This is what I do. I tell the same story, with little variation, several times a day, every day of the year. For most of the people who hear the story, its a story they've never heard before; simply because it's not the same old story.
I try to be guided by this sage quote by Max Beerbohm:
"History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another."
Many historians, it seems, tell the story of the battle of Antietam as though the participants possessed that which historians have (and so take for granted); 146 years of combined analysis of the battle.
The result being that we are left to judge the men of Antietam by higher standards than we are willing to be judged ourselves.
This year, I tried to bring some humility to my tours and programs, announcing up front to my audiences that, unlike most historians, I'm willing to make only two generalizations about the generals who met on the banks of Antietam creek to engage in the thirteen-hour struggle that became "America's Bloodiest Day".
Those assumptions:
1. All of the generals who came here, came here expecting to win.
2. All of the generals who fought here believed that they were doing their duty.
And for just about all of my visitors, this story, the one I tell several times a day, every day of the year, is new and refreshing ground.
Humility is a very good thing, especially for me, especially in my feeble attempts to describe the epic efforts of those who have given us the gift of our history.
I am very grateful to have this most humbling, and most satisfying profession, that of a Park Ranger in your National Park.
"History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another."
Many historians, it seems, tell the story of the battle of Antietam as though the participants possessed that which historians have (and so take for granted); 146 years of combined analysis of the battle.
The result being that we are left to judge the men of Antietam by higher standards than we are willing to be judged ourselves.
This year, I tried to bring some humility to my tours and programs, announcing up front to my audiences that, unlike most historians, I'm willing to make only two generalizations about the generals who met on the banks of Antietam creek to engage in the thirteen-hour struggle that became "America's Bloodiest Day".
Those assumptions:
1. All of the generals who came here, came here expecting to win.
2. All of the generals who fought here believed that they were doing their duty.
And for just about all of my visitors, this story, the one I tell several times a day, every day of the year, is new and refreshing ground.
Humility is a very good thing, especially for me, especially in my feeble attempts to describe the epic efforts of those who have given us the gift of our history.
I am very grateful to have this most humbling, and most satisfying profession, that of a Park Ranger in your National Park.
Mannie
...and thanks for sticking with me through 400 posts to this blog.
...
