Hands On History

by Paul Birkhead Rowan Public Library
     
    The history of the United States of America is not very long in comparison to other world nations.  However, many exciting events have occurred in that short amount of time and numerous personalities have played a role in making the history of our young nation a fascinating subject.  Several books in the Rowan Public Library’s collection feature places and artifacts that help tell America’s story.

    Here is Where: Discovering America’s Great Forgotten History is a book by Andrew Carroll that details his journey across America looking for unheralded historical sites.  What inspired Carroll to document these lost, forgotten, and neglected places?  The inspiration came from a site in New Jersey where Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert, was saved from what could have been a fatal accident by the actor Edwin Booth.  Ironically, Edwin was the brother of President Lincoln’s assassin.  Carroll’s interest in the event led him to research where it had taken place.  He found that he had actually travelled by that particular spot in Jersey City, New Jersey numerous times without realizing it.  He then wondered how many other ‘historical’ places were forgotten and how many he could find.  Quite a few, as it turned out.

    Sometimes history lives on through artifacts that have been handed down through generations.  Shards of wood, locks of hair, and pieces of stone are not very exciting in their own right.  But with a little bit of documentation, these ordinary objects can seemingly transport you back in time.  Souvenir Nation is a wonderful book featuring photographs of and stories about various keepsakes and curios that have ended up in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  Some of the cherished relics include an oak cane made from wood from Independence Hall, a framed collection of locks of hair from the first fourteen American Presidents, and a wooden chip from the building (in Salisbury, NC) where Andrew Jackson studied law.

    The Smithsonian Institution is a collection of museums and research centers, many of which are dedicated to the preservation and study of the heritage of America.  Nicknamed “The Nation’s Attic,” the Smithsonian has over 138 million items in its holdings.  Can you imagine the task of narrowing down that collection to feature just 101 items?  That’s precisely what a team of Smithsonian curators and scholars did in order to publish the book, The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects.  While each item featured in the book is valuable on its own, together this small collection presents a priceless history lesson.

    A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History is another book that helps tell the story of America.  The author, Tim Grove, has worked in many of the nation’s top history museums over the past twenty years and he wrote this book to give the reader a behind-the-scenes look at their inner workings.  There are many interesting stories from Grove’s career which has taken him to such places as Williamsburg, VA and Washington, D.C.  It was during a three-year stint in St. Louis that the infamous grizzly from the book’s title appeared.  Throughout the book, the author’s predilection for history is evident and explains his success as a museum educator.

    If studying American history is your passion or you are just curious about the many interesting persons or events that have made this country what it is today, check out these and other titles at Rowan Public Library.