In a recent
column the the Fredrick Gazette, Mr.
Gordon praised the effort of Mr.
Scharf in documenting the history of
Frederick county and implied that any
new history would be flawed if the
researcher failed to review Mr.
Scharf's work. I agree. However,
unlike Mr. Gordon, I feel that any
history that is solely dependent on
the work of others, not original
research, will inherit, and magnify
the errors of the original - analogous
to Xeroxing a copy of a Xerox that was
itself Xeroxed.
The real issue
here is not whether one should merely
refer to Mr. Scharf's work in doing
historical research, but weather one
should defer to it. As whether to view
history as cast in stone once written,
or as always open to new findings and
welcoming new discoveries. In the
former case, there is no room for new
knowledge, the latter is defined by
the continual discovery of previously
unknown or unavailable creation of
knowledge.
Consider the
significance of the highly successful
biography of John Adams -- by David
McCullough. While many fine books and
papers have been written on this early
President, McCullough's exhaustive
research and his keen insight not only
of history but contemporary society
produced a work that made society
aware of this important figure in a
new and vital way.
To his credit,
Mr. Scharf did a herculean job in
compiling his 'History of Western
Maryland.' But he was limited in what
he could do by the tools of his time.
Historians today however, have at
their disposal tools Mr. Scharf could
not even dream of. The computer and
the internet are credited with the
increased productivity seen in the
workplace over the past decade,
however their effects in that
environment pale in comparison to
their impact in historical and
genealogical research.
Today,
historical researchers can scan copies
of documents form diverse sources,
convert them into electronic form,
enter them into databases and
correlated them together in a blink of
an eye. Thanks to the internet,
researchers from the comfort of their
homes - can log into vast archives
over the Internet. Family researchers
across the county can share their
research in on-line discussion groups,
and in doing so, add to each other's
knowledge about their families'
history. Thanks to modern technology,
while one once considered themselves
lucky to know the barest of
information about a grandparent, today
it's not uncommon to know the details
of the life and time of one's ancestor
who braved the Atlantic crossing.
It is this new
knowledge era, the efforts of
thousands, not just one, that the
Greater Emmitsburg Historical Society
is leveraging in their efforts to
author a new, more robust, and yes,
more accurate history of Northern
Frederick County.
The framework
of this new history is based on legal
documents, land records, wills, and
court transcripts: facts - not
tradition, hearsay, or folklore. To
this we add in historical news
accounts to produce a skeletal
structure that identifies key events,
landholders, and personalities related
to this area. This information is then
made accessible on-line at the
Historical Societies' web site. This
open public web site is where family
researchers are encouraged to add
details of their own genealogical and
historical study, particularly their
own family specific perspectives to
historical events.
In doing so,
the Historical Society has created an
online archive for anyone researching
family members who once called
Northern Frederick County their home.
With each new researcher, we learn
more about the rich and wonderful
history of this area ... our knowledge
is ever growing, and hopefully will
forever continue to grow.
It is the
fruits of this exhaustive effort that
Mr. Gordon so capriciously dismissed
in his original article last month. In
dismissing our findings on the origins
of Emmitsburg's founding, he never
once contacted us, and, at his own
admission, he never reviewed our
documentation. Instead he just assumed
we were wrong because our findings did
not coincide with his existing
knowledge.
Yes the goal
of a historical Society must and
should be the preservation and sharing
of existing knowledge. But that goal
should never take precedence over the
discovery and sharing of new
knowledge. Time does not stand still,
nor does the discovery of knowledge.
The new knowledge technologies enable
historians to discover details
previously unavailable to paper bound
researchers of earlier eras, and to
add context to the events occurring in
a way that more fully communicates to
this generation the factors that
influenced those early pioneers who we
seek to understand.
I don't know
about you, but I myself would not want
to live in a world where all knowledge
is assumed to be known. Humanity lived
through just such a time - which
historians aptly dubbed 'The Dark
Ages.' Its high time we lift the rich
history of the Emmitsburg area out of
its own dark age and into a world in
which new discoveries are treasured,
not scorned.
