A couple of points about the survey.

 

The course was an undergraduate Intro to HP class. The survey gave me the opportunity to discuss the importance of having at least a basic comprehension of history if one is to pursue HP as a career. I am not a big supporter of undergraduate historic preservation degrees in the first place. I think that it is far better for a student to get a more general liberal arts based education as an UG and then look to narrow their focus in grad school by concentrating on HP. A chemistry or science background is also great for those interested in pursuing materials technology and conservation on a graduate level.

 

Another issue is that our high schools are graduating kids who are completely illiterate in history. We seem more interested in preparing kids for a living and not for a life. When a parent asks me "Can my kid get a job in this HP thing?" I can't help but think that the entire point of higher education is being forgotten.  How can we protect the foundations of our republic is our citizens don't know anything about our past? Museums and historic sites are seeing a significant decline in visitation. Is it any wonder why? We are not educating our children in the history and values of our past. It has no meaning to them. We might as well be discussing the melting of the Martian ice cap. "So what, who cares...." 

 

For many kids, history is just a bunch of facts and dates. They don't have any established context on which to hang their concept of historical study. I try to encourage my students to explore their own family history in an effort to enlighten them as to how historical events have impacted their personal situation.  I had an uncle that was in the 82nd Airborne and was killed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy. That makes WWII come alive for me. We all have these types of family events we can discover.     

 

All this may seem like generational hand wringing, but I am telling you, since the advent of public education in America we have not had a generation that is less informed about our past. As preservationists this should scare the crap out of us. If future generations don't value the past, why should they protect our heritage resources from decay and development? If we don't at least instill some basic regard for history by high school or, God forbid, no later than college, when are the students going to develop this understanding?

 

It is all very frightening to me and leads me to think that our current national educational path leads straight into the wilderness. We will need more John the Baptist type preservationists out there to lead us out toward the new shining city on the hill (Who is John the Baptist and what shining city? Just shoot me!).

 

B