Recognizing What Women Done Did WOMEN’S HISTORY MATTERS In 1904 the Rev. Joseph H. Bausman opens his centennial account of our county by saying, “Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has a wealth of historic interest beyond what many even of its own most intelligent citizens appreciate.” More than a century later Bausman’s estimation of our collective […]
Stories of . . . History STORIES TEACH US Rudyard Kipling said, if history were told in the form of stories it would never be forgotten. We agree. Stories animate facts and provide chronological form: every story has a beginning, middle and end. Moreover, stories are logical and explanatory, they make sense. Even the […]
Local Historians in Service My father has been a volunteer firefighter for 53 years. Since the 1960s living next door to the fire department I literally grew up in the shadow of gleaming red fire trucks, massive hoses, rubberized coats and boots, and the iconic brass eagle peaked helmets worn by the firefighters. In […]
History in the Making Remember that there is only one important time and it is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion ~Leo Tolstoy, The Emperor’s Three Questions DO HISTORY NOW In the agonizing days just after the October 27, 2018 murderous attack at the Tree of […]
Public History History Leadership Matters Leadership is not about a title or job designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire others. ~Robin S. Sharma, author TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Most people who have guided successful organizations […]
Everyone Has a Story Veterans Oral History TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE Oral historians often say, time waits for no one. When the voices of those who have lived through history go silent, they are lost forever. That is why we must locate, capture, preserve, and share these important stories as much as we can […]
Changing Culture, Changing History “Modernity is kind of a tradition and tradition itself is not a rulebook. It’s a dialogue and a dialectical process— just as tradition affects us, we too affect tradition and culture, and we change it.”― Sharanya Haridas, author and poet This post is inspired by Should We Celebrate Columbus Day?, […]
What’s more important: The museum experience or the history? In “Want to do something good for yourself and the people you love? Go to a museum,” business marketing expert Colleen Dilenschneider gives us ten good reasons we should visit art, history, and specialty museums, science centers, zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, arboretums, nature centers, […]
You Call That Real Food? Thoughts on food heritage for public historians “Seriously, do you call this real Italian food?” exclaimed a disappointed patron at one of those touristy red-white-green strip mall eateries. “Sure I do,” replied the twenty-something manager seemingly unfazed by the criticism. “Our food is as good as Olive Garden. What’s […]
Artifacts help tell history’s story, not the other way around As recent as May 2019, researchers made a profound discovery of an historical artifact, and it may turn out to be one of our nation’s most significant and powerful reminders of our worst history–slavery. National Geographic archeologist Fredrik Hiebert says, “The discovery of the […]