Need to know history

Thank you so much for your Feb. 12 editorial on Lincoln’s Birthday, “The great divide was once greater.” In paragraph five, you state, “Until Lincoln found his Grant, it seemed the Union was destined to lose the War. Because it didn’t, we write this as citizens of the United States.”

In paragraph 14, I was delighted to see you state, “But somehow, Abraham Lincoln was able to bring about a more perfect union. Something that we’re still working on today.”

And thank you, too, for another great column by Dana Kelley on the same date. In his remarks, in part, (1): “we are one of a dozen or so states that haven’t succumbed to the ‘Presidents Day’ folly.” And, (2): “Monday’s observance serves as a solid reminder of what’s most remiss about slanderous historical revisionism.” And, (3): “There will always be those who only seek to advance their narrow cause by maligning truth and greatness. Let them wail, provided they’re returned to the obscure cranny they warrant.”

Even in Arkansas, Carroll Electric’s calendar mentioned neither Washington’s Birthday observed on the 15th and his real birthday on the 22nd, nor is Lincoln’s birthday on the 12th mentioned either. But we have Martin Luther King Jr. day on Jan. 18 and Columbus Day on Oct. 11.

Is this a great country, or what?! I have saved about all of Paul Greenberg’s columns on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Pearl Harbor Day, etc., etc., and keep them in my file here at our Downtown Historic Bank’s free Historical Museum. It’s no wonder that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all over America today have no sense of history, because if you plan on knowing where you are going, you certainly need to know the history of this country as to where we have been.

JOHN FULLER CROSS Eureka Springs