7 Questions With Cele Seldon, Co-Author of 100 Things To Do in Charleston Before You Die

Lynn and Cele Seldon make up the team that is Seldon Ink and have spent more than 25 years as travel journalists. With a keen focus on the Southeast and a particular love of the Carolinas, they have written hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles about the region. Their work has appeared in Southern Living, Taste of the South, The Local Palate, Cruise Travel, South Carolina Living, South Carolina Magazine, TrailBlazer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Charlotte Observer, various in-flight publications, and many AAA magazines. Their new book, 100 Things to Do in Charleston Before You Die (Reedy Press) was released in February 2018. Lynn also contributed to the highly anticipated anthology of essays honoring Pat Conroy, Our Prince of Scribes (University of Georgia Press), due out in Septmeber. Follow along on their adventures at www.seldonink.com or @seldonink. They are presenters at the Decatur Book Festival 2018, Labor Day Weekend.


1. How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?
I’m not sure I would say that either of us are hooked on history. But we are hooked on travel. And so much of travel is history-based. You can’t visit the South without getting a huge history lesson on the Civil War. And you can’t visit New York City without learning how our nation evolved with the arrival of the first immigrants. And you can’t visit Greece without a history lesson on ancient Greek civilization. You get my point. History is wrapped up in travel and travel is wrapped up in history. And we were both bitten by the travel (and history) bug as young adults.

2.  What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
The opportunity to travel has opened up a world of curiosity. And much of that curiosity centers on history. How did cultures develop? How do (and did) people live, both in our own culture and in the cultures of others? History has made us stop to ask why, how, when, where. And we use that curiosity to constantly learn about the world around us.

3.  How is history part of your professional career?
In writing travel stories for magazines and travel books, like 100 Things to Do in Charleston Before You Die, we are constantly having to research the history of a place, people, building, attraction, customs, etc., and translate that into an interesting and compelling story of where to go and what to see. Although we travel and visit places to see what they offer today, it’s the history of the location or destination that complete our stories.

4.  Why is studying/knowing history important?
Everyone should have a curiosity in the world around them. The hows and whys are as important as the what and wheres. Life would be pretty boring if we didn’t question or ask about the past. And how can we make the future better without knowing how we got here in the first place. To me, they go hand in hand.

5.  What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
I’m kind of partial to the WWII era. As a Jewish woman, I’m fascinated by the Holocaust and all of its implications. And how the world changed after the war. It really was the beginning of a fascinating era. As a Southerner, the Civil War era is also part of my fabric.

6.  What sets Charleston apart as a destination?
Charleston has become the darling of the Southeast for her grace, beauty, history, and oh-so-Southern dining and hospitality. She charms visitors with her lush Lowcountry landscape, Civil War history, antebellum plantations, cultural and artistic opportunities, James Beard Foundation award-winning chefs and restaurants, shopping, and the gracious and welcome reception from residents. Naturally you can find tons of suggestions of where to go, what to see, where (and what!) to eat, outdoor recreation, events and entertainment, and where to shop ‘til you drop in our new book, 100 Things to Do in Charleston Before You Die, available on our website, www.seldonink.com.

7.  How did you become travel journalists? Any advice for others who want to become travel journalists?
Lynn came by it honestly as a young army officer stationed in Germany who took advantage of being in Europe. He traveled around on weekends and started writing for Stars & Stripes, the Armed Forces newspaper, as a creative outlet. Once he returned to the states, he had amassed a portfolio of clips and decided to try making a career of it. I, on the other hand, went the easy route and married into his already established travel journalism business after a corporate career in marketing. As far as advice goes, visit a book store and buy magazines and study what they are covering. Research the publication, the editor, and the topics extensively. Then travel with your eyes wide open. Look for places and people (and history!) that inspire you. And that would make a good fit for your targeted publications. It really isn’t rocket science.

7 Questions with Jessica Spotswood, Author

Jessica Spotswood is the author of the historical fantasy trilogy The Cahill Witch Chronicles and the contemporary YA novel Wild Swans. She is also the editor of the historical anthology A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers, and Other Badass Girls and the forthcoming The Radical Element (Candlewick, 2018). She lives in Washington, DC with her playwright husband and a very old cat named Monkey. Jessica also works for the DC Public Library as a children's library associate.

1. How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?

I think I got hooked on history when I was in fifth grade and read Gone with the Wind. While I realize now that it's very problematic, at the time I was totally enchanted by Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. My grandmother was also very into genealogy at that time and compiled a family history that fascinated me. The summer I was twelve, my grandfather swam in the Senior Olympics in Baton Rouge and my grandmother took me along to tour historical houses and plantations along the River Road and in New Orleans. When I got home, I started writing the first of three sprawling GWTW knockoffs that I worked on throughout high school. They were all about headstrong girls who fought with their sisters and kissed boys and rode horses during the Civil War. (I fought with my sisters and rode horses and wanted to kiss boys?)

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

I grew up in a small town just outside Gettysburg, PA, site of perhaps the most definitive battle of the Civil War. As a child, my family took hikes and had picnics on the battlefield. As a teen, my friends and I hung out at Devil's Den and tried to take pictures of ghosts in Triangle Field. History felt tactile and ever-present to me. My father is an enormous history buff with a study full of books about generals and presidents and statesmen. I was fascinated with history, but I didn't see myself reflected in any of the history books or westerns on his shelves. Maybe that's why I fell in love so hard with Gone with the Wind; it was historical, but the heroine was a girl! 

3. How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?

My first published books, the Cahill Witch Chronicles, took place in an alternate version of 1890s New England where magic had been outlawed by the patriarchal priests of the Brotherhood. While it was alternate history, I did a lot of research into the fashion, home decor, technology, and etiquette of the 1890s and then shifted things a bit. And then in 2014 I had the idea to put together an anthology of historical fiction and fantasy about American girls throughout history, which became A Tyranny of Petticoats. 

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

I think it's important to know where we've come from in order to celebrate the accomplishments and triumphs -- and to realize the mistakes and injustices of the past so that we can hopefully prevent them from recurring. Plus, there are lots of awfully good stories.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

I'm pretty fascinated by the latter part of the Victorian era. I think there's something about the contrast of the old-fashioned romance of the Victorian upper class - carriages and gas lights and corsets - with the beginning of modern social movements, particularly the suffragettes!

6. You recently edited A Tyranny of Petticoats. Please tell us about it.

The contributions of women - especially women of color and queer women - have too often been erased from history. Tyranny is fifteen short stories about girls throughout American history, from an escaped slave girl posing as a sailor boy on board a pirate ship off the coast of the British North America in 1710 to a black girl who's protesting Vietnam with her girlfriend and gets caught up in the riots of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

The official blurb is: Crisscross America - on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains - from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago. Join fifteen of today's most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell. 

7. What are the hallmarks of successful young adult historical fiction?

I think successful YA historical fiction gives a sort of wonderful texture to history by strongly anchoring it in the specific details (fashion, food, music, home decor, etiquette, politics) of an era while also showing how its themes are relevant today. A great example for me is Kekla Magoon's beautiful story "The Pulse of the Panthers," set in 1968 California, in which the Black Panthers' visit to a young black girl's farm prompts her to learn the truth about her grandfather's death. It combines the personal with the political and feels very firmly set in the 1960s but also (unfortunately) still very resonant.

7 Questions with Jayne D’Alessandro-Cox, Author of Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man

Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox is a historian and author from Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.  Offered a scholastic scholarship to Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. 



 
Jayne is a published author of three Christian books: A Miracle in Bethlehem, A Passover Blessing, and Happy Birthday Precious Lamb.  Her fourth book is a secular biography/autobiography, for all ages, on Thomas Jefferson's early years, entitled Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.

Jayne enjoys volunteering at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  Besides her family and friends, writing and exercising are her most favorite past times. She is available for speaking engagements and book signings. 

1. How and/or when did you get hooked on history? 
Having to answer this question is actually embarrassing! I had many other interests before I got hooked on 18th century history and my favorite founding father, Thomas Jefferson. In 1982, I married and moved from Long Island to Charlottesville, VA, home of Thomas Jefferson and his beloved Monticello. About 10 years ago, after driving past Jefferson's birth site property, Shadwell, for many years, I began to get very curious as to what life must have been like for the young Jefferson growing up at Shadwell. (The property has been owned by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation since the 1930's or so, and the general public is not allowed up there, but a local cattle farmer who rents the property and raises his black Angus.) My curiosity got the best of me, so I went to the book store to find a book about Jefferson's early years... for a good read, and found no book on the subject. I then went to the public library, and found that every book about Thomas Jefferson was about his life post Declaration of Independence to death. I thought that was very strange, being that I live in "Jefferson Country"! After much research, I found that there was no book about his first 31 years, prior to his involvement with the Second Continental Congress. So... long story short, almost 4 years later, my book Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man was published. It will be out in audio book by June 2016, and it is fabulous!

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life? 
As a result of writing Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, I remain quite busy giving speaking engagements and book signings, which I love. (See www.jaynedalessandrocox.com) I most enjoy volunteering up at Monticello at the Visitor Center, where I can meet fellow Jefferson enthusiasts. I also enjoy Tweeting about Jefferson's life and would like to encourage your readers to join me on Twitter.

3. How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career? 
Eighteen century Virginia and Early American History will remain a part of my professional life and career as long as people continue to be fascinated by Thomas Jefferson. Being that Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man is the exclusive book on the market today about Jefferson's first 31 years, I believe that I will continue to be involved in educating and entertaining people about this very fascinating and likeable iconic historical figure. This will keep me busy for as long as I breathe, for promoting my book it is such an enjoyable past time.

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
Basically, history is fascinating, and I believe that to better understand who we are as a people and society, we need to know how we evolved. So it is the same with Thomas Jefferson. For me it was important to learn about the boy and his journey to manhood in order to understand the man who historians say was so complicated. After researching his early years, I don't feel that he is that complicated. I know where he was coming from, how he was raised, know what he was taught in boarding school and by whom, etc..  I feel fortunate to live in a very historical area of Virginia, which dates back to the early 1700's. As I drive the local highways, I enjoy the surrounding landscape as I drive the same roads that the early American settlers traveled, but now covered with asphalt. My mind tends to go back in time as I imagine early 18th century life for our forefathers as they surveyed the land and cultivated their crops. By learning about Jefferson's early years, I can now better understand this man of the Enlightenment who dared to question the common thoughts of his day as it pertained to science, philosophy, society and politics. So it is with the entire subject of history... learn about the past in order to understand the present, which, in turn, helps us plan for a better future.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
Certainly 18th century America is my favorite period in history. I very much enjoy visiting Colonial Williamsburg and talking with the character actors on Duke of Gloucester Street, visiting those locations that Thomas Jefferson and our founding fathers frequented... where they went to Church, socialized, and made history.

6. Why does Thomas Jefferson appeal to you as a subject ?
I knew very little about Thomas Jefferson until about 6 years ago. Today, I can safely say I am very well read regarding his entire life, but I am most devoted to the years prior to his drafting/signing of the Declaration of Independence. When I moved to Charlottesville, VA, I discovered that "everything was Jefferson": Monticello, the University of Virginia, customs, traditions, etc. Not a day goes by that you don't hear his name on TV, radio, or at Starbucks! I had learned the basics about him in school growing up in Long Island, New York, but he was no more important than any other founding father. There were other people and places to learn about in school. I did not take any history classes in college, but majored in Business with a minor in Spanish. It wasn't until my husband and daughters moved closer to Thomas Jefferson's birthplace, Shadwell, that I became more "curious" about him, especially his birthplace, Shadwell, along the Rivanna, where he spent many years of his youth. His birthplace,Shadwell, also happened to border the property where my daughters' elementary school was located.

7. How is your latest book, Thomas Jefferson: From Boy to Man a unique biography?
It is totally unique, as it is the "exclusive" book on the market today, specifically about his first 31 years: childhood, adolescence, boarding school days, college years at William & Mary, post-graduate law years in Williamsburg, his law practice, women in his life, family, friends, events, fire, earthquakes, flood, deaths, etc. Check it out...every book, besides mine, on the market today about Thomas Jefferson, summarizes his life prior to his involvement with the Second Continental Congress in a few paragraphs...maybe 6 pages, not even a whole chapter, as if they had no real importance or significance at all. Researching for this book was no easy task whatsoever, but it is done, and I am extremely proud of it, as it continues to get 5 star reviews and amazing endorsements from readers around the country. It is very humbling to be so appreciated, as well as to have the endorsement of Rob Coles, Thomas Jefferson's 5th generation great-grandson.  An endorsement of this kind tends to tell the reader, "this is a book worth your time reading"! It is in a journal format which includes authentic Jefferson quotes, and is supplemented with historically accurate background text, meant to inform the reader.  It includes over 60 photos to enhance the readers imagination, and various appendices that further inform. 

Great news is that the audio book will be available by June 2016. The 32 year old British voice actor is fabulous, and his 16 year old son reads the young Jefferson passages....simply amazing and well worth the $29.99 investment. To read more about Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, please visit my web site: www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

7 Questions with Matthew Christopher, Author and Preservationist

Matthew Christopher has had an interest in abandoned sites since he was a child, but started documenting them a decade ago while researching the decline of the state hospital system. His new book, "Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences" (JonGlez Publishing), is now available worldwide through major booksellers. His photography has been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts. He has lectured on the art of ruins, abandoned spaces, preservation, and mental health history for Preservation Austin, the Pennsylvania State Museum, Preservation Pennsylvania, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and many others, and his work has been displayed in galleries across the US. His website has gained international attention and is considered one of the leading collections of images of abandoned spaces.


How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?
I've always had an interest in history, but it was the history of the asylums and mental health care that really spurred my interest in photography. I worked in an inpatient psychiatric facility and started reading about how care had evolved over the years; it's one of the more fascinating aspects of American culture. There was an abandoned asylum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia State Hospital, that kept coming up and I decided to go visit it. After that, I was hooked, and my interest in photography came about as part of my desire to share what makes these places so unique and special.

Masonic Temple, Cleveland

What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
Obviously ruins are interesting on a superficial aesthetic level, but learning about how they fit into our culture and the lives of people who passed through them adds another layer of meaning and in my opinion makes them much more significant. I really enjoy learning about what makes each place interesting and finding the stories that make them come alive again.

Abandoned Asylum

 How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?
My website, Abandoned America, has chronicled American ruins over the last ten years. My first book, "Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences" came out last year, and the follow up, "Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream", will be released sometime this fall. Each book is not only a collection of photographs, but a journey through the histories of these sites and personal reflections on what they've become. 

Why is studying/knowing history important?
I suppose history is important for the same reason memory itself is: without it, you're sort of floating through the present without any context with which to interpret it. It also is the way we save those who came before us from passing into oblivion, much as we hope that those who come after us will remember us and that our lives will not be erased forever. History may not make us immortal, but it hopefully keeps us from being forgotten.

What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
It shifts. For quite a while I was interested in the history of asylums and state hospitals. I still am, but the fun thing about what I do is that it allows me to explore many different facets of our past. I think if I had to concentrate in one area, the prison system might be what I'd look at next. I think the darker areas of our identity, and how we have chosen to deal with difficult social issues, reveal the most about who we really are.

What is Abandoned America?
Abandoned America is my collection of photographs from over 10 years of exploring abandoned spaces across the American countryside: factories, schools, hospitals, churches, prisons, asylums and institutions - any site I can find and gain access to, really. It's an effort to not only remember the histories of these sites, but to preserve something of this present moment as well, when we are losing so many significant parts of our past to redevelopment, blight, and neglect.

Abandoned Children's Development Center

 What do the sites you photograph have to tell us about American history?
The sites I've visited each represent unique aspects of our past. I've photographed what was once the largest mall in America, the boneyard where all military aircraft are retired, the hospital where tuberculosis was effectively cured, a derelict ocean liner that is larger than the Titanic, enormous steel foundries and auto manufacturing plants, the laboratories where cellular, satellite, and laser technologies were developed, brownfield and Superfund sites where companies have devastated the surrounding environment, and massive coal breakers. The collection includes what was at the time the most expensive public school in the US, palatial theaters which I doubt we will ever build anything comparable to again, and power plants whose turbine halls are so large they're mind-boggling. There's a bit of everything, really, and that is what makes it so fun and interesting to explore.

7 Questions with Stephen Knott, Co-Author of Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America

Dr.  Stephen Knott is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War  
College.  Prior to accepting his position at the Naval War College, Dr. Knott was Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. His books include The Reagan Years; Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth; Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency; At Reagan’s Side: Insiders’ Recollections from Sacramento to the White House; Rush to Judgment: George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and His Critics, and Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America (2015). 

1. How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?
I got hooked at quite a young age. My father loved history, and I remember him reading to me out of children’s history books when I was a child. He would also take me to historic sites such as Gettysburg, Fort Ticonderoga, and to a number of sites throughout New England. I grew up in Massachusetts, so I happened to be born in a state with a rich history, especially from the revolutionary war-era. Lexington-Concord were not all that far removed, as was the Freedom Trail in Boston. So in a sense I was born into a ready-made historical environment.

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
My father was older than most dad’s when I was born, and he had a great-uncle who had fought in the American Civil War (for the South, ironically). He also remembered having his hair cut by a Civil War veteran when he was a child. The personal connection my father had with the Civil War had quite an impact on me.

Our love of history was a deeply shared bond between the two of us. My Dad was a skilled painter, so I would occasionally find a photo or a painting in a book that I liked and I would asked him to do a copy for me. He would, and the walls of my bedroom were lined with these paintings of battles from the American Revolution or the Civil War. I still have many of them, and they are treasured heirlooms.

3. How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?
When it came time to enter college it was an extremely close call whether I would major in history or political science. I ended up majoring in the latter, but only because some advisor told me that political science would be more “marketable.” So my doctorate is in political science, but American history has always been my first love.  My books tend to focus on the American presidency, but with an historical focus. In fact, the way I teach American government, and the entirety of my research efforts, are all conducted through the lens of history. I tell my fellow political scientists that I am a “closet historian.”

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
It’s a cliché, but there really is nothing new under the sun. Our toys and our trappings may change, but human nature is fixed in my view. Therefore, I believe we can learn a lot from the actions and actors of the past. That said, I am sometimes shocked at the lack of historical knowledge on the part of political scientists; it strikes me as next to impossible to be a good teacher of American politics or international relations without having a deep understanding of history.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
American history, 1776-2015. OK, that was a weak attempt at humor. But I do love the entirety of American history, although I am probably the weakest on the Gilded Age and somewhat on the progressive era. My favorite period would be the founding era and the early American republic, the Civil War, and the 20^th century from World War II to the present. My love of history comes naturally to me; I honestly don’t understand people who seem to care less about it. That is very alien to me….  

6. What was the basis of the bond between Washington and Hamilton?
Theirs was an unlikely bond, for Washington and Hamilton could not have been more different. Washington was a gentleman-farmer from the patrician colony of Virginia and the owner of a great estate enriched by the labor of African slavery.  Hamilton, on the other hand, was as John Adams brusquely put it, the “bastard brat of a Scotch peddler” and an immigrant from the West Indies.  A self-made man, he made his way to America on his own and earned his positions in the army and in the government.  Despite their differences, Washington and Hamilton shared a lot of common ground. Unlike many of their great contemporaries, Washington and Hamilton saw war up close and personal; they were brothers in arms in a sense, and as any combat veteran will attest to, combat is a bonding experience like no other. As a result of their wartime experience, they concluded that the collection of states that fought the American Revolution needed to take the next step and begin, in Hamilton’s words, to “think continentally.” They wanted Americans to think of themselves as Americans, not as Virginians or New Yorkers. They were both guided by a sense of American nationalism and worked closely together to assist in winning the American Revolution, adopting the Constitution, and creating the institutions necessary to secure liberty at home and respect abroad.

7. How would the U.S. have been different if Hamilton didn’t exist?
Hamilton’s economic vision was contrary to that of Jefferson’s, and as such the United States might not have moved (or at least not moved as quickly) in the direction of becoming a manufacturing nation. I would also argue that Hamilton’s economic policies (a national bank, tariffs to protect American manufacturing, and the stabilization of the nation’s finances which enabled the nation to establish a good credit rating) all contributed to the overall rise of the United States as an economic superpower. It is also possible that the Union might have disintegrated more rapidly than it did had there been no Washington and Hamilton. Their vision of an America where its citizens thought “continentally” was accomplished in part by creating institutions which would bind the people to the national government, not their respective states. For example: the aforementioned national bank; or the assumption by the national government of the state debts from the Revolutionary War; or Washington’s proposal for a national university (which did not come to pass). All of these steps contributed to a sense of American “nationhood.”

Additionally, Hamilton laid the theoretical blueprint in The Federalist Papers for an “energetic executive” – a blueprint followed closely by the first president. From the beginning to the end of this most important first presidency, Washington followed Hamilton’s advice, much to Thomas Jefferson’s distress. Remove Hamilton from Washington’s cabinet, and you would have set a number of very different precedents. Interestingly, Washington understood how vital Hamilton was to his presidency, supporting Hamilton through the embarrassing revelation of his extra-marital affair, while at the same time cutting off all contact with Jefferson, who had deceived him on multiple occasions.

7 Questions With Ron Smith and Mary O. Boyle, Authors of Prohibition in Atlanta: Temperance, Tiger Kings & White Lightning

Although Ron Smith and Mary O. Boyle have both long held a dream of writing and publishing a book, the dream came to fruition because a commissioning editor for The History Press made contact. They’d been maintaining a blog about beer in the Atlanta area. The editor found some history articles on the blog and asked if Ron would consider writing a book on Atlanta beer to be part of their American Palate series. Ron recruited Mary to be co-author and they brewed up a book.

Ron’s background is in biology and environmental sciences, though he’s long nurtured a deep interest in history. Mary started in accounting and then segued to information technology. Both are detailed researchers and believe that snapshots of the moment do not cover the complexities of where people and places developed from. This is especially true in the South, where much of the history was literally burned away.

1. How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?

RS: As a kid I always liked Revolutionary War history. However, working on my family genealogy in my 30s got me moderately hooked. Researching for the books set that hook.

MB: I’ll give Ron primary credit for stoking my interest in history. I tend to be a here-and-now or looking-to-the-future person, and Ron’s thoughtfulness about the past has strengthened my appreciation for it.

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

RS: My family has interesting historic moments. One in particular is that my Great Grandfather served in the US Army during the Civil War. That’s pretty dramatic when his home county was overwhelmingly Confederate. Also, my father worked on the Apollo missions that put humans on the moon. So, it’s a bit of a “Forrest Gump” story (not the major players, but right next to their shoulders).

MB: My fraternal grandma--whom I spent a lot of time with as a child--would talk about traveling for days in a covered wagon as a little girl. She also recounted that my grandfather hung her by her dress on the coat hook of their door once when she was being ornery as a 16 year-old bride. It made me realize that to truly understand someone’s multi-dimensional view of the present, you must tap into their stories of the past. The same is true for places and organizations.

3. How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?

RS: Over the last 18+ years, I have worked next to cultural resources professionals (archeologists, anthropologists, architectural historians, etc.). I have learned a lot from their work, papers, and presentations.

MB: I tapped history in a different way…by being able to remember problems and solutions of the past to help solve tricky technical problems in my IT work. You can save a lot of time if you remember and honor lessons already learned!

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

RS: To me it’s understanding context. X affected Y, and became what we now know of as Z. This can be seen in the blending of people, their cultures, their food, their drink, to become something new…like New Orleans.

MB: In some ways, I think humans elevate themselves when they explore, document and preserve knowledge and artifacts of history. The richness of life is lost if we lose track of the events and developments that shaped who we are. Understanding the past can help dispel a lot of faulty assumptions, too, or at least make them less powerful.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

RS: The US “Roaring Twenties” and the Gilded Age that led up to the 1920s. In my opinion, modern America was developed in the 20s: modern advertising, social change for women, wide-scale credit, “off time” for the average worker, and casting off of Victorian mores.

MB: Hmmm. I’m not tied to a specific time, but I am intrigued by events where the role of women in society changed. I love learning about particular women or groups that defied the norms and shook things up. Oddly, then, I have to give a lot of credit to Frances Willard, who in leading the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union fought for equality and took a much higher public profile than was typical for women.

6. Tell us about your book Prohibition in Atlanta: Temperance, Tiger Kings and White Lightning.

The beginning of the book was really the prohibition chapter in Atlanta Beer. That was by far the hardest chapter to write, but we kept distilling the information to a workable chapter. The feedback from readers was very positive, yet we knew that we’d only been able to present the Reader’s Digest version. In Prohibition in Atlanta, we were able to give a more thorough visit to the very long history of prohibition in Atlanta—which goes back to General (Governor) Oglethorpe’s ban of “demon rum.”

The book is about the ups and downs in regard to perceptions of alcohol, but to frame those cycles we discuss the religious, gender, race, and political climates across decades (a couple of centuries, really). There are some unexpected connections, such as that the women active in the temperance movement were also highly influential in securing voting rights for women. From the standpoint of the alcohol industry, reviewing this evolution certainly helps explain the messy remnants of blue laws and local option that exist today across Georgia.

7. What history related projects are you working on currently?

RS: I keep researching beverage history as I can. I’m currently reading Wood, Whiskey and Wine: A History of Barrels by Henry H. Work. Fascinating--and it might be useful in future writing. Maybe something more light-hearted about the history of drinks is in the shaker.

7 Questions With Gretchen Henrich, Director of Interpretive Education at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Gretchen Henrich joined the staff of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in 1999 as the Children’s and Family Program Coordinator. She has a degree in Zoology from the University of California, Davis and began her education work in zoos. In her 25-year career, she has developed both humanities and science education programs in museums.

As Director of the Interpretive Education Division, she is currently responsible for managing interpretive programs and services as outlined in the Center’s Interpretive Plan. She also works on exhibit element interpretation, hands-on exhibitions, visitor service elements, and evaluation throughout the museum.


1.         How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?
I would say I really got hooked on history later in my life than most. I struggled with history in school, nobody was able to light that spark in my early life. I was an animal lover, good at science and math, and I couldn’t see the relevance of history to my life or future career path. I think my true fascination with history came when I started working at the Center. The Center, where I currently work, has five museums that cover art, cultural, and natural history. The tangible objects in the museum revealed stories and meanings that helped me begin to understand history and its value. Because the museum’s collections are so diverse, I was beginning to learn about aspects of history from many sources. I was no longer learning history facts from a book, but I was challenged to look at history from lots of perspectives through a variety of resources. I am continually taught history through museum objects, fellow staff members, artists, Plains Indian tribal members, and scientists. I have such a comprehensive set of historical resources at my fingertips here at the Center, I am hooked!

2.         What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
After growing up in San Diego, I returned to the place in Wyoming where my mother’s family has roots. I am learning about my family history by being immersed in the local area. I now live in a house overlooking a man-made reservoir that flooded the town of Marquette where my great-grandparents lived. I run into people that continually give me little snippets of my own history through their stories. I recently discovered, through my coworker’s family research that I have a distant cousin working with me here at the Center!

3.         How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?
I talk about history every day here at the Center. I love challenging students and adults to think about historical topics in a way that they may not have thought about them before. I like to present lots of perspectives and listen to how they process that information and form their own opinions about events in history.

4.         Why is studying/knowing history important?
I think that sense of individual identity that you get from studying history is important. Why do I have the beliefs I have? How do those who came before me shape what is happening in my world now? How do the events of the past effect society as a whole?

5.         What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
While working here at the Center, I have developed an interest in Plains Indian culture and history. It is interesting to observe throughout history how cultures clash, blend, evolve, and hold on to traditional values. I have met some fascinating people that have been willing to share their tribal cultural values and history with me and learning about their perspectives has enriched my understanding of history.

6.         What is the mission of the Education Division Buffalo Bill Center of the West?
Interpretive Education at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West embraces innovative, engaging, and thought-provoking methods of understanding cultural and natural objects and resources. The Center’s interpretive specialists blend far-reaching ideas of the West with experiences that set the stage for compelling stories of the West that unfold in an informal learning process.

7.         What are the greatest challenges and rewards of your job as Director of the Interpretive Education Division?
I think the greatest reward is when I hear someone say “I never thought of it that way before.” Or when a child says, “this is really cool.” It is so fun to watch the light bulb go on! I think the challenges for the museum field in general are remaining relevant to an ever changing audience. As a new generation begins to learn in different ways and with technology changing so fast, it is hard to keep up!

7 Questions With Matthew Harffy, Author of The Serpent Sword

Matthew Harffy lived in Northumberland as a child and the area had a great impact on him. Decades later, a documentary about Northumbria's Golden Age sowed the kernel of an idea for a series of historical fiction novels. The first of them is the action-packed tale of vengeance and coming of age, THE SERPENT SWORD. The sequel is THE CROSS AND THE CURSE.

Matthew has worked in the IT industry, where he spent all day writing and editing, just not the words that most interested him. Prior to that he worked in Spain as an English teacher and translator. He has co-authored seven published academic articles, ranging in topic from the ecological impact of mining to the construction of a marble pipe organ.

Matthew lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

When not writing, or spending time with his family, Matthew sings in a band called Rock Dog.

1.       How and/or when did you get hooked on history?
I think living in Europe and having parents who would take me to amazing historical sites sparked an interest in history from a early age. I grew up in England and lived in some fabulous places that were steeped in history. We lived for a few years in the village of Norham in Northumberland, where I would play in the ruined Norman castle on the hill overlooking the Tweed valley. Later we moved to Spain, and went to places such as Toledo, with its cathedral and castle, and the monastery palace of El Escorial. Being surrounded by such rich history, how could I not be hooked? 

2.      What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
My wife loves history too, so when we travel anywhere, we are both interested in visiting local monuments and museums. That, and our mutual love of books, are constants in our relationship and we have tried to instill the same passions in our daughters. 

3.      How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?
History is of course a major part of my writing career. I've only published one novel and it is historical fiction, so I spend a large proportion of my time researching history and reading other historical fiction novels.

4.      Why is studying/knowing history important?
Knowing history is important because by understanding the past, we can try to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. It is the typical answer, but I think it is really true. It is a pity that more people don't seem to care about the lessons of the past.

5.      What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
For the last few years I have been immersed in early seventh century Britain researching for my novels. It is a fascinating time, with Christianity emerging as the primary religion of the British Isles. It is a time of clashes between the Germanic peoples known as the Anglo-Saxons and the native Britons. It is a time where the island of Britain is splintered into several small kingdoms, each vying for supremacy. England as a concept did not exist and the land would not be unified for many centuries. It is a dark age of battles, heroism, intrigue and religious conflict. It is a wonderful time to write about, with so many stories, and so little in the way of hard facts. Perfect for a novelist.

6.       What drew you to the world of the Bernicia Chronicles?
As I have said in the previous answer, the period is full of interesting characters and powerful stories. The land of Bernicia itself is what nowadays is called Northumberland, along with part of modern-day Scotland. I lived there for a few years as a child and I fell in love with the rugged landscape, rocky coastline and ruined castles. It is so barren in places, it is easy to imagine Anglo-Saxon warriors trudging through the windswept hills of the Cheviots towards the fortress of Bebbanburg (Bamburgh), atop its crag of rock, standing sentinel over the iron-gray waters of the North Sea.

7.       What will history lovers get out of your books?
They will get a feeling of total authenticity as they sit beside the protagonist, Beobrand, on mead benches in smoky halls while scops sing epic tales of dragons and night-dwellers. They will feel the rush of terror and excitement as shieldwalls clash. They will be taken on a journey into the dark past of the British Isles as Beobrand searches for his brother's killer, seeking to bring justice to an untamed land. And readers will learn of the history of those faraway northern kingdoms as the Angelfolc (the Angles) fought to gain control of the land from the Waelisc (the Welsh) who inhabited the island before their arrival. 

Links:
Website: http://www.matthewharffy.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewHarffyAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewHarffy
Buy THE SERPENT SWORD: http://getbook.at/TheSerpentSword




Bamburgh Castle at dawn