I don't know what happened to that thread talking about the interpretation of industrial history beyond immediate borders but it seems to have disappeared.

Did anyone happen to save any of the good parts?

I believe that it went off the rails rather quickly and was deleted

Tommy Gears deleted it just as I was writing a reply stating that having the discussion was a good idea. Moderators are not always of the same mind but we respect the decisions made by our peers.

There were some good points but it was starting to degenerate.

I think it's a bit excessive to say that this particular replica locomotive or steam in general is "being cancelled", since the museum is simply changing the display signage, not removing the exhibit.

Link to the only article about the controversy not behind a paywall that I can find, with the caveat that this website has its own biases against "political correctness" and "woke" advocacy:

https://reason.com/2022/03/17/steam-eng ... pparently/

Further comment will invite further "censorship," so................

There's also this:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... trade.html

And this:

https://nation.cymru/news/gb-news-attac ... eam-train/

In all fairness, the Daily Mail thrives (and profits mightily) on sensationalism, and both they and Nigel Farage have all the nuance of Rush Limbaugh and the subtlety of a two-by-four over the head.

So of COURSE they will exaggerate the "cancellation" aspects of the new "wokeness." Just as every other news media steer reporting to fit their own biases and agendas

I may be on the side that wants nothing to do with striving to interpret every last aspect of life through the lens of a chosen grievance or agenda, but I can still see the point of at least some interpretation of placing historical artefacts in a broader context that others may call irrelevant or distracting.

Then there is the other side of the story.

In the US, railroads played an important part in the Great Migration of Blacks in the 20th Century. Isabel Wilkerson tells the story of the Migration in great detail in her book The Warmth of Other Suns.

Wesley

Ok, so I wanted to restate my statement on it that I thought bore repeating.

The interesting aspect of this is that (if you ignore the bad takes on it), it is actually a really great demonstration of the importance and value in preserving historical artifacts from an educational perspective, which, btw, is why we receive tax exempt status to enjoy our hobbies.

It's one thing to have an object like the Trevithick locomotive on display with a plaque that reads "This was a steam engine, it's old, it's great!". But all that does is serve to demonstrate to the public that this thing existed. But lots of things have existed that do not warrant government support to save.

What's important, and what's valuable to us as a society, is what the existence of that object means to our past and most importantly, to our present and future.

The Trevithick locomotive is a great example. It was one of many technological advances that greatly improved the standard of living for some of those close to it (in the UK). But that improved standard of living was also dependent on or contributed to the suffering of those far from it, often resulting in terrible consequences for those nearby (ie, to what extent was colonialism responsible for the Great War). It can be used to demonstrate an important lesson to modern people: you should consider the results of your actions and choices on people beyond your immediate awareness, because eventually their problems can become yours.

As I said in the original post: a good example is the way us westerners think about electronic consumer devices. Most of us don't think twice when we "recycle" our used electronic devices, but many of them end up being responsible for terrible pollution in places like Ghana. That chicken hasn't come home to roost, but it's not impossible to believe it will.

Ed,

You raise great points in your post.

My friend and mentor Ken Rucker kept drilling me to answer "Why?" when I was describing any object in our Museum collections, encouraging me to write captions and stories that went beyond basic engineering facts of builder/year/model/whistle/paint color.

Thank you for bring the thread back around to a focused discussion.

Wesley

Thanks!

For a second I read that as "Keith Rucker" and I was like "Wait, is there anything Keith can't do?".

But yeah, that was exactly my hope with this thread and I'm glad it's panning out.

We need to teach the public how steam power and trains advanced civilization and people's daily lives. People already know that it was people that mistreated, or worse, other people. And would be turned off by an extensive discussion of the sins of the past. Of course the display of a Pullman or a Jim Crow car deserves a full explanation. Discussion of subjects like slavery or colonialism belong in the broader discussion of both the good and bad effects of industrialisation and technology.

Tom Hamilton

This discussion brings to mind the James Burke documentary from the late 1970s, "Connections."

Yes, but museums are exactly the place for those discussions.