By Heather McGinnis
I enjoyed watching the video about recreating the Victorian Slums. I found it humbling that those people chose to live in hardship to have a better understanding of what their ancestors went through. I do not think that I would be so strong. I appreciate what my family has been through to provide for me. I know my parents sacrificed so that I could have a better life like their parents did for them. I however do not like to be hungry and get weak when I do not sleep well. I think I would be as ill as the older man who worked the full day in the bell foundry. I appreciate how the store owners worked with the people to give them the supplies they needed before they had earned any money. The “tick” was a very interesting form of credit. I can see how as store owners they would want to help others who have less than them, but at the same time they could not give so much that they put themselves in danger of losing it all. I think I would have had the hardest time as a store owner seeing children going hungry. The family that worked together to make enough to pay their rent and food bill was heartwarming. I worked when I was a child, but only to earn my own money to buy Christmas presents and new clothes. I guess I took for granted the roof over my head and the food in my belly. I had clothes from my parent, but they were hand-me-downs from my older sisters. I wanted better clothes, so I washed dishes until I was old enough to cut grass. I did not have to work to feed my family and keep a roof over our head. Now that I have a family of my own, I want my children to learn how to do chores. I think learning to work for things you want is an important lesson. I do not want them to feel that they must have to work for room and board. The former professional golfer that was amputated below the knee is also brave in my opinion. I appreciate how he wanted to know what it would have been like to lose part of a limb in the 1860’s. I could see how the old style of limb was not as comfortable and left him limping more than his new age prosthetics. I think he is sweet for trying to work with the single mom. The single mom with two children was the hardest for me to watch. She did not make enough to pay her tick or her rent. I’m sure that was almost unbearable for her to live with knowing that she had two small children that were depending on her. I never thought about how items like matchboxes were made, let alone that making them might have been someone’s only means of income. Overall, I enjoyed watching the show. It gave me a real appreciation for all that I have and what all my parents and grandparents did to give me a better life. My father’s family lived with a fear that they would be put back in the reservation, and I know they worked very hard to keep us out of that circle of poverty. It was better for us to live simple outside of the reservation than life on the reservation.
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Voices from Purdue university Fort Wayne StudentsThe hope is to gather many voices, perspectives and styles on where and how Public History works locally. More information about Public History at Purdue Fort Wayne. Archives
October 2018
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