The power of Wisdom

[HerbS]

Today was a "Show and Tell"day at the Legacy Senior Center!A 94yr old Lady brought in Discharge Papers of her Ancestor!Then she pulls out,what she says she considered her Mary Surratt Doll!It was an exact image of Mary!

[HerbS]

The most moving experience thus far is.This 105yr old 5'4" man brought in his glass enclosed WW-2-Medals he earned while serving with Patton.Then he tells us that his Ancestor-Congressman-Alfred Ely.He was the first prisoner of the Civil War at "Bull Run".He was captured as a spectator and sent to Libby Prison and later exchanged by Lincoln.His Ancestor told us that Ely felt he was used as a "Political Football"by Lincoln.

[RJNorton]

Today was a "Show and Tell"day at the Legacy Senior Center!A 94yr old Lady brought in Discharge Papers of her Ancestor!Then she pulls out,what she says she considered her Mary Surratt Doll!It was an exact image of Mary!

Herb, any chance you took a photo? I'd love to see one. I cannot adequately express how much I admire what you are doing.

[HerbS]

Roger,I am sorry that I did not take a picture of the Doll.However,she did explain that her family felt that Mary shouldn't have been hanged!She also expressed her disdain about John Surratt letting his mother hang!

[LincolnMan]

Wisdom that comes with age- I always respect that. I have noticed that an "older" person is always someone twenty years order than myself- at whatever age I am.

[HerbS]

Today,I had a 94yr old lady told me her family's story of how her Grandfather went to hear Lincoln's speech from the back of train in Golversville,NY.He became so inspired by Lincoln,that he went home and enlisted that day! He was wounded 4 times and lived.After the war he started Glove manufactering buiness in Gloversville.

[L Verge]

I hope that someone is videotaping these sessions. One of the museums owned by the same government agency as Surratt House is College Park Aviation Museum at College Park Airport, the world's oldest continually operating airport. They have been doing a similar project of interviewing WWII veterans before they all pass away.

A special sidelight of the project has been working with the last of the Tuskegee Airmen. To make it even more rewarding, they have enlisted high school students from our county to conduct the interviews (with supervision) and to do the technology. I believe this is part of a nationwide effort to preserve the human side of that awful war.

I hope that they will extend it even further into the Korean and Vietnam eras. And then, the Gulf War, and then..... To me, raised military, wars are awful things, but they often bring out the best in our warriors and serve to teach future generations what not to do.

[GARY POPOLO]

The most moving experience thus far is.This 105yr old 5'4" man brought in his glass enclosed WW-2-Medals he earned while serving with Patton.Then he tells us that his Ancestor-Congressman-Alfred Ely.He was the first prisoner of the Civil War at "Bull Run".He was captured as a spectator and sent to Libby Prison and later exchanged by Lincoln.His Ancestor told us that Ely felt he was used as a "Political Football"by Lincoln.

Very interesting man. Just for some credit to my own father he was Patton's tank driver in Africa. I don't think people today realize what these men and woman went through during world war II. I believe time has made this war a forgotten time except for those who were there.. Best Gary

[HerbS]

I have been making these presentations at The Legacy Senior Citizen Centers since October.These people are Amazing!The Legacy has opened it up to the public,with Crowds over 50.Once you go to one Legacy another one calls.They now have refreshments after the presentation.I find that's when they come up to you with their"story".This has been a Fantastic journey!

[L Verge]

Speaking of the Power of Wisdom, it appears that our society is on its way to dumbing down again. Most of you probably heard or read about the changes in the SAT exam on today's news:

"The College Board said the redesign is a 'critical component' of its equity initiatives — and key to making the test better representative of high school curricula and undergraduate skills. Studies have found a strong correlation between family income level and test results.

A quick sampling of some of the marquee changes due to debut in the spring of 2016:

The exam will return to the 1600 scale. The exam has been scored on a 2400 scale since the last overhaul in 2005.
The essay section — added to the test in the 2005 upgrade — will now be optional and graded separately from the rest of the exam.
Administrators will make the test available in both print and digital forms.
The College Board won't deduct points for incorrect answers, a penalty that some critics have said discourages guessing. Students will now simply earn points for the answers they answer correctly.
Words used in the reading and writing sections "will no longer be vocabulary students may not have heard before and are likely not to hear again," according to a news release. Instead, the exam will 'focus on words that students will use consistently in college and beyond.'

The College Board also announced new criteria for the reading, writing and math sections."

I'm of the old school where essays are a great test for judging critical analysis of subject matter, correlations, etc. as well as written communication skills. Some of my worst test takers (while I was teaching) did better on essays than multiple choice.

Not having wrong answers count as wrong answers is another one of those Dr. Spock principles that teaches one not to worry about doing better or to take responsibility for doing things correctly.

And the "modern" language change reverts back to a 1960s trend of teaching "Street English." Now, we will be OMGing, LOLing, and LMAOing our way through life.

And that is my cynical response regarding our future for the day.

[HerbS]

Laurie,I agree 100%-Many people in our society are Clueless!When a 94yr old lady remarks-"What a beautiful handwriting".That was copy of a letter you sent me from a Soldier who was an eye-witness to the Lincoln Assassination.Even "Greatest Generation"has a better penmanship than ours.Today's generation doesn't enjoy reading or writing!

[L Verge]

When I heard the announcement that schools would likely no more be teaching cursive (what we old-timers used to call handwriting), one of my first thoughts was, "How will future generations be able to read handwritten history?" We all know how hard it is to decipher old letters and documents now - and we know cursive. Can you imagine tackling those when all you can identify with are block letters or computer keyboards? Maybe we can program computers to scan old writings and translate them immediately into computereez?

[BettyO]

Yes, the "Dumbing Down" of America continues....

This is why most of our high-paying, "good" jobs are being taken over by foreigners. The education given to those youngsters overseas, in a lot of cases, unfortunately is much, much better or at least more reinforced than that given here. And I've had it thrown up in my face at least once by a middle easterner who rather arrogantly stated, "Americans have the reputation of having the worst eduction system of all!"

If not - it sure looks like it's headed in that direction.

[HerbS]

Today,was my last presentation at The Legacy Brighton-A 97yr old WW2 vet asked me if I remembered James Hard-Rochester's last Civil War Vet and How he would march in The Memorial Day Parade.I "sure do",I replied.He was a friend of Hard,and he said how Hard would always talk about meeting Lincoln!