Cursive writing skills among those under age 30 have declined dramatically in the past couple of decades. Many schools nowadays emphasize printing and keyboarding skills over cursive handwriting. This poses a huge dilemma for libraries and archival institutions. Who will decipher the millions of documents (Presidential correspondence, legislative acts, diaries, journals, war-time letters, even jokes from popular comedians) that exist only in cursive form? Partnerships between archival institutions and teachers at local school and college levels are re-energizing the drive to enlist young people's involvement in "translating" these documents.

 

Perhaps an opportunity exists for a local teacher to partner with The Heritage Center in having students decipher a document related to a person or time period being studied. Even very young students who transcribe a soldier's letter to his family or a future President's notes about a farmer's land feel a connection across the years. Contact us if interested!  

 

Note that The Center is closed during the 4th of July week (July 2-4, Tuesday-Thursday). We open again on July 9 (Tuesday) and resume our usual schedule to receive visitors and telephone/online inquiries. Have a happy, safe July 4th!

Looking back is what the Heritage Center is all about.   May and June, means graduation and for many people, the good old days. Some schools have abandoned yearbooks for social media like Face Book, but many have not. Yearbooks are photos and memories to be looked at years later, to remember past times.

The Center has The Battlefield from Mary Washington, The Rappahannoc from Fredericksburg High School, The Monroe Echo from James Monroe, The Indian Legend from Falmouth High School (later Stafford High School) and The Trail from Spotsylvania High School.

The photos are fun (remember the hairstyles and glasses from the 1950s and 1960s). Nearly all Mary Washington College grads of the 1950s wore a single strand of pearls for their senior pictures. The dedications are timeless, "Sue, Sure has been nice knowing you. Good luck next year and have a good time. Russ '63". Imagine lists of "Best-Looking," "Most Likely to Succeed," "Most Popular," "Most Polite," and "Best-Dressed" in this climate of correctness? The senior class's Last Will and Testament: Christine B. gives her glamorous figure to Mary M. and Peggy H. leaves her slim waistline and figure to Marjorie O.

There are familiar family names: Eustace, Griffis, Decatur, Curtis, Mountjoy, Cropp, Embrey, Garrison, McWhirt and Shackelford.

Because the area was small, it wasn't unusual to see ads like "Paul's Grill and Crystal Ballroom, 2 miles south of Fredericksburg." No phone number, no address. Everyone knew Paul's. Or, "Phone 9166-R, Route 1, Compliments of Ralph's Grill, Tasty Food, Open from 6 until 2." If you didn't know where on Route 1, at least you could call for directions.

Old yearbooks are showcases of the past. Not only are they full of memories, they are also research tools. If you have old yearbooks from the central Rappahannock area and would like to donate them, the Heritage Center would be happy to have them. Your mementos could become part of the area's archive.