Thanks to friend Barbara Bockrath of the Oliver Miller Homestead in PA. for
this article... scroll on down.
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The following
is a quotation from William "Wild Willy" Frankfort's column
_The Road Less
Traveled_ in the "Union Finley Messenger", July 2009,
a newspaper printed in
the suburbs just south of Pittsburgh, PA.
......... F.Y.I.
"It seems
that our [Penna] elected officials have seen fit to discontinue
history and
culture in these, "Tough economic times". You may ask,
"What does he
mean discontinuing?" I am writing about the conspiracy to
keep you all
glued to the television.
Sounds weird doesn't it? Let me
explain. In the last few months, our elected
officials have seen fit to
close more than 30 percent of the state and federally
run historic sites and
historic sites and parks administered by the National Parks
Service.
this means that many smaller museums are being closed and their
artifacts are
being sent to other larger museums.
What happens to those displays and
artifacts? Nothing. They are stored because
there is nowhere to
display them or they are sold off. This means that small, local
museums
or historic sites may never open again. They just put up the gate,
lock
it, and that's that. We can write all the letters we want and it does no
good
because the money is needed for "stimulus".
This
isn't all going to happen this year. Some sites have money budgeted till
the
end of this year, but sure as shootin' they will close when the money
runs out.
What is ironic and historically a fact is, in "tough economic
times" like these historic
sites and museums do well. Think about
it: the admission fees are cheap, and it is
a fun, inexpensive day for those
of us who have children.
What I do see is how much money was spent to
inform us of the change over to the
new digital television system.
Let's face it, as our less expensive parks and historic
venues close, we're
gonna need all the "free" television we can get. Now we can sit
back
and watch our elected officials on the tube tell us how well they are doing
fixing
the economy. And does it seem that our governor and
President are getting a heck
of a lot of more air time lately?
It
seems to me, we are just where they want us to be. Scared and waiting to
hear
how much better we are for what they are doing for us. All in
beautiful, high-definition
digital glory.
OK, I'm done. That's
my conspiracy theory: the government wants us to be in front
of the
tube or at work. But, if they start closing amusement parks, sports
franchises
and movie theaters, you will know my theories are
correct.
I'll see you at the local [grocery] market. Cause
outdoors, culture and history are
closed till further notice in
Pennsylvania."
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As I went down my contact list of people involved with history or culture
in some way, it made me realize how powerful a medium email can be. Please send
this article on to whoever you think could use it. Cite it. Maybe it will be a
wake up call for some who have grown complacent about supporting their local
museums, historic sites and libraries. Monetary support is good, but live warm
volunteers and people to help in leading these organizations are just as
important.
Jane Oakes
If you don't know history,
you don't know anything.
You're like a leaf that doesn't even know it's part
of a tree.
(Michael Crichton)