HISTORY MATTERS MORE THAN OPINIONS? USUALLY

History matters when someone starts explaining things beyond their grasp.

If you don’t understand the basics of a single topic, then everything sounds authoritative. So how is it possible to tell the difference between a crackpot and a legitimate source?

If you trust a blogger who gets with it an a daily basis, you’re on the right track. Especially a formally trained historian with decades of hardline experience. In other words, me!

How is it possible to tell one statement of truth from another? What’s the secret? Everyone thinks they’re right.

A museums patron came in once with a donation. They had Sitting Bull’s war bonnet. It looked like a native head dress, but one problem set it apart: the foundation the feathers were attached to was an Army helmet liner with a chin strap.

And furthermore, some of the feathers were from birds not associated with a  Sioux headdress from the late 19th Century. 

History matters when objects of huge interest come into hard focus

When an expert says the spoon you bought at a garage sale is a national treasure, that they certain it was made by Paul Revere, do you believe them?

It usually helps with money in play. How real does it need to be to sale for $16K?

I got a call in the museum for Narcissa Whitman’s saddle. I’d done a recent survey of saddles in the collection, and one of them looked like a candidate. The identification over the years was less than optimal, but it could have been hers.

But with less than certain verification, the saddle hunt came up empty. Instead of historical artifact, I saw old leather with bug-eaten fleece unfit for exhibition.

Part of the excitement of finding new things is the discovery of how important they are. History matters when someone buys a shoddy old painting in a crummy frame, only to take it apart and see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Historical objects and historical people

The longer the time passing between an event and current time increases the opinions on the event and the material culture involved. On the street this is called bullshit. In a professional history setting it’s called ‘undocumented evidence.’ It smells the same, but sounds nicer.

One of the best examples came from Saturday Night Live in a skit about George Washington’s hatchet. It was the one he used to ‘chop down the cherry tree.’

“The head of the hatchet has been replaced four times, the handle six times, but it represents the same space.”

Compare Washington’s hatchet to current U.S. leadership. Does truthfulness and integrity matter as much? Authenticity?

When the man at the top, Mr. Trump, talks his talk, makes his points, what is the best response?

If he had an On / Off switch that you could personally toggle, would you use it? If you had control of a volume switch, would you turn it down?

The sad reality shows a large swath of American citizens keep him on full volume. But Mr. Trump is more like George Washington’s hatchet than he is a verified copy of the Declaration of Independence.

One of the best measures of leadership is how states of emergency get handled. It’s a given that one never knows how one will respond to a threat greater than any other threat. Will you stay, or will you go.

The results are in with Mr. Trump and his people.

As a result, the choices coming in the next election are coming into focus. It’s either a war bonnet, or a bunch of pigeon feathers glued to a helmet. Do you want Paul Revere’s spoon, or a plastic spork?

George Washington’s hatchet may serve as a nice story, but any similar object from Ace Hardware would do the same job. The problem occurs when someone claims they hold the very object under consideration in their hand, but know it’s not what they say.

And they don’t seem to care as long as their audience buys in.

Come November we have a chance to vote for an authentic American, or Donald Trump. The choice comes down to voting for someone who gives a damn and shows it, and someone acting like they care even when they don’t by most measures.

History matters when the real deal matters more than the image. Do you want a bumper on your car for protection, or a bumper sticker that says, “Bumper.”

The bumper is tested and true and expensive; the bumper sticker is cheap and thin and won’t wear well over time.

In the slow motion crash of covid during the pandemic, we’ve needed a strong bumper with all of the current life saving technology, not some sticky, fly paper, impersonation.