustainability and raising environmental awareness on campus.

Student groups and organizations.

Albion's campus is home to well over 100 student organizations. These groups—dedicated to academia, politics, sports and recreation, diversity awareness, and community service—are a large part of student life at Albion College. Groups such as Student Senate, The Nwagni Project, Karate Club, Canoe & Kayak Club, Anime Club, Medievalist Society, Habitat for Humanity International, and LGBriTs are examples of some of the prominent groups on campus. Intramural sports are another large part of campus life, with four seasons and about ten sports offered annually. One of the most engaging groups on campus is Union Board, a student run organization responsible for bringing entertainment to students, both on and off campus. Union Board brings a number of comedians, hypnotists, and other small performers to campus. They also bring to campus giant inflatable obstacle courses, climbing walls, masseuses, and dancers. Every April they host "The Big Show" at the Dow, which features a big name performer. In recent years, Albion has hosted 3 Doors Down, Dane Cook, O.A.R., Sean Kingston, and Seth Meyers. Union Board also sponsors a number of off-campus trips, most notably trips to Cedar Point and Chicago, as well as trips to see the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings. All of the events and programs Union Board sponsors are free of charge to students.

Music.

The Albion College Music Department offers students numerous ensembles in which to participate. The "British Eighth", the Albion College Marching Band, is one of the most visible examples of the school's mascot. The "British Eighth" wears uniforms reminiscent of those worn by the British Royal guards at Buckingham Palace. Under the direction of current Director of Bands Dr. Sam "Mac" McIlhagga, the band has increased in size to approximately 80 members. The British Eighth achieved national recognition by marching in the 2006 Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Albion College Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Ensemble, and Briton Singers perform regularly throughout the school year. The Jazz Ensemble is particularly active in performing in the Albion community. There are a number of vocal groups on campus as well, most notably co-ed "Bella Voce" and co-ed "Euphonics", which are both a cappella music groups that perform throughout the semester.

Theatre.

The Albion College Department of Theatre is a producing department that offers both a Theatre Major with a concentration track in Acting/Directing, Design/Technology, or General Theatre Studies, as well as Theatre Minor. A typical season includes 4-5 mainstage shows which are produced in the Herrick Theatre (a 280-seat proscenium) and Black Box (a multi-use space that can seat up to 150). Both theaters are located within Dow Recreation and Wellness Center. Additionally, student workshops and staged readings are produced with some frequency. In addition to the Department of Theatre, there are three theatre related student organizations: Theta Alpha Phi, Albion Players, and the Dead Pinocchio Theatre.

Athletics.

The Albion College Britons field 22 intercollegiate teams, eleven for men and eleven for women. Albion College is a charter member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and competes in the NCAA. The school's Lacrosse team also competes in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference. Men's sports at Albion include cross country, football, golf, and soccer in the fall, basketball, swimming and diving in the winter, and baseball, tennis, track and field, and Lacrosse in the spring. The Albion women compete in cross country, golf, soccer, and volleyball in the fall, basketball and swimming and diving in the winter, and softball, tennis, track and field, and lacrosse in the spring. As of the 2011 Men's and Women's Lacrosse season, Albion is one of only four NCAA sanctioned Lacrosse programs in the state of Michigan with Adrian College, the University of Detroit-Mercy, and the University of Michigan.  Albion won the NCAA Division III football championship in 1994. During the 2005 season, both the men's and women's basketball teams advanced to the Division III playoffs.  Rugby

Greek life.

Fraternities.

Albion College is home to six social fraternities:  All six fraternities on campus are all members of the North American Interfraternity Conference and all comprise Albion College's InterFraternity Council (IFC). IFC governs and coordinates the activities of the fraternal chapters on campus. Approximately 46.6% of the male population on campus belongs to one of the six fraternities. Each of the fraternities leases a fraternity house from the college where the members of the fraternity are required to live. The song "Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" was written in 1911 by Byron D. Stokes (Albion, 1913) and F. Dudleigh Vernor (Albion, 1914), and first performed by Harry Clifford (Albion, 1911) while undergraduates at Albion College.

Sororities.

There are six general purpose social sororities. Of those six, five are members of the National Panhellenic Conference:  One of the six is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council:  The members of the six social sororities at Albion College do not live in their lodges, but rather hold meetings and other events there. All six of the sorority chapters are members of the Albion College Panhellenic Council, which governs and coordinates the activities of sorority chapters on campus. Approximately 42% of the female population on campus belongs to one of the six sororities.

Professional and honorary fraternities.

Albion College is also home to nearly a dozen honorary, professional, service, and special interest fraternities, including:

Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014.

L’Albion College (« Collège d'Albion ») est une université privée d'arts libéraux située à Albion dans le Michigan. Elle fut fondée en 1835 et fut la première université privée du Michigan à disposer de la fraternité Phi Beta Kappa.


Route.

For most of its existence, the "Sunset Limited" route was owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The name "Sunset Limited" traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific subsidiary which was known as the "Sunset Route" as early as 1874.  Most of the current route from New Orleans westward is now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, which acquired Southern Pacific in 1996. However, most of the route within Louisiana itself was sold to BNSF Railway in 1995 in return for BNSF not objecting to the UP-SP merger.  On the portion of the route east of New Orleans, service was suspended after Hurricane Katrina. Those tracks, between New Orleans and Florida, include parts of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad—all now owned by CSX Transportation. Currently, the segment of the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between DeLand and Orlando is owned by Orlando's commuter service SunRail.  The train uses the following route segments, identified here by the names of their original owners:

Timetable notes.

Service on the "Sunset Limited" between New Orleans and Florida has been suspended since August 29, 2005 because the rail line in the path of Hurricane Katrina east of New Orleans was washed out. The operating railroad CSX restored the line itself between New Orleans and Jacksonville. However, in 2006, Amtrak said it was deemed too expensive to rebuild to modern passenger rail standards. In 2016 Amtrak proposed to return the "Sunset Limited" service to Florida in the near future.  Eastbound trains leave Los Angeles on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Westbound trains leave New Orleans on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The journey takes two days to complete in each direction.  The "Texas Eagle," which runs daily between San Antonio and Chicago, operates as a section of the "Sunset Limited" on the days the latter train operates. At San Antonio, a through coach and a through sleeper from the "Texas Eagle" combine with the "Sunset Limited" for the journey westward and split eastward. When combined with the "Sunset Limited", the "Texas Eagle" is numbered as 421 westbound and 422 eastbound.  A highlight of the trip is the crossing of the Huey P. Long Bridge just west of New Orleans. The bridge is one of the longest railroad bridges in the United States, at ; it takes the train above the Mississippi River.  In its present form, the eastbound "Sunset Limited" leaves Los Angeles in the late evening, traveling overnight through Arizona before arriving at breakfast time in Tucson and mid-afternoon in El Paso. After traveling through west Texas overnight, it separates from the "Texas Eagle" in San Antonio. Resuming the second day of the trip, it arrives in Houston at lunchtime, Lafayette at rush hour, and the middle of the night in New Orleans. The westbound train leaves New Orleans just after rush hour, arriving in Lafayette at lunchtime and just after the afternoon rush in Houston. It then joins the "Texas Eagle" just after midnight, and travels overnight through west Texas before arriving in El Paso at lunchtime the following afternoon and dinner time in Tucson and Maricopa. After traveling overnight through Arizona and California, it arrives in Los Angeles before breakfast.

History.

Pre-Amtrak.

Before the start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the "Sunset Limited" was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The "Sunset Limited" is the oldest named train in the United States, operating since November 1894 along the Sunset Route (though originally named the "Sunset Express"). The Sunset Route (originating in New Orleans) is the southernmost of the three gateways to the West Coast envisioned through the Pacific Railroad Acts. The other two embarked from Chicago and St. Louis. However, the Sunset Route had two major advantages over the other two routes. It was an all-weather, year-round route that didn’t face the crippling snows of the Wasatch or Sierra mountain ranges to reach the Pacific Coast. Additionally, the other two routes had to assault the front range of the Rockies.  In addition, opened 20 years before the Panama Canal, the Sunset Route vastly shortened the time to reach the West Coast from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as New Orleans was already an established seaport for Atlantic shipping lines’ passengers, seeking to reach the US interior. The Sunset Limited allowed passengers to reach the West Coast in a few days, not weeks.  The "Sunset Limited" was Southern Pacific's premier train. Initially, the "Sunset Limited" was an all-Pullman train, with sleeping cars and no coaches, running from New Orleans to San Francisco via Los Angeles. From its beginning in 1894, until streamlining in 1950, all the train's cars had 6-wheel trucks and dark olive green paint, with black roofs and trucks. In the summer of 1926, it was scheduled at 71 hr 40 min New Orleans to San Francisco; it then carried a coast-to-coast sleeper from Jacksonville to Los Angeles.  An 1895 consist included:  A 1929 consist included:  A 1940 consist included:  In 1930, the route was cut back to Los Angeles and the train carried coaches for the first time; it would never be all-sleeper again. In 1936, the train resumed running to San Francisco and was one of SP's first trains to receive air conditioning. In January 1942, it was cut back to Los Angeles, which has remained the western terminus ever since.  The train was dieselized in late 1949. In August 1950, it was the last major American luxury train to become a streamliner. Also in 1950, the train got a new look, with stainless steel cars with red letterboards and white "Southern Pacific" lettering. All cars except the RPO-Baggage (which had 6-wheel trucks) had 4-wheel trucks. The last car of the train was a sleeping car with a blunt rear end and a lighted neon sign with the train name on the rear door. Until 1950 the train was pulled by 4-6-2 Pacific type and 4-8-4 GS-1 Northern type steam locomotives between New Orleans and El Paso, and by 4-8-2 MT-4 Mountain type and 4-8-4 GS-4 Northern type steam locomotives between El Paso and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Occasionally, even some 4-10-2 Southern Pacific type and 4-8-8-2 AC class Cab Forward type steam locomotives could be seen, especially on the western portion of its run. Steam occasionally appeared on the "Sunset Limited" until 1953.  After dieselization Alco PA A-A Unit diesel locomotives powered the train between New Orleans and El Paso, and EMD E7 and E9 diesel locomotives in A-B-B sets pulled the train between El Paso and Los Angeles. Between 1950 and 1958 the diesel locomotives were painted in the Southern Pacific's "Daylight" scheme; in the 1960s and 70s EMD F7 diesel locomotives in SP's "Bloody Nose" scheme powered the train on the entire run.  A typical consist from the early 1950s included:  The "Sunset" was not spared from the sharp decline in rail service from the 1950s onward. During the 1960s, amenities were progressively cut back, culminating in the elimination of the dining car, lounge car and all sleeping cars. By 1968, the once proud streamliner had three cars: a baggage car, a coach and an automat lunch counter car. The "Sunset Limited" was even combined with the "Golden State" passenger train west of El Paso in 1964. In October 1970, SP reduced the "Sunset" to a tri-weekly schedule, but with full dining and sleeping car service returning over the entire route. This was the state of the train when Amtrak took control in May 1971.  A typical consist between October 1970 and April 1971 (the last months under Southern Pacific's thrice-weekly operation):

Amtrak.

Amtrak left the "Sunset" unchanged, while it dropped the Louisville & Nashville's "Gulf Wind", which operated between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida. The tracks between these two points remained unused by passenger trains until April 29, 1984, when an Amtrak train called the "Gulf Coast Limited", running between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, began service, seeking to regenerate some form of regional intercity rail traffic between large cities outside the Northeast. However, this train only lasted until January 6, 1985. Almost five years later, on October 27, 1989, the track segment between Mobile and Flomaton, Alabama, came into passenger train use as part of the route of the "Gulf Breeze". This was another attempt to regenerate regional inter-city rail traffic, this time between Birmingham, Alabama, and Mobile. The train was a reestablishment of the Mobile section of Amtrak's New York City—New Orleans "Crescent". It branched from the "Crescent"'s route at Birmingham, turning south toward Montgomery, Flomaton, and terminating in Mobile. The "Gulf Breeze" was discontinued in 1995.  Meanwhile, on April 4, 1993, passenger service was reestablished along the entire New Orleans—Jacksonville corridor with the extension of the "Sunset Limited" to Miami, using the route of Amtrak's "Silver Meteor" south of Jacksonville; it was serviced at Amtrak's Hialeah yards for the return trip. It was only the second direct rail link between Orlando and Miami, following local trains by the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line in the mid-1960s. However, schedule unreliability caused the "Sunset Limited"'s eastern terminus to be truncated to Sanford on November 10, 1996. Service was re-extended to Orlando on October 26, 1997, and the train deadheaded (operated empty) between Orlando and Sanford for servicing. Sanford was, and still is, the servicing point for Amtrak's Auto Train.  On September 22, 1993, the three locomotives and six of the eight cars of the eastbound "Sunset Limited" derailed and fell off a damaged bridge into water near Mobile, Alabama, in Amtrak's worst train wreck, the Big Bayou Canot rail accident. 47 people died.  On October 9, 1995, saboteurs derailed the "Sunset Limited" near Harqua, Arizona by removing 29 spikes from a section of track, and short-circuited the signal system to conceal the sabotage. The attack killed one person and injured dozens of others. The crime still remains unsolved.  On June 2, 1996, the "Sunset Limited" was rerouted to a more southerly route between Tucson, and Yuma, Arizona, bypassing Phoenix. Union Pacific, which had acquired Southern Pacific earlier in the year, wanted to abandon a decaying portion of its Phoenix–Yuma "West Line". This made Phoenix one of the nation's largest cities without direct passenger service; although the designated Phoenix-area stop is in Maricopa, a suburban community about south of downtown Phoenix. Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach service, run by Stagecoach Express, connects the two cities.  The "Sunset" received a better schedule on May 7, 2012, moving its westbound movements from New Orleans to a Monday, Wednesday, Saturday circuit. The times allow several 7- to 12-hour rides between major-city pairs; for example, overnight between Tucson or Maricopa (for Phoenix) and Los Angeles in both directions.  Since 1981, the "Sunset Limited" has run in tandem with the "Texas Eagle." On the three days that the "Sunset Limited" operates, a coach and sleeper from the "Texas Eagle" split from the eastbound "Sunset Limited" in San Antonio and continue to Chicago, combining with the westbound "Sunset Limited" for the journey to Los Angeles. For the remainder of the week, the "Texas Eagle" runs independently between Chicago and San Antonio.

Hurricane Katrina.

On August 29, 2005, the "Sunset Limited" route was truncated at San Antonio, Texas, as a result of damage to trackage in the Gulf Coast area caused by Hurricane Katrina. In late October 2005, service was restored between San Antonio and New Orleans, as the line through Louisiana had been repaired.

Possible restoration.

As time has passed, particularly since the January 2006 completion of the rebuilding of damaged tracks east of New Orleans by their owner CSX Transportation Inc., the obstacles to restoration of the "Sunset Limited"'s full route have been more managerial and political than physical. Advocates for the train's restoration have pointed to revenue figures for Amtrak's fiscal year 2004, the last full year of coast-to-coast "Sunset Limited" service. During that period, the Orlando–New Orleans segment accounted for 41% of the "Sunset's" revenue.  Section 226 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 16, 2008, gave Amtrak nine months to provide Congress with a plan for restoring service that "shall include a projected timeline for restoring such service, the costs associated with restoring such service, and any proposals for legislation necessary to support such restoration of service." , Amtrak's schedules and maps continue to describe the route between New Orleans and Orlando as suspended. In 2009, Brian Rosenwald, a now-departed Amtrak executive, outlined ideas for a complete overhaul of the route, including daily service. It was to have the "Texas Eagle" operate over the "Sunset"'s route west of San Antonio, with a stub train connecting San Antonio (with a cross-platform transfer) and New Orleans. The plans were halted when Union Pacific stated that to get a daily "Sunset Limited", Amtrak would need to pay $750 million for infrastructure improvements.  Passenger totals would double with daily service, according to the PRIIA study that looked at "Texas Eagle"/"Sunset Limited" service. It forecast an incremental improvement of more than 100,000 passengers from the daily service, which is already running in excess of 100,000 a year. In the meantime, the Union Pacific has double-tracked much of the route with its own money. However, Amtrak still lacks the equipment and funds needed to move to daily service.  In January 2016, Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission announced jointly that a Gulf Coast passenger rail inspection trip was to be made from New Orleans to Jacksonville, with elected officials among those on board during the February 18–19 excursion. Stops were planned for all of the stations formerly part of the "Sunset Limited"'s route between those two cities. In June 2018, the commission missed the deadline for submitting a request for service restoration along the Gulf. It said that it could not apply for the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) fiscal-year 2017 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) funding because Alabama and Mississippi were unwilling to assist with funds. Alabama's share would have been $5.3 million. The Louisiana governor, on the other hand, was willing to provide the funds. The three states' cooperation was needed to secure the $35.5 million in federal CRISI funds.  In June 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration announced a grant award of $33 million to restore Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, and to upgrade tracks, stations, and other facilities to support improved passenger rail service. The grant was matched by funds from Louisiana, Mississippi, and the city of Mobile. Officials announced plans for up to four daytime rail trips per day within 24 months, serving the cities of New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. Having received a commitment of support from the City of Mobile, if the state of Alabama participates, service could be extended to downtown Mobile.

The Sunset Limited is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it ran between and Los Angeles, and between 1993 and 1996, continued on to Miami (via the "Silver Meteor"'s route). It is the oldest named train in the United States; it was first introduced in 1894 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was handed to Amtrak upon its formation in 1971.

Le Sunset Limited est un train de voyageurs américain (États-Unis) de la Compagnie Amtrak. Il relie La Nouvelle-Orléans en Louisiane à Los Angeles en Californie et dessert notamment les gares de Houston et San Antonio au Texas, de Tucson en Arizona et Palm Spring en Californie. Le trajet s'effectue en 48 heures.


History.

Before the advent of the modern internal combustion engine and earth-moving equipment, mining salt was one of the most expensive and dangerous of operations because of rapid dehydration caused by constant contact with the salt (both in the mine passages and scattered in the air as salt dust) and of other problems caused by accidental excessive sodium intake. Salt is now plentiful, but until the Industrial Revolution, it was difficult to come by, and salt was often mined by slaves or prisoners. Life expectancy for the miners was low.  In ancient Rome, salt on the table was a mark of wealth; those who sat nearer the host were "above the salt", and those less favored were "below the salt". The Roman historian Pliny the Elder stated as an aside in his Natural History's discussion of sea water, that "in Rome... the soldier's pay was originally salt and the word'salary' derives from it..."  Ancient China was among the earliest civilizations in the world with cultivation and trade in mined salt. They first discovered natural gas when they excavated rock salt. The Chinese writer, poet, and politician Zhang Hua of the Jin dynasty wrote in his book "Bowuzhi" how people in Zigong, Sichuan, excavated natural gas and used it to boil a rock salt solution. The ancient Chinese gradually mastered and advanced the techniques of producing salt. Salt mining was an arduous task for them, as they faced geographical and technological constraints. Salt was extracted mainly from the sea, and salt works in the coastal areas in late imperial China equated to more than 80 percent of national production. The Chinese made use of natural crystallization of salt lakes and constructed some artificial evaporation basins close to shore. In 1041, during the Song dynasty, a well with a diameter about the size of a bowl and several dozen feet deep was drilled for salt production. In Southwestern China, natural salt deposits were mined with bores that could reach to a depth of more than 1000 m, but the yields of ground and salt were relatively low. As salt is a necessity of life, salt mining played a pivotal role as one of the most important sources of Imperial Chinese government revenue and state development.  Most modern salt mines are privately operated or operated by large multinational companies such as K+S, AkzoNobel, Cargill, and Compass Minerals.

Mining regions around the world.

Some notable salt mines include:

Idiomatic use.

In slang, the term, and especially the phrase, refers ironically to one's workplace, or a dull or tedious task. This phrase originates from in reference to the Russian practice of sending prisoners to forced labor in Siberian salt mines.

A salt mine is a mine from which salt is extracted. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations.

Une mine de sel est un gisement, généralement souterrain, de sel gemme (halite), exploité par l'homme. La seule mine de sel gemme encore en activité en France se trouve à Varangéville.