Month of November in History
By Mickey Dunaway | Reprinted with Permission by Limitless Magazine | Cornelius, NC
By Mickey Dunaway
I grew up a South Alabama country boy, and November meant hunting season. The first day of squirrel season came in November, usually on a school day. I would ask Mother if I could skip school to go hunting—always risky as Mother was a teacher at my school. Yet once I was old enough to carry a shotgun into the woods by myself, she let me go. She covered her bases when she wrote me an excuse the following day that said, “Mickey was absent yesterday because he went squirrel hunting.” My Mom was tough!
Hunting in November, in my memory, was always and especially connected to the Thanksgiving celebration of hundreds of years before. This month’s column is about special events that have happened in America in November for which we all should still be thankful.
Things to be Thankful for in THE MONTH of November
| 1, 1914 | The Bra was Patented. | Sorry, couldn’t resist. |
| 3, 1948 | “Dewey Defeats Truman” was a banner headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. | Oops! Truman actually won. Shades of Bush-Gore 52 years later. |
| 4, 1879 | Humorist Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Indian Territory. | He once joked, “The schools ain’t what used to be and never was.” Hmmm…makes one think. |
| 6, 1861 | James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, was born. | Didn’t Duke recruit him as a point guard? |
| 6, 1860 | Republican candidate Abe Lincoln elected President. | We sure could use a unifier like Abe these days. |
| 7, 1944 | Franklin Roosevelt elected to a 4th term. | Unfortunately, he died a few months later. |
| 7, 2021 | At 2:00 A.M., Daylight Savings Time Ends for 2021. | Set your clock forward and celebrate being back on God’s time! |
| 10, 1775 | Marine Corps Birthday. | Enjoy that cake, Leathernecks! |
| 11, 1918 | The Great War Ends. Called the war to end all wars because of the massive loss of life. | Veterans Day is celebrated in the U.S. with parades and assemblies in schools. |
| 13, 1995 | U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. | A spark of human rights was ignited and still burns today. |
| 14, 1900 | The “Dean of American Composers,” Aaron Copeland, was born in Brooklyn. | His compositions are often deemed “the American sound” of orchestral music. |
| 15, 1777 | Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress. | The precursor to the Constitution, they gave the first framework and structure to the country. |
| 18, 1883 | Charles Dowd, a Connecticut school teacher, proposed four time zones for the U.S. | If it were up to me, I would go back to exactly as Mr. Dowd proposed them! I will be glad to change the times back on November 7 to standard time. |
| 18, 1928 | Mickey Mouse was born. | Steamship Willie premiers. And the rest is history! |
| 19, 1853 | Lincoln delivers the 275 words of wisdom in theGettysburg Address. | The fall is a great time to visit the Gettysburg National Military Park. |
| 20, 1789 | New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights. | Always knew I liked the Garden State. Now I know why! |
| 22, 1718 | Edward Teach (Blackbeard the Pirate) was killed. | Or was he … hmmm? |
| 25, 2021 | Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. | Canada’s Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. October 11th, this year. |
| 26, 1789 | Pres. George Washington proclaims Thanksgiving Day Holiday. | First official U.S. Holiday. |
| 28, 1925 | Grand Ole Opry premiers on radio. | The Mother Church of country music is still going strong. |
| 30, 1782 | The peace treaty was signed between Great Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. | This surely would be a good day to make a holiday, wouldn’t it? Wonder why we haven’t? |
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When I was big enough to hunt with my Daddy, he took me rabbit hunting on Thanksgiving morning. The woods were not far from our house, and our dogs were as eager as we were to hit the woods. Even in south Alabama, it was generally frosty on Thanksgiving morning, which made it easier for the beagles to pick up the scent of the cottontails. Most times, we returned empty-handed, but not with empty hearts. Thanksgiving for me will always bring memories of a cold morning in the woods with my Daddy and the beagles and returning to the smell of Mama cooking turkey and dressing.
I bet you have a memory as poignant for you as that one is for me. I hope you will share it with others this Thanksgiving.
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NOTE: Check https://www.ncwildlife.org/hunting/hunting-in-north-carolina for dates of hunting seasons in North Carolina
Southern Exposures 
Mickey, My Grandaddy (who raised me and I called Grandaddy) and my Grandmother (who I called Dear Dear and he called her Monk.) I have never figured that out because her name was Marie Allie. But I digress. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas morning, they had a knock-down, drag-out fight about why he wanted to go hunting (squirrel and rabbits at Thanksgiving and deer and/or ducks at Christmas). And she wanted him NOT to go hunting until after the big meal. I would beg them not to argue, but I always failed. He would take me aside later and tell me that things will be all right, or as he said it “aight”. He would go hunting and return home in time for our big meal, and she’d be happy again. I was grown before I knew that some kids had fun Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings without a big hullabaloo. I hope you and Sandy have great holidays this year.And no hullabaloo.
Fondly,
Kaye
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Kaye,
Your comment reminds me of a conversation I had last week with a former doctoral student of mine and now a missionary with her husband to Jordan. She is back home to have cancer treatment. In a wide-ranging two hours, we talked about many things since we had not met to talk in probably ten years. Most everything came back to spirituality. I told her how I have concluded that labeling God as Lord or King did the Almighty dishonor as most lords and kings I have known about do not resemble the God of love that I believe in. Sarah told me that she had had difficulty referring to God as Father because she was abused as a child by her father. Never thought of it that way—that we all may have to overcome some limiting human description of the Jehovah to get to God’s true nature.
I knew that you were raised by your grandparents, but I didn’t know this story. I know that your love with Dewey and from Farah Beth and her boys have shown you many times what a thankful Thanksgiving is really about! I also know this one will be harder than most as these special days make us miss our loved ones more than most other days. I also know that the Almighty provides the love and peace to see us through. I add mine and Sandy’s and Adam’s love to that, too.
You are one special friend, Kaye Brown. Thanks for being a faithful reader!
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