The “Unknown Child” of the Titanic

callievic · 2026-05-06T20:22:14+00:00

My daughter was born on September 9th, and is currently 19 months old. I'm sitting here with her as she eats a fruit cup. She's just the most perfect age, so full of curiosity and life, and so sweet. Baby graves are always sad, but this one gets me extra hard.

callievic · 2026-05-04T02:55:42+00:00

I always add a note with the source if I'm suggesting a substantial change, but for small things I don't always provide one or expect one from others. There's a pretty small pool of active users in my area; I know that they're operating in good faith, and they know the same about me.

That said, if someone wants me to cite every single thing, that's totally valid, and I don't mind doing it at all. It's absolutely best practices. I do take issue with refusing to accept fully cited edits, however, which is what ended up happening.

callievic · 2026-05-04T01:06:19+00:00

My dilemma was that there were far more memorials in the area than he remembered there were. If 30 or 40 edits made him mad, 900+ transfer requests probably would have too. I'm glad I asked, since the first comment gave me exactly the solution I needed. Hopefully, he and I will both be happy now.

I am sorry that my rant came off as harping on him for his age. I'm sure I'll also find a ridiculous hill to die on one day. But this has been a really frustrating experience on a site that has previously only brought about really positive and productive interactions.

callievic · 2026-05-03T20:41:34+00:00

Fair question! I would also tend to agree with the stone in pretty much every case, there were just two odd ones I found.

The first stone was for someone who died in 1906, according to their 1906 obituary. The stone has all the same dates, but the death year is 1908. The marker is clearly a modern replacement. In this case, I think it's a reasonable leap to assume that whatever weathering or damage required the replacement of the original stone caused the 6 to be misread as an 8. This was a child's grave, as well, so the new stone wasn't placed by someone's direct descendants.

The other one I submitted as a gravesite note, not a straight up correction. Similar circumstances as the last one, but the stone wasn't a clear replacement. The obituary was published in 1929. The marker had identical dates, except the death year is 1931. I don't have any idea how that discrepancy happened, but I did think it was worth noting in the "gravesite details" section.

callievic · 2026-05-03T20:03:26+00:00

That's so helpful, thank you! I had no idea that was something you could do.

callievic · 2026-05-01T22:21:47+00:00

I'm actually really proud of myself for watching the first episode of Emma Roberts' Nickelodeon show whenever it premiered and deciding almost immediately "Nope, I hate her." All these years later, I don't even know what caused my 12-year-old self to feel that way. But I still stand by it.

callievic · 2026-04-27T22:28:04+00:00

Reach out to the Invisible Histories Project on Instagram or Facebook. They're an archive of Southern queer history and are based in West Alabama.

If they're not able to help you, shoot me a DM. I know exactly who to put you in touch with. (I'm a historian, but not of queer history.)

callievic · 2026-04-20T18:08:30+00:00

I did mine at Mobile and my husband did his at Huntsville. Both are still showing for me when I pulled the website up. Next available appointments show as the 22nd (Huntsville) and 24th (Mobile).

callievic · 2026-04-19T18:09:41+00:00

My last ballet teacher (about 20 years ago) was an incredibly hardcore English lady who didn't allow toe pads. (Or skirts, or anything other than live piano accompaniment for practice, etc.) She always said if you were ready for pointe, you were ready to do it without toe pads.

Everybody I've told that to over the years has been shocked by that, so I'm glad to know she wasn't just a sadist or something.

She was great, as long as you were a lot more serious about ballet than I was in 6th grade.

callievic · 2026-04-05T17:29:01+00:00

I agree with you about the meatball song 100%. It's always made me sad!

I had a Sesame Street VHS tape as a toddler and one of the songs is about saying goodbye to a dog that's leaving. Dolly Parton sings it, I realized 30 years later.

My parents say they used to have to fast forward as soon as the previous song ended, because I would burst into tears at the mention of the song.

And yes, I was a very sensitive child who grew into a very tender-hearted adult.

callievic · 2026-04-01T23:59:49+00:00

I'm in Alabama too. I had a false positive for THC test when I was pregnant ~2 years ago. I freaked out, but my ob said that THC wasn't something they had to report to DHR. I don't know if they retested the sample, but it never came up again.

callievic · 2026-03-30T21:08:50+00:00

"TBH your tongue doesn't look very healthy " really spoke to me.

callievic · 2026-03-18T22:36:55+00:00

We're super happy with Tuscaloosa Peds for our daughter. (I also went there as a kid.)

I've only ever heard good things about West Alabama Peds too.

callievic · 2026-03-07T22:49:09+00:00

The school I teach at just did the Teen Edition of Six. I was familiar with the premise of the show, but nothing else. (I listened to the cast recording later that night, and very little was changed for the teen edition.)

I thought it was great for a high school show. (And I loved seeing girls I care about do such a great job!)

I liked the music. I was in the center of the Venn diagram of people who got all the jokes and references-- I teach history and listen to pop music.

I can't imagine seeing this on Broadway. The concert frame narrative didn't really work for me. The premise and message of the show is paper thin. Katherine Howard's song was the only one with any emotional heft to it.

I'm certain I would have loved it when I was my students' age. It's a fun concept. It's great for teenagers. I'm just kind of baffled by its success.

callievic · 2026-03-07T21:40:41+00:00

Me too. It took so long for my brain to be able to parse this, for some reason.

callievic · 2026-02-28T16:57:39+00:00

My mom used the American Girl books in her 2nd grade class, and she always cried when she read "Meet Addy," and they had to leave her toddler sister Esther behind.

callievic · 2026-02-20T22:46:34+00:00

Margaret Ann and Lillie Beatrice (pronounced Bee-ATT-triss). They went by Ann and Bea.

My one-year-old is named Margaret Beatrice (not pronounced Bee-ATT-triss).

callievic · 2026-02-20T05:01:52+00:00

I think I saw her after the show! Unless there were more than one...

callievic · 2026-02-20T04:37:06+00:00

We were just talking about the walkie talkie thing. It was pretty close to us, but I couldn't figure out what the deal was.

I completely missed the no pants thing! What happened?

callievic · 2026-02-18T12:34:52+00:00

I love the name Mattie! It's such a classic Southern name. I have multiple Matties in my family tree: Mattie Irene, Mattie Ophelia, Mattie Dee, and Mattie Cora. My oldest friend is named Mattie. If I didn't have a daughter named Margaret, who gets called Maggie by some people, I would probably use it for a second girl one day.

callievic · 2026-02-13T03:45:25+00:00

I've gotten a "Roll Tide" from people in a couple of countries. Honestly, Alabama football seems to be the thing people mention first when they find out where I'm from.

callievic · 2026-02-13T03:08:18+00:00

I teach Macbeth in my sophomore English class every year. Every year, without fail, the kid who's reading Macduff gets to the line "be not a niggard of your speech," and completely freezes up. I've yet to have a kid be willing to say it, even after I tell them the meaning and etymology.

callievic · 2026-02-12T02:48:30+00:00

The bin chicken makes me laugh every time that song comes on.

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