LESSONS FROM HISTORICAL FICTION

Lessons from Historical Fiction
The genre known as historical fiction sounds like a contradiction in terms. However, the work can provide the true essence of a particular historic era. My first childhood remembrance of reading a historic fiction was the beloved Elisabeth Meg’s Packet Alley: A Magic Story of Now and Long Ago. The novel tells the story of twins living in the present-day river-town of old New Castle. One day a Dutchman in period attire loans the youngsters a pair of magic-glasses, enabling them to see into the past. The two young time-travelers enter by-gone days through a portal at Packet Alley. They witness the visits of Lafayette, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Louis Napoleon who had walked the cobble-stoned alleyway.
My interest in history and fiction has grown from that first encounter. Years later, I bought a house in New Castle and took daily walks on The Strand, passing Packet Alley. My imagination continued to stir whenever I was in the vicinity.
History as a discipline has evolved from the ancient world to today--from oral tradition to precisely documented academic journals. The ancient Greeks viewed their history as a chronicling of events and myth. For the early Greeks, history was a drama. Today, the study is a blend of art and science. Throughout the ages, history is storytelling; the historian tells a factual story.
Fiction is also storytelling. The author makes up the story though sometimes there is a factual basis. What then can the reader of a historical fiction learn? Various writers have attempted to answer this query. Jessamyn West, renowned for her The Friendly Persuasion, wrote: “Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.” WWII historian A.J. P. Taylor noted: “History is not just a catalog of events put in the right order like a railway timetable. History is a version of events.” Liberal historian Daniel Aaron (The Strenuous Decade; A social and intellectual record of the 1930's) said it most powerfully: “The best historical novels are loyal to history, but it is a history absorbed and set to music, so to speak, changed into forms akin to opera or theatrical production.” Aaron’s explanation harkens back to the ancient Greeks--history liken to drama.
Historical novels allow readers to not only enjoy human interest tales; it transport them back in history. The plot’s ebb and flow illustrates how individuals from yesteryear react to different circumstances and complex issues.
Professional historian James J. Sheehan in his 2005 Presidential address to the American Historical Association stated a truth apropos both to history as an academic discipline and to historical fiction. Sheehan wrote: “…by expanding our experience to the lives of men and women in different times and places, history teaches us valuable things both about others and ourselves.” Sheehan then quotes R.G. Collingwood (The Idea of History) to illuminate the benefits of studying the past. Collingwood states what we learn from the past is “what it is to be a man, what it is to be the kind of man you are, and what it is to be the kind man you are and nobody else.” Other than the gender political incorrectness, these words remind us that truth about the past can be woven into many different tapestries.
For your reading pleasure, I offer up 3 historical novels from Historical Novels Shelf at http://catherinedecourcey.tripod.com.

Education: Guardian of Liberty

A nation can not survive without possessing an educated citizenry. The chief purpose of an enlightened government is to ensure individual liberty, and education is paramount to the that insurance.

Two of the most horrific events in history, slavery and the Holocaust, had at their core an attempt to destroy individual liberty. While the suffering encountered was great, the oppressors were incapable of destroying the spirit of the victims. Liberty is given by the Creator and cannot be taken away. Only freedom, given by a government, can be taken away.

The 110th U.S. Congress has recognized the importance of education’s role in reminding us history‘s lessons, lest we forget, and the significance of slavery and the Holocaust. The two principles were welded together in two bills: S 963 and S 1592 (identical to HR 2707).

S 963, introduced by Robert Menendez, authorizes the Secretary of Education to a make grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Known as the “Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act,”
S 963 proposes “to portray accurate information and to sensitize communities to the circumstances that gave rise to the Holocaust.”

Six states ( CA, FL, IL, NJ, NY, & MA) currently teach Holocaust courses; eleven other states recommend its teaching.

The legislation advocates programs that would improve awareness and understanding of the Holocaust. Named after the concentration camp survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, the bill appropriates $2,000,000 for each of 5 fiscal years.

Like the Underground Railroad education legislation, S963 will need to be reintroduced in the next Congress. The London Times for 11/17/08 reports that every secondary school in the United Kingdom is to have a Holocaust specialist.

S1592, introduced by Sherrod Brown ( also a co-sponsor of S963) will also need to be reintroduced during the 111th U.S. Congress. Identical to Dennis Kucinich’s HR 2707, S1592 institutes the Underground Railroad Education and Cultural Program. HR2707 passed in the House by a voice vote on July 30, 2007.

Under S1592, the Secretary of Education is authorized “to make grants to 1 or more educational organizations that are established to research, display, interpret and collect artifact, relating to the history of the Underground Railroad.” The bill also stipulates the establishment of a facility to house such artifacts; the encouragement of public-private partnerships. The bill’s appropriations were $6,000,000 for each of the first and second years; $3,000,000 for each of the third, fourth, and fifth years.

While we must wait for the reintroduction and passage of S963 and S1592 in the U.S. Senate, we can appreciate two sculptures permanently exhibited at Spencer Plaza at 800 French St. in Wilmington, Delaware.

Artist Elbert Weinberg created the Holocaust sculpture, commemorating the victims. Dedicated in 1979, the work measures 228 inches in height; 84 inches in width; and 108 inches in depth. Three abstract shaped cement blocks in a triangular pattern are inscribed with Chelmno, Treblinka, Belzac, Birkenua, Buchenwald, Ponary, Dachau, Janowski,Bergen-Belsen, and Auschwitz. In between the blocks are 3 bronze reliefs: a female holding a child; female, and a man.

The sculpture commemorating the Underground Railroad was erected in 1976. The sculpture has bronze relief of Harriet Tubman and Thomas Garrett. The sculpture displays a plaque giving a brief description of the Underground Railroad. The work is 67 inches in height; 26 inches in width; and 30 inches in depth.

The Philosopher George Santayana said it best: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

A Look to the Past

To see what education was meant to be--self-improvement and social betterment--we need to look back 6 scores and 8 years. During these years, education was valued and a trade was respected. Men like Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver of Tuskegee Institute promoted education as a how-to blueprint for economic success.

Tuskegee Institute:

The Alabama State legislature established Tuskegee in 1880. President Booker T. Washington officially opened the Normal School for Colored Teachers on July 4, 1881.

Review of Up From Slavery:

Booker T. Washington, though often criticized as an "Uncle Tom,"tells the story of his educational philosophy and the development of Tuskegee. Washington pushed for strong personal habits, religious training, and industrial education. In this Christian mix, academics were not ignored.

Building Tuskegee with his own hands, Washington defined success as not how far one goes but what obstacles one overcomes. Washington imparted the love of work for its own sake to Tuskegee students.

The former slave came to his views and character from early desire for education. He wrote in his autobiography: "...I went as far as the schoolhouse door with one of my young mistresses to carry her books. The picture of several dozen boys and girls in a schoolroom engaged in study made a deep impression upon me, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise."

Similarly, he stated: "From the time that I can remember having any thoughts about anything, I recall that I had an intense longing to learn to read. I determined, when quite a small child, that, if I accomplished nothing else in life, I would in some way get enough education to enable me to read common books and newspapers."

Up From Slavery is a story of hope and gives lessons for educational improvement.

Unshakable Faith

John Perry's 1999 biography of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver fills in many details of the Tuskegee experience, including the curriculum. Though conflict existed between the two men, their "unshakable faith" in what Tuskegee stood for and provided kept them on track and fostered cooperation.

The school's success can be seen in a single incident of sweet potato production. Washington encouraged students to learn something better than anybody else. One graduate, bolstered by his study of chemistry and improved agricultural methods, produced 266 bushels of sweet potatoes from 1 acre. The community standard had been only 49 bushels @ acre. Local farmers honored and respected the student for his success.

Carver's Discoveries

George Washington Carver produced paints and stains from soybeans. He received 3 patents for these discoveries. Carver also found over 300 by-products of the simple peanut. Some of these included: 10 different beverages; 19 cosmetics, including shampoo, soap, face powder/ cream; dyes for cloth, leather & wood stains; such foods as pickle, chili sauce, coca, dry coffeee, mayonnaise, peanut sausage & cheese pimento; such medicines as goiter treatment, laxatives, & quinine; and industrial uses of the peanut as diesel fuel, glue, linoleum, printer's ink, rubber and laundry soap.

Quotes from 2 famous fiction writers characterize how important the past can be to education and society in general. John Dos Passos states, "a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a life-line across the scary present."

And William Faulkner, though speaking of a 'gone- with- the -wind- south', still has a social foundation in the efficacy of the past. Faulker writes, "The Past is never dead. It's not even past."

Halls of Congress

Obama School Bills:
School halls allow students to move from one class to another. However, Congressional halls do more than transport. They extend opportunities for the growing of goverment. It is as if many public servants have not heard that less is more. For them, grants are seen as the answer to fixing 'why Johnny can't read.'
Many of our elected officials throw dollars at any and all educational problems. Though many of their funding actions appear sincere,the solutions they pay for are oftentimes not practical nor logical.

S114:

On 1/4/2007, Obama introduced S114, Innovation Districts for School Improvement Act. S114 authorizes 20 LEA competitive grants to compensate for children of color and poverty's poor classroom performance. The stated premise is the act's funding will address the root cause: "inadequate resources and low teacher quality." This legislation brings added levels of bureaucracy in individual student tracking and teacher career ladders.

S116:

With S's Mikuluski,Murray, and Sanders, Obama also re-introduced his Step up Act of 2007. Step Up establishes summer school scholars through competitive demonstration grants, $100,000,000 price tag for FY 08. In the April 26, 2007 Congressional Record, Obama thanks S's Bingaman and Alexander for accepting part of his S116 in their American Competes legislation.

The S116 amendment dealt with summer learning for math and problem solving skills.Obama stated: "This is particularly important for children of poverty, for whom summer learning losses are greatest."

Maybe if legislators were really committed to American competitiveness,they would extend the school year, as Europeans already do, to all children, not just the disadvanaged.

S3047:

Conspiciously off the 21 co-sponsors list of S.7, College Opportunity Act of 2007, Obama joins up with Reid, Lugar, Saunders and S. Brown to introduce S3047 o n 5/21/2008. This legislation, titled Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Act of 2008, is to provide for the coordination of the Nation's STEM initiatives.
New levels of bureaucracy include: committee on STEM; improvement of coherence of Federal STEM thru President's Office of Science & Technology Policy; an office of STEM in the Dept of Ed; a consortium annual grant of not more than $20,000,000; and annual funding to a National STEM Ed Research Repository of $1,500,000.

All of which, with the help of a roadmap for the bloated organizational chart, is "to preserve competitiveness in the global economy."

OBAMA ON 3 R'S

NEA ENDORSEMENT:
NEA President Weaver released a press release on June 3rd recommending Obama in November election. Weaver endorsed Obama and requested that the NEA convention, to be held from July 1st thru July 6th, formally vote for the candidate. Weaver's reasons for the decision included: (1) "clear" he had won Democratic nomination; (2) his commitment to partner w/NEA; (3) his opposition to vouchers; (4) belief No Child Left Behind Law needs change; (5) health care for every child; (6) teachers deserve a living wage; and (7) class size needs reduction.

STUDENT TAX CREDIT

Stumping in Michigan, Obama promised a college tax credit of $4,000 in exchange for a 100 hours of community service. (a 6/17/08 USATODAY posting)His campaign estimated this program would carry an annual price tag of $10 billion. The Senator's promise was vaguely based on his experience w/student loan debt and the "American Dream." His argument seems to be missing logical tenets.

Education like all commodities of worth "gets the greatest bang for the buck" when the participants earn it and thus truly value it. When the nation is swamped by academic degrees whose holders often "teach rather than do", another tax supported program should be the least of our concerns. The U.S. needs trades and how- to-vocations to compete globally.Liberal arts can indeed produce well-rounded, thoughtful and logical thinkers, and students can acquire this curriculum through their own efforts. Scholarships, jobs and the military provide such opportunities

Obama on 3 R's