AMERICANPATRIOT

CALRIPKENBASEBALL’SIRON MAN GOESGRASSROOTS

AMERICA’S LOVEAFFAIR WITH

BLUE JEANSTHIS WEEK INAMERICAN HISTORY

GETTYSBURGADDRESS

AMERICANPATRIOT

CAL RIPKENBASEBALL’S IRON MANGOES GRASSROOTS

48

HUDSONRIVER VALLEY

AN AMERICANMASTERPIECE

6AMERICA’S LOVE

AFFAIR WITH

BLUE JEANS

14

Contents

EDWARDHOPPERCAPTURING THEAMERICAN IDENTITY

1012

BEINGNEIGHBORLY

THIS WEEK INAMERICAN HISTORY

QUOTE OFTHE WEEK 15

CAL RIPKENis baseball’s all-time Iron Man and a member of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame. He retired from base-ball following the 2001 season after 21 seasons with theBaltimoreOrioles. His name appears in the record booksrepeatedly, most notably as one of only eight players inhistory to achieve 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. In 2007,hewas inducted into the Hall of Fame after receiving the3rd highest voting percentage in history and collectingthe most votes ever.

4 AMERICAN PATRIOT

In 1995, Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’srecord for consecutive games played(2,130) and voluntarily ended his streakin 1998 after playing 2,632 consecutivegames. Although he finished his careerat third base, Cal is still best known forredefining the position of shortstop.Ripken’s name has become synonymouswith strength, character, endurance andintegrity. His philosophy of working hard,playing with passion and enjoying thegame has made a tremendous impacton the sport and on fans everywhere.In 1999, Babe Ruth League changedthe name of its largest division —which includes 700,000 players aged5 through12 — to Cal Ripken Baseball.

Now Ripken is using the platform that

baseball has provided him to help grow the

game he loves at the grassroots level. This

phase of his life started with construction

of a one-of-a-kind baseball complex in his

hometown of Aberdeen, MD. The project

consists of Ripken Stadium, a 6,000-seat

minor league ballpark home to the Class A

Aberdeen IronBirds. Adjacent is the Ripken

youth Baseball Academy with several youth-

sized fields modeled after famous big

league ballparks. The Academy is also the

permanent home of the Cal Ripken World

Series for teams of 11 and 12 year olds

from all over the world. In 2005, Ripken

acquired a second minor league team, the

Augusta GA GreenJackets, and in 2006 he

opened a new youth baseball complex in

Myrtle Beach, SC. Seven themed baseball

fields also bear the dimensions and charac-

ter of historic parks. He has also written

several books that teach young players about

baseball, discipline and responsibility.

Ripken has always placed a strong focus on

giving back to the community. In 2001 he

and his family established the Cal Ripken,

Sr. Foundation, in memory of the family’s

patriarch. The Foundation helps teach life

lessons through baseball to disadvantaged

youth from all over the country and gives

them a life-changing experience. Ripken’s

role as an ambassador for the game he

loves was taken to a new level in August

of 2007 when he was named American

Public diplomacy envoy by the U.S. State

Department. In this role, he has travelled

worldwide teaching baseball to children

and representing the best the United

States has to offer.

BASEBALL’S IRON MAN GOES GRASSROOTS

AMERICAN PATRIOT 5

CHECK OUT A WEBSITE WHERE CALRIPKEN TEACHES YOUTH PLAYERSTO PLAY “THE RIPKEN WAY” >

6 AMERICAN PATRIOT

1853. Levi Strauss arrives in San Francisco and opens a whole-sale dry goods business selling clothing, blankets and handker-chiefs to small general stores throughout the American West.1872. Jacob Davis, a Reno, Nevada tailor, writes to Levi Strauss,telling him about the process he invented to rivet the pocket cor-ners on men’s pants to make them stronger. He suggests the twomen take out a patent on the process together and Levi agrees.1873. The men are granted a patent by the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office. This is the official invention of the blue jean.The pants, called “waist overalls,” have one back pocket with theArcuate stitching design, a watch pocket, a cinch, suspenderbuttons and a rivet in the crotch.1890. Lot numbers are first assigned to the products beingmanufactured. 501is used to designate the famous copper-riveted waist overalls.1901. The pants, now just called “overalls,” are redesigned tohave two back pockets.1902. Levi Strauss dies at the age of 73. His nephews take overthe business; their descendants still run the company today.1922. Belt loops are added to the overalls, but the suspenderbuttons are still retained.1936. The red Tab is first placed onto the right back pocket ofthe overalls. The word “Levi’s” is stitched in white in all capitalletters on one side only.1937. The suspender buttons are removed from the overalls.Consumers are given snap-on buttons in case they still want towear suspenders.1947. The post-war version of the 501 jeans starts coming offthe production line. The cinch is gone forever, the rivets areback on the watch pocket and the stitching is now done with adouble-needle machine.1954. A zippered version of the overalls is introduced.Late 1950s. The famous leather patch is replaced by one madeof heavy-duty card stock. New automatic washing machines werevery hard on the real thing.1960. The word “overalls” is replaced by the word “jeans” inadvertising and on packaging.1966. The first television commercial for Levi’s jeans is aired.1981. 501 jeans for women are introduced.1984. The renowned “501 Blues” television ad campaign islaunched at the summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.2007. Despite increasing competition from domestic and over-seas manufacturers, and several difficult years, Levi’s returnsto profitability.

AMERICAN PATRIOT 7

“Blue jeans,” wrote authorMarjorie Dorfsman, “will alwaysbe a part of the Americanpsyche, like The Star SpangledBanner and apple pie.” In fact,Americans have long had a loveaffair with jeans, based on theircasual, no-nonsense, hardwork-ing nature and their tie to ourfrontier roots. And if somefashionistas have turned somejeans into impractical andpretentious fashion statements,they still haven’t quite ruinedit for the rest of us. No companyis more identified with thisapparel than Levi’s, foundedduring the Gold Rush days whenLevi Strauss responded to theneeds of prospectors by takingcanvas used for tents and turn-ing them into overalls. Soonafter, he substituted twilledcotton cloth from France —serge de Nimes or “denim” —and an icon was born. Here isa history of the company andthe product that grew up fromthis modest act.

AMERICA’S LOVE AFFAIRWITH BLUE JEANS

8 AMERICAN PATRIOT

While other rivers, like the mighty Mississippi, may be more famous, the Hudson is historicallyone of the nation’s most important. Flowing from the Adirondacks in upstate New York allthe way to the mouth of the Atlantic at New York City, the Hudson River has played a vital rolein the creation of the country. Home of the first Dutch settlers to New York, used strategicallyby George Washington during the War of Independence, the River and its eight surroundingcounties collectively known as the Hudson River Valley, quickly became the center of politicaland cultural life during the 17th and 18th centuries. And then the Erie Canal brought yetanother boom in the 19th century, making it a major industrial center as well as the homeof the Hudson River School, a seminal group of American Romantic painters who workedin the mid-19th century. It is not an exaggeration to say that much of American industry,art, literature, and politics were born here. Visitors will surely be taken with the rich historyof America’s early years and the sheer beauty.

HERE ARE JUST A HANDFUL OF THE MUST-SEE SIGHTS.

HUDSON RIVER VALLEYAN AMERICAN MASTERPIECE

The Vanderbilt MansionThis National Historic Site, located inHyde Park, is a premier example ofthe country palaces built by wealthyindustrialists during the Gilded Age.

FDR’S HOME-SPRINGWOODThe birth and burial place of Franklin DelanoRoosevelt, Springwood was the center ofhis life and career. The estate, which canbe toured, often served as the unofficialWhite House during the presidential years,and now includes his official Presidentialmuseum and library.

HUGUENOT STREET HISTORIC DISTRICTLocated in the town of New Paltz, HuguenotStreet, is the oldest continuously inhabitedstreet in America. Several stone houses,which can be seen at the historic site, werebuilt in the early 18th century by Huguenotsettlers fleeing discrimination and religiouspersecution in France and Belgium.

AMERICAN PATRIOT 9

SEE MAPS AND PHOTOS OFTHE HUDSON VALLEY >

GEORGE WASHINGTON'SHEADQUARTERSIn this modest stone Dutch farm-house overlooking the HudsonRiver in Newburgh is whereGeneral George Washington estab-lished his final Field CommandHeadquarters, the longest-servingheadquarters of the General duringthe American Revolution.

WEST POINTNow the site of America’s mostfamous military school, West Pointwas also one of the most importantstaging areas in the AmericanRevolution and is the longestcontinuous occupied military postin the U.S. Regular tours of thecampus are available; it sits 50miles north of New York City onthe western bank of the Hudson.

SHAKER MUSEUM & LIBRARYA religion born in the HudsonValley, the whole range of objectsused daily by the Shakers in theirpleasures and labors are on viewat this museum. The institutionis celebrating its 60th seasonby presenting an array of publicprograms at Mount LebanonShaker Village, a national historiclandmark site.

Olana State Historic SiteAlso known as the Frederic E. Church Houseand located in the town of Greenport, is anarchitectural masterpiece built by Church,one of the most renowned American artistsof the Hudson River School. The gardens areequally spectacular as is the smattering ofHudson River School paintings on display.

Washington Irving’s HomeAmerica's first successful fiction author, Irvinglived in this cozy and intimately beautiful home.Called Sunnyside, it is located on 10 acresalongside the river in Tarrytown. He is bestknown for his short stories, The Legend ofSleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.

10 AMERICAN PATRIOT

EDWARDHOPPERCAPTURING THEAMERICAN IDENTITY

Hopper is best known for his masterpiece"Nighthawks,” a brooding and beautiful sceneof a diner, its patrons, and the city night thatsurrounds it. He was intent on showing theimposing scale, stillness, and sincerity of amodern country rapidly changed from frontierto metropolis. He traveled and painted, fromthe coastal areas of New England to the denseenclaves of New York City, and later outwardto the west. He neatly summed up his inten-tions: "What I wanted to do was to paintsunlight on the side of a house." He was ahumble and stoic artist, his style wouldremain the unchanged despite the tumult ofthe modern art movement and the rejectionof aesthetic beauty by the art elite.

Hopper saw success as a painter, albeit laterin life. Since his painting did not generatemuch attention or income until he was wellinto his forties, he made his living as a com-mercial artist. He traveled to Paris and wasuninspired, although there he "learned to see".On the obsession towards French artists andculture shown by his contemporaries: "Afterall, we are not French and never can be,and any attempt to be so is to deny our inher-itance and to try to impose upon ourselvesa character that can be nothing but a veneerupon the surface."

Hopper was born in Nyack, New York to parentsof comfortable means. He showed a flair fordrawing and painting, enrolling in the New

York Institute of Art and Design. Compromisingwith his strict Baptist parents, he agreed topursue commercial art. He would have somesuccess as a commercial designer and print-maker, but his goal was to evolve as an artist.The road was difficult in those early years,and a discouraged and depressed Hopperwould go months without painting.

It wasn't until the mid-1920's, when Hoppermet his wife, that his style really began toemerge. He focused on his love of the uniqueand eclectic nature of American architecture.His paintings of Cape Cod, studies of weatheredYankee homes, lighthouses and rugged land-scapes bathed in coastal light, were his water-shed works. Emboldened by these successes,he came to New York City in the late 1930s and1940s, where he took on the urban landscape.He would paint solitude, silence, moments—such as New York Movie, Girlie Show, HotelLobby, Morning in a City and Nighthawks —which brought him acclaim and wealth, andmade him the pre-eminent realist painter inAmerican art history. With his wife vigorouslypromoting his career, Hopper continuedpainting until late in life, passing away in1967. His influence on how Americans seethemselves and the American landscape isincalculable, and his work continues to sellout exhibitions around the world.

AMERICAN PATRIOT 11

WATCH A SLIDESHOW OF HOPPER’SGREATEST PAINTINGS >

Capturing the American Identity has been an elusive goal for Americanartists both past and present, through the countless trends and culturalshifts of a growing society. Edward Hopper, painting simple landscapes,sometimes inhabited, sometimesnot, is said tobeamong theartistswho trulyunderstood who Americans are and the nature of where Americans live.

12 AMERICAN PATRIOT

WAYS TO HELPNEIGHBORSWHO MIGHT

BE STRUGGLINGFINANCIALLY

(WITHOUT INSULTING THEM)

BEING NEIGHBORLYTimes are tough. You only have to pick up your local newspaper or listen toyour local news to know this. When times are tough, many of us are hit withfinancial problems. Some of the people who have been hit with financialproblems can be our neighbors. Then we want to help. But what can we doto help our neighbors who having financial difficulties, without insulting them?

Ask them over to your house for ameal or a barbecue once in a while.This will save them money fromcooking and will give you a chanceto visit with them. They may needthe distraction. On the same note,you could occasionally take oversome desserts or your favorite dishfor your neighbors to enjoy, as well.Volunteer to baby-sit for them oncein a while. This will save them onbabysitting money or daycare.

Has your neighbor lost his/her job?Keep an ear out and if you hearsomething that you know he/shehas the qualifications to fill, don'thesitate. Tell your neighbor rightaway. Send your neighbor a gift cardthrough the mail. You don't haveto put a return address on it. Justwrite from someone who cares.

Does your neighbor need a resumetyped or copied? If you have a goodcomputer system and the skills,volunteer to do this for him/her orhelp him/her with the task. Providethe paper for free.

Finally, be honest. Tell your neighborthat you appreciate him/her. Tellhim/her that you are glad that he/sheis your neighbor and friend. Thentell him/her that if he/she hasany problems, you will be there forhim/her. You will try to help, evenif it is just to listen and that youwill not judge. Tell him/her thatwe all our human. We are livingin tough times and we all shouldhelp one another, when we can.Then be patient and silent and seeif you get a response.

AMERICAN PATRIOT 13

QUOTE OFTHE WEEK

“I don’t make jokes. Ijust watch the governmentand report the facts.”—WILL ROGERSCOMEDIAN, HUMORIST, SOCIAL COMMENTATOREXCEEDINGLY POPULAR AND INFLUENTIAL IN THE 1930S.

14 AMERICAN PATRIOT

LEARN ABOUT HIS HUMOR, LIFE AND TIMES ATTHE WILL ROGERS MUSEUM IN OKLAHOMA >

1863.Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address duringceremonies dedicating the battlefield in Pennsylvania as anational cemetery. Lincoln delivered his address in justunder twominutes. The crowd was unimpressed since longoratories were the style of the day, but Lincoln’s speech hascome to be considered one of the greatest expressions ofAmerican democracy.

THIS WEEK INAMERICAN HISTORY

AMERICAN PATRIOT 15

Pictured Above: Detail of Elihu Vedder's mural Government(1896), in the Library of Congress. The title figurebears a tablet inscribed with Lincoln's famous phrase.