Last week I was in Washington D.C. with my 7th Grade granddaughter, Amelia. She wanted to learn first-hand about American history. I was quite pleased that she wanted to visit D.C. with me.
In another sense, I was equally pleased to be there for myself. Washington D.C. is where I was born. I have had years of memories there from when I was a candidate for U.S. Congress, from my time with Focus on the Family & The Family Research Council, as well as from when I helped others in their own congressional campaigns.
Most recently, I’ve focused on D.C. as an author. I was knee-deep in the Civil War history of the nation’s capital for almost a full year as I wrote, researched, and recently released my newest book, set in 1863 in Washington D.C., entitled Empires of Dirt.
But this trip was different - it was about my granddaughter and what she might learn about our nation’s Capital, The White House and the type of people who make history today. I was ill-prepared for something else I was about to experience again. I’ll explain that at the end.
In planning the trip, I realized that any such visit had to have three parts to it:
- Spontaneous teaching opportunities. The study of history can come to us in many wonderfully odd ways. Be prepared to be accidentally taught.
- Discuss what we’ve just seen, heard and learned.
- Debrief how history applies to each of us today
Spontaneity
Earlier this year, when I was recovering from open heart surgery, my adult daughter, Meg Roe, told me that the 7th Grade Class of her own daughter, Amelia, was planning on taking a field trip from our home state of Idaho to Washington D.C.
Meg spontaneously asked Amelia if, rather than going with her class, she would be open to going with her Papa (Me!). Just the two of us. My recent surgery was successful and my daughter thought her daughter would gain more by going with me. So they asked me. And I spontaneously said “Yes”.
We departed on May 1st, for a week, and toured the many beautifully iconic places that dot the landscape of the nation’s capital. One such building – above all the rest in Washington D.C.- seems to deeply impact most Americans: The White House. Those who see it and are able to tour it are often touched deeply by the beauty, the elegance and the history of the Executive Mansion. It has housed presidents and their families since John Adams’ time. The book I spoke of, Empires of Dirt, is largely set in 1863 in this historic city and in this historic house, I couldn’t wait to show my granddaughter the actual building.
Once inside The White House, we strolled, together talking but mostly just taking it all in, quietly. She whispered to me that she loved seeing the painted wall colors, the artists’ works which hung throughout the mansion, the size and beauty of the rooms, and the way it was all so well maintained. In particular, we both wanted to be photographed where the President often stands at the end of a long hallway’s red carpet from which he gives speeches to the nation and the world.
Even with that, my mind was on the past, not the present. I looked at the building and recalled the photos from the 1860’s that I had studied of this, aged structure. My imagination ran wild with the old sounds of military boots and spurs hitting the creaky floorboards and partial rugs that were tattered and worn, along with the hissing sound of gas as it exited the hanging lamps. I could see where the old staircase would have been with its unsafe banister and entrance into the residence and working areas of President Abraham Lincoln. In my imagination, I could smell the musty scent of life lived long ago.
For example, in Empires of Dirt - a historical science-fiction time travel story - the protagonist, Will Clarke, described The White House this way as he journeyed from the present day to the Executive Mansion in 1863:
“It was less white and more smokey gray, kind of dirty, if you will. As we walked up the semi-oval and less-cared-for North Drive, we passed alongside a bronze weather-beaten statue of Thomas Jefferson that had been sitting for fifteen years in the center of the driveway on our left as we approached the mansion, next to the unmanicured North lawn which shortly gave way to a modestly cared-for dirt walkway that paralleled the front of the White House. It seemed to only accentuate the mansion’s griminess that I was viewing for the first time in my life.”
The siloed past and the present stayed with each of us throughout the whole tour.
Discuss
We soon departed 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and walked next door to The Willard Hotel, a fixture with Presidential Administrations since 1847. Amelia and I sat in that famous hotel’s outside patio area enjoying coffee, hot chocolate and warmed croissants. We talked about the history of the hotel and how “lobbying” (ie: the act of influencing legislators) BEGAN in the lobby of The Willard! We chatted about things she wanted to know regarding The White House.
Prior to the trip, I loaned her a copy of Stewart McLaurin’s book, James Hoban, Designer and Builder of The White House. At the Willard Hotel, she asked me questions of how it came about that the architecture for this famous building had its roots in Dublin, Ireland’s famous Leinster House, which Susan and I had visited two years prior. I explained about the Irishman’s proven skill in Dublin and how he moved to America and was chosen to supervise the construction of The White House. We spoke of how enslaved people were used to build America’s Executive Mansion - and how difficult that that history is to understand.
She was interested in learning history not taught in the classroom. I used the research from my newest book to provide background from 1863; I wanted Amelia to imagine the grunginess and smell the smokey age of the Civil War-era residence in which Abraham Lincoln and his family lived. This is definitely not taught in the classroom.
“Through the unguarded, paint-chipped and weather-worn wooden front doors of the White House, we walked…”
That was Abe Lincoln’s White House!
The time at The Willard Hotel proved to be a highlight for Amelia, she later told me. We had a very vivid conversation describing the decrepit state of the Executive Mansion during the Civil War and it seemed that Amelia could join me in “seeing” what was there in the 1860’s and with her own eyes what is there today.
In contrast to the broken-down condition of the Civil War White House, I presented Lincoln’s strong, steadfast character to Amelia from my book:
“I suppose people are people, no matter what century, no matter what political situation in which they find themselves and especially no matter how horrible life becomes. But some individuals rise above the base responses to life’s terrible times and show their influence on the world without ever having to show their power.
Abraham Lincoln was one of those people.”
Debrief
I stood with my granddaughter and looked at The White House imagining what would have happened in the United States, had President Lincoln not been assassinated at Ford’s Theater. In fact, my book presents what could have happened had Lincoln lived. I picked up my book and read these words while I was actually there in Washington D.C. It was mesmerizing for me. Standing a block away from The White House, I had not expected to be so impacted by what I paraphrased from Lincoln because it’s still so true today:
“As I said to my friends in Springfield when I set out for Washington, I repeat to the nation today, ‘Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet continue to be well’. I bid you an affectionate farewell.”
Our spontaneous trip to Washington D.C. was a wonderful event in our lives. I was honored to be asked to be Amelia’s “guide”! She learned much, as evidenced by our many discussions. My expectation is that what Amelia learned during this trip will surface and debrief themselves in future conversations, times together, and reflections on the trip.
But I, too, learned much. Here’s what I was referring at the start of this newsletter: There are no great things; there are just small things done greatly.
Going with Amelia was a small thing done greatly.
All the best,
Dennis
P.S. This email marks the 50th newsletter that I've sent out! Thank you for subscribing and for reading - more to come!
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Kudos to The White House Historical Association for their helpful research and friendship as we prepared both for the book’s editing AND for the recent trip with my granddaughter. PLEASE VISIT THEIR SITE!
- Many thanks to Kim Osborne, of the White House Historical Association for her help with Amelia’s and my recent visit.
- Please reach out and donate to this unbelievable organization that maintains the White House and The Peoples House at https://www.WhiteHouseHistory.org
- Check out their latest podcast episode about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
- Download a copy of my book, Empires of Dirt.