Hopping around history

Did you know that the brother of the man who killed Abraham Lincoln saved the president's son's life at a train station in NJ? That is one of the interesting points of history that you can pick up in the very readable  book, Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History . 
Really, you don't have to be a history buff to enjoy reading about Andrew Carroll's travels to the sites of historical significance.


A good part of Carroll's focus is on the historical figures who are largely forgotten. They include Irene Morgan and Claudette Colvin,  African-American women who refused to give up their seats on the bus before Rosa Parks did.

However, not all historical people featured in the books would be considered forgotten, for he spends some time on names that are preserved in history books. For example, nearly everyone has heard of Alexander Fleming, though Carroll devotes quite a bit of time to describing how penicillin came to be  mass-produced in the USA (secret ingredient, cantaloupe mold). An interesting note, though, is that the author's mother recollects meeting Fleming when he came to Long Island, and gives her own impressions of the man and his wife.

One of the things we learn from this is if you are quiet and unassuming, you likely will be largely forgotten by history -- even if you develop the vaccines that save millions of lives every year. That's the story of Maurice Hilleman. Other doctors' contributions and sometimes questionable methods are also featured in the book, which hops around the country to cover the spots associated with particular people, events, or artifacts.

After reading Carroll's account of boating around Hart Island and relaying what his guide told him about it, it's interesting to see that there is now Hart Island Project with the goal of making "the largest cemetery in the United State visible and accessible so that no on is omitted from history."

Speaking of historical projects, Caroll's book is meant to be part of a larger project, which shares the title:

Launched in 2008, HERE IS WHERE is an all-volunteer initiative created by the Legacy Project to find and spotlight unmarked historic sites throughout the United States. Many of these forgotten places are where significant events occurred, and others are connected in some way to remarkable individuals—from the Native Americans, explorers, and pioneers who first set foot on this land to the pioneers, patriots, inventors, artists, and activists who transformed it.

The only thing missing in the book -- and the associated site, as well -- are pictures.Though I do like taking my information in through text, I kept expecting to see some photos because Carroll constantly refers to taking pictures along the way. So where are they? I figured perhaps it wasn't economical to work them into the book, but he, surely, could have posted some to the site. No, none in sight. If you don't intend to put in the pictures, don't keep talking about taking them.  Still, the book is worth reading, much more to my taste than most books on history.

Related interest: http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-book-on-exhibit.html