tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3589678736004297790.post9201420284448668659..comments2023-10-27T15:05:50.775-04:00Comments on ArchivesInfo: The History Books Forgot About Usarchivesinfohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11173735671172866919noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3589678736004297790.post-33155456934126738272012-04-26T08:03:52.317-04:002012-04-26T08:03:52.317-04:00Good point Jacqi! Actually, one of the reasons I m...Good point Jacqi! Actually, one of the reasons I moved to New England was because of those "dead white men" stories. When I got here, I learned more about people such as the mill girls and midwives and realized they are equally fascinating. It's not a matter of one community's story taking precedence over another. It's a matter of giving diverse stories equal weight - ensuring that the "underdocumented" are documented so that we know how all members of society influenced each other.archivesinfohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11173735671172866919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3589678736004297790.post-52627329655131772432012-04-25T22:17:26.985-04:002012-04-25T22:17:26.985-04:00While I wholeheartedly agree with your message her...While I wholeheartedly agree with your message here, Melissa, I have to remember that half of my own ancestry happens to be comprised of what some historians disdainfully toss aside as "dead white men."<br /><br />I like to think of those "dead white men" as the infrastructure of Western history's timeline. They shaped the major trends that changed our world, for better or for worse. Much like Escher's hands drawing themselves, as they shaped world history, they also bestowed me with my own family micro-history. I, too, become what I make of myself, but also what that heritage has produced in me. In order to understand myself and my heritage, I need some infrastructure on which to hang that overarching meaning. So I can't really just ditch that pre-1960s "outmoded" look at history. I need it as a tool of trend- as well as self-evaluation.<br /><br />And yet, we do see life from our own perspective, seeing outward from our own familiar story. That "other" history impacts us much more than we impact it. But that perspective becomes an integral tool in teaching young people about the trends of the past--how their own timeline, and that of their own family has integrated--or clashed with--the macro-trends of history.<br /><br />A lot to think about here!Jacqi Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03471698670217119444noreply@blogger.com