In this
season of honoring distinguished Americans on their birthdays, let's
concentrate on the most important of them all: George Washington. We
hear too little about him these days. Perhaps the reason is he is so
far removed in time and is not known for pithy quotes.
Frank E. Grizzard Jr., who is editing Washington's papers, thinks
one reason he may be overshadowed is because Abraham Lincoln is a
"sound-bite president" and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was
an inspiring speaker whose words still resonate. But Washington,
should be honored as much for his achievements and influence as his
words.
Grizzard, a University of Virginia professor who will speak in
Wilmington later this month, also wonders how much or how
interestingly American history is taught in schools, particularly
about Washington and the Revolution. How many schools or public
buildings display portraits of Washington anymore? Grizzard points
out that copies of the unfinished Gilbert Stuart portrait were a
fixture in classrooms in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. Today you're much
more likely to see a picture of King or even President John F.
Kennedy.
Combining the observance of Washington's birthday with Lincoln's,
as Congress did in 1971 by creating President's Day, also tended to
skew a patriotic holiday into a shopping sales day. Grizzard points
out that in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Washington's
birthday celebrations were much bigger than the Fourth of July.
While Washington was alive, he went along with such occasions out
of a sense of noblesse oblige, Grizzard believes, because he
realized his ability to serve the public depended on his reputation.
Such celebrations were always big events in Delaware, which
Washington visited often and passed through on trips between his
Mount Vernon home and Philadelphia or New York.
Washington was last rightfully honored in 1932, the bicentennial
of his birth, with yearlong observances throughout the country,
including Delaware. Perhaps we're due for another revival given
current interest in the 225th anniversary of the Revolution and the
best-seller status of such biographies as John Adams
and Founding
Brothers.
Grizzard also believes the 9/11 tragedy made Americans much more
conscious of their unique heritage,
Since 1971, Delaware's George Washington Society has honored the
first president and Revolutionary War commander in chief. Grizzard
will speak on "George Washington's Birthday Observance" at the
society's annual toast and banquet Feb. 20 at Brantwyn on Rockland
Road.
Grizzard is the senior associate editor of "The Papers of George
Washington," a project launched in 1969 and not due to be finished
for another 20 years. Half of the expected 90 annotated volumes have
been published. They surpass previous compilations because they
include letters to, and not just from, Washington -- 135,000 of
them. Washington realized the importance of his papers and carefully
preserved them, although some material was carelessly dispersed
after his death in 1799. Information about the project, and an
excellent web site about Washington, is at gwpapers.virginia.edu.
Grizzard has written extensively about Washington, most recently
George Washington: A Biographical Companion, a
useful reference
book from those papers with readable and myth-busting A-Z entries.
It's published by ABC-CLIO of Santa Barbara, Calif. A compact primer
on Washington, by Delaware Society member Dennis D. Skirvin, has
also just been published.
The more you read about the remarkable man, the more you admire
his immense contribution and great personal sacrifice to a country
that probably would not exist without him.
Harry F. Themal has been writing for The News Journal
since
1959.
.gif){kind=spacer}
