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Material Type: Paper; Class: Senior Seminar in History; Subject: History; University: Lake Superior State University; Term: Unknown 2009;
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Running Head: Finding a Value for Local History
Lisa Marie Hribar Sanderson Dr. Gary Balfantz, Thesis Advisor
Submitted in partial fulfillmentHonors Thesis of requirements to graduate from The Honors College Lake Superior State University April 2009
Introduction What does it mean for something to have value? Does it have to have a practical use? Can something have intrinsic value just by existing? Societies will never agree on an answer to these questions which makes quantifying the value of anything historical incredibly difficult. Do we try to measure the satisfaction we get from using it or just knowing it is there? Satisfaction is arbitrary, but it is even more difficult to put a meaningful dollar amount on the value of irreplaceable pieces of history. Is it set at what a buyer is willing to pay? What if it is something for which there is no buyer? What is the value of the pyramids at Giza? What is the value of the gold used to make funerary masks for the pharaohs? What is the value of Stonehenge? Dinosaur bones? Cave art? Medieval churches? The fields in which civil war battles took place? Why do we spend so much money preserving the original Constitution of the United States when a copy of it will suffice? Do the people of Borneo care about preserving the original U.S. Constitution? We must also find a value for stories and memories. Why do we teach our children the stories of Columbus or the pilgrims? Why do we remember the Alamo? The Trail of Tears? The Roman Empire? The Magna Carta? The holocaust? September 11th? Many say “why reinvent the wheel” or “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it;” even if those are true, why do we care which Greek invented a philosophy, is it not enough to just know the philosophy? The preservation of history costs money and there will be times when we must “get rid of the old to make way for the new” but we must also weigh the losses against the potential gains because once a piece of history is lost, it is gone forever. Our history makes us who we are and to lose it is to lose a piece of ourselves. Some people will always value certain pieces of history more than others. There are always large pieces of history some would rather forget. It is not
feasible to preserve every single piece of land that anything ever happened or we would never be able to build anything new; nor is it practical to save every single artifact. It would be too costly and require too much space. We don't save everyone's life stories, memorize every single event, every biography. It's just too much information. How do we decide what we want to save and what can be lost? How do we, as a society, determine what is worth remembering and what can be forgotten? Why do we bother preserving anything at all?
Seeking Value on a Large Scale These questions are impossible to answer fully. We do know that we can't save everything, it's too impractical. As a society we have decided that "close enough" will suffice— save some, lose some. Whether or not something is preserved or remembered is determined by its “value” or “benefit” though those terms are subjective. If it were left up to people on a large scale, very few things would ever be preserved. Most things must be preserved on a much smaller scale that is determined by how many people are affected. The preservation is often done by a dedicated few who are able to solicit funding from others who care but are not as motivated. Value and benefit are often left to be determined by those most immediately affected. This makes sense, people in Indiana have their own history to preserve. They aren't likely to care about the John Johnston house in Sault Ste. Marie and are also not likely to be willing to put money towards its preservation. The radius of people affected by the Johnston House's preservation is pretty small. On a grand scale. to rebuild the great pyramid of Khufu, one would need approximately 46 million tons of limestone. The price for blocks for nearby Egyptian limestone is about $
Seeking Value on a Local Level So what is the value of Sault Ste. Marie's history? The Eastern Upper Peninsula has a very rich past but the pool of people who are willing and able to finance its preservation is small. The average person in Borneo or Egypt probably would not care at all if the John Johnston house fell down from disrepair, but here is Sault the city and the historical society spent enough money restoring it to build several small houses. It's just an old small house. Why was it considered so important? To the people of the Sault, this house represents a time capsule of history. It was originally built in 1796, it is the second oldest house in Michigan, and it is furnished with furniture and decorations that belonged to the family. John Johnston was an early fur trading magnate who married the daughter of an Ojibway chief. Some stories told by his wife, Ozhahguscodaywayquay (aka Susan), were written down by Henry Schoolcraft; and were the basis for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Hiawatha. Though many have heard the poem, very few people know that Hiawatha was a real person who lived near Grand Marais. If not for the dutiful preservation of historic artifacts, that fact would be lost to time and the story would become another myth or legend. The Johnston house and the recently restored Baraga and Schoolcraft houses are a snapshot into life in this area 200 years ago. Much Sault history has been preserved and can be seen throughout the area in many museums and other historic sites like the aforementioned houses. There is also a rich oral history that has been passed down. At various times local historians have decided that it is important for people to be aware of the Sault area’s role in helping to develop the nation and even the world over the last 400+ years. There are several great books written that focus on the history of the city. Has it worked? How many local residents know that Simon-François Daumont de Saint- Lusson stood in Brady park near where the obelisk now stands, erected a cross displaying a
French coat of arms and claimed all of western North America for France? A handful, at best. Though there are many who say they are interested in their local history, most of the inhabitants of this rich cultural area have no idea what most of it is. Fortunately, the survey for this thesis found that many of the residents are willing to contribute money to make sure that it is not completely forgotten whether or not they personally know the history.
Why History Is Important to Society As a society we have decided that it is important for us to know our roots, where we come from, what people have done before us. We've also collectively decided that there's no point in "reinventing the wheel," we'd rather build upon the knowledge of our predecessors. Most people have heard the quote by the poet George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”^3 Conversely the writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote, "I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive."^4 Certainly that must be true in some respects. Despite the fresh memory of World War I, Europe still found itself embroiled in World War II barely 20 years later. Does the study of history separate us from primitive man, animals, the “dark ages” or is it a frivolous waste? I say that being aware of our past is the only way to make progress in the future. The time known as Europe's “dark ages” were characterized by high illiteracy rates, a lack of education, and with what can be described as a “mass-forgetting” of history. Thankfully it wasn't completely forgotten; a better term would be “stored” but knowledge of anything beyond the scope of daily life was limited to very few. The term “dark ages” was coined in the 1300s by the
(^3) Santayana, George. 1905. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. (^4) Vonnegut, Kurt. Jr. 1987. Bluebeard. New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks.
generation starts at the foundation; there is no progress from the previous time on which to build upon—a sort of societal stasis. Even in Europe's “dark ages,” knowledge wasn't completely forgotten, it just wasn't widely shared. The stereotype of learned men of the time is the monk or scribe, hidden from society in a stone room feverishly copying old manuscripts by hand. The stereotype of the average peasant is a farmworker who lived and died his life for the local ruler, never knowing more than was needed to survive. Even if that peasant attended church every Sunday of his life, it was largely in Latin and the peasant still probably knew little of his religion aside from a few basic tenets imposed by the church to guarantee a steady tithe. This peasant's life was not much different than his great-great-grandfather's, nor would it differ much from that of his great-great-grandson. I am not the first to make the argument that progress can't be made without knowledge of history. George Santayana's earlier quote in its full context is: Progress...depends on retentiveness...when experience is not retained, as among savages,infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted; it misses progress byfailing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians, in whom instinct has learned nothing from experience.^5 Taking this observation and using it to compare unlearned and enlightened societies, substantiates my argument that all of society benefits when most of society knows its history. But, in order to know history, it must be somehow saved, remembered, or otherwise preserved. Before the written word, societies still made sure they had a way to tell younger generations what the past generations had been doing. Every major culture we remember had an early, oral history. There were probably many others that have been lost to time; their memories
(^5) Santayana, George. 1905. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 284.
died when the last person who remembered them died. Perhaps from making that observation on a small scale, people wanted to make sure that their lives, their stories, would be remembered and their mistakes not repeated. For example it is easy to imagine a mother several thousand years ago telling a child “don't eat that plant, my brother ate that plant and he died.” It is also easy to imagine that mother telling children stories about amazing conquests made by other relatives, the grandfather that caught a bear, etc. The next natural step up from familial stories is to have stories about one's people. One must assume that early man had the same questions as modern man, “how did we get here?” or “why are we here?” Every mature early culture has gods and goddesses, creation stories, and other stories that answered those questions. These stories educated and entertained; they taught skills and social mores. When something new was discovered, it was shared so that others, too, could benefit. These stories were also a way to explain the unexplainable world around them. When many of these societies invented a way to write their histories down, it became a little easier to preserve their histories. Even if everyone who knew these stories died, the histories would still remain as long as the written piece did. Hammurabi's Code shows what daily life was like in Babylon around 2000BC. Clearly more than a snapshot, it explains customs and laws. We can piece together ideas about their culture like even though the people involved lived 4000 years ago. The Egyptians, too, left much written history that can be traced and compared with other histories to form an idea of what civilization was like in in their era. The Greeks left a massive legacy of philosophical thought and discovery that had an undeniably major impact on nearly every major western society that came after. The Romans picked up where the Greeks left off and left a legacy that is so pervasive that its after-effects can
Almost every little town has its museums and historic places. A brief observation of the tourism industry demonstrates that people like to know what happened in the past. Some of the larger museums in bigger cities like the Smithsonian in Chicago, attract several million visitors per year. Museums aren't just limited to broad subjects. In a brief search one can find museums dedicated to just about any area's history as well as museums dedicated to aviation, trains, sports, coin-operated machines, medical oddities, and so on. It would seem that if something exists, somebody somewhere collects it and has a museum about it. Museums preserve more than just artifacts; they preserve culture and are testaments to our fundamental desire to preserve the past.. Associated with every type of museum, every document, every historic building, and any other type of preservation; there is a cost to society. It takes money to pay for these things. They take up resources and space that can't be used for some other utilitarian purpose. Many Civil- War battlefields have been left as they were 150 years ago. That land would be useful for other types of development but it has been set aside lest we forget the events that led to a country fighting itself. Some would disagree. In the mid 1990s Disney tried to buy up land near Manassas Junction, Virginia, home to two major Civil War battles. The plan was to build “Disney America,” a theme park about American History. Not all but most locals overwhelmingly supported it. It was approved by zoning boards and welcomed by business owners. So why is there no Disney America? The plan was attacked nationally by historians, preservationists, environmentalists who also threatened any legal action they could to stall the development. The uproar alone was called “the third battle at Bull Run.”^6 The plan received a lot of high-profile
(^6) I heard a story about it on NPR around 1994, could not find the specific citation for it; it has been lost to time.
criticism until Disney ultimately abandoned the plans. Was the Disney plan really that horrible? It would have created many jobs and brought much tourist income to the area. It would have spread awareness about history behind the battlefields in the area. The only real conclusion that can be drawn is that sometimes even when people agree on what should be preserved, they don't always agree on how to preserve it.
About Contingent Valuation Analysis Before getting into too much depth about the benefits of preservation and who should pay them, it is necessary to explain the survey method used for this project. After carefully evaluating the techniques used by economists to quantify the value of something that cannot market determined, contingent valuation analysis (CVA) was chosen for this survey.^7 It is from the class usually referred to as “stated preference techniques.” It was chosen specifically for the “willingness-to-pay” aspect. Most of the other techniques require value to be inferred through comparison of similar things or through a process of ranking with other goods for which there is a known value; neither of which are applicable in this situation. The contingent valuation method is frequently used for environmental studies because it has been proven to be reliably accurate in assessing values for public goods. Something defined as a public good will possess to some degree non-excludability and non-rivalry—meaning its intrinsic benefits cannot be limited only to those who pay for its existence, benefits aren't diminished nor do they cost more when one person receives those them, and the good usually does not have a market value. Common examples are clean air or water, public roads, and recreational areas.
(^7) Full summary of the Demographics is found in Appendix A
Economic Benefits of Preservation Some people will never be convinced by intrinsic value alone, and for that it is still important to demonstrate the economic value of history preservation. Speaking from a purely utilitarian and economic approach, tourist destinations based on history are a very profitable enterprise. Henry Ford's Greenfield Village has had millions of visitors since it opened in 1929. According to the 2006 annual report,^8 over 1.5 million people visited that year—with over 50,000 people attending “Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village” over 12 days in December. Most visitors don't just spend money on entrance fees and then leave. Local restaurants, hotels, and stores all benefit from the people drawn in by the Village. Another prime example is Mackinac Island. Every aspect of its economy is founded on tourism. Millions of tourists have come to see the fort, the old buildings, and to experience the novelty of what life was like before motorized vehicles. The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis periodically releases reports estimating, among other industries, the amount of jobs that can be directly attributed to tourism. In 2004^9 , the most recent year for which I could find data, there were approximately 8 million individual people in the United States and its territories employed in tourism-related jobs; 265,600 of those jobs were in Michigan. A report released by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in conjunction with Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) in 2005 summarized Michigan's tourism
(^8) The Henry Ford. 2006. 2006 Annual Report. Detroit, MI: The Henry Ford. Available online at: http://www.thehenryford.org/about/annualreport.aspx (^9) United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2005. Michigan Tourism Facts. Michigan Economic Development Corportion. Online copy available at:www.msue.msu.edu/objects/content_revision/download.cfm/item_id261819/ workspace_id.- 30/National_Tourism_employment.pdf
industry by county.^10 The report summary estimates that from 2000-2004 there was an average of about 260,000 “person trips” per year to Chippewa County (a family of four would be considered four “person trips”). Of those, approximately 237,000 “person trips” per year were categorized as non-business leisure. The average length of stay for leisure trips was 2.3 days. Although no estimates exist to specify how many of those trips were for the purpose of exploring history, when one considers what is available for non-snowmobiling tourists in Chippewa County—such as the Soo Locks, the many Lighthouses, etc.—it is not hard to assume that at least a sizable portion enjoyed a visit to a destination that included some form of preserved history. There is no doubt that tourism is a major source of income for the Eastern Upper Peninsula. It would be disastrous for Sault Ste. Marie to ignore its historical sites.
A Brief History of the Area Before the white man ever laid eyes on the land that is now the Sault Ste. Marie area, it could still have been considered a tourist destination. Several native tribes would visit the Sault area, then called “Bowating,” every year throughout the months between the snow melting and leaves falling. The rapids were renowned for excellent fishing and a few natural landmarks that have long since disappeared were considered sacred areas. The first European to the area, Etienne Brule, was sent by Samuel de Champlain in 1610 to live with the Hurons and learn their language. Champlain soon followed with Brule acting as his scout and interpreter. In 1641, the first Jesuits, Father Charles Raymbault and Father Isaac Jogues arrived in Bowating; the latter honored by the Catholic church that still bears his name located on the Sault's Chippewa reservation. Many Jesuits would follow, as the area was popular for its beauty
(^10) Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Economic Development Corporation. 2005. MICHIGAN VISITORS–County Market Share. MSUE and MEDC.
long, interesting history before the locks were built and in the late 1800s and early 1900s the city put a lot more emphasis on other aspects of its history through community celebrations. Though it had likely begun earlier, a popular trip for the more well-to-do in the early 1800s included “shooting the rapids,” where two men would steer a narrow birch bark canoe with a few passengers through the rapids at a relatively fast speed. In “The Story of Sault Ste. Marie” first published in 1923, Stanley Newton lists many popular tourist attractions, of which only a few remain now. Sadly there is not even a marker to denote where many of them once stood. He also writes of the 1923 “homecoming” event in which over 5000 former “Sooites” were invited to come back home for a visit for a grand week of celebration. As he describes: Thousands came, and were glad they had come. Entertainment in abundance was provideddaily, there was a big community picnic and a monster parade graced by the queen of the week, Miss Lena Ladd, and her maids. A day was set apart for the reception of Soo, Ontario,and Algoma citizens. They came with the greatest of good-will, in masses that swamped the trains and ferries. Seldom has the city entertained such crowds...Visitors pronounced the citymore beautiful than they had ever seen it. Community spirit had been aroused and refreshed by the occasion, and the town put on a new dress as it were to receive its guests. The civicbenefits were tremendous and undoubtedly will be lasting. Sault Ste. Marie found itself as never before, and so complete was the success of Mr. Adam's idea that a Homecoming Weekwill be celebrated every five years in the city by the rapids for all time to come.
The event was given much publicity beforehand, the Evening News even published a small pamphlet called “I Remember When” filled with old stories and recollections from current and former “Sooites.” The Newton book details many other celebrations that used to be held by the city, many were anniversaries of various types, visits by long dead politicians, passages of the first boat some kind, enough so that there always seemed to be an anniversary of something to celebrate. There were pageants to remember when the British flag was torn down among other historical events that now seem to have been forgotten. There was a “tourist encampment” with a
bathing beach right close to the historic houses. Now, even though Sault Ste Marie is bounded by water on the east, north, and west, one must travel far south or west of town to find decent public swimming.^11 Sadly most of the sites fell into disrepair or were replaced with other buildings. For several decades it seems the city felt its history was represented adequately by the Tower of History, the Valley Camp, and the Soo Locks. Many of the festivals were lost to time or lack of interest. A revival around the 1980s saved and restored the Johnston and Schoolcraft houses. The Baraga House was being renovated in the summer of 2008, and the Kemp Coal Company office was opened to the public in 2007 (it was not a historic building yet when Stanley Newton wrote his book). In addition to restoring old buildings, in recent years there has also been a substantial increase in “community events” that are intended for locals as much as if not more than for tourists (for example, the outhouse races and Oktoberfest). In an interview with city commissioner Jeff Stefanski, he described plans the city has for the federal building property, which is located on part of the old Fort Brady, to host historical depictions and re-enactments. He also mentioned another idea the commission is working on. It will be a year-round program based around interesting things to do at least three nights a week, whether it is movies, arts, etc. As for tourism, there seems to be a renewed interest in what Lee Brown from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) calls “cultural tourism” which is helping to spur the revival in preserving what remains of Sault Ste. Marie's historical sites. In an interview, she described steps the city is taking to restore itself as a desirable tourist destination, worthy of more than just a day trip to see the locks. She believes that preserving historical sites is important
(^11) Sherman Park is excluded because it is more of a children's beach. One must go quite far from the shore to find water more than a couple feet deep and then it almost immediately drops off to the channel.
