Lewis and Clark
The McGurn family is just back from about 10 days on the West Coast, mostly in the company of Meghan Clyne and her delightful family up in Oregon. As East Coasters, my girls and I are mostly strangers to the American Pacific (though I was born in California). It really is quite beautiful.
As part of my education efforts, however, even on vacation I like to instill just a little history into my children. So we went up the coast to Seaside, the terminus of the Lewis and Clark expedition, as well as visits to Fort Clatsop and Cape Disappointment (notwithstanding the unfortunate name, one of the most beautiful ocean views I have ever seen). We also took in a film at Ft. Clatsop which was supposed to be about Lewis and Clark. Instead it was all about Sacajawea, who seems to be the real star there (the bookstore is filled with stuff about her).
The film was so politically correct I couldn't believe it. All my kids learned about Lewis and Clark (called "the cloth men," which presumably means in contrast to the Native Americans they met) is that they allegedly stole a canoe from the Native Americans. Nothing about what the expedition meant, how it helped transform the U.S. into a Pacific power, etc.
Not my first experience with this. Similar issue when we stopped at Andrew Jackson's home in Tennessee, where the film is narrated by Martin Sheen and they refer to slaves as "uncompensated workers" I believe. Is this really what we've come to? History in our national parks delivered in the PBS version?
Anyone out there have similar experiences?
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Jun '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
People have to do something with their postgraduate degrees in Ethnic Cheerleading.
Jun '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
Yes. I have similar experiences. They happen every time I make the mistake of letting the radio dial sit on NPR for more than 15 seconds.
Aug '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
Check out the bookstore at Monticello. They should just rename the whole store, Sally Hemmings and the Trouble I've Seen and Fudge Shoppe.
It appeared that the historical offerings were all aligned with the view of oppressive slaveowners forcing themselves on attractive young slaves. I once saw the Jefferson family ( tall,freckled redheads) there for an annual graveside ceremony for Jefferson's birthday and the Parks personnel ignored them and didn't appear to be lending a hand at all to a traditional Monticello ritual.
Another place we witnessed the "re-emphasis of history" was at Chatham House Plantation. This has morphed into the Walt Whitman ,Nurse memorial. The war was pretty much secondary to the heroic efforts of that famous conscientious objector and poet.
Edited on Aug 2, 2011 at 6:51amJan '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
Actually, I believe the "PBS version" would be either Ken Burns' Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery or The National Parks: America's Best Idea, both of which are available on Netflix Streaming. Tell me if you see anything in those approaching the politically correct nonsense you saw at the fort (which is, truly, lamentable).
Like almost anything on PBS, what contemporary politics they have are liberal and of course there's no reason for them to be federally subsidized. But it's unjust and completely unwarranted to take a swipe like that to try to score a partisan point.
Edited on Aug 2, 2011 at 7:26amDec '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
Bill - I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to our fair state. We haven't visited Ft Clatsop in probably 10 years or so, but I know that if the theme of the park wasn't far left wing, the State of Oregon probably wouldn't let them put anything up.
Ah, the good old days when our US Senate delegation consisted of 2 Republicans (Hatfield & Packwood). Okay, 2 RINO's, but still. The state has become a deep navy blue. I blame it on all of the Californians who've moved in.
Edited on Aug 2, 2011 at 7:02amRe: Lewis and Clark
Tom, I didn't mean the PBS literally (though I think the Martin Sheen video at Jackson's home is from a PBS video). I mean the politically correct version of history, where we elevate sidebars to the main story and the undercurrent is how imperialist and horrible the people we thought heroes really were.
Jan '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
I understand and share your distaste for that kind of history, especially regarding the Founding Era. But given that PBS's most prestigious documentarian has produced a serious, non-lefty film on the subject at hand (again, the Lewis & Clark documentary), I think the particular way you made the point was unfair.
(I can't speak to the Jackson video, but if it's as bad as you say and produced by PBS, I'll cede you that point).
Again, I stipulate that PBS & NPR are liberal and should not be federally subsidized, but the level of animosity some conservatives have for them isn't justified.
Re: Lewis and Clark
Tom, Simply: my animosity is the way that Americans who go to a national park commemorating some important part of American history will never know that history if he or she has to rely on the films shown there. I think it telling that at the park they specifically did not have the "serious, non-leftyfilm" you mentioned. They had the pc version. And I've been to a few now.
Nor did the bookstore have "Undaunted Courage."
Jul '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
flownover: Check out the bookstore at Monticello. They should just rename the whole store, Sally Hemmings and the Trouble I've Seen and Fudge Shoppe.
It appeared that the historical offerings were all aligned with the view of oppressive slaveowners forcing themselves on attractive young slaves. I once saw the Jefferson family ( tall,freckled redheads) there for an annual graveside ceremony for Jefferson's birthday and the Parks personnel ignored them and didn't appear to be lending a hand at all to a traditional Monticello ritual.
...
Just for the record, there are no Parks personnel federal or otherwise involved at Monticello. It is run by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Even when I visited as a lad there was a strong but balanced focus on slavey in general and the conditions of slave life at Monticello, in keeping I think for a man whose first public act in the Virginia Colony House of Burgesses was to introduce a bill to abolish the importation of slaves.
The Y chromosome testing kerfuffle a while back showing some Hemmings males had Jefferson family genes led to the Jefferson family formally recognizing Sally Hemmings descendants as kin and inviting them to family functions.
Jul '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
I frequently visit historical sites, but not so much the national parks. Williamsburg and Mount Vernon are also privately held, it is a long-standing tradition in Virginia to not place national treasures in the hands of government.
I ignore the Hemmings material the same way I ignore any bodice rippers. Any details beyond the genetic evidence and some travel records and guesses about periods of opportunity is pure speculation, sensationalized for the usual market. In his public correspondence, Jefferson spoke harshly against the mixing of the races, and sought a solution to the race issue through separation, a la Liberia.
The "mass market" has never held much interest for me, but I have always been able to find something of interest at all three sites. The fact that they sometimes stock Howard Zinn or other intellectual pygmies has never bothered me, and I have the bowing triple stacked book shelves to prove it.
Chancellorsville Battlefield is an excellent National Park site, commemorating one of the most fascinating battles in American History, as well as the occasion of Stonewall Jackson's mortal wounding. Anyone up for a lesson in infantry tactics passing through the Fredericksburg area should consider visiting.
Feb '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
We prefer out fantasies to reality. The Sacagawea legend is an ineradicable fraud that has been endlessly debunked, to no avail. It can't be wholly blamed on modern liberalism/progressivism - Edgar Paxson's unfortunately iconic painting, "Lewis and Clark at Three Forks", dates back to 1912 and is as ridiculous as it is famous. The rapture with which the ahistorical Sacagawea is embraced says a great deal about our culture, none of it good.
Aug '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
Shameless profit plug. I use history to teach leadership to clients. Lewis & Clark's expedition is one of my newest modules. I've made a point to root it in apolitical historical detail, focusing on the book by Ambrose, among other sources. On two occasions I've presented to clients and in both instances, fifty upper and mid-levels leaders in an organization were fascinated by this historical event and its applicability to modern life. Next up: Jefferson and leadership. Stay tuned!
May '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
I experienced this in a slightly different version. Sitting in the waiting room at the US counsulate in Guangzhou China, waiting to take the oath on behalf of my newly adopted daughter and I look around the room and on the walls are not paintings of Washington and Jefferson, but of Rosa Parks and Ceaser Chavez. I did a double take. Here folks who want to come to the US are first exposed to our country and instead of holding up the founders of the country we engage in a PC effort to hold up "civil rights" figures?
Nov '10
Re: Lewis and Clark
My favorite park film is the one they show here at the Manassas Battlefield. It's excellent and accurate. My kids and I just periodically go out to see it when we feel like taking in a movie.
Mar '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
35 years ago at Pearl Harbor the ranger apologized for the accurate film on the 12/7/41 attack.
Apr '11
Re: Lewis and Clark
Oh, surely this can't be true...?
I weep.
When I visited Pearl Harbor about 15 years ago, the docent, a woman in her early-to-mid-twenties, provided a brief introduction to the film. During her five-minute speech, she actually got choked up as she recounted the events of December 7. I found her reaction to the story (which she had already told many dozens of times!) nearly as touching and as moving as the film and the memorial itself.