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Interview: Hidden History

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Happy autumn! I love this time of year when the weather cools enough to break out the boots and to gather around bonfires with friends. This weekend, I’m thrilled to introduce you to a wonderful resource of enjoyment, if you are a reader  . . .  and perhaps some intriguing bits of research, if you are a writer.

Samuel Johnson said, “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” ― Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2

Well, you may not have to turn over half the library quite as much. Hidden History, a free information service, is right at your fingertips!

Hidden History
Founder: Josh
Writers: Ryan and Micaiah

What is Hidden History and what does it offer readers?

Hidden History offers its readers a unique experience with history. Many history sites will simply provide you with stories based on what that site believes you should read. However, Hidden History seeks to gain insight from our readers by asking for post topics and suggestions. We reach roughly 450,000 people a month with our articles, videos, and informational blurbs and try to cater to everyone we reach. Hidden History’s aim is to inform readers on topics about which they desire. We take well-known topics and offer aspects or facts on the person, place, or event that most people never knew.

How can Hidden History be a resource for writers?

Hidden History can be broken down into three different divisions: Education, Video, and Research. Our Education Division comprises most of our work as it provides articles and blurbs on events, places, or people. It provides additional information on a topic that a writer, researcher, or historian could use in whatever they are doing.

Our Video Division aims to accomplish the same as our Education Division but through videos. While writers may not use these videos, educators may use them in classes or in presentations. Our newer videos are up on our YouTube channel and more will be added as they are completed!  

Hidden History’s Research Division is a paid option available to all with rates based on the research needed. We will provide a well-researched and cited report for writers that might need a paper fact-checked or a report done on a topic. If we cannot find what you are looking for, then our time researching is FREE to you!

The best part of our page is that we work for you as the reader, so we will post an article/video and do research based on what you are looking for when you need it.

What is the history behind Hidden History?

I started Hidden History for multiple reasons. I have always loved history, and I enjoy researching and learning about it. I also tired of certain history channels that stopped showing history series and started doing series on pawnshops or aliens.

At Hidden History we share knowledge on unknown historical facts and events with others who might not have otherwise known.

When I started Hidden History, I planned on it being a small, local page that I ran with only a few hundred followers. However, I changed how I was doing things on the page, added a new writer, and we quickly started to grow.

Today we have three writers, three divisions within Hidden History, and are currently the largest actual history Hidden History page on Facebook. We have partnered with several major Facebook history pages and we also have several politicians, writers, historians, and educators of all levels that follow and use our page.

We have grown fast and reach so many people every day. We have expanded to Instagram and YouTube and are working on our very own Hidden History website, which we hope will be up and running within the year! We are also currently working on saving a historical monument in Pensacola (Florida) and if it is successful, we hope to expand to a fourth division and help save monuments and historical sites with other preservation groups!  

Where can readers and writers find Hidden History?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hidden.history.hh/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hidden_history_hh/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlXwuTE4fBmUOJv4szblqw

Website: Under construction

Writers, I hope this is a helpful resource for you in providing just that bit of intriguing information for your next book!

Readers, I hope this is an enjoyable, relaxing avenue for you to continue to glean tidbits about unknown history facts—you never know when sharing an unknown fact will open up an amazing door of great conversation with someone!

Happy Reading and Researching!

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Article Review: Humanities vs. STEM

A photo by Patrick Tomasso. unsplash.com/photos/Oaqk7qqNh_c

Recently, a concerned Cara Putman had shared an article about parents who discouraged their college-age children from selecting  a major within the humanities department. After reading the article about College Students & Humanities , I was also concerned.

Why would parents want to dissuade their children from the voracious love of learning literature, exploring the world of art and music, taking up the pen and writing? Although important, education and teaching are not the end-all thrust of a humanities major.

True, we live in a techno world and thrive on its savvy uses for daily living and business strategy. However, I’m not discrediting STEM courses at all — they are very important to our society and culture, with nearly the entire population online, conversing through social media, and we certainly need skilled engineers to build our buildings and create safe havens for us, scientists to preserve the validity of our universe, math geeks to keep the world organized, LOL, and tech-savvy people to help us when our computers are sick. What I am crediting is that there is still a need for both STEM and the humanities.

But if we don’t encourage today’s students to explore, study, and appreciate the humanities, how will future generations learn how to read, develop critical thinking skills, or pronounce a seventeen-letter word correctly? How will future generations own words and meaning for themselves? How will they fill out job applications accurately? How will they communicate? Surely we can’t have robots do all the work and succumb ourselves to a Wall-E world! 😉

As long as there are people, there shall be words, and there will be those who write them, read them, explain them because, to quote the most literary Book (even according to Richard Dawkins) in the world, the King James Bible, “The words of the Lord are pure,” (Ps. 12:6) and “they shall not return to me void.” (Isa. 55:11). In John 1:1, God was the Word itself; therefore, words have transcended time.

words ray bradbury you don't have to burn books

My favorite word-preserved fiction novel is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In it, Bradbury preserves the beauty of words, books, and the art of thinking, and this was back in the 1960s. Without an appreciation for words, we die a slow and painful death — the death of leaving empty brains numb in a body shell.

Are most parents’ hopes for their children choosing a STEM major in college as a return on the parents’ investment a decline  on the value of books and writing and free, creative thinking? I may have struck a shaky string here, but I think it’s a topic worth reviewing. I’d love to hear your civil thoughts. 🙂

Photo Cred: unsplash.com & google

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