Latin School of Chicago

FIRST PERSON First Person by Bridget Hennessy Upper School History "As Latin celebrates its 125th anniversary, hearing the stories of those who came before us is vital." 24 L AT I N M AGAZINE "Beginning 10 minutes before each class meeting, I'll be out front smoking if you'd like to join me." Strange words for a college freshman to hear in her very first meeting of World Civilizations I. My late history professor, Dr. Rowland, was into all things "classic." He was a renowned scholar of ancient Sardinia, and I was an 18-year-old who didn't care much about anything before the American Civil War – if that. I saw Dr. Rowland's course as a curricular requirement; better things awaited me in the English department, no doubt. As the course wore on, I wrote papers so uninteresting that I can't remember now what they were about. One day, I decided to join Dr. Rowland before class – not to smoke, but just to get a glimpse into the world of my kindly, graying professor. Between puffs from his Marlboro Red, Dr. Rowland talked amiably. He told stories about himself and his family, his city and his research. Those 10 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday helped me think about history in a new way. History is a peculiar subject. With the hustle and bustle of the present moment and uncertainty and anxiety about the future, the past seems like an unnecessary burden. I'm fairly certain that I thought that way for most of my youth, and I think many of my current students think the same way. History comes in many forms, and, as I discovered in the smokefilled air outside Bobet Hall, it's just a matter of finding a form of history that speaks to you. For me, history is more than understanding the people and societies that came before us. And while it can be paramount for understanding the world we live in, history is more than that, too. History is a story. It's the collection of countless narratives of people moving individually and collectively to produce change. And when looked at in that way, the discipline of history comes alive for me. The stories of individuals remind me that, no matter how small I feel, I am nevertheless part of a larger story that produces ideas and change. Understanding history through storytelling opens us to the possibility of empathizing with those who are different from us. Just recently, my Chicago history class, City on the Make, read part of There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. The stories of two young boys living in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes in the mid1980s changed the way my students thought about poverty, race and violence in their city. The stories of the boys, their mother and their friends put faces on often-faceless issues. And in thinking about the boys' stories, they were able to start thinking about their own lives and identities – yet another powerful value of studying history. My students talked about where they fit into the city's narrative, how their own lives are different from – and even similar to – the lives of the two youngsters navigating adolescence two decades before them. The story helped bridge past and present; it helped highlight commonalities. As Latin celebrates its 125th anniversary, hearing the stories of those who came before us is vital. Stories of institutional change remind us that we, too, live in time of change. Stories of pranks played on former headmasters give us perspective on our own behaviors. And stories of master teachers at their craft inspire us to take teaching and learning seriously, even when doing so seems hard. Latin's 125 years is a long time in a city with a relatively short history. Recognizing the stories of those who came before us will help us do more than celebrate our anniversary. It will help us understand the role of our school in Chicago and the role we play in achieving excellence – in and out of Latin. My smoky chats with Dr. Rowland are memorable because they allowed me to rethink the past. They helped me to see the course material in World Civilizations I in a new way, a way that made sense to me. Dr. Rowland helped me recognize the importance of storytelling, and it's my hope that I can do the same for Latin students. Maybe the stories I teach my students will help them understand and tell their own stories. n

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