Looking back I wish I would have looked harder when I was there. Isn't that the usual way of things ? We tend to travel to see the sights but ignore our own backyard. Sure you can read the history of an area and look at old pictures, but being there is the thing. Talking with the folks that lived there can get mixed results. We all see history through a filter. The filter of our own memories and the things we were told. That isn't to say those things are not the truth, for there are layers in truth, but the deeper the layers the more convoluted the history. Written and oral history does depend upon the view of the author. Their individual interpretation of the situation may be quite a bit different than mine or yours.
This became a bit more evident to me just the other day. I was writing about St. Matthew's chapel. An alternate history was proposed by a friend, including a referenced article. I read that article with interest, comparing it to the history I had been told by my Mom. Now if you learn some history from your mother you kinda believe it ! That is as it should be. Thing is, Mom didn't know all the history as that history had started before her time. I went to the internet for some more information.
As it turned out Mom was correct in her history. She had the basic facts correct. There was, of course, more to the story than that. The article shared by a friend discussed some of that history. That history took place in my time and being only a few years old I was unaware. By the time I was old enough to begin to understand that was old news, common knowledge, and not discussed much. That little chapel is where Mom went to church as a child. In her adult life however she did not go there as that chapel was rarely used. Mom took us children to the big church uptown. St. Luke's is like a cathedral compared to that chapel. Mom would point that chapel out as we drove past and tell us of going to church there. She told of the pot bellied stove for heating and the old pump organ. There were few pews and the place would be crowded. We kids always thought she was just telling tales, like walking to school five miles and all that. As it turns out what she said is the truth. What she didn't know was that that chapel was also used by other congregations. The Baptist people of the town had no church or chapel of their own. The Episcopal church that owned the chapel allowed them to use it, at least on one occasion they did, as that was mentioned in the article I was provided. They held a meeting there and decided to build their own church. Funds were raised and the church was constructed. The Calvary Baptist Church was less than twenty years old when I was growing up but I thought that church had been there forever.
It was this little foray into history that lead to this thought today. Often times the little things of everyday life get overlooked. The how and why of things can get lost or misunderstood. The machinations of men can conceal the truth as well. The truth is dependant upon the honesty and direct knowledge of the author. To understand history one must understand motivations. It is those motivations that are the grey areas. I do think it is best to keep in mind just because something is written down that doesn't mean it is the truth. It very well may be the truth of the author but not the whole truth. I do enjoy hearing the alternative story in everything. Some may become upset when presented with another history but I like to learn from it. There is always something to learn. The truth is, the why of things can usually be told in one sentence, motivations are easy to state but don't make much of a story. Explaining those motivations however is a whole new ballgame !
This became a bit more evident to me just the other day. I was writing about St. Matthew's chapel. An alternate history was proposed by a friend, including a referenced article. I read that article with interest, comparing it to the history I had been told by my Mom. Now if you learn some history from your mother you kinda believe it ! That is as it should be. Thing is, Mom didn't know all the history as that history had started before her time. I went to the internet for some more information.
As it turned out Mom was correct in her history. She had the basic facts correct. There was, of course, more to the story than that. The article shared by a friend discussed some of that history. That history took place in my time and being only a few years old I was unaware. By the time I was old enough to begin to understand that was old news, common knowledge, and not discussed much. That little chapel is where Mom went to church as a child. In her adult life however she did not go there as that chapel was rarely used. Mom took us children to the big church uptown. St. Luke's is like a cathedral compared to that chapel. Mom would point that chapel out as we drove past and tell us of going to church there. She told of the pot bellied stove for heating and the old pump organ. There were few pews and the place would be crowded. We kids always thought she was just telling tales, like walking to school five miles and all that. As it turns out what she said is the truth. What she didn't know was that that chapel was also used by other congregations. The Baptist people of the town had no church or chapel of their own. The Episcopal church that owned the chapel allowed them to use it, at least on one occasion they did, as that was mentioned in the article I was provided. They held a meeting there and decided to build their own church. Funds were raised and the church was constructed. The Calvary Baptist Church was less than twenty years old when I was growing up but I thought that church had been there forever.
It was this little foray into history that lead to this thought today. Often times the little things of everyday life get overlooked. The how and why of things can get lost or misunderstood. The machinations of men can conceal the truth as well. The truth is dependant upon the honesty and direct knowledge of the author. To understand history one must understand motivations. It is those motivations that are the grey areas. I do think it is best to keep in mind just because something is written down that doesn't mean it is the truth. It very well may be the truth of the author but not the whole truth. I do enjoy hearing the alternative story in everything. Some may become upset when presented with another history but I like to learn from it. There is always something to learn. The truth is, the why of things can usually be told in one sentence, motivations are easy to state but don't make much of a story. Explaining those motivations however is a whole new ballgame !
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