What was The Peace of Pocahontas?
Ora Smith | October 13, 2023
When the English first established Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, their relationships with the Indigenous Peoples (sometimes called ‘the Powhatans’ after Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’s father) was precarious. Powhatan and the English settlers regarded each other with suspicion. Eventually, the two groups…..
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Did My English Ancestor Marry a Native American in the 1600s?
Ora Smith | January 29, 2023
Have you ever had a coincidence happen where you wondered if it were more than mere chance? Was the event a happy accident or did God have a hand in it? I’ve decided to write about a recent “coincidence” even…..
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Were Your Ancestors Immigrants?
Ora Smith | September 29, 2022
In the 1930s, Marcus Lee Hansen conducted research on the history of immigration to the United States. He was posthumously awarded the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860: A History of the Continuing Settlement of the…..
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Was Howard Hughes Jr.’s eccentricity born of one woman’s checkered youth?
Ora Smith | November 30, 2021
I didn’t expect to consider that possibility when I set out to write Unacknowledged: The Possible Biological Mother of Howard Hughes. But as I researched, I had to wonder. Hughes was a household name for decades, but was his oddball…..
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The Pulse of His Soul novel reviewed by the Historical Novel Society
Ora Smith | May 28, 2021
The Historical Novel Society (HNS) is well known amongst historical fiction writers, but perhaps you’ve never heard of them. They are a great resource if you love historical fiction and want to read reviews for what’s out there before buying……
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What happened on November 11th 400 years ago?
Ora Smith | November 11, 2020
After traveling on the Mayflower for 66 days, the Pilgrims arrived at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620—400 years ago today. A replica of the Mayflower (Mayflower II, a “living history” museum) was gifted to America by England in 1957,…..
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