Editor’s note: This op-ed by Telly Halkias, an award-winning journalist, first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
As Thanksgiving approached, I was sad to learn the Museum of Black World War II History in Pownal would be closing. The issues surrounding the condition and disposition of the old Oak Hill School building, the museum’s home for the last five years, are better left to town officials.
But I’ll miss driving by on Route 7 and seeing the museum’s sign. Every time it pulled me off the beaten path, I remembered where I came from. That’s the whole point of history, those who study it, present it to the public, and take care of its artifacts.
The museum’s founder, Bruce Bird, did exactly that with his relics and static displays outlining the story of African Americans and their impact of the most influential war in modern times.
Mr. Bird, armed with a history degree from the former North Adams State College, has collected militaria for over 50 years. He opened the museum in retirement, and came upon its locale in true Vermont fashion: during a chat with his state assemblyman, Bill Botzow, at the town dump.
Rep. Botzow was aware that the building had been dormant for several decades and facilitated Mr. Bird’s agreement with the Pownal School Board to use it for $1 annually in return for housing an educational institution, and paying for the utilities and upkeep.
The museum’s rudimentary yet informative displays were a reflection of Mr. Bird’s interest in mechanized equipment, ordnance and weaponry — and of years of constructing small-scale military models. Many of his cases were older and donated by the Bennington Museum; the rest he built himself.
Four years ago, I had a chance to write several pieces on the museum. I watched as Mr. Bird gave tours to visitors, and when he puttered around the creaky hardwood, working on this display or that.
To be sure, no one was going to mistake this extinct New England schoolhouse for the Louvre. But what always stood out was Mr. Bird’s passion for history, and his commitment to telling a story — saving memories for future generations.
With scant fundraising and a one-man operation, the museum stayed afloat for five years, a noteworthy achievement given the economy’s terrible downswing. Those who knew Mr. Bird understood he was pouring all his savings into the project, making every effort he could to keep it alive.
In the end it wasn’t enough — not even close. But the seemingly quixotic endeavor was hardly tilting at windmills. The fact that he was able to pass along knowledge to even one person made the dream worth chasing, and real.
While working the regional arts and culture beat, I’ve been told as much about the value of history from many museum curators — such as the Bennington Museum’s Jamie Franklin and the Clark Art Institute’s Richard Rand.
These scholars expressed their desire — on the record — to reach the man-in-the-street, and to spark an interest in their fields for newcomers and young people.
This was in contrast to when one of my editors shared a negative letter she had received on the subject of Mr. Bird’s museum, an academic diatribe on how the institution added nothing to historical scholarship.
As a former college history instructor, its contents turned my stomach. To her credit, she wouldn’t run it, seeing the polemic for what it was: An ad hominem attack on someone’s modest credentials.
Yet this is all the more reason to appreciate Mr. Bird’s relentless pursuit of preserving history. His quest wasn’t supported by big-time institutional funding and erudition, but somehow found life in a drafty, 150-year old Vermont school house.
So I’ll miss seeing the museum’s sign; in fact, I’ll never forget it. That’s the persistence of memory, and what history is all about.
This Thanksgiving, as Bruce Bird readies himself to move to Connecticut for his life’s next chapter, I gave thanks that someone founded the Museum of Black World War II History, and ran it for five years — on a back road in the nation’s whitest state. Because the only thing worse than not learning from the past is being condemned to repeat it.
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