What is past is prologue. Setting the stage for today.
So we may impact tomorrow.
We looked at the Bill of Rights today, atmospherically (hermetically) sealed under several layers of protective glass. Our special guide, a friend of my sister's, himself a published archival historian, had us at welcome. He was eloquent, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the volumes contained in the National Archives. We walked past thousands of binders containing documentation on almost every event that has ever impacted our nation, for the better or for the worse. Davis, Carmichael, Lennon, Jack Ruby, Gotti, Sirhan. You get the idea. The pace is an immense storage facility for everything.
Although it is available on-line here, there is something thrillingly special about holding a leather-bound diary written with a quill pen by the twelfth Vice President of the Unites States.
Richard, our guide, was especially versed on WWII and in particular Pearl Harbor.
I got to toss in the not-so-trivial fact of our Island's role in that drama, much to the appreciation of our host and his search for meaning. I have cut and pasted the following paragraph: Bainbridge Island intercepted the 14th part about midnight (west coast time), and teletyped it on to Washington. The Army did the decryption of this part, which was in Japanese, and the services shared the distribution around the capital in accordance with usual practices. And linked the overall accounting here.
It was an exciting first day on the streets of DC. We were a touch lagged and dehydrated from the trip over, but a tasty Mexican lunch and a cup of bold coffee has me ready to go back for more tomorrow.
Did you know that the Magna Carta was signed in 1297?
It's all prologue.
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