Various

“ Its existence is as inevitable as life itself; as last night’s sunset, this morning’s sunrise. These scholars feel that the study of the events which make up history is rewarding in itself without any further direct use. It is a part of the well-educated man or woman.
There are other people, of course, who would insist that—save for the scholars who teach it—history has no more utility than knowledge of Latin and Greek. Having found no adult use for the contents of their history textbooks, such people might be pardoned for feeling that history is merely the useless foible of educators. ”

“ At first the Revolutionary War affected the Fairfax Meeting but little, however, before it was over some fifteen members had been disowned for joining the army. George Washington summed up the general attitude towards the Quakers then in his famous, “Leave the Friends alone for you cannot induce them to swear or fight for or against us. They are harmless, peaceful and industrious people who will produce bread and meat, and if they will not sell it to us, we will take it, if we need it; we need bread and meat as much as we need soldiers.” ”

“ If there is any immutable lesson which history teaches, it is that no quantity of insights can ever replace or substitute for good judgement or the basic intellectual capacity which experience transforms into wisdom.
I have tried to indicate what I think the nature of history is, and in the process I have given you some very general thoughts about the use and utility of history. I would like to pursue this question of uses of history a bit further.
What really do any of us have in mind in speaking of the “Uses of History?” Is it history for the enrichment of one’s life? ”

“ More and more people are beginning to recognize the ability of the trained historian to bring out all of the pertinent facts, and to weigh their relative value far more objectively than is possible for the average person without historical training.
Thus, HERO is convinced of the utility of our primary mission of mining the rich natural resource which we think history is, and also of refining the ore so as to permit history to serve mankind, as philosophers have always said it should. ”

“ Save possibly in the area of science, human society has never come near to efficiently exploiting this resource of its own experience.
When it is mined, this natural resource can make its principal contribution to social memory by enriching wisdom. We have a tendency to speak of the “lessons” of history, as though they were immutable—I do this as much as anyone—but I realize that in a literal sense this is impossible. One can never recreate, in every detail and particular, the exact circumstances of a past event. ”

“ History can never exactly repeat itself, and so its so-called lessons cannot be applied blindly or automatically.
But if history doesn’t repeat itself it does, in the words of Herman Kahn, paraphrase itself. Kahn, incidentally, is a scientist and not a historian, but he, like Toynbee and other historians, recognizes that human and institutional relationships in modern times can often bear a close resemblance to events of the past. One can discern many parallel patterns in history, and both trends and specific events are often directly comparable between these patterns. ”

“ Yet, if there is any validity to what I said earlier about history being the memory of human society—and of individual humans as well—I suspect that history has had some utility—direct and indirect—to even the most pragmatic amongst us. ”

“ And since human reactions to circumstances and stimuli are not ever likely to change radically, it is easy to note danger signals from certain circumstances in related patterns of events, and to see what kinds of actions have been successful in certain circumstances in the past, and which have failed, in similar patterns.
Thus, while rejecting the idea that history teaches us lessons from the past, I am convinced that history will widen our horizons, revealing new perspective, providing insights, and generally enriching wisdom in using good judgment in dealing with the present. ”

“ As to the first of these doubts, as I shall show, we have clearly demonstrated the relevance of history to current policy issues. For the second, we believe that the dangers of the concept of “every man his own historian” are becoming apparent to many Government officials. The historical background of Government specialists, even in their own area of specialty, is not only spotty, but their recollection of historical experience is limited mostly to those examples which tend to support their own pre-conceived ideas. ”

“ Nuclear weapons, first employed in 1945, have not yet been effectively assimilated into a tactical system by our army or—to the best of our knowledge—any other army—though of course the weapons are available, and can be used.
Of the many significant conclusions that emerged from this study, however, one seemed to us to be especially important: New and effective tactical systems in history seem to have been more the result of new ideas than of new or improved weapons. New and imaginative concepts have often permitted inferior forces to overcome handicaps in numbers and/or equipment. ”

“ I have one last HERO project which I should like to mention as being relevant to the uses of history.
You will recall my concept of history as society’s memory. Several of us, through long and bitter experience, have come to the conclusion that the memory of the Government is not very good. We are dismayed by the duplication of effort in Government research and in policy-making ”

“ First, because we have reason to think that the teaching of history has not been as good or as effective as it can be and should be. Too often children think of history as one of the dullest of their subjects, instead of one which can provide endless, 51 dramatic fascination. And, as historians, we saw in this situation the possibility that historians could make a direct contribution to one of the great social problems of our time: the alienation of important minority groups, particularly in our large urban areas, from the rest of American society. ”

“ First let me say a few words about how the use of history can be directly relevant to Loudoun County. Before going further I should explain to you that, even though I am not a resident, I am no stranger to the County or to Leesburg. For about twenty years the Dupuys have been property-owners in Loudoun County. As my father used to comment, we are thus modern recruits of the Army of Northern Virginia. My wife and I even have plans for a house which we someday expect to build on our property on the banks of Goose Creek. ”

“ The agonized voice of the despairing wretch, as it rang out over the broad water, amid the stillness and darkness of inevitable death, conveyed to the mind an image of the horror which must weigh upon the heart of one doomed knowingly to eternal death. ”

“ Deprived of this memory, we would be both useless and helpless. The same is true of society as a whole. Recognizing this, there are economic and social historians who concentrate their efforts on events of the very recent past, in order to provide useful inputs to the memories of scholars, policy makers, and others who are concerned with modern economic or social affairs. It is beside the point whether or not we believe the job could be done more systematically. ”

“ The firing was rapid and the fighting stubborn, the Federals standing up to their work well, giving and receiving bloody blows with high courage; but, notwithstanding their superiority of force, amply sufficient to have swept the Confederates from the field at one rushing charge, they failed for lack of a proper leader, the result proving that Baker was as inferior to Hunton in skill and promptness on the battle line as was Stone to Evans in general conduct of the field operations. ”

“ The application of historical experience to the development of current and future national security policy. There were two principal reasons for the skepticism. First, there are a number of people who feel that the tremendous technological advances of our times have totally invalidated any possible relevance of the past experience which is the stuff of history. Secondly, there are those who feel that the competent Government specialist has no need for the services of the historian; he is usually far more conversant with his field of interest than any academic scholar can be ”

“ The real impact of weapons on events comes from the assimilation of weapons into an effective military system. (By assimilation of a weapon we mean its integration into the nation’s milita organization and doctrine in such a way that it is employed effectively and confidently, and that its employment usually results in a relative decrease in the user’s casualties, while permitting the user to inflict higher casualties on military forces that have not assimilated it.) ”

“ Young Quaker men, being sympathetic with the Union, went North in great numbers during The War, many to Ohio; they obtained jobs and found a living away from Loudoun County and never came back to stay. It was this exodus which began the decline of the meeting at Waterford. Many Friends during the hostilities wished to travel to Baltimore in order to go to Yearly Meeting. To do so they had to run the blockade along the Potomac. Many ignored the guards at the river crossings, but many a one was turned back. ”

“ The purpose of the study was to provide useful insights to men who are trying to develop new doctrines, and new organizations, for the most efficient possible employment of the terribly destructive new weapons which are available to the Army today. In the process we surveyed the history of weapons development from the Fourth Century B. C. to the end of the Korean War.
This comprehensive survey provided us with a formidable mass of data on weapon experience in the history of war. ”

“ In TRUST to suffer and permit such of the people called Quakers—inhabiting said County, to erect and build so many Meeting Houses, School-Houses, Yards or Places of Burial—as they see fit—for the worship of God, the instruction of youth and burial of the dead. ”

“ Even more basically, some of us believe that a sense of history, and a consciousness of participation in history, is a basic human need. Now there are, of course, different kinds of basic human needs—there are the powerful and elemental forces of life and the preservation and continuation of life ”

“ At last $15,000.00 was raised, and in 1908 Lincoln High School opened its doors. The labors and work of erecting this school, the first high school in the county, was borne mostly by Friends. When the building burned in 1926, there was agitation to take the insurance money to another town to rebuild; a lengthy hearing was held at the Goose Creek Meeting House, but people had reckoned without the canniness of the original builders as the deed stated that the money was to be used to build a school within one quarter of a mile of the meeting house and that was where it was rebuilt. ”

“ These events, recorded in the newspaper, are as much history as events which happened in the days of 46 Roman power, as recorded by Julius Caesar, Livy, and other writers of those times. Thus the man who reads a daily newspaper, or a weekly newsmagazine, is making definite use of history—otherwise he wouldn’t bother to read!
Equally, events which happened to us in our daily work last year, last week, even today, are as much historical events as things which occurred centuries ago. ”

“ Munford with most of his regiment riding boot to boot and shouting at the top of their lungs was upon them. No time was lost in formal maneuvers as Cole shouted to his men to mount up and charge to the right—the melee was on. Some of the blue troopers were shot down and sabred before they could mount, others were captured on foot; many with blood streaming down their faces from sabre cuts on the head.
The melee developed into a running fight as Cole led his men toward the mountain road that runs past the Burdett Wright farm toward Waterford. ”

“ We came to the conclusion, while we were developing our survey plans, that if History is to have any effective impact on these minority group children, they should be exposed to it as early as possible, and as effectively as possible, before they have become embittered and alienated in their reaction to the social conditions in which they live. We accordingly developed a teachers’ source-book for teachers of kindergarten and the early elementary grades. The book comprises 27 separate essays on important holidays commemorating events of significance in American history. ”

“ History and historians can play only a contributory role in this task, which will require the cooperation of many different specialists. We know that two apparently divergent results must be achieved by this cooperation: improvement of the self-concept and self-respect of these minority children, who have been largely second-class citizens, while at the same time stimulating their feeling of association with the larger white majority. ”

“ This is the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization—which we modestly call HERO. HERO is dedicated to stimulating improved use of historical experience—as well as improved use of the professional historians who are most competent to marshal and to evaluate historical experience—in the development of national security policy. ”

“ Aside from the memory aspect, to which I have already alluded, there is an enrichment and humanizing effect on peoples’ lives resulting from a consciousness of making history as they vote in an election, testify at a local hearing, help create a local institution, or work at responsible jobs. ”