Sometimes I am amazed when watching documentaries of the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and/or the Civil War. I wonder, where did they get the information? Sure, there are numerous historical documents, some with detailed accounts of battles, expectations, casualities, etc., but what about those narrators. How is it possible to know what someone was thinking during a battle that person did not survive? My goodness, I have had trouble just finding some of my ancestors and/or their/my kin. I'm sorry, but I am a skeptic! And, the deeper I dig into my ancestory the more I wonder about the history I was taught in school. Too much of our history, in my opinion, has been written by those who do not know, were not there and have no realistic way of knowing fact from fiction. Oh I know that sounds terrible, but I have seen and read things that happened in my lifetime in which today's historical accounts do not match the events as they occured. One glaring example is the racial tension in the 1960's. I could write page after page on this, but I will try to be brief. The "history" of school intergration suggests violence in different degrees throughout the South. I was a Freshman in high school when our county schools first intergrated, but instead of problems, the white kids embraced the thought. As bad as this may sound, there were some black athletes our entire high school actually looked forward to having join our football and basketball teams. There was NEVER a racial divide or any problems throughout my four years of high school. And, that first year of intergration we got a new teacher, a black man who to this day may be the most beloved teacher the high school has ever had. Also, I am not aware of any racial problems in surrounding counties, so to suggest there were racial problems throughout the South is not true.
Another example of "Today's History" versus "Being Alive and Watching" is the stories of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Growing up, watching Dr. King on newscasts, we seldom if ever heard his message. The cameras rolled, showing viewers the violence mainly of police using billy clubs and striking those who were in the crowd. Yes, it appeared Dr. King was a trouble maker, but now we're allowed to hear his words and he surely spoke, preached if you will of non-violence and peace. The news media controlled what America saw and heard and it never appeared to be anything associated with non-violence. I consider this to be a sad situation and wonder how many were injured and possibly killed because of misunderstandings and/or the news media sensationalizing something other than the facts that existed?
All of this brings me to a discrepancy in my previous posts concerning my Great Uncle Alonzo Park's death. I first posted he was riding a bicycle when the crime was committed, but in the second post, the newspaper article plainly states he was driving a horse and buggy. The bicycle inclusion came from stories I grew up hearing, but it is possible I misunderstood and Alonzo "sometimes" rode a bicycle. Maybe when he was delivering mail in town?? Hmm, sounds reasonable! Okay, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Seriously, I try my absolute best to be accurate, I want to be accurate. Otherwise, what is the point in doing any research, just make up stories and say they are true. However, as hard as I try to be accurate, sometimes things are foggy at best. Therefore listening to a narrator tell the audience what somone was thinking shortly before their demise seems more a product of making a better story than making accuracy a priority. Just my thoughts and opinions!
Have a Safe St. Patrick's Day and should you partake of the spirits, do so responsibily and have a designated driver.
Thanks for stopping by, please come again and perhaps share a comment just to let me know I'm not talking/writing to myself.
Tim
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