The Junior Historian, Volume 9, Number 6, May 1949 Page: Front Inside

                                
THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
S 1897--THE OLDEST LEARNED SOCIETY IN TEXAS-1897
.President:                                     Director
P. I. NIXON
H. BAILEY CARROLL
Vice-Presidents:
EARL VANDALE                                  Cor. Secy. and Treas.:
HERBERT GAMBRELL          GEORGE A. HILL, JR.           MRS. CORAL HORTON TULLIS
CLAUDE ELLIOTT
THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
Published by
The Texas State Historical Association
Box 2131, University Station, Garrison Hall 105,
University of Texas, -Austin 12, Texas
Editor:
H. BAILEY CARROLL
Associate Editors:
JAMES M. DANIEL                MAXINE SMITH
"No man is fit to be entrusted with the control of the PRESENT
who is ignorant of the PAST, and no People who are indifferent
to their PAST need hope to make their FUTURE great."
Issued six times during the school year in: September, November, December, January, March, and
May. Regular subscription one dollar; club subscriptions (five or more to Chapter members) fifty
cents each. Entered as second-class matter February 21, 1945, at the post office at Austin, Texas, under
the Act of March 3, 1879.

MAKE HISTORY LIVE
by SIDDIE R. ARMSTRONG

At no time has the youth of our schools
put forth a more systematic effort to make
the past live and throb with human interest
than during recent years. In this absorbing
task the Junior Historians have taken the
lead. By their investigation of letters, diaries,
and other materials of the past, these young
students are compiling a source of evidence
of inestimable value, as well as learning to
read and think critically.
Only recently a high school student, after
reading a diary written by his great-great-
grandmother in 1861, remarked: "My great-
great-grandmother has given me the best de-
scription of means of early travel that I have
ever read. Why, I can almost feel the hard-
ships that she endured on her trip from New
York to Texas."
Yes, the past does speak clearly and hu-
manly through letters, diaries, and other old
documents. They are the "flood lights of his-
tory." They make history live. One cannot

read his great-great-grandmother's diary and
not feel a stronger bond of family unity; nor
can he escape_ the inevitable result of wanting
to know more about the community and coun-
try in which this grandmother lived more
than a hundred years ago.
These letters and diaries written by men
and women in their own words-words that
they never dreamed would reach our ears-
stir our imagination. The longings of these
pioneers for a few comforts magnify our
comforts;' their endurance of hardships mini-
mizes our difficulties; their delight in simple
pleasures challenges the true value of our
pleasures. How else could we add more hu-
man interest to the narrow confines of our
textbooks?
Students of history, by carrying on this
research work, you will not only keep your
mind excitingly happy, but you will also make
a significant contribution to your continuing
education. There are few richer gifts.