1. How and when did you get hooked on history?
I was very interested in history when I got my undergrad 20+ years ago at Penn State University, so much so that I got a minor in History. However, I really got “hooked” on history when I went into the US Navy right after graduation. I wanted to learn more about the history of the Navy, which led to opening more doors to learn about American History, especially as I traveled overseas. I really wanted to understand more about the dynamics I found myself in with present politics and how the past impacted that. I was lucky that I was able to use my GI Bill and pursue a Master’s Degree in American History, that has only allowed for more in-depth learning and understanding of history.
2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
History is part of my personal life as filming for the “Walk with History” YouTube channel is done, for the most part, with my family, and we make it a family day when we film. My husband does some of the filming, all the editing, and my kids love to hear the stories. We usually make an adventure of it, go on a road trip, bring lunch, and all learn about something historic as we film for the channel. The kids have loved going to Colonial Williamsburg, Arlington National Cemetery, and Jimmy Stewart’s hometown of Indiana Pennsylvania to just name a few.
3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?
For my professional career, I work as Museum Attendant at the historic location where General MacArthur is entombed as well as it is a museum dedicated to his story. The MacArthur Memorial is located in the old city hall building of Norfolk, Virginia and there are nine galleries that house the artifacts of his life. From his parents, West Point, WWI, WWII, Korea and after, the memorial does a great job of trying to explain who this complex military leader was as well as his impact on history.
4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
I believe studying history is important to understand where we find ourselves in the present. I also believe you must start from a place of truth to really know where you are and where you are going. That was one of the reasons for “Walk with History” to build public trust with the truth of what really happened in historic locations while taking the viewer to see that real life location.
5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
I pursued a Masters in American History because I love to learn about the past events that happened in America. I like to take my YouTube viewers to the locations where the giants of history walked before us. My favorite though would have to be colonial times, mostly because America was so new. I like to learn how the foundations of the country were made, why and by who. It really interests me to see all the moving parts with how direct and indirect power were taking hold of a young nation.
6. How did Walk With History get started?
“Walk with History” was started when I took a break from social media. There was so much untruth online, and I wanted to get the “noise” out of my head. I had more free time which led to wondering if people had gone to different historic locations and what they looked like today. I got on YouTube, looking things up I wanted to see, etc. and noticed that either no one had filmed a video at that location, or if a person had filmed a video, they did not do a good job of relaying the history for the viewer. So I approached the topic with my husband, Scott, since he had been doing a family YouTube channel for a couple of years. He thought it was a great idea, we started collaborating and we have been doing it ever since. It will be a year in April 2022. We have committed to being consistent and have done one episode a week. We do all types of historic topics, movies, true crime, cemeteries, Civil Rights, Presidents, etc. Anything that I would be interested to watch is usually what we film.
7. What’s been your favorite site visit so far? What’s something on your bucket list of sites?
So far, my favorite site to visit has been Maureen O’Hara’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery, it was such an honor to be there. I was such a fan of her movies. I also was really excited to stand on Jimmy Stewart’s porch of his family home. You can see me kind of freak out our YouTube video from his hometown. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is my favorite movie of all time. I really enjoyed taking my kids to “Washington Crossing” and “Yorktown” to talk about the battles that took place to change the tides of the American Revolution. I did a 3-part series on Emmett Till, and that was very hard emotionally to film but I felt it was so important to share. I had done a lot of research in that case, and I wanted my viewers to see exactly where those horrible events took place, but mostly to remember he is never forgotten. The one place I cannot wait to visit is Monument Valley in Utah. I want to recreate some scenes of my favorite western “The Searchers” and just to be in that area to give some attention to the lives of American Indians. I also cannot wait to take my family to “The Battle of Little Big Horn” to show them that location and what happened there with Custer’s last stand.
Bravo!
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