ROSELAND, Old New York (1985)…….By 1985, Roseland Ballroom was one of the last relics of old New York nightlife……its grand interior still echoing with the sounds of decades past…… the once-glamorous dance hall had been a hub for big band music…..where couples once twirled beneath chandeliers in the 1930s and ‘40s……now, it had adapted to a new era, hosting everything from rock concerts to Latin dance nights…..a cultural chameleon that refused to fade…..outside, its marquee flickered in the neon glow of Midtown……inviting in a mix of aging regulars and younger crowds eager for a taste of its history…..the bouncers at the door gave a nod to familiar faces, while taxis idled along West 52nd Street……waiting for the late-night crowd…..inside, the scent of spilled whiskey mixed with decades of cigarette smoke embedded in the walls…..the old wood floors still held memories of countless dancing shoes…..moving to rhythms that spanned generations……Roseland wasn’t just a venue…..it was a time capsule….. where New York’s past and present met under one roof…..even as the city around it marched toward an uncertain future.

ELITE VIKINGS WERE BURIED INSIDE THEIR SHIPS…..sent off with weapons, armor, horses and sometimes slaves….these “ship burials” were meant to carry them to the afterlife….massive mounds covered the vessels….turning graves into monuments….archaeologists have found ornate longships…..filled with gold and bones….proof that to a Viking….death was just the next great voyage.

MARGARET WALKER…..at the age of 15 she began writing poetry…..she received a BA from Northwestern University in 1935…..and an MA from the University of Iowa in 1940…..in 1936 she joined the Federal Writers’ Project in Chicago……where she became friends with Richard Wright and joined his South Side Writers Group…..in 1941 Walker became the first African American poet to receive the Yale Younger Poets Prize…..for her debut collection For My People (Yale University Press, 1942)…..she was also the author of the poetry collections….This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems (University of Georgia Press, 1989)…..October Journey (Broadside Press, 1973), and Prophets for a New Day (Broadside Press, 1970)……Walker married Firnist Alexander in 1943…..and together they had four children…..in 1949 they moved to Mississippi…..where she joined the faculty at Jackson State College…..she returned to the University of Iowa for her doctoral studies and received a PhD in 1965…..the following year……she published her dissertation as a novel…..Jubilee (Houghton Mifflin, 1966)…..in 1968 Walker founded the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People at Jackson State College……as director of the institute….which was later renamed the Margaret Walker Center…..she organized the 1971 National Evaluative Conference on Black Studies and the 1973 Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival…..after Walker retired from teaching in 1979……she published On Being Female, Black, and Free (University of Tennessee Press, 1997)……a collection of personal essays, and Richard Wright: Daemonic Genius (Warner Books, 1988)……a work of nonfiction informed by her friendship with Wright…..Margaret Walker died of cancer on November 30, 1998…..in Jackson, Mississippi.

O.W. GURLEY….. the founder of Black Wall Street…..in 1905 Gurley and his wife sold their property in Noble County…..and moved 80 miles to the oil boom town of Tulsa……Gurley purchased 40 acres of land in North Tulsa and established his first business…..a rooming house on a dusty road that would become Greenwood Avenue…..he subdivided his plot into residential and commercial lots and eventually opened a grocery store…..as the community grew around him, Gurley prospered. Between 1910 and 1920…..the Black population in the area he had purchased grew from 2,000 to nearly 9,000 in a city with a total population of 72,000…..the Black community had a large working-class population as well as doctors, lawyers, and other professionals……who provided services to them……soon the Greenwood section was dubbed “Negro Wall Street” by Tuskegee educator Booker T. Washington……Greenwood, now called Black Wall Street……was nearly self-sufficient with Black-owned businesses…..many initially financed by Gurley…..ranging from brickyards and theaters to a chartered airplane company…..Gurley built the Gurley Hotel at 112 N. Greenwood and rented out spaces to smaller businesses……his other properties included a two-story building at 119 N. Greenwood…..which housed the Masonic Lodge and a Black employment agency……he was also one of the founders of Vernon AME Church.

LISE MEITNER…..was a pioneering physicist whose groundbreaking work led to the discovery of nuclear fission…..a breakthrough that ultimately paved the way for the development of nuclear energy…..despite her crucial contributions……she was unjustly excluded from the Nobel Prize, which was awarded to her male colleagues……Meitner’s brilliance and dedication were often overshadowed by the societal and gender biases of her time…..yet her scientific achievements remain monumental……Albert Einstein, recognizing her exceptional talent…..even praised her as the “German Marie Curie”……highlighting her importance in the field of science…..born in Vienna in 1878…..Meitner defied the restrictive norms of her era to become one of the leading figures in nuclear physics…..in a time when women were largely excluded from higher education…..she managed to break through the barriers and collaborate with Otto Hahn on their work regarding nuclear fission…..although their research ultimately contributed to the creation of the atomic bomb…..Meitner herself refused to work on its military applications….firmly distancing herself from the destructive use of her discoveries……Meitner’s views on science were shaped by a deep reverence for truth and objectivity…..she believed that science should inspire awe and wonder…..teaching individuals to accept reality while appreciating the natural order of things…..her life and work remain a testament to the power of perseverance….and her legacy as a scientist who prioritized truth over power continues to inspire future generations of researchers.

THE DUKE OF MILAN….had threaten Leonardo da Vinci to finish The Last Supper in 1498….the artist took 3 years to complete it….it distracted by his 6,500 pages of other ideas….it became one of history’s…..most celebrated masterpieces…..and in 1911….the Mona Lisa vanished from the Louvre….and nobody noticed for 24 hours…..a worker simply walked out with it under his smock…..and hid it in his Paris apartment for 2 years….that theft made the painting world-famous.