The Scale of History

By participating in the 2012 Teaching American History expedition to Philadelphia I have gained a greater understanding of the scale of American History.  History’s scale, in this enhanced understanding, works in both directions as small items play an equally important part as the large ones.  Visiting a location such as Mount Vernon illustrates this point wonderfully.  The estate at Mount Vernon is vast, impressive and of course the longtime home of George Washington the colossal figure of the American Revolution and early republic.  However, not only do the interpreters working at Mount Vernon share the story of George Washington, they share the story of Billy Lee an enslaved African American.  This is crucial because to properly understand Mount Vernon one must know both the story of George Washington and the stories of hundreds of slaves who lived, worked, and died at the plantation.  Our history is made by both those great and small.  I will be a better teacher because I understand that America produces great historical places, events, and figures just as every-day Americans have produced great history.

The 2012 Philadelphia trip will enhance my instruction of several topics.  Here is how the experience will improve my teaching of important topics in American History:

 

The Enlightenment

My experience at the Franklin Institute and Monticello will improve how I teach my students about the Enlightenment.  Primarily, I can rely on those two locations to explain how the Enlightenment encompassed a broad range of topics.  Holding a lightening rod made by Benjamin Franklin in my hands really made the connection between science and history come alive.  I would like to incorporate some collaborative teaching with a science instructor to bring that connection into my classroom.   An enlightened thinker was a student of science, philosophy, architecture, history, politics, and archeology.  Upon entering the Monticello it is plain to see how Thomas Jefferson embodied all of those pursuits.

The Founding Fathers

By visiting Monticello, Mount Vernon, and Montpelier I have a profoundly greater understanding of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison.  You can learn much about a person from visiting their home.  However, our time at the National Constitution Center and the lecture from Dr. Carol Berkin provided me with great insights and wonderful teaching material.  The in-depth view of the Constitutional Convention provided by Berkin will allow me to take an event that many students find dry (a major disappointment, by the way) and humanize it to make it relevant.  Students will love to learn about the personal conflicts between delegates as well as their personal flaws.  Who wouldn’t be drawn into a story that includes Gouv Morris, a one-legged lothario?

The Revolutionary War

My approach to teaching the Revolutionary War has been most impacted by our experience at Valley Forge.  (I will also benefit from learning more about Trenton, Princeton, and the Battle of Germantown.)  I can teach the students at Fountain-Fort Carson High School more accurately now that I understand living conditions faced by the soldiers and the size of the encampment itself.  I was impressed by the cabins, mound ovens, and general organization of Valley Forge.  It was a place where an army could live and train rather, not just a wilderness location of suffering.  My students will learn about the poor, unemployed young men who became professional soldiers at Valley Forge rather than the misleading narrative of the citizen-soldiers of the Revolution.

The Civil War

Last year Gettysburg was the only military engagement of the American Civil War that I spent any significant amount of time to teach.  Moving away from battles, I chose to focus on the social and political differences between the North and South and I highlighted the different military strategies pursued by each party.  I also spent a great deal of time covering the Civil War experience of black Americans.  This year, whether I change my teaching strategies or not, when I approach the battle of Gettysburg my instruction will be much improved.  Having experienced the size of the battlefield I can place in better context how such massive armies arrived at the town’s crossroads and engaged in the most crucial battle of the war.  By standing on Little Round Top I better understand the desperate fighting that occurred there and I can convey that information to my students.  The ‘Ruffle’s Potato Chip’ topography between Seminary and Cemetery Ridge will allow me to better explain Robert E. Lee’s decision to assault the Union Army’s center on the third and final day.

The 2012 Teaching American History grant has provided me tremendous opportunities to improve as an educator.  History is made by the decisions that people make every day.  In studying American History my students will understand that big events and everyday individuals are equally important to understanding our American narrative.

A Monument to Many

In the middle of panel 26E on line 21 there is a name.  Upon finding it I am overcome with great sadness and tightness in my chest.  I feel a large lump growing in my throat.  I force a smile in a defiant effort to stop the tears welling up in my eyes.  I am choked up over the death of man that I have never met   I do not cry, but others do so openly while they look and touch the names of their lost loved ones.  I am at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. making a rubbing of Ray A. Archuletta’s name.

Ray Archuletta served in the United States Army for twelve years.  His third and final tour in Vietnam started on March 10, 1967 and five months later he would be killed.  He died in Quang Ngai, South Vietnam due to hostile gun and small arms fire.  My father described his last conversation with our cousin Ray which occurred in our hometown of Florence, Colorado shortly before he shipped out for his last tour.  My father, a young fifteen year old teenager at the time, asked Ray simply why he was going back.  Ray Archuletta replied he was going back to Vietnam because “that is where the army is and that is where I belong. “  Ray Archuletta is the recipient of two Silver Stars and one Bronze star for his bravery.

The Vietnam Veterans War memorial is a powerful place.  It is not picturesque.  It does not raise high into the horizon.  It is not a statue of a great and quotable man.  It is a list of names.  And each name, like my cousin Ray, has a story.  This memorial allows family and friends to honor their loved ones lost during unpopular war.  At the same time it allows each and every visitor to feel the loss of others, even soldiers they did not or could not know.

Standing at the wall and looking at row after row of names has the striking effect of making each inscription appear to be quite small.  There are, after all 58,267 names listed in the chronological order of their date of casualty.  The National Parks Services explains that this is done in order to show the war as a series of individual sacrifices.  You can ask a park ranger for a strip of paper to create a rubbing of a name on the wall.  When you do this the individual letters of a soldiers name no longer appear small but become remarkably large.  The effect of seeing a single name, alone framed by the stark whiteness of a strip of paper, turns that casualty into a person.  Even better, that name becomes a person who has been found, honored and remembered.  The wall’s designer, Maya Ying Lin intended the design of the memorial to have this effect as she explained “The names would become the memorial.”*

Approved on July 1, 1980 and finally built and dedicated on November 13, 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is about healing from the wounds of the conflict itself.  The memorial makes no political statement thus separating the soldiers from the anti-war movement of the 1960s.  The war had many opponents and sadly, during the time the soldiers often received a portion of this antagonism.  The wall is also designed to harmonize with the environment in the Constitutional Gardens and be reflective.  The angle of the wall allows a person to submerge below the busy streets and crowds in the capitol.  It is meant to provide privacy and opportunity for a tender moment.  It can invoke emotions in people like me, visiting someone they have never met.  Because it is not political, because it is quiet and unassuming, because it recognizes a person, like Ray Archuletta the Vietnam Veterans Memorial allows for healing of old wounds from a divisive time in our past that may not have had the chance to heal.

The Unknown Face of History

One of the unknown gems of our nations past is the house of Benjamin Chew.  Sitting in Germantown Pennsylvania, the property served as the summer residence of Chew family.  Prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Benjamin Chew presided over the final colonial court of Pennsylvania as the chief justice.  Serving in that capacity brought Chew both prestige and wealth but his summer house is not remembered because he owned it, but rather because the battle of Germantown was fought in his front lawn.

On October 4, 1777 General George Washington contrived a complex plan to attack the British army encamped near Germantown.  The first part of the battle plan called for the Continental Army to use the cover of darkness to assault the British right before dawn.  During the march Washington divided his forces giving them specific instructions for where and when they should reunite.  In this era a nighttime attack that hinged on timing would be quite the risky move.  Adding to this risk was the weather on October 4^th.  The combination of cold autumn air and heat from the ground created a thick blanket of fog which stifled the progress of one of Washington’s columns making an entire section of his army late for the timed attack as they were unable to find the road they needed to march on to flank the enemy.

The massing of the Continental Army alerted the British and they began to withdraw from the town, but not before a regiment of redcoats occupied the house of Benjamin Chew.  General Washington first decided to surround the house effectively trapping the British soldiers inside and pursue the main body of the enemy army.  Several regiments of Continentals had already passed the house when a number of Washington’s junior officers convinced him that the British must be removed from the house.  They argued that Continental Army would be compromised by leaving the enemy in a position at the rear of their column.  Heeding to this argument Washington ordered the house to be attacked.  From inside the Chew house 100 British soldiers fought off the Continental Army and denied them possession of the property.  The efforts of the British regiment inside the Chew house allowed for the rest of their army to reorganize and march back towards Germantown.  This caused General Washington to call for a withdrawal and the battle ended in a stalemate.

What makes this a wonderful unknown story of American history is the access to the house as a historical artifact itself and the knowledge and energy of the historical interpreters.  The front of the Chew house, still in its original state bears the scars of battle as bullets and small cannon fire have left their mark on the brick façade of the property.  Several rifles picked up off of the laws after the battle lay within an arm’s reach of a visitor (but you can’t touch them).  There are 18^th century books stacked on the shelves worth millions of dollars.  Original paintings hang on the interior walls.  The Chew house and its interpreters brought the battle back to life.  They made history tangible.  In my argument, something like the Chew house and the battle of Germantown have largely been swallowed up by our textbooks to make room for the Valley Forge story.  What most of us know about Valley Forge is actually more American myth than fact.  The weather was unseasonable warm during the Valley Forge winter, not unbearably cold.  Soldiers were not out in the open and starving lived in 12 by 12 wooden cabins and foraged the Pennsylvania countryside for food.  The encampment was not the home to a handful of citizen-soldiers but rather the winter quarters of a 12,000 strong professional force of enlistments made up of young men, the poor, and immigrants.  Here’s the point, the history of our past (like the Chew house) is so much richer than its mystique.  Find the real faces and places of history and learn their story and you will not be let down.

 

Speak Continental

One of the interesting things about delving into our past is discovering the origin for common American phrases. For example, when someone tells you to “sleep tight” they want you to get a good night’s sleep. The term itself is derived from the 17th century when people developed rope beds which had to be tightened so you would not wake up dragging your rear end on the floor.

I have come across a few 18th century terms that are still used today. I have used http://www.urbandictionary.com to define them for you here:

Bite the Bullet: To do something that is right, even though the outcome is going to suck ass for you

Blowing Smoke: A euphemism for spouting nonsense and red herrings or general bullshitting

Half Cocked: Acting on assumptions or partial information

Now let’s compare these definitions to their origin. To “bite the bullet” would be an indication that you had suffered through some incredibly painful medical procedure. During the Revolutionary War if you were wounded or had developed some type of infection it may have been necessary to amputate a limb in order to save your life. Generally, a half dozen people would hold you down and you would be given a lead musket ball to bite down on to help deal with the pain. The writers of Urban Dictionary are right on. That would definitely suck for you.

Disease killed more soldiers during the Revolution than enemy armies. Smallpox was especially nasty as it had four different strains all capable of killing a man. George Washington ordered that all of his soldiers receive an inoculation to help stem the effects of this disease. 18th century surgeons believed it best for a person to be cleaned out prior to an inoculation. They would do this in three different ways. You could drink a vinegar and milk concoction or be bled. The term “blowing smoke” comes from option number three. A surgeon or a nurse could give a soldier a smoke enema to induce what one could only imagine as a big time case of the runs.

Half cocked is actually something a soldier would hear on the battlefield. Soldiers would have to move the hammer of their muskets to the “half cocked” position so they could fill the flint pan with powder (Have you ever heard “flash in the pan”?). The soldier would then place the butt of the musket on the ground and pour the rest of the black powder and the ball down the barrel, ram it, shoulder the weapon and then pull the hammer back to the fully cocked position and wait for the order to fire.

So there you have it, you should all be speaking nearly fluent Continental. This post is just for fun and I will be adding to it as I run across more phrases from our past.

 

 

 

The Most Important Dog Pound in the World!

What makes something historic?

There are certainly several variables that should be considered before christening something as an important historical site, document, person, or event.

Is it the real McCoy? Authenticity is going to be an important factor when determining the historic importance of something, right? If you are a true nerd like me, it is hard to beat the excitement of reading THE actual document or visiting THE site that something great occurred. But if you visit enough archives or historic land marks you learn that over the years places and things are renovated, updated, and replicated so much that what you are actually looking at has percentage of authenticity at best and is probably a facsimile.

Does age matter? Considering the question of authenticity you would think that surviving the battle against time would make something a lock for becoming historic. Think about latrines. No, really. At the Betsy Ross House we had a discussion on latrine construction. To make a latrine you dig a hole around 15 feet deep and line it with bricks so that it does not collapse on itself then you start filling it up. Easy. After time the human waste erodes away and you are left with broken pots, thrown out boots, chicken bones, or what I like to call “trash.” These items are great because they allow for archaeologists and historians to better interpret how people from the past lived and share their findings with everyone else. The information that a broken piece of pottery can give us is important for historical analysis, but is the br0ken pottery itself historic?

How about the way something is used? The Pennsylvania State House, better known to you and me as Independence Hall should totally have this requirement covered. It is the site where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. In 1887 members attending the Delegates Convention shuttered the building’s windows and wrote the Constitution. During the last decade of the eighteenth century the federal government used the space as the legislative branch drafted its first legislation and the Supreme Court called its first session from inside Independence Hall. Here is the funny thing; the lowest level of Independence Hall was home to the Philadelphia dog pound for decades during the twentieth century.  The dogs inhabited Independence Hall much longer than the founding fathers.

Here’s the thing, something’s authenticity, age, and purpose can make it historic, or not. What really makes something important is how an individual perceives, understands, and uses the information that places, things, and people from the past hold. History is about interpretation. Convincing interpretation is about argument. Argument is about passionate ideas. Get passionate about something and you will make it historic.

…Like Disneyland for Democracy

While at the National constitution Center I had the pleasure of listening Dr. Carol Berkin, a scholar of the American Revolution, expound on the humanity of the constitutional framers.  It is important that we remember to view these men, who labored throughout the hot and humid summer of 1887, as men with peg legs, drinking problems, warts and all.  Not a single delegate out of the 55 attending the convention could stop a speeding bullet, outrun a train, or walk on water.  Realistically, the delegates were among the best educated men in the country but that fact says more about the social class of the framers rather than any true brilliance.  Berkin explained that the government created by the Constitution with its three distinct branches and separation of powers that actually mirrored colonial and European government Americans would have been quite familiar with during the eighteenth century.  The one unique governing concept produced by the framers was Federalism.  That’s right, Federalism, the simple division of power between a sovereign national government and sovereign state governments.  Our framers did not unify power, they divided it.

This division of power has been a vehicle of our American story.  Federalism, in Berkin’s words, is “an engine of history” driving the conflicts that have shaped our world.  A great case in point, would there have been a need for forced integration under the watchful eye of the National Guard if the states would have ended the practice of segregation the day after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Brown v. the Board of Education decision?  The other catalyst of American history has been the struggle for inclusion.  The expansion and protection of citizenship rights has been a battle fought on several occasions by women and various ethnic groups for over two centuries.

This brings me to my point, freedom is fight.  Democracy in America is the story of ordinary people struggling for what they want.  It is not, as American lore would have us all believe, a divinely inspired document created in a flash of lightening by demi-Gods that outlines our governing principles.  This truth is embodied by our framers, our real HUMAN framers.  The delegates battled for months to produce a NEEDED change.  I have been reminded recently that American people will rise up and fight for change anytime the need becomes great enough.  This need could be working for a better education or for access to resources that will allow for economic upward mobility, for anything really.

So, if we choose to study history, let us study how Americans fight for rights and inclusion.  What we will find is greater than any yarn ever spun.  If we choose to honor men and women from the past, let us honor them as ordinary people making the best decisions that they can under a given set of circumstances.  If we claim that America is like “Disneyland for Democracy” let’s be sure that we know how scary the rides are and who took the time to stand in line.  That’s how we can honor our framers and that’s how we can come to understand the framework for government that they created.

The Final Countdown…

 

Tomorrow I will be leaving colorful Colorado to attend my second trip sponsored by the Teaching American History grant.  We will be visiting Revolutionary and Civil War sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.  I am extremely excited to have this opportunity and I will use this blog to document my experience.  In addition to exploring historical sites I am interested in observing the sights and sounds of new cities and to mingle with some new folks.  Thanks for joining me, feel free to leave comments, ask questions, or share any tidbits of information that you’d think myself and others would enjoy.

 

P.S.

Now that I have had the pleasure of reflecting on my New England experience I have a short list of musts for anyone travelling to the Boston area:

1.  Ride the ferry at sunset!  Standing in the brisk sea air is really quite cool plus (if you are lucky like us or unlucky like the troubled boater) you may get to take part in a rescue at sea.

2.  Watch a ball game at Fenway Park and order a couple of Fenway Franks.  This stadium offers a tight, intimate experience and I doubt that there is a bad seat in the house.

3.  Hang out with a foodie!  Obviously I know that this may not be possible for all travelers but knowing someone who can find you a great bowl of chowder at the drop of a hat is a good thing.

4.  Mingle with the locals at the Green Dragon Tavern for the best rendition of “Brown Eyed Girl” that you’ve ever heard.

5. Go to Beerworks.  I had the chance to imbibe a few at Boston Beerworks and Salem Beerworks and I enjoyed tasty selections ranging from chili beer (it could only possibly be improved by using Pueblo Chilies) to watermelon beer.

6.  Find your favorite genre of books at the Harvard C0-op Bookstore and enjoy the selection.  It’s even okay to make believe that you are a student for a fleeting moment or two.

7.  Go for a run.  Pounding the pavement really opens your eyes to your new environment.  Salem is a great town full of uneven brick sidewalks, views of the bay, and interesting architecture.

8.  Try not to make fun of Boston accents.  This one, quite frankly, is damn near impossible but it must get old for Boston natives to hear a bunch of out of town hicks say “Lobstah!” over and over and over and over again.

9.  Swim in Walden Pond.  I did not have the chance to take a dip but when I visit again on my own I am making this a priority.  At Walden do not make the mistake of calling the pond a lake.  IT”S NOT A LAKE!  And the employees do not have any qualms about correcting you if you make that mistake.

10.  Go with friends and try not to get lost.  

Growing Through History

A truly fatal thought about the study of history held by some casual observers is that the content never changes.  This false belief has the power to become problematic if it causes a lack of concern by school districts to purchase new texts or a stagnation of student interest in history.  A dagger in the heart of any teacher are the words “Oh, we’ve learned about this already” or “ahhh, this again” coming from the mouths of their students.  Throughout the 2011 Teaching American History Grant trip to Boston, Massachusetts I have revisited several historical topics that are familiar to most Americans.  As Americans we all know about the pilgrims, the Salem Witch Trials, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere but sadly, that knowledge is often far from a historical understanding of each event.  It is through the lens of the historian that the bogus claim that history never changes can be dispelled.  By analyzing the historiography of those well known events teachers and students can achieve historical understanding of our past and discern between well supported historical arguments and American lore.  It is through that type of student engagement that a teacher can cast away any deep sighs or rolling eyes.  History belongs to the best argument and it is safe to say that dust seldom settles. 

Throughout this experience professional historians like Dr. Tad Baker and Dr. Pauline Meier have engaged us with their expertise and their arguments about colonial New England and the Revolutionary Era.  After standing in facsimile 17^th century structures at Plimouth Plantation and seeing firsthand how incredibly close colonial American families lived, Dr. Baker’s argument about the Salem Witch Trials becomes quite compelling.  According to Dr. Baker the accusations of witchcraft in 1692 did not stem from poisonous mushrooms or the fancies of teenage girls but rather from the repeated exposure of the girls to the condemnation of Reverend Parris’ enemies by the good reverend himself.  In an era where the devil’s work was a tangible experience hearing through the thin walls that someone was evil because they would not provide your family with the firewood that you believed you were owed could create a deep impression.  Dr. Meier’s lecture at the Massachusetts Historical Society echoed the argument of her book American Scripture:  Making the Declaration of Independence.  Her argument establishes the Declaration of Independence as a document with chameleon like characteristics where the text essentially has meant different things to different people during different eras of time.  It is a work, according to Meier, that Americans project their personal thoughts and feelings upon.  Both of these professionals demonstrated that history changes, analytical arguments are important, and that the past is still relevant. 

One of the pleasures from this expedition is the creation of a depth of understanding about early America.  The life of patriot Paul Revere is a great example of how history comes alive when the learner makes connections to an event that reach below the surface.  Not only do most Americans have a false understanding of Revere’s “Midnight Ride” in which he warned his fellow patriots that the regulars were out but, I would argue, most Americans do not know about his exceptional life before and after the American Revolution.  Revere was an outstanding entrepreneur.  Throughout his life he was an artist, craftsman, dentist, silversmith, and bell maker.  According to the staff at the Paul Revere House, Revere made dentures out of hippopotamus tusk and was the first person in America to act as a forensic dentist.   After the battle of Bunker Hill, Revere identified the body of Dr. Warren through the dental records he kept after fitting the doctor with dentures.  Examining private letters from Revere to his wife also reveal him as a loving husband and father who cared deeply about his family.  Without this trip it would be easy to continue to perpetuate the same old story about Revere however, making a connection to Revere’s entire life story and not merely a section of it forces one to see the impact of robust historical work.

In previous years I have taught American Government and Civics and have not had the time or the latitude to truly teach an in-depth analysis of colonial America or the Revolutionary Era.  This upcoming school year, however, I have been given the task of teaching my first United States History courses.  The information I learned during the TAH Boston Cohort will have an immediate impact on my prospective students.   I am now prepared to teach about the pilgrims, the Salem Witch Trials, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party but what makes this experience special is that I am also ready to teach about colonial architecture, industry such as the Saugus Ironworks and the Lowell Textile Mills, and the impact of native cultures such as the Wampanoag.  I am excited to work with my colleagues and the professionals from George Mason University and turn what I have learned into engaging lesson plans that I will use this fall.  I am thankful for this opportunity to travel to places that I have only read about as the Boston trip has truly made me grow professionally and personally through the study of history. 

 

How Fie Built Our Country

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Fie:  A term used to express disproval of, or annoyance or disgust with somebody or something. 

Huzzah:  An expression or shout of exclaim—often used interjectionally to express joy or approbation

On December 16, 1773 angry Bostonians gathered at Old South Meeting House to contest the question of what to do with a single docked ship loaded with tea.  The colonists did not have an issue with the tea itself, but they did oppose the tax recently placed on that commodity by King George III of England.  To compound the issue, the colonists did not counter the amount of the duty placed on tea as it was quite miniscule and within the common man’s ability to pay.  What they disapproved of was the fact that the King taxed them without their consent.  The Sons of Liberty, like many Bostonians, seriously objected to the tea tax and on the night of the December 16^th they poorly disguised themselves as Native Americans, boarded the ship in question, and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.  In today’s currency that translates into about $1 million.  This act did not occur spontaneously.  Members of the Sons of Liberty spent time at the Green Dragon Tavern collaborating on a plan to destroy the tea.  During the gathering at the Old South Meeting House, Samuel Adams signaled the operatives in attendance by stating “This meeting can do no more to save the country!”  And with that, the Sons of Liberty sprang into action resulting in the Boston Tea Party. 

Fie built our country.  When the Bostonians forced the removal of British troops from their city after the Boston Massacre in 1770 they used expressions of disgust to make their point.  Paul Revere’s engraving of the event which greatly exaggerated the carnage of the British troops no doubt annoyed royalists.  When Bostonians plotted and executed the destruction of tea because they did not want to pay a tax that they could afford, they did it to express disapproval.  Each and every response from the colonials reeks of fie.  The fie in America has continued to define us.  Americans have not and do not cave to the powers that be and submit to the way things are quietly, we are a rambunctious group.  Disagreements between Federalist and Anti-Federalists forged the Bill of Rights.  Competing ideology created political parties.  Differing ideas about free labor and slave labor split the country in two and the fie still did not stop.  We gave former slaves rights and then made a practice of ignoring them.  Women wanted to vote and lobbied until they secured that right, and fie the hell not.  We made liquor illegal and then made it legal again, why?  Fie.

Fie is a good thing.  I take that back, fie is a great thing.  Because our country is built on a principle that our government represents the will of the people those in the minority will always have a voice.  If you have a voice you have power to make change. Today on the steps of the Massachusetts State Building I took a picture of people protesting for the rights of immigrants.  Whether you agree with the protestors or not you have to appreciate their use of the First Amendment.  The museum inside of the Old South Meeting House holds a statue of Margaret Sanger.  Sanger was a Feminist, not a feminist and during the early 20^th century she spoke out for the rights of women.  She worked to combat the Comstock Laws, which outlawed the distribution of “unsavory” materials via the U.S. Postal Service so she could teach women about contraception.  Her statue shows her with tape over her mouth to protest the fact that she was not free in Boston to lecture on the topic of sex.  Read her work Motherhood in Bondage and you will understand how, just two generations ago, women were affected by lack of information Sanger was not allowed present.

To keep the fie alive and well the Old South Meeting House has allowed controversial speakers to use their facility as a platform for public discussion.  They have a free speech policy and do not deny anyone the chance to argue their point of view.  In the 1990’s the Meeting House allowed David Duke, the one-time Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, to speak within its walls.  I am sure that he experienced fie first hand.  Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving huzzahs to those that deserve it for their work.  Many people in our country need a huzzah now and then.  School teachers, huzzah!  Soldiers, huzzah!  Nurses, huzzah!  Good parents, huzzah!  Anyone else who warrants a huzzah, huzzah!  And I’d like to give a huzzah to the Old South Meeting House for giving me my fie, huzzah!