HISTORY, STAGNANT?

Jenni Mayıs 13, 2022

Post by Doris McCraw

writing fiction as Angela Raines

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For this writer/researcher I think a lot about history. In school, we learned names, dates, and big events. Let's face it, that can be boring and make one think that history is set in stone. For me, nothing could be further from the truth. History stagnant? I think not. Yes, dates, names, etc. do stay the same, but the surrounding information, the people involved seems to grow. New research techniques, new information, and re-examinations seem to add to our better understanding of what led us to where we are and what we know.

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As Colorado Springs gears up for its sesquicentennial there has been a lot of offerings that can be shared with more than the people of this city. I offer up some of the links and other options in case anyone is interested.

https://www.cspm.org/exhibits/cos150/

https://www.cspm.org/scholarseries/

https://ppld.org/history-symposium

Some of these programs will be virtual, so my thought is, anyone can take advantage of the events. While the links don't do justice to their content, the post would be way too long if I but in the details of each.

I do confess, reading the book " Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone)" by San Wineberg, also makes me rethink some of what I was taught in school. Also, please remember that was a long time ago.

Additionally, a couple of online lectures have piqued my interest. One was from an associate professor at Adams State College:

War and Peace in Comanchería: Anza, Paruanarimuco, and San Carlos de los Jupes

Presented by: Dr. Charles "Nick" Saenz

In 1787, Comanche headman Paruanarimuco approached Juan Bautista de Anza, then governor of Spanish New Mexico, to request the establishment of a town at the confluence of the Arkansas and Saint Charles Rivers, just west of modern Pueblo. San Carlos de los Jupes, as the town became known, was an exceptional and ultimately short-lived experiment. This talk seeks to situate it in relation to Spanish and Native efforts to contain the expansion of the Comanche Empire through intercultural diplomacy and integration within an evolving system of trade.

Charles Nicholas Saenz is an associate professor of history at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, and the former president of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and a graduate degree from the University of California, San Diego.