How to be a Better Amateur Historian

Hackett Fischer

Last Monday I listened to a online lecture by Professor David Hackett Fischer of Brandeis University. He has written several books of history including Washington’s Crossing, Paul Revere’s Ride and Champlain’s dream. He was also my daughter’s adviser at Brandeis. Professor Fischer’s lecture was great. One of the things he talked about was how interest in History is growing among college students and among older people who are coming to History having studied and had careers in unrelated areas. That’s me.

I consider myself an amateur historian. I have always loved History. My college degree was in Computer Science rather than History because my parents always impressed on me how important it was to get a marketable degree and History was considered anything but marketable. So now that I am no longer working for a living but instead I am working at things I love, I have added Historian to my list of current ‘jobs’.

At the end of the lecture Professor Fischer took questions so I submitted one. I asked if he had any advice other than reading books about how to become a better amateur historian. He said that Francis Parkman wrote an essay about being a historian  in which he said you should “Go there”, “Do it”, and “Write it”. He recommended retracing the paths and locations of whatever you are studying. Professor Fischer inspired me and made me think that I should plan some historical travel trips and write about them.

It would be fun to retrace John Quincy Adams trip from Russia to The Netherlands as a 16 year old. Here in Nevada, Duke and I have explored some of the old pioneer routes. I should do some more reading about the pioneers and write about it. Do you have other suggestions?

What other ideas do you have about how to be a better amateur historian?

 

The Crystal Mine and the Top of Peavine Mountain

Last Thursday we went for another back road exploring trip with some friends. We went north form Verdi on Dog Valley Road and then north of of Dog Valley road to a wonderful Forest Service Camp ground called  Lookout Campground  that we will have to camp at some time. The sites were far apart and the setting was beautiful. 

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From there we went to a nearby crystal mine.  Apparently crystals were mined here during World War II for radios. We had fun collecting some beautiful white quartz and a few crystals.

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Peavine Mountain is the large mountain on the northwest of Reno. The crystal mine is on the west side of Peavine. From the Crystal Mine we headed around the north side of the mountain and went up the dirt roads to the top of Peavine where there are lots of communication towers and fantastic views.

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If you would like to see all the pictures from the trip they are on Flickr here

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I just finished reading Outliers by Malcom Gladwell on my Kindle. It is a fascinating book about why some people are so successful. Contrary to what most people think brains and talent play a small roll compared to luck and hard work.

It was fascinating to see how this applied to Bill Gates, The Beatles, and Gladwell himself.

I can't decide what to read next on my Kindle. I have a couple traditional books going but I need a new Kindle book. I almost always have my Kindle with me so I am never left without something to read.

Lovelock and Lovelock Cave

Duke and I like to explore back roads. Through the Reno Newcomers Club we met another couple who also like to explore back roads. It probably is smart to have two vehicles when you are in the middle of nowhere on rough roads exploring. So last week the four of us took two vehicles and went to Lovelock and Lovelock Caves. The area is described in the Moon Handbooks Nevada Guide. Lovelock is about 90 miles east of Reno on interstate 80 and has a population of about 2000 people. It is the county seat for Pershing County and has a small round court house building. According to the Moon Handbook the court house is one of the only two round court houses in the country. We explored inside and went into the court room. The jury box is in the center of the room and the inside of the dome is painted to look like the sky.

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We drove out to see the tufa formations north of town and then had a great lunch at the Cowpoke Cafe. They had homemade pies but we were too full for desert. Next time we stop there I am starting with pie!

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The Lovelock cave is 20 miles south of Lovelock. It is a small cave but it has been excavated by archeologists. The cave was inhabited by Indians 4000 years ago when it was on the edge of a lake. The archaeologists found lots of artifacts including the oldest duck decoys ever found. From the cave we looked out over the Humboldt Sink where the Humboldt River ends. Most of Nevada is part of the Great Basin. None of the rivers or water in the Great Basin ever reach the ocean.

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If you want to read the sign you can click on the picture.

We took a couple of wrong turns but eventually we found the dirt road heading southwest from the cave and took it to make a big circle back to Interstate 80 and home.

If you would like to see all of my pictures from this trip they are on Flickr here.

Catherine de Medici – Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda

I speed read Catherine de Medici – Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda last week in order to finish it in time for the Newcomers Club Book Club. It is not an easy read and the author who is Swedish by birth and apparently speaks five languages loves using unusual words like bobbish, chimera and  tergiversations. In spite of the fact that reading the book is a bit of a slog, it reads like a text book, I did find it very interesting.

Renaissance France is fascinating. Catherine De Medici lived from 1519 to 1589, during the reigns of 5 French kings. One of them was her husband and three of them were her sons. This was a particularly violent period. There were constantly recurring religious wars (at least six), the St Bartholomew's Day massacre (for which Catherine was blamed), Burnings of protestants, and  political assassinations. Catherine survived and perhaps even thrived, shaping French politics through most of this period.

I am glad I read this book. I learned a lot about this period in history in general and French history in particular. It certainly helped me better understand the renaissance and the reformation.

Thanks to my friend Linda here are a few of the obscure words, their meanings and the page references.

Page 25:  tergiversations – changes in opinion or course

Page 107:  shambolic – disorderly or chaotic

Page 337: bobbish – healthy, in good spirits (this word wasn't even in my dictionary. it is in dictionary.com)

Page 337: chimera – an illusion or fabrication of the mind

Page 352:  extirpate – exterminate