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Monday, November 24, 2014

Where are the Pilgrims?


I spent some time on Sunday afternoon searching for something to watch on TV related to Thanksgiving.  There were a plethora of cooking shows, with hints on roasting the perfect turkey.  But I was looking for something historical that mentioned the Plymouth settlers.  The only thing I found was the very inaccurate 1952 movie “Plymouth Adventure” starring Spencer Tracy.  And it was on the TCM channel by subscription only.  (So I couldn’t watch)  – Sigh –

Earlier I had gone to several stores looking for a Thanksgiving greeting card.  I really wanted one with a depiction of a Plymouth pilgrim, since it was for one of my Mayflower cousins from the NH Society.  After looking at over 100 cards, I gave up.  There were pumpkins, cornucopias, and autumn leaves but not a single pilgrim.  There was not even a historically inaccurate one with buckles on his hat.  – pout  –

Earlier I had gone looking for some Thanksgiving decorations.  I have a set of beautifully made pilgrim figures with historically accurate costumes, bought at Plimoth Plantation several years ago.  But we have recently moved and I can‘t find where they were packed away.  After much searching, I gave up on decorating for Thanksgiving 2014.  There was nothing out there, just a lot of Christmas stuff, and a few Halloween decorations offered on sale at 75% off.  Where are all the Thanksgiving decorations?   - groan  –

To top this all off, a friend recently showed me her fourth grader’s history book.  This is the year that most students learn about local history and American history.  There was no mention of the Plymouth settlement.  In fact, the book started at about the time of the American Revolution!  No mention of the Native Americans, no colonial settlement, no immigration to the New World?  In what context can you study the American Revolution without understanding the events that led up to the conflict?  - tearing hair out –


Comments?

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Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

2 comments:

  1. Weird... when I was a kid (and I'm only 40), we cu out turkeys at school and learned about the Pilgrims and everything. Yesterday I streamed "Desperate Crossings" from YouTube (I have Apple TV) and watched while I decorated my house for Christmas... yeah, I got that done early because I won't have much time to do so next weekend. If you haven't seen "Desperate Crossings", do-- might be aired on History Channel, on the rare occasions that they actually post something about history anymore, but I digress. Happy Thanksgiving, Heather!

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  2. Heather, you need to go into business. You can make Pilgrim cards and decorations. I don't know what can be done with the textbook, I am afraid Common Core standards won't make this any better.

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