What I would love to see for our 250th Anniversary of American Independence is to have our heroes in history restored to prominence. A few years ago, I was able to visit the Coventry Connecticut home of Patriot Nathan Hale. I had wanted very much to visit since I was a girl and it was with no little excitement that I pulled the car up to the lovely house. I had expected at least a few families visiting, after all this was the home of Nathan Hale , hero and martyr of the American Revolution. I was the only visitor. The docents were an elderly woman and a high school student. The student did the talking and when during her speech she called Hale a “loser”, I stopped her and asked if that was what she told school groups who undoubtedly made class trips there. She looked at me like the proverbial deer in the headlights and nodded. I was so unhappy and told her so . I also recounted what Hale had done and the legacy he gave Americans. I am not sure she understood. I realized that this revisionist and deconstructionist take on history is what young people are being fed everywhere. I just hope we can recover our dignity and love for the past.
Sue — Fascinating if somewhat sad anecdote. How did the elderly docent react?
A dear friend, who recently passed away, had a home that is no more than a quarter of a mile from “The Nation Hale Spy mission departure point.” I regret that I did not have the time to visit the site.
True Patriots will always have Nathan Hale in their hearts.
The site is on the Huntington Bay shore, Long Island, New York.
The student/docent who referred to Hale as a “loser,” must have not known that Hale attended Yale University.
I believe that the teachers and professors are feeding their ideas of History and not the facts.