Perhaps, if you have been watching the Olympics, you have seen the new TV commercial for Old Navy, in which a young woman stands up in class and speaks mockingly of how interesting and exciting history is.
It sends a powerful message to young people that our collective past is boring and Old Navy is fun.
Without passing judgement on Old Navy, the ad creates what was probably an unintended consequence. Young people need to be taught that they didn't wind up by chance living in the circumstances in which they find themselves.
They need to know how this world and particularly this nation, state and city were formed, the successes and failures we've had in our attempts to create equal opportunity for all and how we achieved unprecedented freedom and prosperity among this nation of immigrants.
To quote Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
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Recently, Bill Rees, chair of the Operations Committee of the St. Louis County Historical Society called for more volunteers at the society. The society has lots of needs, but not enough volunteers.
Our suggestion would be that the society reach out to the public schools this fall in search of volunteers. Perhaps Old Navy would help by posting a sign-up sheet as well or even offer pointers on how to make history more fun to learn.
