Sincerely, 

                                                                                             Johanna Yaun

                                                                                             Orange County Historian

 

There's been lots of talk in the historical community about the role of the NYS Historian since Robert Weible vacated the position in July 2015. This debate has been dominated by a tremendous outpouring of interest in seeing the position restored to include greater resources and autonomy that it was granted in past decades. As the hiring committee interviews possible candidates this week, historians are hoping that the position will be f illed by an individual who is a true advocate for historical preservation and interpretation. 

Here's a recap of the public discussion that has been happening over the past several months:

On Municipal Historians, by Johanna Yaun

On State Ed Bureaucracy, Responsibilities, by Robert Weible

An Open Letter To NYS The Education Commissioner, Sent to New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia from Carol Kammen and Judy Wellman. 

Keep state's vital history from completely fading away, by Robert Weible

After Gibbons gave a bit of his own history and journey from a Cornwall kid to his present post, he shared facts about the Smithsonian's beginnings (a donation by an Englishman, James Smithsen who believed that knowledge was a good thing and that it should be free to the public), the most popular items on display (Dorothy's shoes from The Wizard of Oz, the Hope Diamond, and the flag that inspired Frances Scott Key to compose The Star Spangled Banner), and the total number of items in the Institute's entire collection:  well over 138 million!

But, it's the small stories, the small items that draw us in, that give one goose bumps, in particular the stories that Gibbons shared about Abraham Lincoln.  Take the black and white, Matthew Brady photo of Lincoln in white suit.  Not the typical color for a new lawyer in New York City, but Lincoln was told that with his 6'6 frame,  he'd stand out already, so Lincoln thought he'd go all out; an example of Lincoln's sense of humor.   And the simple tea cup.  Before Lincoln met with the public, either one person or a thousand, he would ask for a cup of tea and a few moments to "meditate," his own term for time to get his head together for the meeting to come.  The cup that was found by a housekeeper was the one he was using just before the White House butler came to inform the President that the carriage that was to take him and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre had arrived.  He placed the cup on a window sill, and the curtain had fallen over and hid it from view, not to be discovered until after all his items were hastily packed up and placed into storage.   There's also a handball that Lincoln, the competitive  handball player, used in the White House.  (Did you know that it was he that built the handball court in the White House basement?)

Gibbons explained that not everyone will get everything in an historic exhibit, but when there is a personal connection, like the tea lover who will remember Lincoln's cup of tea, or the athlete who is also competitive on the handball court, it makes history personal. 

As Gibbons said, it's the personal connections that inspire us to appreciate history, like the ties that Cornwall has to the Institute.  In a diary written by William Steinway, of the Steinway Piano company, he writes about spending the night in Cornwall, and what a great time he had.  Or the wooden statue of the figure Columbia, on display at the entrance to the Institute, that once graced a Hudson River riverboat.  And, when history is personal, it's remembered and appreciated, and revered.  As many artifacts and treasures are destroyed in countries around the world, it's good to remember this quote, the last slide in Gibbons lecture.  It's from a 20th century Czech historian, Milan Hubi, "The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory.  Destroy its books, its culture, its history...Before long, the nation will forget what it is, and what it was."