Library Lines
I started out my college career as a history major. I fell in love with the past when I was about 10 years old and never lost that fascination. I didn’t know what I would do with a history degree. Teaching was the obvious answer, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to teach. What I really wanted to do was continue to meet in that little pub/restaurant just off campus – the one with benches and tables made of huge, heavy blocks of oak. They served peasant soup and hot bread and mulled wine, and we would gather and argue about the merits of Greek phalanx battle formation or the intricate politics of England during the Wars of the Roses. That was a career choice I could embrace!
One member of our group was from England, and I remember her asking me about memorizing the presidents in elementary school. She thought it would be much easier than memorizing the Kings of England. I replied with, “You’re kidding, right?” She wasn’t. It got me thinking, though. First, why don’t we memorize the presidents? But more importantly, we have the potential for a new president every four years; when does a past administration become history? My guess is, when enough time has passed that the media is no longer involved and the historians step in to tell us what really happened.
The Hillsboro Library recently purchased a set of documentaries produced by Public Broadcasting Service. They are part of a large group called the American Experience. Hillsboro librarian Elwood Groves selected roughly 20 DVDs, and a number of them revolve around past presidents: Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, LBJ, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and John F. Kennedy. Now, several of these presidents do not fit into what I call “history,” but enough time has passed that we may get a clearer picture of America during their administrations. We might even learn something we didn’t know before! The new Hillsboro collection also includes documentaries about Annie Oakley, Jesse James, Geronimo and Custer’s last stand to name a few.
And before you ask, yes, those all fall into my personal history category.
Check out this new collection at the Hillsboro Library. Whatever your personal history parameters might be, I’m sure you’ll find something of interest!