Today in History

Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” ― George Santayana, The Life of Reason: Five Volumes in One

This fall, I’ll be teaching history full time for the first time in my teaching career. I am excited and I am worried. History gets a bad rap, especially with 13-14 years olds. Many folks believe history is remembering all sorts of dates and facts, and while that’s part of it, it’s not the reason we study history. We study history to learn from our mistakes and move forward as a people, as a society.

This past year, I taught one section of history and it opened my eyes, again. American society seems to repeat itself every other generation – the issues my great grandparents faced, my generation  faces today.  In the 1840s immigrants – the Irish – were blamed for the country’s ills. Three generations later in 1900 – 1920s a different group of immigrants – eastern and southern Europeans were blamed, today it’s yet another group of immigrants longing for freedom.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
From the “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

In the last quarter of the school year, I suggested a daily dose of history and volunteered to manage it. Administration ALWAYS appreciates initiative and follow through. Each school day I’d select an event and create a slide for the morning announcements. My colleagues knew I was behind it and let me know they appreciated the reminder of the importance of each day. Sometimes, I’d tweet it with my school twitter account – @ScullenWatkins.

I’d only pick days when we were in session and sometimes I’d leave out an important date – such as this year’s anniversary of D-Day – because it fell on a Saturday or Sunday. Albeit the D-Day anniversary fell on the last Saturday before school finished, but still it as a Saturday. Some significant anniversaries or milestones fall when school isn’t in session such as today’s anniversary – the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Today in History

As a historian, I’ve read (and studied) both sides of the issue. And, though it may have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, maybe even millions, I still wonder if using atomic weapons was necessary. I know it allowed my father-in-law to come home in 1946 and that may have changed my life.

Last summer, I read an interesting account of the development of the atomic bomb. Some of it I knew, some I did not.

bomb

This spring, I was in Washington D. C., while I was there we visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and saw the ‘Enola Gay,’ the B-29 that dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima.

The Enola Gay on display at the Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport
The Enola Gay on display at the Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport

Several years before, while visiting the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, I saw ‘Bockscar,’ the B-29 that dropped “Fat Man” on Nagasaki.

bockcar_usafmuseum
Bockscar on display at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

I recall trying to explain the significance of the airplane to W., this spring it was much easier.

The older I become, the greater appreciation I have for history and the stories of our past, my past. When I was 13, going on 14 (the age of the kids I teach), I loved history – it was my favorite subject, though you would have never known by looking at my grades. But, most kids don’t enjoy history. When I ask them why they tell me it’s because they see history as remembering dates, but history is more than knowing dates and events, it’s about relationships and understanding cause and effect. Another teacher and I believe each generation remembers a date, forever. 8/6/45 is a date we should all remember. ALWAYS.

It’s important to understand what happened in our past, lest we repeat it.

Today was a great day. W and I made it back to lake – he had a wonderful time hiking at Philmont and we arrived with enough time to spend some time on the lake. The lake was like glass, in case you are wondering. In the meantime, the seconds and minutes on today are tick-tocking away and I am close to discover whether, or not, tomorrow will be a million and six times better. I’ll learn tomorrow. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, remembering the past, but keeping an eye on the future.

What events do you associate with a date and why?  

9 thoughts on “Today in History

    1. Phil, you are so right, though it seems I make the same painful mistakes over and over again – I see it with my kids, but I can’t see it in myself. Perhaps, I should look within, before I look beyond my nose. history was my favorite subject from elementary school though college. Thanks for stopping in – have a great day and a wonderful week ahead.

  1. Gracious, you CAN multi-task! I think history has got more interesting for children these days. I used to love it, despite all the dates and Acts of Parliament. But nowadays they seem to focus far more on what it was actually like to live in various periods of the past, as well as the political and religious movements of the time in question. Have a great year adding history teaching to your other accomplishments!

    1. Teaching history is what drew me to education almost 20 years ago. T earned an Liberal Arts in History degree in ’85 and dreamed of sharing my passion in history with my classes. Over the years I’ve been able to infuse some history into my classes, but I’ve never taught US History. I am excited and a little bit nervous. The coming year is a bit of an experiment in our school for a wide variety of reasons – which I will refrain from trying to explain – due to space and time – O is beckoning me to go fishing and she has the patience of a 12 year old, because she is a 12 year old! Soon she’ll be a teenager, yikes! Have a wonderful day, I am going to do my best!

    1. Thank you, it was a nice addition to the morning announcements and I am planning to continue as well as include an write and occasional blog post as part of the series. I worry that we will lose our past because no one is paying attention beyond the present. Thank you for stopping by – have a wonderful day. It is gonna be a great day!

      1. Thank you. I am looking forward to the year, each day I get closer. I took my daughter to get her school photo and ID done this morning and we picked up her schedule – she’s in 7th grade (and a different school district) and excited about the coming year. I think history is one of those developmental content areas where we don’t know what we have until its gone – it’s complicated. Every adult i talk to about my life’s work always tells me the same story, wish they’d learn more about history and our past. Have a great day and a wonderful week.

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