Can ordinary people help write history?

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In reading history we oftentimes come across an account that just sings. Yes, the dates and facts are there. But so are personal stories that help add context, color, and character.

When we encounter this type of history we often find that the historian or writer is relying on journals and letters to help add flesh to the bones of the story. Recall, for instance, how journals and the more than one thousand letters between John Adams and his wife Abigail enriched David McCullough‘s 2001 Pulitzer-prize winning biography of Adams as well as the brand new Ken Burns documentary The American Revolution.

Today, many of us have stopped writing letters. Emails—correspondence for a younger generation—are a poor substitute. Some have dropped email and rely on texts, videos, social media platforms, and phone calls. And when it comes to keeping a diary, too many of us feel we simply do not have the time or never really consider why we may want to take up this habit.

Personal perspectives—written down and saved for the future—are important for a variety of reasons. We lose them at our peril. As the theologian Richard Rohr has written, everybody looks at the world through their own lens, “a matrix of culturally inherited qualities, family influences, and other life experiences. This lens, or worldview, truly determines what we bring to every discussion.” We need to find ways to insert those rich and complex perspectives into our understanding of life and into our studies of history.

Thankfully, there is a project reaching out to help rescue, document, and preserve diaries and journals from individuals across the U.S. And I believe it is one important way to ensure that ordinary people can help write history.

My friend, the writer Janet Hulstrand, introduced me to the American Diary Project to collect, archive, and honor American stories. Kate Zirkle, the founder of the project, notes that their focus is on stories from and about everyday Americans. People just like you and me. People who have a perspective that is important to capture and include as historians, journalists, novelists, poets, and others work to tell the larger American story.

Why is that important?

Wars, elections, and famous speeches are only part of the American narrative. “The rest of history is lived in kitchens, on buses, in classrooms, and in bedrooms. Diaries capture that.” Different voices are added to the discussion of what makes our country unique. These connections—perhaps a diary of a soldier away at war who misses home—help us build empathy.

“They are honest in a way that few other records are. They are not polished, not edited, not written with an audience in mind. They are real.”

I worked for decades at an organization that strives to tell the full American story. We need other voices and other perspectives to reach that goal.

Can ordinary people help write history? My friend Janet certainly feels that way. As a young writer she was both fascinated and inspired by James Boswell’s famous London Journal. When she wrote in her own diary from 1982 about her personal experiences of participating in the largest demonstration in New York City’s history—a march calling for nuclear disarmament—she, like Boswell in 18th century London, added color and context that helps explain what happened in that extraordinary time.

“As we headed up 6th Avenue, a convoy of sailors—three or four busloads of them—were moved past us. They smiled and flashed peace signs! There was only one hint of dissent along the way. A group of about 35 people were standing at 42nd St & First Avenue, holding flags and a woman was singing God Bless America into a microphone. As we passed, a cop said, ‘Just ignore them,’ but instead someone in our group joined in the singing. Quickly, we all picked up the song, including the cops! We beamed at the protestors, & they were nonplussed. They were holding signs proclaiming ‘Peace is a Soviet Weapon’ and ‘Disarm and Freeze to Death.’”

We think we live in extraordinary times. But there have always been periods of turmoil and deep disagreement. The next four years will be filled with upheaval and uncertainty . . . just look at our history. It is important to hear the perspective of those not at the center of power. I agree with Janet’s assertion that “there is value in being able to read one person’s individual perspective on a time of national urgency (or any other time for that matter), written at the time as opposed to just reading about that period in history books.” And yes, most of what we see is behind our eyes, but we can fill that in, and come closer to the truth, by considering and examining the perspective—and worldview—of others.

I do keep a journal and I occasionally write here about my first hand account of current events. Janet’s essay, however, has given me pause to consider taking that journaling to a new level. Plus, this is personal. My sister Carol just sent the family a treasure trove of digitized family history documents written by our ancestors. I can’t wait to dive in to read about the lives of the Blackburns, Beardens, and Browns.

We all have a tendency to force the world into our preconceptions. Because of that we miss a lot. To understand the full story, we need other voices. Other perspectives.

Think of how access to a wide variety of journal entries can enhance our understanding of our personal, family, community, and national history. In just three years, the American Diary Project has already saved nearly 500 diaries, each carefully stored, documented, and, when possible, digitized. Thanks to the vision of Kate Zirkle and other ADP founders, each of those 500 “adds another thread to the fabric of history.”

More to come . . .

DJB

Photo of eyeglasses from Pixabay.