The only way to find out anything about what kinds of lives people led in any given period is to tunnel into their records and to let them speak for themselves.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
You'll find a lot of rich detail in people's personal histories - diaries and journals and things of the era.
Nobody knows what really happened in any historical period. There are some periods where we know more than others, though.
I'm trying to deal with ideas about histories, fame, hearsay, and how public identities are constructed.
The only way we'll know where we're going is to look at the past and to remember who we were through ceremonies and rituals.
The interesting thing about history sometimes. is that you know these people existed, and you knew what jobs they did, but you don't know much about them as people, so you actually have to make them up.
Everyone has a past, but I try not to let that affect the way I see them; I want to get to know who they are today.
I haven't done any genealogical exploring myself, though members of my family and also of my husband's family have traced things back. I have a great grandfather on my mother's side who was a musician, and I'd like to know more about his life.
Of history, how little do we know by personal contact; we have lived a few years, seen a few men, witnessed some important events; but what are these in the whole sum of the world's past.
There are certain historical figures of such importance that we need to know everything about them, which is why books about Napoleon, Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I, and the great religious founders continue to proliferate; these lives require constant reevaluation and interpretation.
Some of what I am doing when I am researching is looking for things people in my family have done and finding out what those things mean, why they did those things and seeing how I fit into them.
No opposing quotes found.