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In his 1993 book In the Memory House, Howard Mansfield explores some of New England's and New Hampshire's landmarks, institutions, and figures as a way to understand what we choose to preserve from our past and how we chose to remember it. Mansfield's essays look at everything from the historic to the mundane: an old bread shovel, the tall elm trees of Keene New Hampshire, our town meetings, and an unpopular President.
Join the Granite State Stories discussion about this book and about memorializing the past. Log in or register a free account on NHPR.org to share your thoughts, insights and experiences. Note: comments are moderated, so they won't appear right away. |
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This is an exciting way to take part in the discussion of Howard Mansfield's book.
I'm enjoying the book and looking forward to the discussion!
So much of this book resonated with me that it is hard to pick just one aspect to comment on. The description of town historical societies was remarkably familiar – we here in Wilton are excited to finally have heat upstairs in the library where the Historical Society rooms are, so now they can be open in the winter! But the section on old tress really spoke to me…for years, we have nursed a century-old ash tree – each year it is carefully trimmed, the cables checked, etc but yet we continued to lose branches, some of which fell perilously close to our roof. Finally, after 20+ years, our arborist said it was time for it to go. We documented the removal of our “old girl†with much sadness. How touching that one of the workers told my husband “we are sorry for your loss.†It did feel like we had lost a family member. I look at our experience in contrast to others whom we have seen remove half a dozen old trees to get a marginally better view of some distant mountains that are barely viewable even in winter. These folks only stayed in the neighborhood a few years, and then moved on. I supposed it is the difference between those of us who really want to be here, as opposed to folks who are on their way from somewhere else to somewhere else. I guess it is hard to hold onto and cherish memories when you are just passing through.
So far what has touched most closely is the section on "The Shrinking of Grand Monadnoc." As a newcomer to NH (we've lived here 10 years), I find that the mountain has grown and grown. We've hiked several of its trails, and we delight in its many moods. The first glimpse of its long, long ridge as we head west on 101 over the Temple pass is always a thrill--can we see the summit? Is there snow? Look how the sun glints off the rock!
Most of all, Monadnock has come to symbolize home. When we return from visiting relatives in PA, we catch sight of the mountain as we head east from Keene. At once, the fatigue and stress of travel eases; we're nearly home. "Hello, old man," I murmur, and he replies, "Welcome back."
So what I'm trying to say is that although I may not have a memory of Monadnock's past (and I find its history fascinating), it is not without meaning. And that may be true of many items from the past, whether they be tangible or not. We invest them with our own meanings, generation after generation. This is how it should be, if objects are to retain any meaning at all. The only wonder is that they can bear the burden of all those memories.
In response to one of the discussion questions: my earliest memory is of being born. After that, a two-year gap to the scent and many tactile impressions of a pony, and my aunt's bridal shower and wedding.
From the Project Coordinator: What I found interesting in particular about Howard Mansfield’s In the Memory House was all the ways in which New Hampshire chooses to remember and preserve its past. As Mansfield points out, you see it old historical markers and town museums, in institutions like our town meetings, in the 100 year old Elm tree in the town square or it presents itself around the conflicts of how to memorialize an unpopular President. Growing up outside Newark, New Jersey, in a town called Bloomfield (named after a Revolutionary War General) you don’t see this connection with the past as much. The past seems long gone, regulated to a few museum sites, a few old pictures in the town library, a few old painting in city hall. Walk down the street, and what you see is houses upon houses, stores and malls and you really have to squint to see the New Jersey of say 1907 (it is there if you squint). Here in New Hampshire you don’t need to squint as much to see its old traditions, old homes and a semblance of life from long ago. But the Granite State is growing faster than any other state in New England. I wonder how that could affect our Memory Houses?
What also struck me was the essay on Franklin Pierce. Although he’s New Hampshire’s only President, I was surprised to read how he still carries his legacy today. It makes you think about how people decide to remember someone of such importance from your state when many feel did not rise to the mark they wanted him to? Heroes are easy, lionized American personalities no problem, but when that person’s level of importance assumes that he deserves a statue or memorial... how do you present it when some of his deeds may not ever have been supported by his home state?
I too have noticed a huge difference between my current home state of NH (where I have lived for 28 years) and New Jersey (specifically, Jersey City where I was born)in terms of what has been preserved and honored. There is a book series called Images of America, and my husband Michael Del'Orto is co-author of the one on Wilton/Temmple/Lyndeborough. Looking through the old pictures, one does have a sense of loss, but no where near as dramatic as when viewing the book on Jersey City -- it appears as if the entire past was obliterated, versus just "simmering below the surface as in Wilton.
Maureen S Spencer
from henry spencer ,Efffingham NH re: in the memory house by howard mansfield
over all i found this collection almost unremittingly depressing. If one where to join the phrase, 'If its in print it must be true,' and my lately growing suspision that the New England I have lived in all my life is only found in the mind I find myself left with the firm conclusion that short of a few thousand acres of trees there is really nothing that makes new england any different than any other part of the United States. IN a word the homogonization of N.E.America is compleat.
ON a brighter note I must say that MR. MAnsfield's depiction of the New Hampshire smalll town town meeting is spot on and represents to sole asspect of his work that made my smile,while also clearly expressing the deep underlying importance of this domacratic process.
I do mean this as tongue in cheeek, but, thanks a bunch Howard for overcoming my general inclantion toward the positive and allowing me to face the situation of my local world with the deppression it deserves.
First, let me thank you for the careful, thoughtful reading of In the Memory House. The questions raised here by the Effingham Public Library, and on the show by the Kelley Library in Salem, Bow’s Baker Free Library, and the SNHU and Friends reading group are just what publishers and authors hope for.
In answer to Mr. Spencer from Effingham, I must say that I don’t want to depress anyone. Honestly. I also don’t want to let the reader (and the writer) off the hook by telling charming little nostalgic tales. We have enough of that around. Way back in the typewriter era, when I was in journalism school, we were taught that all magazine stories should offer hope. This is one of the defining characteristics of popular culture. Everything is a “feel good†movie or on its way to being made into a “feel good†movie.
That said, after the Memory House was published in 1993 I did hear from a few people who were upset that I didn’t offer up a little sugar cube of hope. Some found the book’s ending bleak. I spent a long time thinking about that. In response I wrote a book which was published in 2000: The Same Axe, Twice: Restoration and Renewal in a Throwaway Age. This is a book about finding a way to live with the past so that it energizes our daily lives. I wrote: "In remaking an ax, in restoring a house, we carry the fire of the original spirit. We commit anew, plant, put our hands to touch the work of a craftsman hundreds of years gone, and then once again feeling that work, pick it up again. And therein lie renewal and hope."
In that book I talk about people I call “Noahs†– they’re saving endangered animals, children from broken homes, landscapes, old craft that feeds the soul, and so forth. They are on the side of life. They are healers, restorers, optimists, and they are just about everywhere. I find hope in that.
There’s a little bit more about the Same Axe, Twice at my website: www. authorwire.com in the bibliography section.
Maureen S Spencer
The description of town meeting and the voting process in small towns is perfectly described in The Memory house. Our small town of Effingham NH is a perfect example of young and old, old timers and people from away, coming together one Saturday to voice their opinions. In the years I have lived here I have watched the numbers shrink as we lead our busy lives figuring their voice won't count for much even if they did go. Apathy, time constraints, a core group of people with an agenda, are a few of the excuses I have heard as reasons for not attending. A line from the book on page 104 states "One of the great testaments to town meeting is that what you see is what you get." In a sense I find this to be true of the town meeting process. I am concerned it will become extinct in another 10 years.
On page 106 is a reason to keep the town meeting process. "Town meeting is the museum of Democracy. Democracy is a process, after all, a political habit of being. The Museum of Democracy preserves that".
As a town moderator, I appreciated the section on town meeting. I've noticed that in years when we have controversial issues on the warrant, we have a great turnout of voters, but when the town is running smoothly and everything is under control, turnout is low. That's human nature, I guess. This year we had a low turnout, but not as low as the 2006 meeting. However, afterwards, many folks blamed the snow storm of the night before our 9 am meeting. "I would have been there," many folks said, "but my road wasn't plowed in time!" The 2007 town meeitng will be added to our collective memories as the year the moderator refused to postpone the meeting because of snow, even though it was also the year we voted in a zoning ordinance that would permit subdivision of property based on preserving open space -- and trees!
Maureen S Spencer
The Effingham group wants Howard to disscuss how he thinks things have changed since the book was written. Growth, land preservation,LCHIP, etc.