About Us
Our mission
Every day, we see history being erased. Whether it’s tearing down statues, banning books, changing meanings of words, it doesn’t matter. We are left with only memories. And, those who remember are dying off. Soon, a new generation will not know what their history is. And, that is sad.
History is not political nor is it racial. It is not decisive. It is just history. We need to study all of it to understand not only where we come from but also who we truly are and where we are going.
That’s why History Fanatics was created - to preserve those snippets of history so future generations can enjoy them.
An encouraging word
From a friend in the history preservation world (he is currently the director for a Department of Defense Learning Center (govspeak for a museum not open to the public):
An encouraging word for my museum / historian friends.
Sometimes, you get so focused on tasks at hand and only see the things in which you are deficient, that you lose sight of your surroundings. The proverbial too close to the tree to see the forest scenario.
A couple of weeks back, I was taking some of my Air Force students through one of our collection storage areas while we were discussing the evolution of enemy surface to air missiles (they wanted to see an SA2 and SA4 up close).
Looking at a dusty corner of the warehouse, they pointed at some random old wooden crates. "What are those?" they asked.
"Oh those are the original shipping boxes, and some parts and panels for the ENIAC, the world's first modern computer."
After all the excited chatter calmed down, I found myself smiling..."a bunch of random old wooden crates."
For a brief second, I caught a glimpse of the world through their eyes. After several years of looking at the same items, checking boxes during inventories, and worrying about temperature and humidity readings, I once again saw the dusty treasures of an old warehouse.
In our profession, it becomes so easy to lose sight. Nearly every one of our facilities feels under staffed, under paid, and over worked. History is one of few fields in which you work for an MA or PhD only to make close to minimum wage.
To all those in our profession, when you return to work this week, I hope you can do so with a renewed sense of wonder. Remember why you do what you do.
It's often thankless. Very few understand what you do and nearly all want your undivided attention when you haven't the time to give...but you do anyway.
99% of what you do isn't seen. Few see the craftsmanship of display mounts or the graphic design prowess of a text panel. Even fewer see the lack of smudges on glass or the hundreds of hours put into a painstakingly conserved work of art. They will never lose sleep over an infestation of carpet beetles or the spread of red rot on a leather jacket.
Thank you. Thank you for preserving our history as curators, interpreters, conservationists, exhibit designers, educators, archivists, docents, volunteers, historians, directors, superintendents, and admin professionals.
"Everything you have ever seen will turn back into dirt. It's our job to make that take as long as possible."
-My tour explanation of what we do.