Vince McCleary, Genealogy and History

05/30/2026

Happy birthday, Uncle Jack. ❤️ You brought so much laughter and joy to my childhood and to the world. I will always remember sneaking around the Oval Office, summers in Hyannis Port, and all the small moments between you and Daddy. I may be celebrating your birthday from here on earth, but as you aptly said, "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” Your ideas continue to guide us every day. Thinking of you with love and gratitude.

05/11/2026

03/24/2026

May 1940. Corner store at 11 p.m. Durham, North Carolina. by Jack Delano

02/13/2026

A historic Manhattan home that’s long been a window into 19th-century New York life has revealed an unexpected secret. It turns out the Merchant’s House Museum, a preserved landmark in the NoHo neighborhood, appears to have once served as a refuge for people escaping slavery.

The discovery came during an inspection of a built-in dresser in a second-floor hallway. When archaeologists examined the area beneath its drawers, they found a small rectangular opening cut into the floorboards. The opening led to a concealed space, roughly 2 feet by 2 feet, complete with a ladder down to the ground floor.

Experts said the secret passage suggests the house may have functioned as a “safe house” on the Underground Railroad, the secret network of abolitionists who helped enslaved people flee to freedom before and during the Civil War.

Read more: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/experts-believe-hidden-tunnel-in-new-york-museum-was-used-as-safe-house-by-slaves-during-civil-war-1234773196/

02/04/2026

The Ear Inn at 326 Spring Street is one of New York City’s oldest bars, continuously serving alcohol since 1817, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While the upstairs apartment has served as a boarding house, smuggler’s den, brothel, and doctor’s office, the ground floor has always served food and drink. The bar even operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition.

The building housing the Ear Inn dates back to 1770, when it was constructed in honor of James Brown, an African soldier who resisted the British by the side of George Washington and is said to be depicted in the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River. Timber found in its attic sparked rumors that this bar was built using leftover lumber from the Great Fire of 1776, which destroyed from 10 to 25 percent of buildings in the City.

09/15/2025

The Spot Lunch, a diner made of a re-purposed streetcar, in Madison, Wisconsin. 1952

09/11/2025

Stand tall, even if you stand alone.