History

Week 23

History

June 7, 2011

I was recently on assignment for Content Magazine covering an article being written about the San Jose Fire Museum. As the Content's writer performed her interview of the current president of the museum following a tour of the museum, I was given carte-blanche to wonder through the museum and photograph the equipment, trucks & engines as I pleased. The image above is from my time in and amongst these pieces of history.

As I wandered through the municipal warehouse that currently serves as the museum's facility, I was struck by the sheer volume of history represented by well over 100 year's worth of fire-squelching equipment. From engines to pumps to trucks and buggies, the history of firefighting is fascinating, and I'd venture to say under-appreciated as well. Before getting this assignment, frankly I had no idea there was a fire-museum. Tucked away on city-property behind rows of warehouses, and inaccessible by car, it's no wonder, and I can understand why they want to move, and hope they get the chance to.

I suppose a lot of history that way. Under-appreciated, that is. Most non-history buffs out there, when they think of the word "history", conjure images of thick, dusty, sleep-inducing textbooks and immediately want to engage in something else, anything else but history. Admittedly, growing up I was certainly guilty of that to a certain extent myself. The reality, though, is that history is a collection of incredible human stories. Stories of adventure, discovery and passion, ingenuity and triumph, as well as of cautionary tales we are best served by remembering. Just like our world today, facts and figures can be interesting, and are no doubt important, but are peripheral. The real meat of life is in the human spirit and our part in a much greater story. I believe we can learn to appreciate that more when we engage in the stories from our past. Maybe that's the history of our nation or people, but it can also be the history of our own families and communities, as well as those peoples and communities least like our own. 

Go check out a museum. Grab a book, or even better, talk to somebody that's been around the block a time or two and ask some questions. I'd venture to guess you'll be surprised at how intriguing it can be.

Image taken with Canon 5DMII, 24-70 2.8L lens, 1/160 sec at f2.8, ISO 1250