In nonprofit organizations that create cultural events, particularly museums and historic sites, we like to think that everyone in the general public is our audience. That’s the great potential — that every soul who lives on earth will wander through our doors and be enamored with what we have to offer. That’s not true, of course. Challenges in Reaching an Audience People have to know we exist, be able to find us, have time to…
In my post “Making a Bucket List of History,” I mentioned taking “regular nostalgia trips through my collections of photos, books, music, fiber arts supplies and projects, and my writing notebooks.” When it comes to nostalgia trips, most of them arise in a haphazard fashion. People will be going about their business and something, be it a place or a sound or a scent or a phrase or an artifact, will instantly send them packing…
The Origin of the Bucket List It can be difficult to pin down the origins of terms that arise in the popular culture. Such is the case with the term “bucket list,” which has come to mean a list of things you want to do before you die. Slate’s June Thomas tried to follow the trail of the term in her 2011 article, but needed to add an update to it in May 2015. Apparently,…
Forecasting the future by looking at trends, both past and present, takes a bit of imagination. Today’s challenge is meant to stretch your imagination. Because the effects of climate change are in our faces, let’s use this as an opportunity to forecast what might happen where you are by looking at climate change in other areas of the world. Read the following articles for inspiration and then make note of what has happened to the…
History is everywhere. I’ve always kind of known that, but since starting The Pragmatic Historian and purposely looking for it, I want to shout it from the rooftops: “HISTORY IS EVERYWHERE!!” Where the Past Begins Within the past week, I finished reading Amy Tan’s memoir, “Where the Past Begins.” If the title isn’t enough to convince you that she used history to write the book (the word “Past” is a dead giveaway), she opens the…