I had an interesting conversation on a tour of the area around York, England, last fall. Three of us tourers were alone on the bus waiting for the others. I said I thought it was wonderful how everything was preserved in England. One of the men with me said that yes, thinking of historic preservation was a good thing, but that in England it was too much of a good thing, that people did not think of the future as much as the past and there was little progress whereas in the United States, the thought was for progress and the future. (Another person in England said that we had no history in the United States, which is ridiculous.) There must be, of course, a balance. We must look to the future as well as to the past. And it was not until the Centennial of our founding that we even glanced back. The old buildings, the old silver, the old clothing tie us to our history and join us. I hate to bring in the word "Soul" so soon after mentioning it just a few articles ago. But our physical past helps us have that American soul that binds us together.
I had an interesting conversation on a tour of the area around York, England, last fall. Three of us tourers were alone on the bus waiting for the others. I said I thought it was wonderful how everything was preserved in England. One of the men with me said that yes, thinking of historic preservation was a good thing, but that in England it was too much of a good thing, that people did not think of the future as much as the past and there was little progress whereas in the United States, the thought was for progress and the future. (Another person in England said that we had no history in the United States, which is ridiculous.) There must be, of course, a balance. We must look to the future as well as to the past. And it was not until the Centennial of our founding that we even glanced back. The old buildings, the old silver, the old clothing tie us to our history and join us. I hate to bring in the word "Soul" so soon after mentioning it just a few articles ago. But our physical past helps us have that American soul that binds us together.