The study of history is under a microscope of sorts these days, with much controversy about content. The recent erasure by the federal government of huge swaths of history content reminds me of the saying I often use when giving a presentation — history depends on who tells the story. Historian Barbara Tuchman, famous for collecting notes on thousands of index cards, expounded on this theme when talking to a visiting class: history depends on which cards she picked out, and in what order.
It certainly helps to have a wide range of storytellers, and it especially helps to have organizations devoted to the study of history, the preservation of history, and the dissemination of history to the wider public.
We are fortunate in Arlington to have the benefit of the work of many volunteers who have guided the Arlington Historical Society (AHS) since its founding in 1956. We are also fortunate that AHS is about to re-open its museum, with a grand reopening on Saturday, May 3.
Beginning in 1963, AHS has operated a museum highlighting Arlington’s long history. The museum is located at 1805 S. Arlington Ridge Road, in an elementary school that closed in 1956.
The AHS Museum has been closed for nearly a year, with extensive preservation and renovation work, including the daunting task of preserving its 47 historic wood windows. New and updated exhibits will be on display on the ground floor, with an education center and community room on the second floor.
This is an exciting time for the Arlington Historical Society, with much activity going on, not only with the AHS Museum, but also on-line, at www.arlhist.org (which then leads you to a terrific app at www.arlingtonhistorical.com.) If you want to dig into some further reading, you can peruse the archives of the annual AHS Magazine, with articles dating from 1957. The first volume of the magazine included a history of the Potomac Bridges, which may need to be updated, as three bridges have been built over the Potomac since 1957. Can you name them?
The many museum exhibits and AHS on-line collections contain history that educates, informs, and entertains. Let me give you one quick example of an on-line artifact that has entertained and enlightened me. It is the 1927 high school yearbook of the first graduating class of Washington-Lee High School (open only to White students at the time, and since renamed Washington-Liberty).
I have spent way too much time reading about high school life in Arlington in 1927. The short biographies (and photos) of the 33 graduates are extremely compelling, causing me to go down the rabbit hole of history to find out whatever happened to a number of those graduates. The credit for such a readable and substantial yearbook (134 pages) is likely due to a capable editor-in-chief, Elizabeth Gideon, who also happened to be the vice-president of the senior class.
In one section in the yearbook, entitled “Class Prophecy,” an anonymous author tells a dramatic story about falling asleep in a garden of the Temple of Prophecy in Egypt. This author then dreams about the future of all 33 graduates. Interestingly, a Charlotte Hagan is seen in this dream giving a speech for women’s rights, and is quoted as saying, “In a few years a woman will be president of this country.”
Each short prophecy is very well-written. I suspect that the anonymous author was the editor, Elizabeth Gideon, who comes across as a remarkable young woman. Reading the aspirations of these young people, alongside their sense of playfulness, reminds me that while much has changed in the world, much remains the same.
There is much history to discover in Arlington, starting with the grand reopening of the AHS museum, at 1805 S. Arlington Ridge Road, on Saturday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum will then return to its regular hours of 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
