Reading and Writing

As I writer and a student of history I enjoy reading all that I can to increase my knowledge and add perspective to events from the past.  I decided to share a few books I’ve read recently that have impressed me, and hope those of you who read my blog will also enjoy them.

The first book I would recommend is “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing. Ernest Shackleton was an Antarctic explorer who set off from England with his crew on The Endurance, to complete the first Trans-Antarctic Expedition in the early 1900s. He and his crew left the day after World War I began, so they ended up at the bottom of the world with no communication with civilization. Their journey was filled with constant and unbelievable hardships, but with Shackleton’s leadership and the crew’s amazing physical endurance they all make it back safely. This is a remarkable and inspiring story.

Another book I really enjoyed was “Brothers” by Elise Holden. This book is not based on any particular historic event but it is filled with things that people interested in history love – graveyards, mysteries, wars and stories of long ago. “Brothers” is a fast paced book with well-developed characters. These characters draw you into the story and hold your attention until the very last page. This book reminded me that we are all connected to people we pass by each day and to others who may be in a different realm, but closer than we think.

The last book I’d like to mention is “A Life of Her Own: The Transformation of a Countrywoman in Twentieth-Century France” by Emilie Carles. This book is an autobiography about a woman who lived in the French Alps, became a teacher, and lived in very humble circumstances. Part of this book takes place during World War II so the effects of the war are realized as you learn about her like. Emilie’s book teaches self-sufficiency and gives the reader a glimpse into what daily life was like for people living during the early 1900s in France.

New York: September 11th - 1609, 1689, 2001

There are 365 days in a year, and each one is filled with endless events and activities, year after year. Throughout our lives some dates become more important than others. Some days witness events that connect that date over and over through centuries of time. September 11^th and New York have one of those momentous connections.

Event #1: September 11, 2001, Lower Manhattan, New York

This is one of those dates that you remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news. For me it was early in the morning. I was teaching a class to high school age students. When they came into the room that morning a few of them mentioned they had heard something about planes crashing into a building in New York; it seemed like a serious event.

I taught my class but in the back of my mind was a fear about what might be happening.  As soon as I finished, I got into my car and turned on the news. The events of the destroyed buildings and crashed planes were so unbelievable that I had a difficult time even comprehending what had happened. The terrorist attacks that had transpired in New York were beyond my understanding.

My husband called from work to see if I’d heard what was going on. He was teaching 6^th grade at the time and pulled all of his students into the library to watch the live coverage of the attacks. Together they saw a plane fly into the second tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan; they watched in bewilderment as portions of it toppled to the ground.

Our family spent several weeks listening to NPR (National Public Radio) every chance we had to try to understand what had happened in New York, why these terrorist activities had happened and who was responsible. We silently worked on projects with our hands as our minds listened and tried to untangle the numbing events.

Event #2: September 11, 1609, Entrance of the Hudson River, New York

September 11^th of 1609 goes back to a time before the Twin Towers stood in New York. Instead of terror, this day began with great hope as Henry Hudson looked up the North River (today know as the Hudson).

Previous to this date, he embarked on his third voyage to find a passage to Asia from Europe, but as his ship became encased in ice, Hudson decided to change his plans and take an entirely different route. He charted a course suggested by a fellow explorer, John Smith – yes – THE John Smith, and decided to search for a Northwest Passage instead. The Northwest Passage was believed to be a river that would go from the east coast to the west coast of North America and as he approached the North River, he felt this was the illusive passage so many explorers had been seeking.

As Hudson headed up the North River, he was optimistic that he had finally met with success but after a few weeks, Hudson realized this path was not what he had hoped for. After trading with Natives in the area he headed back to Europe.  He did not find a Northwest Passage but briefly explored the area that soon became the Dutch Colony of New Netherland and centuries later, New York.

Event #3 - September 11, 1689 Wallabout Bay, Long Island, New York

The September 11^th of 1689 falls between the two previously mentioned years. It is the day that Catalina Trico died in what is Long Island, New York today; she was 84 years old. Catalina married Joris Rapalje in 1624, only a few days before they set off on a ship across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. They were both religious exiles that went to the Netherlands for protection from Spain during the early 1600s. Little is known about how Catalina and Joris met but we know that Catalina’s sister was the only family at their wedding. Both Catalina and Joris were illiterate as their marriage certificate bears their signs, not their signatures.

Together they sailed across the ocean on the first ship that carried colonist headed for New Netherland. They were daring enough to start fresh in a new place they had never set foot on and willing to work hard to be successful there.  They were among the families that were placed at the far north end of the Hudson River, deep in the center of a land filled with Natives; the same river that Hudson had sailed up years before. Catalina and Joris had 11 children in New Netherland. They bought and sold land, cleared land and then cleared more land to rebuild homes and farms to raise their family on. Catalina outlived her husband Joris by 26 years. As a widow, she lived independently, raised her own garden, and even though her family was nearby, she took care of herself.

I have thought about the possible events for Catalina on September 11, 1689 many, many times during the past several months as I have attempted to pull some potential details from what that day might have been like. Had she spent the day gathering winter squash into her home with a few of her grandchildren? Had she enjoyed dinner with one of her children and their family? The interesting thing about Catalina is that she lived in New Netherland from the very first day to the very last and then a bit longer. She was on that first ship that landed before any homes were built; and she was also there on the day Peter Stuyvesant surrendered the Dutch colony to the English. She was one of the very few that saw it all!

Making Connections

All three of these events happened on the same date, in the same area, and each had an effect on New York that rippled out and changed the entire world – forever. The September 11, 2001 event took away a feeling of safety; people were hurt physically and emotionally, and there was a little less trust in the world.

September 11, 1609 eventually brought the Dutch to the area that would later become New York where they established a colony that was different from any other settlement in the New World. They brought tolerance, cooperation, and free trade to New Netherland and these ideas have become part of what New York is today.

September 11, 1689 brought the end of a life that was full of courage and determination. Catalina was one of the few that witnessed and experienced New Netherland in its entirety – every single day of it. She took a chance and changed her future because of her willingness to work hard and improve herself and the places she lived. She has over one million descendants living in the United States today.

The designer, Charles Eames, said, “Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects.” As I consider September 11^th, and examine events that happened on that date in New York, I realize that everything does eventually connect; that a single day can link people, places, and events throughout generations. These associations send out concentric ripples that shape the course of many histories in places far from where they first began.

What You can Learn from an Old Map

I enjoy roaming through thrift stores because it is always a quest for the unknown; you never know what you will discover. Recently I found an amazing treasure at a thrift store. My husband and I were looking at some chairs and as I turned around, my eyes fell on a map that was matted on foam core. I love maps so I studied it for a few seconds before I recognized it was an old map of Amsterdam! The writing on it was not in English and although I have never been to Amsterdam I recognized it instantly. I first noticed the canals running in a c-shape throughout the town, old ships, houses of red roofs and windmills surrounding the outside of the city. I snatched it up for $2.99 – best deal ever!

I spent the next few days studying my map and becoming familiar with its origins. I also made some connections with facts I already knew about what Amsterdam was like in the 1600s. I learned Johannes Blaeu created the map in 1649. It is titled “Celeberrimi Hollandiae Emporii Delineatio Nova” which roughly translates to “New Delineation in Amsterdam, the Most Famous Port in Holland.” The mid 1600s were the Golden Age for the Dutch, they were successfully involved in world trade and Amsterdam was the leading trade city in Europe. Blaeu made the map to celebrate Dutch independence from Spain after the Eighty Year War and show the dominance of the Dutch’s position in world trade.

Blaeu’s map is oriented with southwest at the top, which is typical for the 1500 and 1600s. With this orientation. Amsterdam is drawn above the Ij Inlet, (labeled Ya Flavius) the waterway that gave the Dutch access to the entire world, and made Holland the most famous trading post at the time. The water on the map is filled with ships of all types; large ships line the docks of the Ij Inlet and the canals are filled with smaller sloops.

Johannes Blaeu and his family were all well known for their cartography skills.  Johannes’ father Willem was a Dutch cartographer, publisher, globe, and atlas maker. He gained his expertise of being a globe maker when he worked with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. The Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer painted Willem’s maps into the backgrounds of three of his paintings.

On Johannes’ map, the buildings of Amsterdam are tightly fit side-by-side, and covered by distinctive, maroon-red roofs. At the center of Amsterdam none of the houses have a yard. Further out from the center, many homes are without a yard but have access to a commons area. The land outside of town was for farming and divided into strips of land filled with various crops and animals.

The Amsel River runs through the center of Amsterdam and the map shows various sizes of ships, coming and going along this path. In the very center of town, the river is dammed and without canals. This area is home to the fish market and Henry Keyser’s Stock Exchange; it is covered with land and roadways instead of canals.

Around the outside of the city was a series of medieval walls in a zig-zag pattern. Inside each peak of the wall is a windmill. This system of walls and windmills was one way the Dutch fought to keep their land from being flooded. Windmills constantly pumped water out of the lowlands and back into the nearby rivers and inlets and kept land available for planting and homes.

So why does it even matter that I found an old map of Amsterdam from the 1600s? To me, it brings to life a time and a place that I have never been before. It allows me to see people living their daily lives along the streets and canals of Amsterdam more than 350 years ago. With this map I see little children sitting on the front stoop of their tidy houses waiting for a ship to come into the canal by their home. When one arrives, they excitedly jump up and down, and call their little friends to join them in the discovery, as goods from other parts of the world are unloaded.

I picture yards filled with trees and gardens, busy with activity. When the trees were loaded with fruit and the gardens filled with extra produce, families gathered the excess into baskets to bring to the market at the center of Amsterdam. I can guess that they sometimes trade their extra goods for a new painting or vase from a newly arrived ship; and these luxury items are brought home, enjoyed by all who enter the house - a unique idea for the time.

I imagine the borders of the city where windmills slowly turn keeping excess water on the outside edge of the dykes. These areas are home to families who are fishermen, and are also able to do the upkeep against the ever-encroaching water. They gather piles of long grass to put on top of the earthworks to keep the water of the Netherlands out of the farmlands and city. I visualize older children walking in their wooden shoes to bring a cloth sack filled with food to their father for his lunch. As they walk over the soggy land along the dyke, their feet do not sink because the shoes hold them up.

I see docks at the edge of the Ij Inlet lined with warehouses. During this time the Dutch East India Company bought items from all over the world, and because of the joint stock business model, they could buy more than they needed. The excess was then stored in warehouses until the demand increased for the items elsewhere in the world and they could be sold for a higher price.

The South American explorer, Alexander von Humbolt said, “The richness of your life, depends on what you are able to see.” Keep this in mind the next time you glance at a map, and take a deeper look. Dive into the details; allow the lines and labels to teach you about the people who lived out their lives there. Explore the map enough so you can understand the people who walked the paths of the map each day; places where they loved and lived and died.

Water

In my World History class I spend quite a bit of time teaching about Medieval Europe and the feudal triangle. During this period in history, the feudal triangle helped many people during a time of stress and war. At the bottom of the triangle were the peasants, they were protected from marauding neighbors by the knights; the Lords, who were higher up on the triangle, gave the knights land as payment for protecting the peasants. One drawback with this system was that the differing levels of society could not be breached. If you were born into a family of peasants, you and your family would always stay there, for centuries; there was no way of escaping your placement on the ladder of society. This was the method used throughout Europe to survive, except in one place - the Netherlands.

In Russell Shorto’s book, “Amsterdam: The Most Liberal City in the World” the idea of the Dutch not using the Feudal Triangle is discussed. Since most of the Netherlands is below sea level, their common enemy was not human instead it was water. The Dutch had to work together and continually fight the water so they could continue to plant and live in the Netherlands. This was a group effort for centuries so there were no levels of power within their society. Anyone could plant crops or sell land; you did not need to hold a high position to be the one to make decisions for those in the Netherlands. Anyone who was willing to help and problem solve against the ever pressing water was just as important as any leader in the country. The idea was that they all worked together against a common enemy, so EVERYONE, made a difference in how their society developed, not just those making the major political decisions. Since they saw the value in each individual and their ideas, the Netherlands respected and welcomed those who were different from themselves and appreciated their ideas. The Dutch still hold this value today.

The Dutch’s unique way of fighting water is now influencing the area of New York. Ironically, the Dutch established the Colony of New Netherlands in the 1600s, in what today is New York and the surrounding areas. The issue of the Dutch controlling water has now come full circle here. In a recent article by Russell Shorto, in the New York Times, I learned about Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the United States. President Barack Obama asked Donovan to find a solution to the New York area’s issues with severe flooding during Hurricane Sandy. He wanted Donovan to “radically rethink” the setup of the area with climate change in mind. While on vacation to Germany, Donovan decided to take a detour to the Netherlands and visit the world experts on water control. Here he met Henk Ovink who was the director of Spatial Planning and Water Management in the Netherlands. Ovink offered to come to the United States and assist Donovan with this issue of controlling the water. His idea was to help the United States “live with water not simply resist it.”

Ovink has his work cut out for him as the United States in not as open to new ideas as the Dutch have always been. As he walked along the shorelines of New York, the American engineers talked about their plans to rebuild the same walls that protected the areas, which had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Ovink asked what they would do if the walls were broken again by the water and the engineers simply answered they would rebuild them again. Ovink saw that a new thought pattern needed to be introduced. When Ovink discussed climate change, many American water management workers looked at him like he was crazy; they have not yet grasped the reality of this looming problem.

The Water Boards established in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages are a main reasons that the Netherlands established as such a cooperative society where everyone worked together. They used dams, windmills and dikes to live with the water and make land for themselves to live on during medieval times. Now faced with the effects of climate change, the Dutch have changed their strategy again. The windmills and dams are no longer effective with the new forces of water that have kept coming their way; they realized they need to once more “think outside of the box” and drastically change how their city is built to withstand water. One example is the city of Rotterdam; here they have built houses and office building that float as well as making a hole under city squares. These are mainly used as basketball courts, but when the water is high, they can be flooded with the addition runoff.

As Ovink has continued the water fight in the New York area, people have begun to listen and think outside of the box - more like the Dutch who settled the area centuries ago. However, they are still not as willing to reach out to other neighboring states affected by Hurricane Sandy; instead they have simply decided to let them figure out their own plan. Many homeowners in neighboring states are struggling to put their homes on stilts for protection from future water disasters. This is a very expensive and difficult task, especially accomplishing this one house at a time. Ovink suggested the entire area work together and help each other financially and materially to make it a more effective and affordable task. Their response was that it was too socialistic. They have not understood as the Dutch have learned, that when fighting water, you need to work together to win.

The Dutch have always been at the forefront of “weird” ideas. Things like the thought that the sun was the center of our solar system and that there are microscopic “animals" (today we call them bacteria and viruses) in us that make us ill. They have also continually worked together to tackle big problems, like the water, allowing everyone to be equal in fighting the challenge. In European museums there are portraits of kings and great leaders from the 1600s-1700s. The portraits from the Netherlands are a bit different from this time. Instead of only royalty, we see faces of the members of baker’s guilds and builders alongside the political leaders of the day.

 

It is hoped that the residences of New York and the United States, can take a risk on the Dutch way of thinking and work together and use different ideas to solve their water issues. As we examine a picture of New York from the Costello Plan map from around 1660, we can see that New York looked much different then it does now. When overlaid with a current Yahoo Map, it is obvious that throughout the past centuries, New York citizens have taken over a part of the water just as their ancestors from the Netherlands. It seems that things have come full circle and New York could benefit if they used their “Dutch sense” to keep the land they have claimed from the water around them and live at peace with water, as the Dutch have done for centuries.

Addresses and Palimpsest

Life is always busy in December but I usually take time to write Christmas cards, because I do not think we send enough handwritten letters in our technological world. For my Christmas cards, I cannot bring myself to just send out a signed photo. Instead, I take time to write a personal note on each card, even if it is brief.  

At the beginning of December I sat down with my stack of Christmas cards, address book, and stamps. After several minutes I had written my first card of the holiday season. Next, I opened my address book to locate the correct address for the card. As I turned the pages I realized I needed to redo my address book. It should be rewritten to include only current addresses, and I should take time to get rid of all the crossed out entries where friends and family had moved. The tattered little tome was quite messy to look at, the same plain book I had started with decades ago. I even had the idea to type the addresses and keep them on my computer for a more efficient way of organizing them.

As I turned these cluttered pages I realized I had in my possession a priceless, primary source document from my own life. I turned to the D’s, and found the name of a distant relative I had corresponded with over a decade ago; I was certain she was no longer living. She had a lot of interesting information about our common ancestors and shared it with me, and she had taken time to write me long letters as if we were old friends. If I left her name off of a typed or rewritten address list I am afraid I would forget the few years of correspondence we enjoyed.

As I went to the G’s, I saw the names of two couples my husband and I had known when we lived in Idaho. After our family moved, we continued to send Christmas cards for several years until one by one; we no longer received cards from them. I am not sure where they live now but I would not want them off of my address list either. As I read their names I was reminded of good memories we had shared together.

The B’s held an address for our close friends who moved to Scotland for a few years. It is a bit of a novelty to have an address crossed out and replaced with one overseas. Reading their address on Rose Street in Edinburgh brought back memories of when my husband and I visited them. To reach their flat, we climbed an old turret style spiral stairwell in their building which was hundreds of years old. They lived across the alley from a bar so we fell asleep to the clanging of glasses and the hearty songs of drunken Scotsmen. If I removed their address I would not worry about forgetting them like some of the other names; they are the best friends we have ever had. However, this friend died unexpectedly a few years ago and it just would not be right to leave her name out of my address book.

When I read through the K’s and the W’s I saw the addresses of my grandparents. Their street names were both untouched since the day I wrote them in my modest little address book when I was quite a bit younger. My grandparents never moved the entire time I knew them. They have all died now, but I could not cross them out of my book. Their simple addresses carry countless memories of apple trees, rose gardens, horses rides and hydrangeas.    

In seeing my grandparents’ unchanged address I also realized how society has changed through the years. During their lifetimes, everyone seemed to stay in the same town with homes next to one another. In today’s society, family and friends can be found all over the globe, and spread far away from each other. I suppose my address book is more for a time like my grandparents, a time where people stayed in the same place; however I cannot part with its crossed out addresses and changed phone numbers. It is a treasure to me; a journal of sorts, filled with unwritten memories.   

The idea of using the same piece of paper over and over again did not originate with me. A palimpsest describes a manuscript written on a parchment or a scroll that is reused, while still retaining some of the original writing or images. During numerous times in history having access to something to write on, let alone something new, was difficult and often quite expensive. For a document to be reused, the initial writing was washed or scraped off of the original document so it could be used again.

During the 5^th and 6^th centuries, documents were mostly written on animal hides, called vellum, so scraping off the original writing was possible without destroying the hide. Later on when parchment was used, it was washed off for reuse with a combination of milk and oat bran. In 2013, a new discovery of a medieval manuscript from a Greek Old Testament was found scripted over the writings of Aristotle and Euripides.

Another study of old manuscripts involves looking at classic books, plays and music. Historians study the words that were crossed out of the original manuscript and what was rewritten in their place. This gives an insight into the mind of the writers at the time they were formulating their ideas. This, however, is a luxury we do not have today with manuscripts being written on a computer, not allowing us access to previous drafts and the author’s thought patterns.

Learning and living is all part of a process. We build our knowledge one piece at a time and it continues to expand throughout our lifetime. As we learn, some of the ideas get crossed out and replaced with current ones. But our original ideas, although no longer valid, are important to remember because they get us closer to our final draft. 

Our lives are also lived in steps as we build relationships with others, one person at a time. Some people stay longer than others and some have addresses that we never want to cross out of our address books. Others can study our personal palimpsests and learn a lot about us - where we have been, whom we have cherished, and what we have valued. None of us come here as a final draft; instead we weave our lives in and out of various places and into people’s lives, all the while dealing the best we can and learning from the changes made on our palimpsests.