Mary Beth Donnelly
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historyrhyme.bsky.social
Mary Beth Donnelly
@historyrhyme.bsky.social
History educator; deep thinker; inquisitive soul; jaded optimist; word lover; Constitution defender.

Where music and history meet, that’s where you’ll find me ❤️. With baseball and spicy food, please.

These are the times that try optimists’ souls.
November 22, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Excited to see the hard work of the Arlington Historical Society covered by the BBC. I work right near the two in Westover and was so honored to have been invited to the dedication ceremony in May. Lest we forget!

www.bbc.com/travel/artic...
The Southern US county honouring its dark past
While other places in the US are increasingly censoring how they tell their multicultural histories to travellers, one community is highlighting them.
www.bbc.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:29 PM
This book is all about friendship, connection, and the dignity of all living things. It is sacrilege to borrow the title of this beautiful book to dehumanize others.

apnews.com/article/char...
Granddaughter of 'Charlotte's Web' author upset with use of its title in immigration crackdown
The Trump administration has a name for its immigration sweep in North Carolina’s largest city. They're calling it “Operation Charlotte’s Web.”
apnews.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Dare we hope?!
November 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Ah, so we tear down the East Wing, but put Confederate statues back up… do we think the historical juxtaposition is lost on anyone here?!

www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...
A Confederate statue toppled in Washington, D.C., in 2020 has been reinstalled
A statue of Confederate general Albert Pike, which had been pulled down during the Black Lives Matter movement, has been put back up in Washington, D.C.'s Judiciary Square.
www.npr.org
October 27, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Opinion | When My Family Lived in the White House I Resented It. Now I Mourn It.
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
In an Era of Deep Polarization, Unity Is Not Trump’s Mission
www.nytimes.com
September 14, 2025 at 4:40 PM
To those who say “woke is broke”:

-Broken is the heart that refuses to have compassion for those who suffered in bondage against their will, torn asunder from their homelands and their families.
August 24, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Oh, sweet irony.

White House is is “replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.” And yet, who can think of a moment of more politically-induced divisiveness & ideologically driven history?!

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/a...
White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions
www.nytimes.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Going through my head today on a loop.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=czUx...
Graham Nash - Military Madness
YouTube video by Good999Music
m.youtube.com
August 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
“All I want is the truth. Just gimme some truth.” -John Lennon

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | The Fact Checker rose in an era of false claims. Falsehoods are now winning.
Longtime Fact Checker Glenn Kessler takes stock as he departs The Washington Post.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It’s no joke.
July 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Gutting.
July 15, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I would say it’s hard to be a teacher on this era, but that’s too specific. Rather, it’s just damn hard to be a concerned human in this era.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/u...
Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department
www.nytimes.com
July 15, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Happy 4th. Lest we forget why we celebrate it…
July 4, 2025 at 9:31 PM
If we ever make it through this era, which seems ever more doubtful by the day, I look forward to reading the psychological, political, and ethical studies that emerge about the people who have sold their souls—& those of their children!—to find a cozy spot in this administration.
June 25, 2025 at 9:22 PM
How many laps does it take to swim away one’s world weariness?! Asking for a friend…
June 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
True patriotism isn’t red-tie deep.
June 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Seems history teachers are not not renowned for their ability to make pithy posters, but we do know something about the dangers of tyranny. #NoKingsDay
June 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
June 14, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Worth remembering the moments of valor and sacrifice as we try to survive this space of noise and nonsense.

www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/fdr...
FDR and the D-Day Prayer | The Roosevelts | PBS LearningMedia
In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a prayer and read it over the radio to 100 million Americans as the World War II invasion of Normandy unfolded. This was likely the largest moment of mass prayer i...
www.pbslearningmedia.org
June 6, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Posted in honor of Memorial Day. From President Abraham Lincoln to Fanny McCullough, daughter of Lincoln’s old friend, William McCullough, who was killed in the war in 1862. I’m not sure more beautiful, heartfelt words were ever written.

(Source: abrahamlincolnonline.org)
May 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I’m so glad the leader who is telling our kids to accept fewer dolls this Christmas—or to accept just a handful of pencils (!!!)—is practicing self-abnegation himself by not accepting rich dude toys from foreign governments.

You keep telling those kids, Sir, about the value of doing without.
May 11, 2025 at 5:04 PM
And what about the 11-year olds who barely have five pencils now and no dolls? What about them?!
Trump: "I don't think a beautiful baby girl that's 11 years old needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls ... they don't need to have 250 pencils. They can have five."
May 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM