Last Monday my father and I visited Harper’s Ferry, WV. It is about ten minutes from my house and I had never been. What made the day memorable (other than having some much needed “dad-time”) was what you get for six dollars. If you have never been, you pay at toll booth style gate, park your car, check out the welcome center – which was manned by at least two people. You are then given a map and encouraged to get on a bus (which was air conditioned and clean) and driven about two miles to the town. There at Harper’s Ferry is a whole town of displays complete with tour guides taking various school groups around through the town. We were even told we could “audit” the group if we wanted. Plaques and things to read are on every entrance, bench, and pathway.

Let me get to the point. I have a job where I am constantly thinking about cost (I know for example how much the four color folding map we were given would cost). Someone has to pay for the person at the gate to take my money, the campus itself, the bus, gas, upkeep, landscaping, personnel, on and on – and we get all this for six dollars!

Who’s paying for all this? Our elected officials feel that the story of Harper’s Ferry is important enough to spend what has to be hundreds of thousands of dollars to let people know the story.

There is a saying that goes something like, “if we do not know our history, we are condemned to repeat it.” I know it’s not the exact quote – but think about a modified version of the quote, “if we know our history, we can build upon it.” We become a better nation when we and our children know what has happened. John Brown is a hero to some, and a hated person of antiquity for others. But he and his story allow our society to move forward, having learned from him. A society moving forward is worth me paying the six bucks.

Knowing your history helps you to build upon the future, whether it be unmentionable or heroic. Just keep moving forward.