History

Some years ago, our family farm was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination process is fairly short and simple. Earning the honor of actually being placed in the register isn't simple at all.

First of all, it requires a story. A story that summarizes why your parcel, home, farm, or building deserves to be considered of national importance. It also requires a tremendous amount of research and explanation to support that story.

Hence, my favorite saying, "History belongs to those who write it."

I knew a lot about my husband's family (the one that had been on the farm since 1902). Maybe I knew a little too much. And, to be honest, I had my own set of prejudices. But, I pledged to tell the whole story, the true story, and nothing else.

In the beginning, I researched the land itself. Its ownership could be traced through nine, just nine, individual families, since the Revolutionary War. That's right, the Revolutionary War. Prior to that, it had been a "territory", the white man's name for real estate that had been home to Indigenous people who lived on it for millennia. The US government used that land to pay for the services of soldiers who fought for US freedom from Great Britain. But that's another story, so I'll speed forward again to the history that connects my own life to this land.

I interviewed every sibling in the family that I could, carefully including stories, anecdotes, and memories in copious volumes of handwritten notes. As I listened, I heard a lot of "I's"..."I did this" and "I did that" or "I remember it this way". Some of those "I-stories" conflicted with my own memories, some were in complete synchronicity, and others I had never heard before. Some of them were hilarious, but some raised genuine angst in my heart for the version I might currently be listening to bore no resemblance to what another person or even myself remembered. Emotions ran deep through those memories - love, humor, anger, love, jealousy, bitterness, passion, did I say, love?

When the actual writing of the story began, I found myself facing the most difficult task of all. The actual application to the Archives was limited. Yes, limited. I couldn't include all the stories.

I found myself having to choose which stories to include and which to omit. I began by including those stories that everyone told "the same". There were parts of the family story that had almost no variation, no matter who told the details. It was easy to include them since the unity of the telling indicated an agreement on the history.

But, as the story moved into the modern generations, it got harder and harder to choose. The "I- stories" became more prevalent and the variations in details became far more obvious. Finally, I went back to one of my earliest interviews and a comment that had stuck in my head even though I didn't know why until that moment of choosing. One of the siblings had quietly suggested, "Remember to tell the truth as best you can garner it, regardless of how it impacted you or others. Include the details equally from everyone."

Reflecting on his words made me realize that it's where the stories overlap that the truth lies. The overlaps reveal the events rather than the emotions that affect history. Ponder that when you're reading historical materials. Who wrote it? How soon after the event/s? Is it a personal story or real history?

Emotions are important because they drive the action. But, that's for another time, another version of history.

#farmlife #educationmatters