Andy Chandler

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler By Andy Chandler A dedication ceremony was held this past Saturday morning at Terre Haute’s Woodlawn Cemetery for the grave marker of Civil War veteran 1st Lt. John G. Shryer of Terre Haute. The dedication came 124 years after Shryer’s death and was part of an effort to locate the mark the graves of Companions of the Military Order of…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Could a faulty 17th century map and an arrogant explorer who didn’t bother to ask for directions really lead to Texas being claimed as part of the US during its 1836 fight for independence? Could it have led to the second international war the United States ever fought? Could a failed colony of French settlers have meant the difference between Texas being a Spanish speaking culture versus French…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Mention western expansion, and that normally conjures images of canvased wagons lumbering across the prairie or images of fur trappers in the Rockies.  Few stop to think about one simple question: how were they going to survey and parcel that land? Property boundaries and land claims are still a big deal…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler “Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.  That it is expedient forthwith to…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Combat photographer Dickey Chappelle advised journalists that: If you can’t prove it happened with a picture, it didn’t happen.   Fall is a fun time to be a photographer; it’s as if nature is a canvas backdrop for a cornucopia of colors. It was into that backdrop that I found myself at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Ill.  The rolling hills and fall foliage during Lincoln’s time…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Portland, Indiana. May 2025. Ask most people when the Civil War ended; they’ll tell you it was when General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. History buffs like an effect as great as the cause, complete with brave men. The last of the chivalry ends with two gentlemen meeting in a parlor. However, the Civil War didn’t end with a dramatic crescendo and curtain call of…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Dateline Charles City, Va. The 2020 September morning in the James Peninsula in Virginia was interrupted by a stern voice: “What are you doing here? We’re closed til 9.”   I glanced at my watch; 8:55 a.m. “Seriously? Five minutes?” I gave her a Breakfast Club “get real” look.   “What are you doing here anyway? I should call the sheriff on you.”   That’s a really good question. During…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Andy Chandler is a presidential historian and a museum archivist at Candles Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute and the Ernie Pyle WW II Museum in Dana Ind. He is also a photographer and his work is often seen on these pages. Recently he sat down with Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith. The second of a…

Mongtomery, Ala. “It’s just a photo.”   It’s just a picture. Just an image on a screen. If we’re precise, it was taken with a Fuji XPro 2, using a 35mm lens. The settings were ISO 200, 1/800th of a second at F7.1. Metadata says it was taken on 3/22/2025. However, those are specs and settings. Like looking at sheet music for Handel’s Water Music, seeing the notes and saying ,”looks good,” without ever hearing it performed.   There’s a woman on the left. “Just a woman on a…

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith. Sine Cera. Part I EDITOR’S NOTE: Andy Chandler is a presidential historian and a museum archivist at Candles Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute and the Ernie Pyle WW II Museum in Dana Ind. He is also a photographer and his work is often seen on these pages. Recently he sat…