Part 1: Before You Watch

Looking at the stories from the history of Buffalo or my hometown, Holland, helps me understand the present by showing how our values and traditions were shaped over time. Local history gives context to why things are the way they are such as how how schools and industries formed, or how different groups of people contributed to our community’s identity. It can be be a humbling reminder to look at the past and recognize that the world around us which we take for granted or judge quickly was not built in a day. Understanding the past also helps me see patterns that can guide the future. When we learn how our community has responded to change, hardship, or innovation before, it helps us make more thoughtful choices moving forward. By recognizing both the progress and mistakes of those who came before us, we can plan for a future that’s more inclusive, informed, and sustainable.

By looking at the history of our community and combining them with the stories as well as using critical thinking skills helps us to understand where people come from, their cultures, why they came here, their histories, etc. I used to hate history because it was simply taught to me with rote facts, once I began to understand the stories behind the facts is when I began to truly value the importance of our history. When we understand why people have done things in the past, we can choose to do the same, or choose not to repeat their mistakes.

After watching the video I believe that we do, indeed, learn from our mistakes. We all need to make decisions about the present about understanding what happened in the past. Critical thinking skills help us think about what happened and to sharpen awareness on what happened to what could happen, or what we want to not see happen again. Hearing the narratives from family members who have lived through the experiences of a change community and city can send a more realistic and personal view of what make people come to a place, stay in a place or leave that same place. My father in law was born and raised in Buffalo. His parents came from "the old country" of Poland. The family settled in Black Rock and eventually, after two generations, moved to the suburbs of Tonawanda. He used to say the old neighborhood has undergone many changes. Before he passed we would take rides to the old neighborhood and he would tell stories about what local stores, doctor offices, churches, and even pubs that were once thriving ethnic places that have since gone out of business or simply moved. He was a living walking testimonial of the history of that part of the city. My favorite story was when he explained that there used to be so many churches in the city. In fact, there was a place of worship every few blocks. One for the Italians. One for the Polish,\. One for the Greek. It wasn't until the Italian boys married the Polish girls and the Greek boys married Italian girls (etc) that the churches became less about nationality and more about faith.  It helped me to understand why there once was so many churches and how the cultures merged and are celebrated. Hearing his narratives helped me understand where our city's ethnicity and religious practices have changes over the course of 80+ years and where it is headed now.

1. Watch the video, "What makes history useable?" - very interesting 

1. How might looking at the stories of the history of our city or community help you understand the present better?

Adding narratives to history brings to life the facts that people are learning in order to help see the reality of how those facts impact people's day to day. It really does help us stay connected to the statistics rather than just having the background knowledge be the only content being taught. This will help us understand the present better by helping us understand where people and their families came from. What stories are being shared with their children? What barriers are present based on things from the past? 

1. How might looking at the stories of the history of your city help you understand the future better?

Stories in history help us understand the future better as well. The stories help us point our culture to where we are going, what trajectory our culture is on and what hurdles we will be up against. It is so important that people understand the context of history in order to use critical thinking skills to make informed decisions in the future. 

1.   How might looking at the stories of the history of our city or community help you understand the present better?   

We all need to make decisions about the present about understanding what happened in the past. Critical thinking skills help us think about what happened and to sharpen awareness on what happened to what could happen, or what we want to not see happen again.

Personally, I worked in Buffalo right next to the Michigan street Baptist Church which this area was the LAST stop on the underground railroad. This is interesting to begin with, but given that it is literally right next to my work for a decade and a half I could not help but feel the history. There are many prominent civil rights leaders that did much of their work here in the Buffalo Region, Mary Talbert for one. This local history is important, and those local connections can make richer connections to those that live here and get them more involved in the march for equality and other historical events.

2. How might looking at the stories of the history of your city help you understand the future better?
2. How to better connect our city (the who, what, where, when, why, and how) to our overall understanding of our history (past and present) to be better ready and prepared for the future and whatever the future may hold for us. Making sure that we have not only contextualization and content knowledge, but historical thinking skills that can better prepare our citizens for what lies ahead in the future.

1. How might looking at the stories of the history of our city or community help you understand the present better?
1. It may help us understand our own town, city, county, etc. better by understanding who lives there (cultures, races, ethnicities, religions), why they live there, where they came from and why, etc. Their complexities, understanding our/their history from multiple perspectives/viewpoints/stories, time frames, etc.

2. How might looking at the stories of the history of your city help you understand the future better?
2. How to better connect our city (the who, what, where, when, why, and how) to our overall understanding of our history (past and present) to be better ready and prepared for the future and whatever the future may hold for us. Making sure that we have not only contextualization and content knowledge, but historical thinking skills that can better prepare our citizens for what lies ahead in the future.

When we learn or share the stories about the history of Buffalo, we can better understand our current situation and what may happen in the future.  By focusing on our own stories of where we live we are more invested and interested in the content.  We can learn about how our geography, access to fresh waterways, the Erie Canal, immigration of Europeans, industrial revolution, invention of electricity, tremendous architecture, aided in the rise of a great city.  We also witness how the closures of businesses and factories and rise of technologies elsewhere, no longer relying on waterways for importing and exporting goods, ultimately led to our population decline and notorious "Rust Belt" name.  Buffalo is undergoing a re-birth again, and the history of factors once made this city the "second largest in the United States" is bringing back new life again.  Our diverse cultures that we celebrate with various festivals, our  geography and ability to experience all four seasons, our incredible architecture and ability to repurpose old buildings, our access to fresh water as global warming continues to be a great threat, and being a city welcoming of refugees is what will will make this city thrive once again.

Using history helps all humans be more educated. How? Well when we learn and teach history of our content many perspectives are spoken of. What happens in the past helps shape the present. When students can see this it helps not predict the future, but understand how we got where we are so maybe a little more understanding for what the future brings might be apparent. History shows a long timeframe and that is a great tool to study. Hopefully with all this it can help create more diverse humans and help our community be a better place. 

Going through school myself, history was my least favorite subject.  It was hard for me to make connections and understand what years things happened in.  It wasn't until I became a teacher and had the opportunity to take my 5th grade class on a guided walking tour around Buffalo that I realized how much history is in my hometown.  We are taught in school about the bigger picture and typically not local history, so I truly had no idea that there was as much history as there is right here in Buffalo.  Making that connection to students today is extremely important.  Once I made the connection as an adult, it made history a lot more relatable and this can happen with our own students as well.  Making history usable in our own classrooms can spark interest from students, like myself, that were so disconnected to history that it led to low interest and low scores.