Read from the past, learn something today

I’m the primary writer of the Dash to the Past column, where the DAR highlights the top local articles from 50, 75 and 100 years ago. My most frequent reactions to the words of yesteryear are:

• Wow, that’s fascinating!

• Wow, that was racist and/or sexist.

• Thank God for modern sanitation, medicine, OSHA, etc.

Old newspapers also reveal something important: people have always been people.

This seems obvious to say, yet we tend to believe past generations of humans were fundamentally different from us somehow. They were superstitious, unhygienic, or made simple by their so-called simpler times. In reality, their emotions, motivations and contradictions are recognizable from a century away. Like us, these people tried to do the right thing amid their biases and blind spots, and accomplished stunning acts of brilliance alongside abysmal stupidity.

I’ve also realized history runs in circles. Today we complain about corporate greed and the prices of fuel and groceries. This conversation played out almost word for word in 1974. City officials in the 1920s resented snake oil salesmen luring in customers with variety shows, and today we have influencers doing trendy dances to peddle unregulated supplements and sketchy medical advice. Humanity hasn’t changed a bit.

Even dire headlines have a strangely optimistic effect from far away. The energy crisis, the Cold War, political corruption — these clearly felt like the end of civilization at the time, but life is resilient. The planet kept spinning then and will probably continue today, tomorrow and the day after that.

Only a few of the headlines I read make it in. To get the full effect, I recommend flipping through for yourself. The Poplar Bluff Municipal Library website links to the state’s newspaper archive, and the only requirement is a library card. Both of these are free, and history is priceless.