Janet Ward lives in Contoocook.

HB 61 would repeal and replace the “divisive concepts” bill which attempted to make teaching accurate history dangerous. The true personal story explains why HB 61 is necessary and appropriate.

Several years ago, I was invited to tea by a neighbor and her grade school-aged daughter Hannah. A month prior to receiving this invitation, Hannah had told me that during school vacation her family would be visiting Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, a president she had studied. She was very excited about the adventure ahead.

When I arrived for tea, Hannah showed me photos her family had taken during their visit to Monticello. The photos included the elegant main building, lush fields and greenery, as well as photos of slave cabins. In explaining those cabins, Hannah simply said that “things were different then.”

Things were indeed “different” during Jefferson’s lifetime. Enslaved human beings were understood by some to be a critical necessity for economic success. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin examined this understanding in an unexpected way that resonated with her readers. Over time and after much hard reflection and debate, a mind shift occurred, and a war.

The “divisive concepts” bill wrongly assumed that teaching accurate history which acknowledged the fact that our nation’s history contains errors in moral judgment would upset and confuse young students. Well, my friend Hannah was not in the least confused. She understood clearly that the president who wrote the Declaration of Independence was wise in some respects and not so wise in others, but that over time growth in understanding makes our nation better and stronger. This is something wonderful and good. It means imperfect human beings have the capacity to grow and learn.

The “divisive concepts” bill required teachers to somehow “whitewash” history but did not specify precisely how they should do this. Teachers were placed in an untenable position because what might seem appropriate true history to some, might appear to others to be somehow “divisive,” a concept woefully unclear and subject to a range of interpretations.

HB 61 lets teachers teach history by sharing with students what actually happened, good and bad, so that they can exercise critical judgment about historical facts, learn from them, and grow into well-informed citizens.

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