July 29 2023 - History Will Judge Us

 

Such a quote - it comes from the top news item on Bing about Kate Middleton requiring the insertion of "some recollections may vary" into their statement on the accusation by Harry of racist questions over their baby to be.   Do we rewrite past facts into different historical stories?  Are facts of history reported incorrectly at the time?  Are there egregious acts or false reports of events at the time that need correcting? That seems the case for the Pandemic where many heads of state made false assertions over its risk level. I was looking for a notion of history filtering and reviewing things in the past to come up with a balanced view in the present.  But that's not what I found.  I found Time Magazine's article.  It takes on the notion of doing the right thing at the right time as "being on the right side of history" - not hoping that the future will come up with a vindication.  One area this applies to is Trump where there was a "consolation attitude" that historians in the future would look back and judge him an abysmal president.  The notion is that "history will do justice."    The Times' article is scathing in its opposition to leaving things as they are and they'll all work out.  It gives a long list of such behaviours by heads of state/countries.  It outlines how this was a foundational element of "history" in the recent past. Here's a small excerpt: "But modern history is strewn with harmful acts justified as serving some higher historical purpose. Everything from luxury to war to slavery itself has been rationalized as a “necessary evil” with a part to play in history’s divinely guided unfolding. For example, the British knowingly resigned themselves to imperialism’s destructive effects precisely out of faith in its providential role. “It is by its…unintended influence that the British power metamorphoses and dissolves the ideas and societal forms underneath it,” explained the historian and jurist Henry Maine after the British brutally crushed an Indian rebellion in 1857. “Nor is there any expedient by which it can escape the duty of rebuilding upon its own principles that which it unwillingly destroys.” A damning example is Winston Churchill who took the view that history led to a preordained future: “I do not admit…that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia…by the fact that a stronger race…has come in and taken their place,” he insisted in 1937." That is shocking, isn't it?  It seems to me that we've been trained and taught that history is written because it gives a more balanced view of past events.  That "history" is a justification for current behaviours - this is worrisome in the moral realm. I had no sense of this aspect of the formalisms of history - of some preordained evolutionary tale directed by a god above.  Progress towards whatever that is in the future justifies anything and everything. There are many more fun things to write about each day. It does seem that the Kate Middleton story has a significance.  "History will judge them."  What evolutionary path does she think that the Royal Family is on to avoid the ethical accountability of the racist remarks in the here and now?   Most curious indeed.  Here's the Time article - it is written by Priya Satia, author of Time's Monster:  How History Makes History.

This is the neighbour's garden diagonally across the street - another beautiful garden in Grimsby. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 24 2022 - "The Great"

 

Do you consider this interesting?  There are many people in history who were known as "The Great".  The list is so long that it is alphabetical rather than by year.  There was even a "The Great" in the 1770s.  What makes me mention that?  These are usually kings, military rulers, religious figures and so on.  An elected ruler has never been called "The Great".   But then "the Great" was equivalent to saying "Great King" so not that surprising.  Who do we consider the most famous "The Great"?  Alexander seems to me to be the best-known.  On google he is listed as "the greatest great." What did we get in the 20th Century?  We got "The Great War"  and "The Great Depression." There are many expressions that begin with "The Great"  - HERE they are on Wikipedia.  This seems more a testament to our social longing for importance and significance.  And the legacy of Alexander the Great in our time? What do Alexander the Great and Winnie the Pooh have in common? Same middle name. I took this picture last year - the contrast of the ancient Maple trunk on Honsberger Road  with the blossoming orchard tells a story of passing time and the optimism of spring. I went there two weeks ago to take pictures.  The ancient trunks is gone.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

June 26 2021 - Writing History

 

History is always written wrong and needs to be rewritten ~George Santayana What do you imagine Canada's history timeline should be?  I found the timeline taught when I was in school at dummies.com. By Will Ferguson Part of  Canadian History For Dummies Cheat Sheet  Canadian history is a lot of fun. There are heroes and villains, tragedies and triumphs, great battles and sudden betrayals, loyal refugees and long struggles for social justice. The interpretation of Canadian history may vary – radically, at times – but there are still core events from our past that every Canadian should know. Brush up on your Canadian history with the following timeline of important events. 30,000–10,000 BC Prehistoric hunters cross over into Canada from Asia circa 1000 AD Leif Ericsson leads a Viking expedition to the New World 1451 The Iroquois Confederacy is formed (aka Haudenosaunee) and so on for lots of rows and row of colonist events. Yes - Ferguson's history is about the colonization and then confederation of Canada.  It is so selective that the question immediately arises:  What are  all the events that took place and who are all the people that lived here? So I found a Canadian history timeline about Indigenous peoples HERE.  The Canadian Encyclopedia presents a storyline that covers the indigenous peoples and events. Here are samples: NOVEMBER 30, -1 ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES  Evidence of Human Occupation in North America Irrefutable archeological evidence of human occupation in the northern half of North America, including in the Tanana River Valley (Alaska), Haida Gwaii (British Columbia), Vermilion Lakes (Alberta), and Debert (Nova Scotia).   JANUARY 01, 1450 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES  Haudenosaunee Confederacy Try Resolving Disputes in Lower Great Lakes Region The Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois League), organized by Dekanahwideh (the Peacemaker) and Hiawatha, tries to provide a peaceful and equitable means to resolve disputes among member nations in the lower Great Lakes region JANUARY 01, 1493 LAW  “Doctrine of Discovery” is Decreed The papal bull Inter Caetera — the “Doctrine of Discovery” — is decreed a year after Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to America. Made without consulting Indigenous populations nor with any recognition of their rights, it is the means by which Europeans claim legal title to the “new world.” What draws me in is the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy referenced in both history timelines.  I looked it up in Wikipedia - it has an extensive entry on the Iroquois Confederacy.  But I can see that there are two different storylines about Canada's events of the past.  And who writes these? Is the Wikipedia entry on the Iroquois another storyline from the colonist point of view? What might be the story from the Indigenous point of view?   I guess it is time to start somewhere  - at Raven Reads with Canadian History Books by Indigenous Authors.  It is HERE. It is time to find out what the Canadian storyline is.   Lilycrest Gardens blossom period has begun.  Here are two from the field yesterday.

The Barge Story .... continues

The Niagara Falls barge is a world-wide news story.  The Guardian, USA Today, and CNN have video.  Which officials are monitoring the barge?  Some articles say U.S. officials.  I guess they are all monitoring it.  It is located on the Canadian side so that's the official 'guardian of the barge'. However, the barge did not come from the Canadian side.  It started more than a mile upstream on the American side. Here's an excerpt of the story found at niagarafrontier.com - it covers the event extensively. At about 3:10 p.m. on the afternoon of Tuesday August 6th 1918, a steel copper bottomed sand scow (barge) was engaged in dredging operation in the fast currents on the American side of the Niagara River opposite Port Day at the entrance of the Niagara Falls Power Company hydraulic canal.  The scow was being towed by the tug boat - "Hassayampa" being operated by Captain John Wallace along with the assistance of tug Mayer, with Captain Enos White and the tug Kinch, with Captain Charles Smith. The scow had two deck hands aboard. They were Gustave Ferdinand Lofberg, age 51 of 275 Mackinaw Street, Buffalo NY and James Henry Harris, age 40, a father of five children of 860 Niagara Street, Buffalo NY. Harris had no seafaring experience. He was a rigger by trade and had worked for the company for only one month. The Swedish born Lofberg was a weathered and seasoned saltwater sailor. He had worked on the Great Lakes for years.   During the operation, the tug Hassayampa suddenly struck and grounded on a rock shoal/sandbar approximately a ½ mile upriver from the Falls. The taut steel towline that held the barge to the tug snapped "like a thin string". The 80 feet long and 30 feet wide scow was set adrift.  The whistles of the five tugs on the river were blowing continuously. The four tugs went to the aid of the Hassayampa and the alarm was spread that the scow had broken free. Rome Coddington, superintendant of the Hydraulic Power Company arrived only moments after the barge was adrift. He notified the Niagara Falls Fire Department in Niagara Falls, Ontario and the Coast Guard stations at Buffalo and Fort Niagara. The powerless barge containing approximately 2,000 tonnes of sand and rock quickly drifted out of control downriver into the Canadian channel and towards the Horseshoe Falls. Lofberg and Harris were helpless and could do nothing to stop the scow. According to some reports, they were seen trying to slow the swift progress of the scow with the use of makeshift oars but with no success. The river descends 15 meters (50 feet) through a series of rapids and cascades. The Cascade area is divided into two channels by Goat Island. These channels carry the flow of the water to both the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. The rock strata located upstream of the Horseshoe Falls tilts 20 feet (6m) towards the Canadian shoreline in 1 mile (1.6 km).  From a distance, citizens witnessed the two men working desperately on the barge. Harris and Lofberg made ready in hope that the scow would go aground, and it did about 2,500 feet above the brink of the Horseshoe Fall, over which only two persons had previously gone over in barrels and survived.  Lofberg and Harris could only hope and pray for a miracle as they faced to see rising mist of the great Horseshoe Falls growing closer by the second. The roar of the Falls echoed in their ears.  In a twist of fate, the scow swung sideways in the turbulent water, grounded and became lodged on a rock shoal 2,500 feet (767m) upriver from the Horseshoe Falls in the shallow but fast moving cascades. The barge had travelled about 1.25 miles. There is much more to the story...the rescue itself.  We have a lovely garden statue today.

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The Greening of St. Patrick

Beer is green, the Chicago River is green and Niagara Falls will be green tonight.  How did green get to be part of celebrating St. Patrick?  Here is the answer from Wikipedia: Green first shows up in the 11th century pseudo-historical book The Book of the Taking of Ireland. Goídel Glas, who was the son of Scota and Niul, was bitten by a snake and was saved from death by Moses placing his staff on the snakebite. As a reminder of the incident he would retain a green mark that would stay with him and he would lead his people to a land that would be free of snakes.  This is emphasized in his name Goídel which was anglicised to the word Gaelic and Glas which is the Irish word for green. That's quite a remarkable story.   The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hand out shamrocks on this day to the Irish Guards. They traditionally attend a parade of the Irish Guards:  William is Colonel of the Irish Guards.  The rest of us will indulge in wearing and drinking green.

This Day in History

There were April Fool's jokes all over the world yesterday.  This is TIME's listing HERE  and this is another one from thrillist.com - it has a video with a toggle between a British and American accent. There is a chart in wikipedia with the months and days of the year along a horizontal grid and you can click on the day/month and it links to the page of events for that day. Could there be a day that turns out to be the most interesting day of the year?  CNN claims that October 3rd stands out as a busy day in history in this article HERE. We can find out the opposite - April 11, 1954 is claimed to be the most boring day of the year and it got a lot of coverage in   the newspapers.                "Using complex algorithms, such as how much one piece of information was linked to others, True Knowledge determined that particular 1950s Sunday to be outstanding in its obscurity.  Cambridge University-educated Mr Tunstall-Pedoe said: "Nobody significant died that day, no major events apparently occurred and, although a typical day in the 20th century has many notable people being born, for some reason that day had only one who might make that claim - Abdullah Atalar, a Turkish academic. The irony is, though, that - having done the calculation - the day is interesting for being exceptionally boring."                       One of the distinctions of the restaurant Canoe is its location at the top of the TD Centre - with great views all around - this one is of the CN Tower.  We were looking out from the bar, and I turned around and saw the wall of bottles, reflected in a ceiling mirror.

Smithville - Our Train Heritage

Our last post was about Strasburg in the rain.  It must have been my fate as 2 days ago I found some railroad history down the road from my Grimsby town in Niagara.  

This is the Smithville Railway Station.  As the first one,  built in 1895, was hit by lightning and burned, this one replaced it in 1903.  It was built by the TH&B Railway who built a rail line from Toronto to Buffalo.  Today it houses the West Lincoln Historical Society who owns it and restored it.  More history at:  http://www.wlhs.info.

We've got three versions of the station. The first one has a touch of HDR treatment to bring out the sky and roof details.  I decided on script for the second to tell the many stories that a railway station represents.  The third has the addition a faint imprint of a postcard, to represent the sense of excitement of a trip that a rail trip would mean back then.