#uncitedfact

One of the most irksome issues in the world of history is the dreaded “uncited fact!” (dun dun dun dun!) This issue is usually made manifest in freshman history papers that use a quote or discuss an event that one knows one has read but can’t remember where, so one just adds it to your paper and hopes for the best. 

This problem is the most widely revealed on the internet where the average person can post anything they want (like myself and this blog). The most frustrating example was when I was talking to a gentleman about Woodrow Wilson and he insisted that Woodrow Wilson was part of the KKK.  Now don’t get me wrong Woodrow Wilson was not a bright shining star when it came to civil rights, in fact by most standards (if not all) he would be considered a racist. That being said there is no evidence that I have found that says Wilson was a member of the KKK and I told this gentleman so. The gentleman then insisted that he had proof and pulled up a web site riddled with ads with the title “15 presidents you didn’t know were in the KKK.”  I enjoy clickbait articles as much as the next guy (that’s a lie I really hate clickbait).  This is not evidence, especially when consider that it is completely uncited! It did not tell you where they got there evidence.  The gentleman then said that history was just stories told from one person to the next and apparently moved on with his life.  History has to be corroborated with evidence so we as a people can know what truly happened in the past.

I was reminded of this issue of uncited-ness when I posted a tweet regarding Christmas trees.  I have been reading up on the history of some Christmas traditions and I could not remember exactly where I had read that only 1 in 5 Americans owned Christmas trees in the late nineteenth century.  So, I ended the tweet with #uncitedfacts.  I propose that every time you find yourself trolling the internet and you find that I put #uncitedfacts, you should double check the fact in question.  Provide a source to either support or dismiss the fact that I post.  As a professor of mine once said, “History is a conversation,” history should be discussed, debated but most importantly history should be true.

By the way, It was 1900 that 1 in 5 Americans had a Christmas tree (I still don't have a citation for that). Checkout the Historian Twitter account @historianforeva or the Historian Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Historianforeva

Happy Halloween!

Like many, my wife and I have a tradition of carving pumpkins in the month of October.  This year we decided to have a presidential theme to our endeavors, so I decided to carve James Monroe and my wife carved Thomas Jefferson.  I think they turned out pretty good!

          The James Monroe silhouette is actually the from James Monroe Highland’s Logo (http://highland.org/plan-your-visit/tours-and-tickets/).  The Thomas Jefferson (my wife’s pumpkin and the better of the two but tell my wife I said that) was a pattern from Colonial Williamsburg (http://www.history.org/kids/games/pumpkinpatterns.cfm). 

          Have a Happy Historical Halloween! If you carve a pumpkin like a president or visit a historical ghost tour share your pics and stories on Facebook, twitter or in the comments below.

Some Odds and Ends

This post is talk about some odds and ends, I want to thank everyone who has read my blog and continues to read it, to explain a comment I got and to shamelessly plug some other projects that I am working on.  First off "The Weaving Chronicle" has just reached over 2000 views! This may not seem like much, but it is a pretty big milestone for me as a young historian and writer.  So thank you to all of you read and support my blog. An equally big milestone, is that I had my first comment that challenged a statement I made in a post! I have had comments posted by friends who offered encouragement (very grateful for those too)!  When I saw that I had a comment, I had to check it right away!  And when I read it, my heart sank a little bit but then I reminded myself that criticism was better than silence and the author was not rude or abusive.  So I thanked the commenter and did a mental fist pump at actually having interest in my blog posts.  Here is the comment in full.

I have to say that, bearing in mind the examples that you gave, implying that "walls actually have a poor success rate throughout history" is not entirely substantiated. Walls are physical barriers intended to keep people (and other critters) out or in. The Great Wall of China did eventually fail, but it also held back scores of other previous invaders. The Maginot Line failed as a wall because it was not complete; the lack of end points and gaps made it more of nuisance than an actual physical barrier. The other examples (the Berlin Wall and the Korean Border) worked splendidly for their intended primary and secondary purposes: secondary to keep people out, primary to keep people IN. If their intent was solely political in nature, I would agree that they failed in compelling sympathy toward their respective causes, but as physical barriers they were quite effective.

The author makes some good points.  

Criticisms and rebuttals are important to the study of history, as a professor once said “History is a conversation.” History is not hear say, repeating whatever you have been told. It is a back and forth, trying to understand the past better.  Here are my reasons for maintaining my opinion:

The Great Wall of China did stand for many years before the Mongols conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty but the point is the wall did fail.

The Maginot Line did not fail because it was unfinished, it failed because it was an outdated stratagem against a superior form of warfare.

The Berlin Wall did its job very well however there are stories of people still getting passed that obstacle (see the link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/berlin-wall-escape-stories_n_6090602.html). That being said the reason it was so successful is the same reason why the 38th parallel is so successful because of men, mines (there were no mines in Berlin that I know of) and machine-guns. I for one would not want to see such a structure raised in Texas.  My point is that walls have failed over the years and will continue to fail. Those that have done their job well, is not because the wall was too high or thick but because of the threat of force against those who try to cross it. From ancient China around the globe and to modern Korea.  A wall will not protect the United States nor make it great.

I am very grateful to "unknown" for the comment and please continue to comment, let me know where I missed it, nailed it or if you have an idea for me to write about let me know.

Here is the shameless plug.  If you like what you see here, like me on face book https://www.facebook.com/Historianforeva/?view_public_for=299851710031447 and follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/Historianforeva

I and some friends of mine are working on a project called Popstorian! It talks about the history of film, music, comic books and all things pop-culture-ish. You can like the Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/PopStorian/?view_public_for=1423293254642909 and follow our twitter here, https://twitter.com/PopStorian!

A Brief History of the Wall

I don’t normally use this blog for political messages but this is the most biased piece I have ever written on this blog.  For the sake of full disclosure I am a Conservative Christian Republican.  And to be honest I don’t like Trump as a presidential candidate for a number of reasons.  The most hilarious of his tirades is probably how he is going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. What is even more hilarious (in a sad sort of way) is that people believe this could keep America safe or "Make America Great Again!"   Walls actually have a poor success rate throughout history. That being said how about a brief history of border walls!

The Walls of Jericho:

[About 1400 BC] the children of Israel have just finished wandering the wilderness for forty years and begin their invasion of the holy land. When they encounter Jericho.

“2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it’s fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” Joshua 6:2-5

Ok! I know someone is crying foul here, “that’s not history! That’s Bible stuff!” You’re right!  I did say I am a Christian. The debate of the historical validity of the Bible can wait. (God helped them anyway.)

The Great Wall of China:

From the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD approximately 2000 years, a little project called the Great Wall of China was being built and rebuilt! Now that name may seem a little pretentious but here are a few facts curtesy of Wikipedia, the wall spans over 5,500 miles, about 40 feet thick and 30-40 ft. high. It was designed to keep out invaders, barbarians, bandits, you name it.  In about 1206 AD (when the wall was a mere 3,100 miles long) Genghis Khan invaded and sacked most of China.  His son Kublai came back finished the job by establishing the Yuan Dynasty. [http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-of-china]

Maginot Line:

Fast forward to the twentieth century after the First World War the French built a network of forts and tunnels along the Rhine River all the way to the Italian border. This of course was stop any future incursions by the Germans.  In May 1940, the German army bypassed the Maginot Line in the famous blitzkrieg taking France in about a month.  To the line’s credit it would not be taken until June 1940 around the same time as when Paris fell. [http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/maginot-line]

The Berlin Wall:

In 1961, Germany was split into two countries. East Germany, which was communist and allied with the Soviet Union. Then there was West Germany who was allied to the western nations.  To stem the flow of emigration from East Germany to the West, the East German government began building a wall that literally cut Berlin in half. The wall was called, “Antifascistischer Schutzwall” meaning anti-fascist wall. Also known as the Berlin Wall.  The wall stood for 28 years and to this day it is seen as a symbol of repression. [http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall]

“Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan (http://millercenter.org/president/reagan/speeches/speech-3415)

The Korean Border:

There is yet one more wall that makes this list.  A wall that is a left over an unresolved conflict, a symbol of a never ending war.  Along the thirty-eighth parallel that separates North and South Korea, the Korean Demilitarization Zone (DMZ). A border that is 2.5 miles long and is constantly guarded. As National Geographic stated “anyone trying to cross the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) would likely be shot.” (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/north-korea/dmz-text/1)

Now most people probably have heard of at least one and probably all of these examples, what the study of history does is take that knowledge of a few facts and teaches us of building an argument.  A wall isn’t going to keep out terrorists or anyone who really wants to get into the United States.  Whenever I hear someone quote Mr. Trump about how he is going to build a wall on the Mexican border it reminds me just how much we need to teach history.  A wall won’t keep out terrorists, drugs, or even illegal immigrants.  Walls are inept at keeping out invaders, symbols of tyranny and represent unending war.

Day Three: Striking a Balance

On our third and final day in Washington DC my wife and I managed to find two extremes to a problem in the museum world.  We visited the National Archives! Yes, I finally was able to see the location of the presidential papers of Woodrow Wilson (although I did not actually see any of his papers).  Leah and I were awed to see the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and of course the Constitution. However, there was absolutely NO photography allowed.  Photography can be both the best friend to the museum and their greatest foe.  Particularly flash photography.

The National Archives had a no photography policy and in the rooms where the Constitution was held they had very soft lighting (just light enough so you wouldn’t trip).  This was explained by security guards and a number of signs that the bright lights of a camera’s flash or a few thousand flashes would damage the documents in question. If one doubted this all they would have to do is simply look at the Constitution and see the faded words that years of being proudly displayed in the sun.  As I started writing this post I wanted to submit some sources so people could see that the no photography rule was not a gimmick to get visitors to buy more post cards (actually I don’t remember seeing any post cards in the gift shop).  It was actually a little harder that I would have thought because google was full of blog posts that said such rules were just scams and it didn’t matter if you used flash or not (most of these posts were referring to art work and not historical documents).  In order to protect historical artifacts curators must control as many environmental factors as they can, that is why flash photography is often prohibited, why artifact cases have environmental controls to control the temperature are installed.  Simple things like heat, light and even air can damage a large array of items including paper, ink, paints, dyes, metals, fabrics and leather products (oxygen is super corrosive, if I were more science-y I would tell you how that works but I’m not).  These are some of the articles I looked up:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1783/why-isnt-flash-photography-permitted-in-museums

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/aging.pdf

http://www.artnews.com/2013/05/13/photography-in-art-museums/

http://www.ccaha.org/uploads/media_items/light-exposure-of-artifacts-on-exhibition.original.pdf

The Archives offered one extreme of the no photography rule while my and Leah’s next stop offered the exact opposite extreme. We visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Washington DC, where you are free take as many pictures as you like. The person who sold us our tickets actually told to "take lots of pictures."  I confess this was the best part for me because I got to be a little silly and then share all my pictures on social media.  Now, I know what you’re thinking "Madame Tussaud's is not a historical museum!"  Actually, it has a very long history of entertaining tourist with 23 locations all over the world and the 24th to open in New Delhi next year. But I'm more concerned about the Wax museum as an education tool for American History.  The Washington DC location contains wax figures of all 44 presidents as well as civil rights activists Martin Luther King, Malcom X and Rosa Parks. It also allowed for me and Leah to take pictures with a couple of our favorite musicians.

 It was about the time I was giving Leah a piece of presidential trivia about William Howard Taft that I realized that walking through a room with life sized models of these historical figures was just as educational as any of the museums we had visited previously.  I have been asked several times, “if I could have lunch with any historical figure who would that be?” Leah and I had the next best thing, “if you could take a selfie with a historical figure who would that be?”  History can be a lot of fun.

I'm a historian and a museum employee, so of course museums are fantastic to me but let’s face it there are those who are less nerdy than I, or at least nerdy in different ways.  Which means fun has to be in the equation, especially if a museum wants to stay open.  Part of the fun of any road trip is the pictures, for a museum this can become a conundrum, museums must protect artifacts like papers, photos, fabrics and leathers, all materials that can be damaged by flash photography over time.  But, in the world of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pics are a must for any trip. Museums today have to display a balance to stay relevant (open and operating), they must protect their artifacts and make it fun for visitors.

Day Two: The Museum of the Future

Washington day two.

On the second day of our Washington excursion we visited an old friend, saw the Holocaust Museum, the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History and very briefly took a look at the National Carousel (it was broken so we could not take a ride).  But the highlight of day two, for me, was The Holocaust Museum! I loved the holocaust museum. It was the most interesting presentation of any museum I have gone into.  They were beta testing an interactive exhibit, the building’s design was to give the impression of a 1930’s European city, and throughout the museum they encouraged guests to respond to what they were seeing.

To be honest, I was not that excited to see the Holocaust Museum, it was my wife who really wanted to visit the Holocaust museum.  I feel a sadness for the millions of lives lost during the Nazis’ reign.  I had a hard time getting through Elie Weisel’s Night let alone an entire museum.  However, as I walked through the exhibits I was struck by the presentation, it was not merely facts and numbers that they tried to convey, it was the emotion of it all.  Firsthand accounts and filmed interviews were everywhere.  They not only had exhibits about the Jewish holocaust but also the Cambodian genocide, and an exhibit on the war in Syria and refugees from that conflict.  I began to think it is rather like traveling through hell.  Some have described heaven as a place where one is united with passed loved ones and reminded of happy times. What if hell were the opposite and one must go through the most heinous acts humans have done (That definition of hell is not supported by any Biblical text by the way)? But it did strike me that is what the exhibits are supposed to do, they are meant to hit you on an emotional level. Which brings up an interesting question, are they giving an honest interpretation of history? Is this form of emotional history a legitimate way to present what happened?  Food for thought (A thought that I am still mulling over)!

 

By far my favorite exhibit was the interactive exhibit!  A beta testing program that features an image of a holocaust survivor by the name of Pinchas Gutter.  Mr. Gutter was interviewed 6 hours a day for a week and was asked 1200 questions.  His answers were downloaded into a computer so that patrons could ask him any question and he could answer as if he were sitting right there in front of you, much like how Siri on your IPhone would answer you back. According to the docent this exhibit is merely the beta prototype and in the future the Shoah foundation will develop a dozen digital survivors so that these survivors could tell their stories for generations to come.

Mr. Gutter requested that his interview not be edited so when you ask questions often there are long pauses where he was remembering the past (it actually adds to the realism of the interview). Here is a link to the Shoah Foundation’s site. https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2014/07/5882-audiences-interact-pinchas-gutter-early-new-dimensions-testimony-pilot

I also loved how the Holocaust Museum encouraged guests to interact and react to the museum. In one corner, the museum had three terminals available so that guests could post their thoughts about the museum.  Yet another way the museum attempts to not only see the museum but to participate in the museum (an example that other museums would be wise to follow).  Even the museum’s official guidebook says "This museum is not an answer. It is a question." It requests guests to reflect and react to the concept of genocide. What if all history museums asked their patrons to not simply accumulate knowledge but use that knowledge to make the world better.

The Holocaust Museum brought up many different emotions for me, the powerful message of stopping future genocides made feel sad yet hopeful. The museum’s use of the high tech digital survivor and the way they used oral history and artworks in many of its exhibits made me believe that this was a museum to be emulated.  The Holocaust Museum is the museum of the future.

How did you feel when visiting the Holocaust Museum? What is your favorite museum ever? What do you think of the concept of emotional history?  Write your experiences and thoughts in the comments below!

Day One: Woodrow Wilson Tour Goes Awry!

Last weekend my wife and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary by taking a trip to the Mecca of school field trips, Washington D.C. First, I would like to say Leah and I had a blast! Second, it started off rocky.  Leah and I woke up at about 5am (because we are nerds and we were super excited) so we could make it to the Metro by 7 and to the first stop by 9. I feel like I should also tell you that I am a pretty big fan of Woodrow Wilson, shout out to Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library (:http://www.woodrowwilson.org/) And I am kind of cheap so instead of buying breakfast at the hotel we decided to get something on the way (like McDonald’s). There was no fast food joints between the Metro station and our first stop (what kind of city doesn’t have McDonald’s on every corner)!  That first stop was the Library of Congress! The location of Woodrow Wilson’s presidential papers (or so I thought).  Did I mention it was raining this whole time as well?  Hungary and soaking wet we toured the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is beautiful! If you have a chance to go…do it! Here are a few pictures of what we saw.

By the way Woodrow Wilson’s presidential papers are actually in the National Archives not in the Library of Congress (The Library has the books and some amazing artifacts but it is the Archives that maintain the historical documents). We did eventually eat by the way. Refreshed, we proceeded to our second stop.

    

The Woodrow Wilson House on S Street (http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/). This is a beautiful house near embassy row.  It is also the house that Woodrow Wilson spent his last days in.  Here are a few fun facts about Woodrow Wilson and his family! Did you know that Woodrow Wilson loved the movies? He famously (or notoriously) screened the first movie seen at the White House which was D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.  After he left office, Woodrow Wilson was presented with a Vitascope (old movie projector) by movie star Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Woodrow Wilson would sit and watch movies in his study.  Edith Wilson (Woodrow’s second wife) was very proud of her heritage. She hung portraits of her parents (like the rest of us) in the hall but she also claimed to be a direct decedent of Pocahontas.

 

It was pouring down rain again, and we decided to go to our next stop, the National Cathedral! Another fun fact: Woodrow Wilson is the only president to be buried in Washington D.C.  He was offered a place at Arlington Cemetery but Edith refused because she was a southern lady. (Arlington was Robert E. Lee’s old family estate it was confiscated during the Civil War and made cemetery for fallen Union soldiers).

The National Cathedral became Woodrow Wilson’s final resting place (I hope you see the theme here).

It was wet, cold, and cloudy all day long, and above all the cathedral is about ten blocks from the metro station.  And so the march began!  Half way there I began to remember every forced march in history, from Napoleon's campaign in Russia to the trail of tears. I developed a blister (side note: Chucks are not the right kind of shoe for a city hike). I began to imagine myself in General Washington's army wintering at Valley Forge (even though it was May and seventy degrees).  As tired as I felt, I could not complain, it was my idea to go in the first place.  Also, my amazing wife (who is six months pregnant with our first child) walked the whole way with me. She shall be forever known as Momma Trooper!  When we turned the corner and caught our first glimpse of the cathedral, it was like the heavens opened up and the Angels started to sing. Granted the sky was very hazy from the rain and we may have been hallucinating (we were very tired).  As we approached the cathedral, a wedding was about to start and Wilson's grave was corded off.  I still managed to see the grave and I had every intention of taking a picture of his crypt.  But after I saw the beautiful stain glass windows and the spectacular gothic architecture of the grand old church (coupled with the worry that I was destroying someone's joyous nuptials) I could not bring myself to photograph the inside of the church. Some things should be kept sacred.  I snapped a few pictures of the outside and we started on our long trek back to the Metro station.

Despite such a day we had fun. We learned about the Library of congress, we visited Woodrow Wilson's home and saw some amazing architecture at Woodrow Wilson’s final resting place.

The second day was a little better…

Have you ever been to Washington DC? Tell me your experiences in the comments below!