Page 37 - Demo

Living History
by George Habersham Grealy
Setting out for France in June, I knew that this trip would be an incredible experience. In an email recounting his tour as the American Scholar, Tripp Onnen called it: “My single most life-altering event (aside from meeting my wife, becoming a father and buying a house).” I cannot bring you along for every unforgettable moment of this trip, but after reflecting on my time in France, a few themes emerged that I would like to share.
The first of these is that a deep sense of history permeates everything in France, and that the French take a strong interest in preserving their history and culture. Discussing Balzac in a college classroom is different from talking about his books over dinner and cognac with a descendant of a person featured as a character in several of his novels. It is not just fellow Cincinnati who care about history people in France and take pride in their local traditions and national story.
Everywhere people were eager to share what made their town distinctive and how its residents had contributed to the wider history of France. Food is the clearest example of this: each region has specialties and debates rage over which is better or more authentic, but despite their disagreements they are proud of the way their traditions contribute to the fabric of French culture. State support at local and national levels augments that sense of shared heritage, but it originates from the people.
One example of France’s public commitment to its culture is the Fête de la Musique, a nationwide music festival with a variety of performances open to the public. In Paris, the
streets come alive for one continuous party.
One of the acts played American rock with French or German lyrics. After the band left, the crowd rushed the stage and broke into classic French songs. In this moment, I noticed that the stage was next to a monument to soldiers who had died in the First World War. This was jarring at first, since America tends to separate its sites for solemn commemoration from those meant for modern festivities. However, the millennia
of French history make it impossible to live separately from sacred monuments.
Throughout the trip, I witnessed how our French brethren keep their history alive, whether through providing public tours of their historic estates, organizing trips around France and America in the case of Les Amis de Rochambeau, or passing down family stories at the dinner table. The Society of the Cincinnati serves an important role in France, preserving history and providing a meeting place for people with shared heritage. For instance, some of the former French Scholars I met in Paris had coincidentally known each other since middle school, while in others had met through the Society and quickly become friends. Even people who were not members but engaged in historic preservation were familiar with the Society and our mission.
In addition to gaining an appreciation for French history and what it means to the public today, France’s engagement with globalization linked many of my experiences during the trip. Tourism, overwhelmingly centered on Paris, may be the most obvious sign of how interconnected the world has become, but the effects of globalization are visible throughout the country.
29