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"History, n. An
account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by
rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools."
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1906.
"The history of an
oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed-upon myth of its
conquerors."
Meridel Le Sueur, Crusaders, 1955.
"The only thing new in
the world is the history you don't know."
Harry S Truman, quoted in Merle Miller, Plain Speaking, 1982.
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I've always loved history, but disliked history
class. Perhaps it's because I've never felt the reverence that some
profess for ancient deeds of valor, nor held any ground hallow. Call it a
cultural disconnect from American Shintoism, but I prefer my national ancestors
with calloused hands, uncertain loyalties, misguided convictions and battered
souls. Human beings.
"Our Forefathers" always dominated
history class when I was in school. Inculcated with a litany of their
doctrines, addresses, compromises and declarations, we capitalized the group as
if they were gods, or at least possessed of divine guidance. History class
ignored those who, in the social-moral-legal-economic-political chaos that was
early America, simply made the wrong choice; those who deserted the ramparts
when the enemy charged, hanged the wrong man, backed the losing party, wandered
into a blizzard, bought swampland, sold swampland, insulted the judge.
Human beings.
History class loved winners. History class
ignored everyone else.
History class ignored African Americans, Native
Americans, Latinos, Asians, and women. Not because they lacked
accomplishment, vision, spirit, morality or heart. They simply
were not the winners. White Anglo tradition prevailed on this point, and
held sway for generations. That was the situation when I was in high school.
Fortunately,
things
are
different
in
the
schools
now,
and modern educators embrace these formerly ignored groups.
"Slavery In Pennsylvania," the original
database of Pennsylvania slaveholders and slaves--the Internet ancestor of the
Afrolumens Project--was
born in 1992 as a personal collection of newspaper clippings, Xeroxed magazine
and journal articles, and handwritten transcriptions of dusty county
documents. It was my response to history class. It was gritty and
unpleasant, full of unsavory characters making bad choices and exhibiting human
behavior. It also had a cast of hitherto ignored characters described in
archaic terms such as "wench," "yellow,"
"colored," "negress" and "molatress." It was
all about human beings, and it was all new to me.
afrolumens project
The launch of the Afrolumens Project was
meant to mark the tenth anniversary of those beginning efforts at
uncovering local hidden
history. It's mission today is to pick up where Slavery In Pennsylvania
left off, continuing the research into central Pennsylvania's African American
history from
the end of slavery through the American Civil War, and to combine the various
eras
into a cohesive shared history of our region. A human history.
The history is out there, buried in dusty
archives and unlit corners, on rolls of microfilm and microfiche, filed in
library cabinet drawers. It is "hidden in plain sight," not due to malicious
intent, but out of ignorance and tradition. A tradition that, fortunately,
has been fading these past few decades.
Afro, relating to African American studies,
and lumens, a measurement of light derived from the Latin word lumin,
meaning
"light opening." The mission of the Afrolumens Project is to
bring to light
the under-told history of African Americans in Central Pennsylvania. (click
here to read our official Mission Statement)
George F.
Nagle, Afrolumens Project Editor
January 2002, revised January, 2009
"The man who finds a
truth lights a torch."
Robert G. Ingersoll, "The Truth," 1897. |
