Listening and reading various discussions and opinions of dissent and support I find myself reevaluating my own thoughts. That is the purpose of those exercises in the first place. It seems more people listen and read to only find fault or reaffirmation of their own ideas, than to be inspired to discover new. I am just as guilty as anyone else and freely admit that. I'll work on it.
The thoughts I find myself taking another look at involve the preservation of history. As a member of the Greensboro historical society and an avid genealogist I think about this every day. For the most part our focus is upon saving the tangible evidence of the past. The preservation of objects. What I think we often forget is that these objects only serve as reminders. The object itself did not, nor will it ever have life. It is only the use of, and contribution to society that the object has significance.
Consider an object as simple as a photograph. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but it is silent to those that have no knowledge. The who or what of it being lost. If we know who the person in the photograph is, or the location it takes on significance. The simple fact that the object is old does not make it significant. Perhaps it will be placed on a shelf in a museum as a curiosity, but without other connections it is not of great importance.
What is it in these reminders that we wish to remember ? The answer , of course, is a time lost to us. The memories of our youth and the collective memory of previous generations stretching back into antiquity. The objects of the past serving as visual aids. Each object has a story to tell, but each object need not be saved.
It is the selection of these objects that should be carefully considered. That should be the primary concern.
It is unfortunate but a reality that this preservation comes with a price tag. Money. It costs money to maintain these objects. Whether you are just paying for their storage, or running a museum, there are costs involved. Everything cannot be saved. I would much rather have a few well documented objects than a storeroom full of the anonymous. Quality vs quantity. A delicate act to balance. All these objects appear to be of value and indeed they are, to the right person. We need to save those objects with the widest appeal. That should be the primary focus. The collective memory.
I find oral histories, with their partisan views and inaccuracies , the most compelling. The past as seen in the eyes of those that lived it. That is the true history. I would much rather hear those stories than those from the learned scholars. I find the older folks, when given the chance, will express their feelings and views openly and freely. Few of them have agendas anymore. They are untainted by current thinking or standards. There's is the voice of the era. Sometimes rambling, sometimes focused but always honest. Those are the ones that can put some touch into the intangible. Companions to the objects of the past.
Objects preserved without any one left to add context are just old things. Preserving history is not the preservation of objects, but the preservation of ideas. The preservation of a collective memory.
The thoughts I find myself taking another look at involve the preservation of history. As a member of the Greensboro historical society and an avid genealogist I think about this every day. For the most part our focus is upon saving the tangible evidence of the past. The preservation of objects. What I think we often forget is that these objects only serve as reminders. The object itself did not, nor will it ever have life. It is only the use of, and contribution to society that the object has significance.
Consider an object as simple as a photograph. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but it is silent to those that have no knowledge. The who or what of it being lost. If we know who the person in the photograph is, or the location it takes on significance. The simple fact that the object is old does not make it significant. Perhaps it will be placed on a shelf in a museum as a curiosity, but without other connections it is not of great importance.
What is it in these reminders that we wish to remember ? The answer , of course, is a time lost to us. The memories of our youth and the collective memory of previous generations stretching back into antiquity. The objects of the past serving as visual aids. Each object has a story to tell, but each object need not be saved.
It is the selection of these objects that should be carefully considered. That should be the primary concern.
It is unfortunate but a reality that this preservation comes with a price tag. Money. It costs money to maintain these objects. Whether you are just paying for their storage, or running a museum, there are costs involved. Everything cannot be saved. I would much rather have a few well documented objects than a storeroom full of the anonymous. Quality vs quantity. A delicate act to balance. All these objects appear to be of value and indeed they are, to the right person. We need to save those objects with the widest appeal. That should be the primary focus. The collective memory.
I find oral histories, with their partisan views and inaccuracies , the most compelling. The past as seen in the eyes of those that lived it. That is the true history. I would much rather hear those stories than those from the learned scholars. I find the older folks, when given the chance, will express their feelings and views openly and freely. Few of them have agendas anymore. They are untainted by current thinking or standards. There's is the voice of the era. Sometimes rambling, sometimes focused but always honest. Those are the ones that can put some touch into the intangible. Companions to the objects of the past.
Objects preserved without any one left to add context are just old things. Preserving history is not the preservation of objects, but the preservation of ideas. The preservation of a collective memory.
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