Why study history? This has always been the first question I asked my students at the beginning of a new school year. I stopped being surprised when they simply didn't have an answer, but it never stopped breaking my heart.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "We are not makers of history. We are made by history." I love this! It demonstrates that we are all a culmination of events that happened long before us and that our actions will impact those who follow. Whether we know it or not, every thought we have, every stance we take, every idea we espouse are all inspired by an evolution of time and stories (even the unpleasant ones).
I'm a firm believer that we are doomed to repeat the history we forget. I can't tell you the number of times I've told my husband that something we see in the news reminds me so much of when...fill in the blank. The great Maya Angelou wrote, "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." Knowing where we've been, who we've been, and learning from it allows us to further evolve and grow as humans.
I've always been a passionate historian and love sharing the little known and obscure details and events that have been long forgotten. That's why I chose to be a teacher! Sharing the sometimes shocking, often inspirational, and usually better than fiction stories with my students has always thrilled me. Sadly, in the 21st century classroom, there is little room to veer off the established curricular path. The incredible pressure and stress of teaching (mostly things outside the classroom and out of a teacher's control) leaves very little time to cover all the anecdotal stories that go along with the BIG historical events. So many of the inspiring people and crazy coincidences of history are lost. My quick reply to a well-intentioned inquisition about "why didn't we learn about _____ in school" was always, "When?"
That's why I started Hip in History, originally an Instagram page to share an interesting "on this day in history" tidbit. I decided to expand the platform and begin writing about the things I found interesting (in the hopes that others would find interest too). For me, this is a creative outlet. For you, I hope, it’s a place to explore a passion, see a moment in history from a new perspective, or simply broaden your understanding about the world we live in and the people we’ve shared it with.
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