History is Not Boring discussion
How did you get into history?
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Melissa
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Feb 15, 2015 01:36PM
Do you remember how you first got into history? For me, it was American Girl.
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It's hard to remember very well, but I think Omar Khayyam & several other books by Harold Lamb were the start. John Jakes' Bicentennial was another.
When I was in high school, my lousy teachers never got me interested in history. Then I went into the Air Force and flew all over the world.I walked on the Acropolis, walked along Hadrian's wall, saw cornerstones dated in the 1600s in Europe. I promised myself that if I ever stopped flying, I would go back to school and learn about the history of all those places I saw.
I got my degree in History in 1977 at 36 years old! Now I'm a tour guide in a museum...
Lchamp wrote: "When I was in high school, my lousy teachers never got me interested in history...."Good point. I never had a history teacher that made the subject interesting. They were all too bogged down in getting me to remember specific dates about little bits that it never came alive for me. There were no historical people, just caricatures of little interest. Lamb & Jakes made it real, even if it was fictionalized. They showed causes, effects, & trends.
ghosts. my grandmother told me if im going to be a keen exorcist, i have to understand their mindset and also know my facts so i wont be tricked by bs from a devil posing as an unhappy ghost. thats why i enjoy history and study all aspects that shape it (religion sociology etc). the past is fascinating...
A lot of my history teachers were that way, too, Jim and Lchamp. I probably never would've gotten into history if historical fiction hadn't brought it alive for me.
It was American Girl (my favorite was Molly) and presidential history biographies. I read that children's biography series that had Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson as well as Disney, Crockett and Amelia Earhart. I had a great 3rd grade teacher, but after that, I saw so many movies in junior high and high school.
When I was a little girl my family would drive from Texas to New York to visit my mother's side of the family. We stopped at every historic site along the way. Civil War battlefields, George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's homes, National Parks and dozens of other places. Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color had a lot of dramas based on history. One was Johnny Tremain. There was another about a drummer boy in the Civil War. I used to pretend I was that drummer boy.
Katie wrote: "It was American Girl (my favorite was Molly) and presidential history biographies. I read that children's biography series that had Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson as well as Disney, Crockett an..."I liked Molly too, although Felicity was my favorite.
I was lucky to have some wonderful teachers of history. In high school I remember an assignment choosing three characters fact and fictional. I chose Billy the Kid, Abraham Lincoln and Superman. That was a fun one! I also was a big reader and started with historical fiction which got me interested in what their real lives were like. I never looked back.
First I would say its because I grew up 20 minutes from Gettysburg and was surrounded by Civil War history from a young age. My passion was not found until my late 20s when I began reading about a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition who was born in my hometown. From there the L&C obsession led to more and more history niches and I continue to follow the bunny trails that each new book introduces.
For me it started in high school. But I only got into the subject during finals strangely enough when I had to delve into what I was supposed to already know to pass the big test. Only then did I realize I found history fascinating. But now I hope to get more into it when I can (I have a book on Abraham Lincoln and another one that has random facts sometimes on world history that I pick up every so often)!
I think I really started becoming interested in history in grade five learning about the first successful summit of Mt. Everest. I don't remember a lot of when and what grades things were discussed, but I remember that like it was yesterday.
Melissa wrote: "Do you remember how you first got into history? For me, it was American Girl."How wonderful! That was Pleasant Rowland's intention. I loved history before that but I joke that everything I need to know I learned from AG. I saw the first catalog and books + history + dolls = love! At that time, I wanted to be Laura Ingalls and so naturally I chose Kirsten to be my best beloved companion. I loved playing pioneer with her. I'm currently immersed in the Gilded Age with my Ruthie who went to live with Samantha in 1904.
I don't even remember how I got into loving history whether it was because I loved Little House on the Prairie (TV show first when I was too young to read) or whether I loved hearing family stories and developed a love of history from there. I do know that history has influenced everything I do.
When I was in junior high school and then high school my grandmother paid for my family to go to Europe three times. Then when I was a senior in high school my class went to Greece. I decided I wanted to be an archaeologist. I read books about ancient Greece and Rome. I read the novels of Mary Renault before I went to Bryn Mawr College. I actually started to major in classical archaeology until I discovered that you had to be a linguist to do it right. Instead I ended up majoring in English. My way of attacking history was to write historical novels instead.
My interest in history had already begun before we started history in the fifth grade in school. First I had looked at pictures of dinosaurs and evolution in general, then I became interested in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and also the political side of WWII probably before I was even 12. History teachers didn't have much impact in me.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Do you remember how you first got into history? For me, it was American Girl."How wonderful! That was Pleasant Rowland's intention. I loved history before that but I joke that eve..."
I think it worked for a generation of girls. Unfortunately, I think they've started phasing out the historical characters and storylines, since American Girl was bought by Mattel. Now, it's a little hard to find the books.
I was into anything related to war. Plastic army men, Sgt. Rock comics, Hogan's Heroes, M.A.S.H, war movies. My father's uncle was a spotter in a bomber in the European Theatre in WWII and I drilled him for information every time I saw him. I consumed every military history book in the library. The subject of Vietnam led a deeper interest beyond military history. Then, my high school history teacher took us to NYC to hear Daniel Ortega speak and I was really hooked.
Melissa wrote: "I think it worked for a generation of girls. Unfortunately, I think they've started phasing out the historical characters and storylines, since American Girl was bought by Mattel. Now, it's a little hard to find the books. "Actually they still sell the books but packaged as 3-in-one volumes plus a "choose your own ending" volume. They took away the illustrations which I think is dumb because the illustrations served to show unfamiliar terms from the story. They "archived" Kirsten, Felicity, Samantha, and then brought Samantha back and archived Cecile and Marie-Grace, and (best friends) Ivy and Ruthie instead.
I first got into history via Jane Austen. I remember I was looking for a book genre that was realistic (meaning no fire-breathing dragons) but not everyday life (meaning no family drama that I dealt with every day). I found that in Jane Austen. Entailments and class struggles were realistic, but certainly not something I dealt with on a regular basis. From there, I discovered all history was that way - a world unique from my own, but something that actually occurred.Actually, it's a funny story of how I got into Jane Austen in the first place...it's because my aunt had a Pride and Prejudice board game. She and my mother always had a laugh playing that game, so I wanted to play too. My mom told me I had to read the book. I was only nine, so I read the kiddie version, but I was still hooked for life :)
Melissa wrote: I think it worked for a generation of girls. I actually wrote to American Girl one time, suggesting they should make American Boys, each one a soldier highlighting a different war. The dolls would be more like larger action figures, with detachable limbs and fake bombs and things like that. And the books, of course, would tell the history of that war. I thought that might encourage more boys to look into history, but the company wrote back saying they wanted to focus on girls. Guess I'll just have to make my own company!
Emily, I think somebody should do that for boys, too. I didn't care when I was a kid, but now, it doesn't seem fair that girls got all the fun history stories, and boys got one fun series, the My Name is America series.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I think it worked for a generation of girls. Unfortunately, I think they've started phasing out the historical characters and storylines, since American Girl was bought by Mattel. N..."I guess I heard wrong, then.
Melissa wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I think it worked for a generation of girls. Unfortunately, I think they've started phasing out the historical characters and storylines, since American Girl was bought by Mattel. N..."I guess I heard wrong, then.
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They no longer have the historical non-fiction books like the cookbooks, craftbooks, Welcome to... World books. They just rebranded the historical line "BeForever" and made it more "historically inspired" than historically accurate which is good for my bank account but makes me sad. You can catch up on all the news and talk about AG with other adult collectors at http://www.agplaythings.com
Hello! I'm a bit of a noob here, but am extremely excited to become involved and share thoughts and find recommendations from this brilliantly named group! Several years ago I was at a library working on a research paper (high school at the time...and I use 'several years' quite loosely :), and stumbled on a book that was sitting near me on and adjacent desk. It was called 'The Discoverers' by Daniel Boorstein. I picked it up and perused it, and began reading the first section, which was about the history of time and the history of humans efforts of knowing what time it was. Even writing this post, it seems to be a little boring and dry topic, but I couldn't put the book down. I spent two hours trapped! Since then, I've finished very few books that weren't history, or at least historical fiction.
Like Lchamp in an earlier post, I too was in the Air Force and was able to spend a lot of time in Europe, which only added to my passion.
In my life's clique of people, I don't have many family or friends who share this love of history that I have, so thankfully, I can find some people here to discuss things with!
Steve-o wrote: "Hello! I'm a bit of a noob here, but am extremely excited to become involved and share thoughts and find recommendations from this brilliantly named group! Several years ago I was at a library w..."
Glad to see you here.
We're going to the local Shaker Village for a trail ride this morning.http://shakervillageky.org/
A friend of ours is spending the weekend there & we're going to meet her for this morning's explorations. They have about 3000 acres to ride, hike, & bike on. We've been there riding a few times & always had a good time. There's rarely many people, lots of wild life to see, & beautiful scenery. Should be fun.
We've also toured the village several times. It's a great place to take out of town guests & learn some history. The village is where the farms came together to make all sorts of things the individual farms didn't & to trade with outsiders. This one has working weaving, spinning, cobbler, broom, & other shops. They've all been lovingly restored & are staffed by volunteers in period dress that know the subject.
The Shakers had some odd beliefs about sex (none ever) which led to their demise, but during the century or so they were around, they built some gorgeous communities & had some really neat gadgets. They lived in family units, but those were based on groups living on a particular farm, the groups being based on needed skills & other considerations. Traditional marriages were dissolved when a family joined the group & the members might be (were usually?) split up. Men & women both lived in the Shaker halls, but men lived on the right side, women on the left & contact was minimized as much as possible. This led to some interesting architecture like twin 3 story spiral stair cases in one building.
They embraced technology. For instance, the story is that they were the ones who introduced the circular saw to the US. (Some say invented, but I've read in more places that it was invented in England about 1820.) As a woodworker, I'm somewhat familiar with turning tree trunks into boards & the advantages of the circular saw were an incredible step forward.
We won't be riding through the village, but through the various fields & woods. Much has been let go or fostered into natural preserves. Last time we were there we were within 50' of a gorgeous White-tail buck who thought he was hidden from us in a thicket. There are wooden bridges & even a tunnel under a good sized road. It's a great place to teach the horses about different terrain.
Jim wrote: "We're going to the local Shaker Village for a trail ride this morning.http://shakervillageky.org/
A friend of ours is spending the weekend there & we're going to meet her for this morning's explo..."
This sounds very beautiful.
We had a good, fun ride. Chip was perfect, as usual. Only spooked a few times & I was in no real danger of coming off. My bareback pad is fantastic! Very comfortable even after 2 hours & it lets me ride in shorts. It was sunny & warm out, lower 80's, but breezy so there weren't many flies & it didn't feel terribly hot. Chip got sweaty, but I hosed him off when we got back to the trailer & he really appreciated that. I appreciated being able to hose him rather than washing him out of a bucket. They weren't crowded, maybe 6 or 8 other trailers there, so we turned the horses out in a paddock & had our lunch which we'd brought.The ride was beautiful. I got some pictures, but nothing fantastic. I missed the bit of wildlife we saw - a deer & huge hawk. They've done a great job restoring the farms which are mostly bordered by dry-stacked rock walls with vertical tops (the stones are edge up at an angle). They have a tendency to fall down over time as the weather & trees push them over & take real skill to build properly. We saw repairs going on in several places.
Good company between Marg, Monica, & Nancy. All were on fairly green horses, so Chip led fairly often. He didn't shy at a single dead tree or limb, which surprised me. He usually thinks they're dragons laying in wait. He gave everyone a lead through the one stream we crossed. He wished it was bigger & thought the one splash he made was pitiful, but the others thought it was scary.
I was bushed by the time we got back. It's about 1.5 hours each way. Marg is pretty sore. Her hip was good for about 1.5 hours into the ride & then my suggested 'short extra loop' took longer than expected & did her hip in. Drat.
For me it is not a very interesting explanation. I disliked history at first but after a while I found it a little interesting, trying my best to delve into non-fiction and times of history when I get the chance.
Reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a kid.
It started with a seventh grade history book and a picture of Julius Caesar. It was an older sibling's history book. I was seven years old at the time. Now I'm fourteen. I'd rather be studying history than doing anything else....I'm definitely not a typical teen I guess
JR wrote: "It started with a seventh grade history book and a picture of Julius Caesar. It was an older sibling's history book. I was seven years old at the time. Now I'm fourteen. I'd rather be studying hist..."Same here! When I was fourteen I had read all of the Jane Austen novels but not a single Harry Potter book. Also I'm pretty sure I was the only one in my AP history class to actually read the textbook. History geeks unite! :)
Emily wrote: "JR wrote: "It started with a seventh grade history book and a picture of Julius Caesar. It was an older sibling's history book. I was seven years old at the time. Now I'm fourteen. I'd rather be st..."Yes!! I have not read a single Harry Potter book either. It is not on my to read list, tbh.
Dear JR: No, you are not a typical teen. You are a refreshingly atypical teen! When I was your age, I ran away from history as fast as I could - it seems that my various history teachers in school were not able to or interested in inspiring me to warm up to the subject. Once in college, I became interested in living history - reenacting - and I can't get enough of the stuff ever since! Keep on reading and studying history!
I had great elementary, Jr High, High School teachers who loved teaching the subject of HISTORY. I passed the love of HISTORY on to both of my children, they always told me they didn't have a teacher that made HISTORY exciting. Guess I got lucky. I now have a Grandson and he likes going to Historical Sites.
Hmm... I have never heard of anyone here saying that their interest in history (or probably any other subject) had something to do with their teacher. I guess because most of the subjects started in the elementary schools and one teacher taught most of them anyway. There are so many subjects that no one can be expected to like them all but you are still expected to study and learn something anyway. The interest comes from somewhere else, in a way you are responsible for it yourself.
Had some good history teachers too but didn't appreciate them and their passion till much later.
Curiosity. I think reading books set in different time periods is fascinating. So many authors nowadays set their novels in the future, which I enjoy. But I also have a desire to read novels set in the past, because the past is the framework upon which the present and future is based.It's the closest thing to a time machine.
For me it was the photos my grandfather brought back from WWII. He spent his spare time visiting the Pyramids, Jerusalem etc. Those black and white photos of him really sucked me in and I followed in his footsteps as a back packer. Now I write historic novels - with a twist.
D J wrote: "For me it was the photos my grandfather brought back from WWII. He spent his spare time visiting the Pyramids, Jerusalem etc. Those black and white photos of him really sucked me in and I followed..."I love old family photos! My favorites are the really old ones - 1910s or so - that really give me an insight into relatives that I never met. (For example, the girl with her arms around her sisters was probably motherly; the stoic boy in the back was probably very serious.)
I agree, old family photos are neat, Emily.
Yes, my Grandpa also had those double images, the same photo next to each other that you viewed through a lens and made it look 3D - called a stereoscope
I had two fantastic History teachers in Middle School. This started my intense desire to know everything "historical". Would graduate college with a history major, I still really enjoy history and discovering new topics to unearth.
Melissa wrote: "Do you remember how you first got into history? For me, it was American Girl."Watching history documentaries.
Mod
History books from the public library and doing it at "O" level. I was never very good at the subject academically, didn't have the knack for writing essays, which I later acquired on other subjects, but always enjoyed hugely ! who doesn't like a good story !
I can't remember when it began. I have been interested in history my whole life. As I said to my daughter in-law, "It's the closest I can come to time travel."
Tracy wrote: "I can't remember when it began. I have been interested in history my whole life. As I said to my daughter in-law, "It's the closest I can come to time travel.""Yes, exactly! That and living history museums. Sadly my nieces and nephews have declared "history is boring!" Schools are STILL teaching the names/dates/battles Great White Men version of history so I understood what they were saying and then forced them to do some fun, hands-on learning!
Ah yes, Living History, I was in the Sealed Knot for 20 years and did a few Living Histories. Usually camps and cooking fires, tents and sentries. We worked occasionally with those more luvvy than we were. Thieves, surgeons, preachers, hangings, ladies of negotiable affection ... but I would remain unsure precisely how accurate we were.I liked a colleague staring at a woman in the crowd rather skimpily dressed for the 21st century let alone the 17th.... he roared at the "Naked Jezabel !!!.... cover yourself woman !.... before we arraign you before a magistrate !"
History is Not Boring
Books mentioned in this topic
Tomorrow to be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion (other topics)Coming Apart: An Informal History of America in the 1960s (other topics)
Omar Khayyam (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Harold Lamb (other topics)John Jakes (other topics)
