Now is not “the end of history” (just the end of our course). And history doesn’t repeat itself. But it does a great deal to shape our thinking about any time at all.
There’s no final exam. The good students may submit their last revisions of essays, generally much improved. Grades aren’t always averaged: begin with a C, improve to an A, you deserve the A. The real takeaway, I hope, is not some knowledge of US history. It’s an
attitude, an approach, a way to use the past to think about the present and future.
History informs our understanding of now, and then. Newspapers know this, and Sunday editions feature longer and deeper articles that often choose an historical approach. The Portland Telegram is good on food. Extensive articles on catching and eating Maine lobsters and on aquaculture have focussed on past as well as present and future. Hopefully, history students will follow up. Google New England foodways, and discover the work of Sandy Oliver. Intrigued by references to aquaculture’s long history? A quick subject catalog search will turn up Brian Fagan’s recent book: Fishing: How the Sea Fed Civilization.
Surveying last month’s Sunday Telegram, Times, and Wall Street Journal turns up many opportunities for inquisitive historians. The papers tackle, briefly and tantalizingly, all sorts of history. The Telegram is interested in the changing place of female military veterans, past and consequent present difficulties of Native American tribes in Maine, the survival of democracy (comparing here and now with there and then), the effort to erase the word “plantations” from Rhode Island’s official title, etc.
The Wall Street Journal headlined a two-page piece “How the Rock Concert Changed America”. It looked at the meaning and efficacy of boycotts, the nostalgic taste and aroma of pumpkin spice, and the significance of the sale of a copy of the US Constitution for 43.2
million dollars. The Times was interested in the centuries of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, new evidence that social inequality may stem from “humanity’s deep past”, and the continued relevance of James Madison’s thought. And the great kids’ edition explained: “… you’ll find many articles this month that blend the past and the future…”
David R Jones finds that past, present, and future run together.
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