How to Make History Come Alive

As a lover of history, I always struggled with the question of how to make history come alive for other people.  For some reason, I always loved studying about the past and, in particular, learning about the many great individuals who built our country into the greatest nation on earth.  I appreciated as well learning about other nations and even ancient history.  Call me a nerd but I couldn’t get enough of this stuff, and I could not understand why some people were so bored by this.  History was a living thing for me, and I wondered how to make history come alive for other people.  I found out that there is a way to do it.

Obviously, you can’t make someone like something.  But you can lead them gently in that direction by opening their minds to a new perspective.  Our family vacations were something we looked forward to every year and there was always a question about how many graves or President’s homes are we going to see?  Interspersed with days at a pool or beach were trips to some historic site in the area.  Just a couple of hours here and there to learn something new about our history and make what they were learning in school a little more meaningful.  I realized that this was how to make history come alive for people who don’t have a natural appreciation for learning about the past.

 How to make History come alive?
Travel and other experience are a great start!

A trip to the Washington D.C. area included a trip to Mount Vernon and the home of George Washington.  Who could not be impressed with the beautiful backdrop of the Potomac River right outside of his home?  We went to lunch in nearby Alexandria at Gadsby’s Tavern where General Washington dined along with Thomas Jefferson and George Mason.  Our son, who was a pretty fussy eater at the time, couldn’t find anything on the menu that he might like.  The soup of the day was Strawberry Soup, so we ordered a cup for him because he was such a lover of strawberries.  He absolutely loved it.  To this day, we refer to that occasion as the event that turned his idea of food and eating completely around.  He is now a gourmet cook at home, works in high end restaurants and will always tell us about the latest culinary experience he has enjoyed.  And, by the way, both he and his sister will bring up (without any prompting) some historic site that they went to when they were younger.  Are they lovers of history?  No, but they do have an appreciation for exploring the past when they travel.  When you struggle with the question of how to make history come alive for children (and even some adults), don’t underestimate the power of visiting historic sites.  But do it in moderation or you can have the opposite effect.  When we were in Williamsburg, a couple of hours of experiencing the colonial village was always rewarded with an afternoon at the pool or going on all the rides at Busch Gardens.

San Antonio made the Alamo come alive in a very special way?  We were staying within walking distance of the Alamo, and I found myself going every day for the week that we were there.  My family did not make the trip quite as often as I did (the place we were staying in had a lovely pool), but they came more than once.  While the structure itself is surrounded by other buildings, there is a massive project underway that will slowly try to restore the site to something closer to what it looked like back in 1836 when the siege took place.  They have a great presentation of what it looked like then compared to what it looks like now from almost every perspective you can think of.

You would be surprised at how many historic sites in this country have active archeological digs going on right now and they continue to learn new things about the people who live there and the events that took place there.  Our daughter still keeps tabs on what they’re learning at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  We did a special tour behind the scenes at this wonderful home because I learned it was one more way to address the question of how to make history come alive.  Our daughter has performed in many local theater productions, and she has a special fondness for the part of Jefferson’s wife in the musical 1776.  She does admit to recalling her time at Monticello when she was singing about Mr. Jefferson and his ability to play the violin.

When you think about how to make history come alive, don’t forget about the impact it can have on you as well.  Studying ancient Greece took on a whole new perspective during our cruise to the Greek islands and visiting the Parthenon in Athens was one of those experiences I never thought would become a reality.  I still remember looking at the picture in my history book when I was about twelve and thinking that I’ll never be able to see it in person.  Happily, I proved myself wrong and you can do the same.  It’s time to travel and make history come alive.

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