Telling Stories (Herald Press Letter to the Editor)

Telling Stories (Herald Press Letter to the Editor)

by chris lahr

5/2/07

I would like to thank Jean and Lowell for their insightful response to the history of Huntington. I agree with you that, “there are many chapters in our nation’s history which do not inspire pride” (not to discredit the chapters that do). One of the problems I am faced with is that much of our history is glossed over at best, and often overlooked.

For example, the Milligan slave house. There is a good chance that most people in Huntington have no idea where it is at, or what we are talking about. The old stone house located next to the Sunken Gardens, which holds great historical significance, does not have a single plaque telling us what it is. I was never instructed in my twelve years of schooling in Huntington about Milligan, what he stood for, and what the old house represented.

Telling stories are an important aspect of life. History is made up of the good and the bad. It was written on May 2, “If only the good and honorable stories were told, there would be no Holocaust Museum.” This is very true. The Holocaust was one of the greatest tragedies of all time. The Holocaust Museum was not created to glorify what was done, but to raise awareness of the evil we as humans are capable of, and to make sure something like this never happens again. In other words, the Museum embraces the past, learns from it, and calls for change.

The story of Lambdin Milligan (his armed rebellion against Lincoln and the North) and his property (used to sell slaves back to the South) needs to be told, lamented, and should inspire the citizens of Huntington to begin writing a new history of inclusion and racial justice. Instead, I am afraid the Milligan story will simply be justified by stating the Federal Fugitive Slave Act that required citizens to assist slave-owners in reclaiming their runaway slaves. This was an unjust law. We cannot equate assisting the return of slaves to their owners with assisting police officers in catching criminals today (as was declared in the 1985 commemoration of the Milligan House). Slaves were not criminals!

I agree, the stories of James Campbell and Martin MacFarland and the other residents of Huntington County who risked their lives to help runaway slaves escape to freedom, need to be told. But who is telling their stories? Did I miss their display in the Huntington Museum?

I remember as a youth organizing students to pray around the flagpole of our school. We marched around the school, praying for the students, the teachers, our city. Maybe we should organize a new movement of citizens to meet at Milligan’s slave house to pray for city as she marches on towards inclusion, seeking to learn from our past and breathe hope to a new future.