Caitlin G. DeAngelis
@caitlindeangelis.bsky.social
graveyard historian; spouse to @fionawh.im; she/they 🏳️🌈
Cambridge, Massachusetts
THE CARETAKERS (War Graves gardeners in the French Resistance) https://www.globepequot.com/9781633888999/the-caretakers/
Cambridge, Massachusetts
THE CARETAKERS (War Graves gardeners in the French Resistance) https://www.globepequot.com/9781633888999/the-caretakers/
At the beginning of each file, there should be a page that looks like this, with the person's name on it. This is Pte. F.W. Mann, so the files around him should also start with M surnames. If you have the right reel, but the letters are wrong, check the other row of images above this one.
December 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
At the beginning of each file, there should be a page that looks like this, with the person's name on it. This is Pte. F.W. Mann, so the files around him should also start with M surnames. If you have the right reel, but the letters are wrong, check the other row of images above this one.
December 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
What books would you recommend for a queer teen who loves The Song of Achilles and Hell Followed With Us? (not a big fan of most romantasy)
December 4, 2025 at 5:05 PM
What books would you recommend for a queer teen who loves The Song of Achilles and Hell Followed With Us? (not a big fan of most romantasy)
"A horse! A horse! My kingdom in a horse!"
December 4, 2025 at 4:31 AM
"A horse! A horse! My kingdom in a horse!"
Also, just a reminder not to trust anything you see on Google. In this case, Google jumbles up information about the burial ground in Cambridge and Milk Row Cemetery in Somerville, and spits out an incoherent mess.
December 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Also, just a reminder not to trust anything you see on Google. In this case, Google jumbles up information about the burial ground in Cambridge and Milk Row Cemetery in Somerville, and spits out an incoherent mess.
One of the earliest death dates on a gravestone in the Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) is 1662, on a stone for Elizabeth Cutter.
Despite the early date, the stone is stylistically similar to stones from the 1680s, and was probably carved then (this is called "backdating").
Despite the early date, the stone is stylistically similar to stones from the 1680s, and was probably carved then (this is called "backdating").
December 3, 2025 at 1:53 PM
One of the earliest death dates on a gravestone in the Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) is 1662, on a stone for Elizabeth Cutter.
Despite the early date, the stone is stylistically similar to stones from the 1680s, and was probably carved then (this is called "backdating").
Despite the early date, the stone is stylistically similar to stones from the 1680s, and was probably carved then (this is called "backdating").
This Boston Globe article is a great example of how tone and framing are subjective choices that lead readers toward specific conclusions. The headline could just as easily be, "Mayor Flies Economy; Pays $245/Night for Hotel," and it's worthwhile to notice that it isn't.
December 3, 2025 at 1:08 AM
This Boston Globe article is a great example of how tone and framing are subjective choices that lead readers toward specific conclusions. The headline could just as easily be, "Mayor Flies Economy; Pays $245/Night for Hotel," and it's worthwhile to notice that it isn't.
Has anyone written an essay on the use of the term "Gay Interest" by auction houses and eBay sellers? It's often applied to things like vaguely saucy Edwardian photos or advertisements with innuendo. But then, sometimes, it's old military underwear.
December 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Has anyone written an essay on the use of the term "Gay Interest" by auction houses and eBay sellers? It's often applied to things like vaguely saucy Edwardian photos or advertisements with innuendo. But then, sometimes, it's old military underwear.
yes, I definitely meant smeeled
December 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM
yes, I definitely meant smeeled
This gravestone looks like the end result of a family shouting match.
gravestone of Capt. Tobias Lear (c.1736-1781)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
carved by John Homer
gravestone of Capt. Tobias Lear (c.1736-1781)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
carved by John Homer
December 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
This gravestone looks like the end result of a family shouting match.
gravestone of Capt. Tobias Lear (c.1736-1781)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
carved by John Homer
gravestone of Capt. Tobias Lear (c.1736-1781)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
carved by John Homer
We will not allow any slang that is undergoing a linguistic shift toward vulgarity in our film, "The Bank Dick" (1940).
www.etymonline.com/word/nuts
www.etymonline.com/word/nuts
![Connection with the slang "testicles" sense has tended to nudge the word toward taboo territory. "On the N.B.C. network, it is forbidden to call any character a nut; you have to call him a screwball." [New Yorker, Dec. 23, 1950] "Please eliminate the expression 'nuts to you' from Egbert's speech." [Request from the Hays Office regarding the script of "The Bank Dick," 1940] This desire for avoidance probably accounts for the euphemism nerts (c. 1925).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:b6qa67q2qrr77rcetegdfbfe/bafkreieajxe5ytddh6dutrmym67ocpvj5ku2pc6akw5nmhv3xffvcehfna@jpeg)
December 2, 2025 at 1:13 AM
We will not allow any slang that is undergoing a linguistic shift toward vulgarity in our film, "The Bank Dick" (1940).
www.etymonline.com/word/nuts
www.etymonline.com/word/nuts
Is it good or bad that my searches for "the fae" and "the fey" on British Newspaper Archives is mostly returning results for margin blotches that lurk beyond the boundaries of human language
November 20, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Is it good or bad that my searches for "the fae" and "the fey" on British Newspaper Archives is mostly returning results for margin blotches that lurk beyond the boundaries of human language
The NYTimes had an article about Trump's NEH earlier this week, but it didn't mention specifics about the sculpture garden grants being awarded.
archive.ph/Kz8Gc
archive.ph/Kz8Gc
November 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The NYTimes had an article about Trump's NEH earlier this week, but it didn't mention specifics about the sculpture garden grants being awarded.
archive.ph/Kz8Gc
archive.ph/Kz8Gc
These are the enrollment numbers for Cambridge from the Massachusetts department of education. There's definitely a dip in public enrollment from 2020-2022 and recovery since, but 700 children did not suddenly sign up for private school in 2023 and then vanish.
profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/...
profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/...
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
These are the enrollment numbers for Cambridge from the Massachusetts department of education. There's definitely a dip in public enrollment from 2020-2022 and recovery since, but 700 children did not suddenly sign up for private school in 2023 and then vanish.
profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/...
profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/...
Maps of Black River:
-modern (Google Maps)
-1763 (Craskell) showing Vassall plantations (Luana, Tophill, Lower Works)
-1804 (Robertson) showing the town on Black River
- my notes on St. Eliz 557 (1791), a map of Lower Works from the Natl Library of Jamaica, owned by John Vassall
-modern (Google Maps)
-1763 (Craskell) showing Vassall plantations (Luana, Tophill, Lower Works)
-1804 (Robertson) showing the town on Black River
- my notes on St. Eliz 557 (1791), a map of Lower Works from the Natl Library of Jamaica, owned by John Vassall
November 18, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Maps of Black River:
-modern (Google Maps)
-1763 (Craskell) showing Vassall plantations (Luana, Tophill, Lower Works)
-1804 (Robertson) showing the town on Black River
- my notes on St. Eliz 557 (1791), a map of Lower Works from the Natl Library of Jamaica, owned by John Vassall
-modern (Google Maps)
-1763 (Craskell) showing Vassall plantations (Luana, Tophill, Lower Works)
-1804 (Robertson) showing the town on Black River
- my notes on St. Eliz 557 (1791), a map of Lower Works from the Natl Library of Jamaica, owned by John Vassall
There is a little correction to the name — it looks like someone carved in a tiny A after the rest of the carving was done. It's damaged, so I'm not quite sure whether it was scratched out again. In any case, the family's preferred spelling might have been "Pearo." (The records at Brown say Pero.)
November 18, 2025 at 2:53 PM
There is a little correction to the name — it looks like someone carved in a tiny A after the rest of the carving was done. It's damaged, so I'm not quite sure whether it was scratched out again. In any case, the family's preferred spelling might have been "Pearo." (The records at Brown say Pero.)
Gravestone of Pero, one of the enslaved builders who helped build University Hall at Brown.
Pero's enslaver was paid for his work on the building in 1770. According to the stone, Pero would have been in his 60s then.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006...
North Burial Ground in Providence
Pero's enslaver was paid for his work on the building in 1770. According to the stone, Pero would have been in his 60s then.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006...
North Burial Ground in Providence
November 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Gravestone of Pero, one of the enslaved builders who helped build University Hall at Brown.
Pero's enslaver was paid for his work on the building in 1770. According to the stone, Pero would have been in his 60s then.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006...
North Burial Ground in Providence
Pero's enslaver was paid for his work on the building in 1770. According to the stone, Pero would have been in his 60s then.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006...
North Burial Ground in Providence
If you need some music today, “Jamie Foyers” by Ewan MacColl:
November 18, 2025 at 12:08 PM
If you need some music today, “Jamie Foyers” by Ewan MacColl:
I read some of her emails, but I had to stop. They are gross. Also, apparently, she heard about "another little Jeff in the caribbean" in 2016? WTF. What did she know about his victims? Who was having these babies?
November 14, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I read some of her emails, but I had to stop. They are gross. Also, apparently, she heard about "another little Jeff in the caribbean" in 2016? WTF. What did she know about his victims? Who was having these babies?
sing this song every time JD and the Supremes walk through the door
November 13, 2025 at 10:48 PM
sing this song every time JD and the Supremes walk through the door
Inspired by the city flag:
November 13, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Inspired by the city flag:
November 13, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Also, LUCE is holding a “Fund Food, Not ICE“ drive this Saturday in Cambridge (5 Callender St and 175 Harvey St). If you can donate non-perishables or grocery store gift cards, please bring them!
(You can also learn more about volunteering with LUCE at the event.)
(You can also learn more about volunteering with LUCE at the event.)
November 13, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Also, LUCE is holding a “Fund Food, Not ICE“ drive this Saturday in Cambridge (5 Callender St and 175 Harvey St). If you can donate non-perishables or grocery store gift cards, please bring them!
(You can also learn more about volunteering with LUCE at the event.)
(You can also learn more about volunteering with LUCE at the event.)
The Union Square community pantry was pretty bare this morning. If you are in the Union/Inman area in Somerville/Cambridge, MA, please consider donating some pantry items for your neighbors! The shelf is right behind the CrossFit near the Union Square station.
November 13, 2025 at 1:20 PM
The Union Square community pantry was pretty bare this morning. If you are in the Union/Inman area in Somerville/Cambridge, MA, please consider donating some pantry items for your neighbors! The shelf is right behind the CrossFit near the Union Square station.
This lovely little gravestone in Harvard Square is very old for Massachusetts. Very few gravestones were made here before 1675, and most of them are like this — mostly text with a few small embellishments.
Sarah Hastings, died 1673, age 34
Sarah Hastings, died 1673, age 34
November 10, 2025 at 9:44 PM
This lovely little gravestone in Harvard Square is very old for Massachusetts. Very few gravestones were made here before 1675, and most of them are like this — mostly text with a few small embellishments.
Sarah Hastings, died 1673, age 34
Sarah Hastings, died 1673, age 34