Category: american essence magazine

Four Freedom Fighters From Southampton

Something must have been very special about Southampton County, Virginia, as during the first quarter of the 19th century, four men of African descent, born just a few years and a few miles apart, took different paths to find freedom from the oppressive conditions of slavery. Nat Turner, Anthony Gardiner, Dred Scott, and John “Fed”…


Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park offers unique scenery. Cliffs dissolve into rocky shores and fade into the ocean, pristine lakes beg for canoes to glide across their surfaces, and forests glow when fall colors descend on the once emerald leaves. The park’s 49,000 acres host 3.5 million visitors a year. Maine’s only national park, Acadia offers unique…


Presidential Portraits: An American Tradition of Recording Our Nation’s Leaders by Brushstroke

The tradition of presidential portraits is as old as the office of the American presidency itself. Beginning with Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 portrait of George Washington, every president has been the subject of an official portrait. An oil painting on canvas is most frequently commissioned, but the advent of photography has opened up new portrait possibilities…


The Mind of Monticello: A Look at the History of Thomas Jefferson’s Personal Estate

Opened to the public in 1924, Thomas Jefferson’s beloved home of Monticello in Albemarle County, Virginia, is one of the most recognized buildings of early America. Its unique facade is reproduced on our nickel. Monticello (Italian for “Little Mountain”) is still a favorite destination for adults and youth, as all are treated to a look…


Scaling the Olympic Peaks

Nate Brown’s deep appreciation for the Pacific Northwest stems from a four-day road trip across the Olympic Peninsula in 2013, during which he surveyed snow-capped mountains and lush forests nestled between the coastlines. An Army mission had brought Brown there, and he was captivated by the landscape that stood before him. After retiring from the…


O. Henry House: The ‘Haute-est’ in Couture Furniture

An upholstered piece of furniture is usually a large-ticket item that we hope will retain its beauty and functionality for many years. Enter O. Henry House, a North Carolina furniture manufacturer that creates upholstered pieces to last, not just years, but a lifetime. In fact, the bench-made quality of materials, combined with Old World manufacturing…


Legendary Journey: The Kevin Sorbo Story

Kevin Sorbo, most recognized for his starring role in the critically acclaimed television series, “Hercules: The Legendary Journey,” is strong in more ways than one. While performing in the show that made him a household name, Sorbo trained in the gym every day for six hours, no matter how far into the night filming took…


Raising a Forest by Hand

“The hills bear all manner of fantastic shapes,” Charles Bessey observed, noting that they sometimes featured open pockets of bare sand in blowouts and were “provokingly steep and high.” Bessey was describing the Sandhills, the area of post-glacial dunes wrought by mighty winds in north-central and northwestern Nebraska. Aided by his botany students from the…


How Ippolita Rostagno Is Bringing Italian Craftsmanship to America

Thirty years ago, Italians began discouraging their children from entering the design and craft industry. Ippolita Rostagno, whose dual citizenship offered her the good fortune of growing up in Florence and later studying in the United States, has been traveling back and forth between the two countries for many years. As time advanced, she noticed…


For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Last Traditional Bell Foundry

A bell that tolls rings of timeless tradition. For centuries, peals demonstrated an immortal effort to give glory to God. Funerals, weddings, and church services employ bells, signalling to humanity an aural expression to contemplate all there is, seen and unseen. However, in Ruther Glen, Virginia, tangible sounds of bells ringing late into the night…