MARY BRASWELL: Looking Back at how springtime brings new life to the world

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter.

Today is Easter Sunday, a day celebrated by Christians as the day on which Jesus Christ was resurrected following his crucifixion. Easter is a time of newness! Here is a Bible verse that says it all:

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” — Romans 6:4

MORE FROM THE BIBLE

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

— 2 Corinthians 5:17

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

— Psalm 40:3

“I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

— Matthew 26:29

“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

— Luke 22:20

“By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”

— Hebrews 8:13

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

— 2 Peter 3:13

‘NEW’ PLACES

— John Mason named the area he received in a land grant after the English county of Hampshire, where he had lived for several years as a child. Mason invested heavily in the clearing of land and building of houses in New Hampshire, but died, in England, before ever venturing to the new world to see his property.

— New Jersey was named for Jersey, the largest of the British Channel Islands, by its founders, Sir John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.

— Simple, yet true, New Mexico is named for the country of which it was once a part of — Mexico.

— New York was first claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch. He called the area New Netherland. The English took control in 1664 1nd renamed the area New York in honor of the Duke of York.

IN OTHER ‘NEWS’

‘New’ Math

1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price. What is his profit?

1975 (New Math): A logger exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100 and each element is worth $1.

(a) make 100 dots representing the elements of the set M

(b) The set C representing costs of production contains 20 fewer points than set M. Represent the set C as a subset of the set M.

(c) What is the cardinality of the set P of profits?

New Deal

By 1932 at least one-quarter of the American workforce was unemployed. When President Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to try and stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering from the Great Depression. Over the next eight years, the government instituted a series of projects and programs, known collectively as the New Deal, that aimed to restore some measure of dignity and prosperity to many Americans. Some of the programs were:

— The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created to provide jobs for unemployed young, unmarried men by use of natural resources. Jobs included planting trees, building dams, stocking lakes and rivers, fighting forest fires, building parks and more. The public works project’s purpose was also to promote environmental conservation and build good citizens through vigorous, disciplined outdoor labor. Operated by the U.S. Army, the young men lived in camps for six months to a year. These men were among many who were unknowingly being prepared for service during WWII.

— The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) was created to provide a credit system for farmers by making short-term and long-term loans available.

— The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was founded to insure bank deposits.

— The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was founded to insure private lending companies against loss on home mortgage loans.

— The National Youth Administration (NYA) was created to provide job training for unemployed young people and part-time work for needy students.

— The Works Progress Administration (WPA) had the single purpose of putting people to work. Most were men, sole wage earners of the family. A large portion of the work involved the construction of roads, parks, bridges, airport runways, public swimming pools and county fairgrounds. The WPA also hired actors, artists, musicians and writers to to produce stage plays, concerts, paintings and post office murals. President Roosevelt believed that offering jobs and wages was better for morale than simply handing out welfare checks. From 1935 until 1943, 8.5 million Americans worked in some capacity for WPA.

NEW TESTAMENT & A NEW DAY

”On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

— Luke 24:1-8

QUIK QUIZ answer: (d) 3 billion

In less than 10 years, the CCC program of the New Deal (also known as the “tree army”) planted nearly how many trees nationwide?

a) 1.8 million

b) 2.9 million

c) 1.3 billion

d) 3 billion

Answer at the end of Mary Braswell’s Looking Back column.