It's 10 o'clock - do you know where your history is?
Freya Liggett
MOSES LAKE - This ominous television public service announcement, has somberly reminded parents to be mindful of their children's whereabouts since the 1960s. On the occasion of Moses Lake's 75th Anniversary I'd like you to look around your home tonight and ask yourself these questions. What have you done to safeguard your history? Why is local history important? Do you know where your history is?!
Perhaps you can relate.
My Aunt Marlene can match a name to every face in our family photographs; tell you a story behind each person, place and outing. Moreover she remembers conversations, their actual words. I can't count how many times we've all repeated my Grandmother Anna's famous line, "Don't you worry about me. You kids just go ahead and have your fun. I'll be fine!" Family legend places the phrase's origin on the eve of my parent's first date, circa 1965.
I only remember sensory details.
I think about Anna every time I eat Swedish Fish. I was afraid of her bald head after the chemotherapy. She would offer me a jar of bright chewy fish to coax me into her room. I still find them comforting.
I think of my Great Aunt Bonnie when I smell Tea Rose. Her assisted living apartment was dominated by an ornate white baby grand piano. She wore luxurious jeweled cardigans.
Chanel No. 5 reminds me of my Grandmother Jean Marie. Her doll collection qualified her for Imelda Marcos status. She played a mean game of zilch.
At last count I've moved a total of 22 times. Anna. Bonnnie. Jean Marie. Their stories move with me. I'm probably never going to write any of it down.
It is the personal record of the common man that makes up local history. A composition of the daily rhythms of life. Birth certificate. Marriage certificate. Death certificate. Local history addresses the finer minutiae of how we got to this point, and to a greater or lesser extent, how we might get to the next. Without people - we're discussing geography, not history!
As a museum professional I've fielded questions from every corner of the historical spectrum. When was the... who was the... where did the... does this look like? Most people are surprised to discover I'm not an expert on local history - but I do know where to find it! The best analogy I can offer is this. My stepson is a computer genius. Or rather, he is really really good at using Google. While I still honestly believe he uses magic to control the television with his smartphone, I can relate when it comes to pointing people to sources of information.
Which brings us to the 10 o'clock hour. This is a young town. Many of our current residents were children and young adults when Neppel voted to incorporate and change its name to Moses Lake. They remember their parents. They can name the faces in the photographs. They remember the actual words. Moses Lake is its own best source of history.
But how many of us recognize our own place in history? History (and the responsibility for it) begins with you. Your story, your neighborhood and your town link to a grander scheme, the textbook narrative of capital "H" history.
Some famous guy said "There is a history in all men's lives." (You can probably Google him). Perhaps you have meant to label those photos of Aunt So-And-So or Uncle What's-His-Name, but you just haven't found the time. Let's face it, sometimes that box of "old things" in the basement is just that, old things, artefacts of an obsolete world. But what if they are the only remaining record of a chapter in our local history?
The living rarely see their place in history. History is past. History is other. I can't tell you how many times a potential museum donor has said "Well I didn't think you'd want [insert document or artifact circa donors-year-of-birth through the present]. That's not really historical." I'm chuckling to myself thinking about the next generation of Moses Lake Museum & Art Center employees preparing for Moses Lake's 100th Anniversary. I can sympathize with them. I've talked to at least five reporters as of late preparing stories for Moses Lake's 75th Anniversary. Where do we find... what date did... Sorry guys, I got nothin. But I did point them to the best source of information I could think of. You.
Freya Liggett is the manager of the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. She has lived in Moses Lake since 2007, wrote a book on Moses Lake published in 2013, married a local boy from Moses Lake - and still professes to not know much about local history.