Classroom History
On Friday, the students asked me for weird facts that I'd learned about Branford that they might not know. To my surprise, they'd already gotten most of the fun stuff I've been the most excited to learn! But despite how much this group already knew, they were a great audience, and they had a lot of enthusiasm, not just for history, but also for comics and fiction and the other fun stuff that I work on. They also asked me some questions that I'm hoping to cover in upcoming columns!
As a transplanted Midwesterner, I'm still adjusting to the idea that New England has about 150+ years on the type of history I'm used to thinking about -- more in my area, if you count the Dutch settlements. In my history classes growing up, our local history conversations started in 1803. Witch hunts and whipping posts had long gone out of style. And, frankly, the attitude in the nation was a different one. Manifest Destiny wasn't far off as a national policy, and that fear of devils lurking in the woods that Hawthorne's writings made so popular was replaced by that pioneer mentality of being willing to fight off whatever threatened the right to homestead. Or, at least, so I recall it from my own education.
And, of course, those are just the written records of the regions. There's a lot of local history that precedes settlement by Europeans and their descendants. Doing research for an upcoming column on the Quinnipiac, I started reading a book written about the Indians of Connecticut in the 1800s, and the tone of condescension is just incredible. That type of history is extremely hard to read (and I'm glad I was able to get in touch with the folks at the Algonquin Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council, who gave me both traditional and documented answers that didn't leave such a bad taste in my mouth).
Now, I've visited the Parthenon, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and enough other ancient sites to know that the 1600s weren't actually that long ago. And yet, the difference in the way we experienced life between then and now is a profound one -- and it's looking at the differences in world view that I enjoy most about looking at local history. Even when those world views can be hard to swallow.
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In other news, I know it's been awhile since I had a guest blog or an excerpt posted at the site, and I'm working on improving the occurrences. I'm happy to say that we've got one upcoming that won't even happen on a Friday! Friend of the blog Melanie Nilles (amsaph) is celebrating the release of Crystal Tomb, the third book in her Dark Angel Chronicles, and Myth, the Universe, and Everything is an official blog tour host. (Starfire Angels, the first book in the series, is currently available as a free ebook at amazon.) Keep an eye out for her to appear here on May 30th!
As a transplanted Midwesterner, I'm still adjusting to the idea that New England has about 150+ years on the type of history I'm used to thinking about -- more in my area, if you count the Dutch settlements. In my history classes growing up, our local history conversations started in 1803. Witch hunts and whipping posts had long gone out of style. And, frankly, the attitude in the nation was a different one. Manifest Destiny wasn't far off as a national policy, and that fear of devils lurking in the woods that Hawthorne's writings made so popular was replaced by that pioneer mentality of being willing to fight off whatever threatened the right to homestead. Or, at least, so I recall it from my own education.
And, of course, those are just the written records of the regions. There's a lot of local history that precedes settlement by Europeans and their descendants. Doing research for an upcoming column on the Quinnipiac, I started reading a book written about the Indians of Connecticut in the 1800s, and the tone of condescension is just incredible. That type of history is extremely hard to read (and I'm glad I was able to get in touch with the folks at the Algonquin Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council, who gave me both traditional and documented answers that didn't leave such a bad taste in my mouth).
Now, I've visited the Parthenon, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and enough other ancient sites to know that the 1600s weren't actually that long ago. And yet, the difference in the way we experienced life between then and now is a profound one -- and it's looking at the differences in world view that I enjoy most about looking at local history. Even when those world views can be hard to swallow.
--
In other news, I know it's been awhile since I had a guest blog or an excerpt posted at the site, and I'm working on improving the occurrences. I'm happy to say that we've got one upcoming that won't even happen on a Friday! Friend of the blog Melanie Nilles (amsaph) is celebrating the release of Crystal Tomb, the third book in her Dark Angel Chronicles, and Myth, the Universe, and Everything is an official blog tour host. (Starfire Angels, the first book in the series, is currently available as a free ebook at amazon.) Keep an eye out for her to appear here on May 30th!