Quotes by William J. Smith

“[May 1, 1842. Monday.] A.M. at the Temple. At 10 m[arried] J[oseph] to L[ucy] W[alker]. P.M. at President Josephs . . . I have seen 6 brass plates which were found in Adams county . . . President Joseph has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth.””

“Descendants of people enslaved at the Whitney still live in the areas surrounding the former plantation. A few now work at the Whitney”

“In 1973, his refusal of an Oscar was perceived as the ultimate insult to the moviegoing public by an eccentric egotist. Yet, forty-five years later, during the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, Jada Pinkett Smith found affirmation for her own decision to boycott the Oscars by watching a clip of Sacheen Littlefeather refusing Brando’s award. Today, calling out Hollywood’s racism is no longer an extremist act. In the 1960s, Brando’s protests against racial segregation and discrimination”

“Petrolia: The Landscape of America’s First Oil Boom by Brian Black, The Great Oildorado by Hildegarde Dolson, Pithole: The Vanished City by William Culp Darrah, Sketches in Crude Oil by John J. McLaurin, and The History of Pithole by Crocus. Two books by Sebastian Junger supplied me with a lens through which to view my experience with the men I worked with. I read War while””

“for a short time, we agreed to have a season of prayer before we left. Before this was decided upon, Bro. Smith remarked that probably the Lord would send me my Pentecost. I was like a man grasping at straws and immediately a ray of hope entered my soul and I said within myself, "Yes, Lord, send Thy Spirit now." Little by little I felt the power fall.””