‘Living history’ lets those of past speak to us still

‘Living history’ lets those of past speak to us still

Tom Momary

"History cannot help but engage us, either in lifting our
spirit,

or in provoking our rage and our sorrow …"

­ Thomas William

"The Weave of History"

The time is 1858. The place is Alton, Ill. This is the last
meeting between the Little Giant and the tall, lanky man who would
be president. Sen. Stephen Douglas has just unleashed a booming
tirade concerning the rights of the states. His deep voice has left
a hush on the crowd as the spirit and sentiment settles. Abraham
Lincoln rises from his chair and strides to the podium, gazing out
at the audience with genius burning in his eyes.

We are witnessing the seventh of the great debates, famed
throughout history as the ones that still ring in the ears of all
Americans. And it is being broadcast live from Lincoln Square on
C-SPAN. This is not just a re-enactment, but a living moment in
history brought forward in time. What an uncanny effect ­ as
if we are living that moment of long ago. As if, in a dream, we had
awakened in another time. They call it "living history."

Why do historical re-enactments such as this fascinate us? From
recreations of Civil War and Revolutionary War battles to our
Fourth of July fireworks which are meant to retell the tales of the
birth of our country, to the fun and frolic of Elizabethan England
at the Renaissance Faire, a certain mesmerizing effect occurs on
these occasions. I have never learned history better than at such
moments, and I believe that no greater method exists to teach
it.

How can we better understand the experiences of other humans,
past or present, than by stepping into their place and seeing the
world through their eyes? Sampling the thoughts and feelings and
hopes of a thousand forgotten minds reminds us of our capacity for
achievement. Furthermore, it demonstrates vividly to us, here and
now, that all that we feel ­ love, passion, happiness,
despair, anger, sorrow ­ all of it was felt by every person
who has ever lived.

Like beauty, these emotions that are so transitory in our
solitary lifetimes survive. We discover that we are not so
different from those who came before us. And those who follow us
will also be the same. We are connected, past and future. We can
know, by this discovery, that we may equal or surpass any former
glory. Reliving the past, by transporting it into the present, is a
dream brought to life.

Walt Disney was familiar with this dream. How much of Disneyland
involves history or the future (which is just history that has not
yet happened)? Haven’t we all had great fun reliving the
swashbuckling days of the Pirates of the Caribbean? What about
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln? And even the Disneyland railroad
that surrounds the park steams straight out of the old West. Walt
Disney was a dreamer, and one of his fondest dreams was to create
living history.

The imagineers at Disney have built upon Walt’s dream, and have
created a project called Disney America, to be based "once upon a
time" in Virginia. The new theme park would have recreated history.
It would have allowed all of us ­ the young and the youthful
of mind ­ to experience past events and people and times. It
would have been a better instructor of history than all the
teachers I have ever had combined. It would have demonstrated
something that history professors would do well to learn
themselves: experiencing the past remains the best way to learn its
lessons.

However, a curious alignment of those who call themselves
historians, and other evidently unthinking people, conspired to
block the Disney dream. They spouted prattle about how Disney would
"commercialize" history ­ somehow sensationalize it or change
it to make a profit. They claimed that it was a denigration of the
past.

These people appointed themselves "guardians" of history. These
same people, historians and professors, who themselves bungled half
of the history they teach. These "sentinels," have been so duped by
those persistent qualities I mentioned ­ greed, jealousy,
suspicion ­ in lives long ago lived, that they record errors
and call them facts.

For example, these same historians, who claim that Disney
America would have warped young minds, boldly celebrate how Thomas
Jefferson wrote our immortal Declaration of Independence (the very
essence of our country), when it was almost certainly penned by a
man named Thomas Paine. In fact, Paine was the whole heart and soul
and mind behind the American Revolution. With all the respect they
are due, Jefferson, Washington, Adams and Franklin were all, more
or less, along for the ride.

And these same people venerate Harry Truman for firing General
MacArthur at a time when he had, essentially won the Korean War for
us. Had Truman left MacArthur in command, there likely would have
been no Vietnam a decade later.

Have we been taught these things? Of course not. They have been
"written out" of history by the historians themselves. And THESE
are the people who we are supposed to trust with the annals of
history? THESE are the minds whose judgment we should honor
concerning a historical themepark like Disney America? I should
think that we could decide for ourselves.

The building of dreams is, in my view, one of the greatest of
accomplishments. I celebrate those who have the courage to dream in
our so often dismal world. And to those who boldly erect their
dreams, like Thomas Paine, like Walt Disney, like Jim Henson, like
thousands of others, we owe our gratitude. They share their dreams
with us. And the whole world benefits.

One of the greatest of dreams is bringing history back to life.
For the benefit of those who have narrow minds to experience other
perspectives; and for fresh, young minds open to new visions; and
for every one of us to connect with the likenesses in our past and
our future, we ought to participate in "living history." We ought
to wear the mantle of lives lived long ago. Like Lincoln and
Douglas, minds from the past, they can speak to us still.

Momary is a third-year Geophysics graduate student.