Dec 272009
Imagine this: roughly 10,000 people have nothing better to do on Christmas Day than to venture out to watch a re-enactment of George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River in 1776. This is an annual event, drawing hardy souls who brave the cold to watch wannabe Continentals fight fake Redcoats for lovely Trenton, New Jersey. Forget the birth of Christ. It’s the birth of a nation (apologies to D.W. Griffith). The big concession to convenience today is that the re-enactment takes place in the afternoon, although Washington et al crossed in the night.
The recent Great Recession has cut deeply. This year, the state park that houses the re-enactment event was closed for the day due to budget cuts,and now history also became a victim of the fiscal conflagration burning through our economic resources. Private supporters stepped in to keep the tradition alive, and the show was to go on!
Alas, the Friends were no match for Mother Nature. Strong winds and high waters made the crossing impossible this year. Instead, there was a ceremony on land followed by a ritual crossing of the local bridge. It might lack the same danger, nobility, and discomfort of the first crossing, but Washington the Re-enactor found it as solemn and significant, according to his comments to the local paper. He led his men proudly. Perhaps in solitude, he wept.
I have to admit here that I love history in a way that others often don’t share. No one else I know enjoys spending hours holed up in the library scrolling through old microfilm of hard to read newsprint or digging through antique shops for old books, records, and bric-a-brac. But, I am at a loss to explain why 10,000 souls would want to stand out in the cold on the biggest holiday of the year to watch people act out a historical event from well over two hundred and fifty years ago. Even less can I comprehend why someone would apply and take an exam to portray Washington or any other gentleman at the event. The devotion of citizens to public history is a mystery to me. Theirs is not a love of truth or narrative or philosophy. Instead, they have an emotional connection to the persons involved in the event and a patriotic love of country that causes them to revere such moments.
So, the Christmas season for them is a time to mark a special civic remembrance on the day of a Christian one. For them, the civic and the religious mingle and compound the day’s significance. Or, maybe they co-mingle and the participants consider their religion and patriotism of the same belief. In any case, it is these moments where history and current events mix that remind me that I am not like my compatriots and that fascinates me about them. I can’t imagine paying homage to George Washington and Jesus with shared traditions on the same day. Or for such different persons, honoring the same night.
m[-_-]