The Historian's World

[L Verge]

We had to diffuse a recent situation at Surratt House Museum where there was a misunderstanding related to the current issues surrounding the American Civil War and some of the effects that have lasted for generations. A visitor posted her hurt feelings (and anger) on social media, and that required careful thought in putting together a response.

I asked our new education specialist, Coby Treadway, to compose a reply to her online, while I contacted her directly. In my opinion, Coby posted a response that everyone who deals in the history field should study and take to heart, and I would like to share his thoughts with you:

"... I have been asked, as the Surratt House Education Specialist, to comment upon our approach to history here at the Surratt House.

"History, by its very nature, is a challenging topic to tackle with anyone. As someone that has been involved with public history and education for the past sixteen years, I can certainly attest to just how difficult it is to interpret a time period as crucial to the ongoing development of our nation as the American Civil War. This conflict changed the very fabric of this nation and the resulting passions are still keenly felt, regardless of what side of the issue one’s views fall on. As public historians and educators we feel that we have a duty to interpret the past as factually as possible while providing connections to the present and future in the hopes that history can be used as an informative tool by our guests throughout their lives. Yet, despite our best intent, and the sheer amount of research that we conduct, we are constantly faced with two crucial questions.

"First, how can we truly tell the story of other human beings who lived hundreds of years before our own life experiences began? Second, how do we convey social mores and ideas that are distasteful to our modern ideas of equality and civility—while still understanding that our modern ideas are probably not as all-encompassing and noble as we would like them to be—and please everyone? The answer is that we cannot. We can only interpret history as unbiased as we possibly can, which in itself is an impossibility.

"Knowing this, our approach has always been to tell history as accurately, and completely, as possible. History should challenge us. It should make us uncomfortable. History is hard and dirty. It is complex and people driven with very little black and white and lots of gray area, and we all bring our own baggage to the party. Our hope is that we can provide some kind of insight that will drive our guests to read and do their own research in an effort to develop their own narrative of the history that they are so passionate about, because as historians—professional or amateur—we can never afford to stop learning."

Personally, I urge all of us to memorize the sentences that I bolded.

P.S. Between this that Coby posted (which she replied to as BEAUTIFUL) and my email and follow-up phone call, I think the broken fences have been repaired -- until our political correctness of the 21st century intervenes again...