The Carle museum is one of my favorite places, so even if it wasn't ideal to spend all day on my birthday attending seminars, at least it was in one of the most beautiful places. Right now, there is an exhibit about the history of Paddington bear: the stories written by Michael Bond as well as the art from different illustrators through the years and the recent films.
Paddington has a special place in my heart. When my husband and I went on our honeymoon, I brought a small Paddington with us, and we photographed him in various places in England/Ireland/Scotland/Guernsey. My husband compiled them into an adorable video, which always makes me smile:
The Keynote speech was my favorite lecture of the day. Dr. Tonya Leslie discussed the recent controversy regarding the Laura Ingalls Wilder award, and how Ingalls' name was removed from that award because her stories depict Native Americans and others in offensive ways. Dr. Leslie discussed her personal ambivalence regarding this event; although Wilder's stories include these descriptions which are not sensitive and not politically correct, we are judging texts written in a previous century, telling a story from two centuries ago, by our 2018 mindset. As a black woman, she wrestles with the complexities of this because she herself, loves the stories. She related how as a little girl, she once won a Halloween costume contest because she dressed up as Laura, wearing her hair in braids and a cute calico dress.
The theme of the whole workshop was Literature as Mirrors and Windows, and Dr. Leslie explained how a book can function as both. Little House on the Prairie was a window for her as a young reader, because it was about a white pioneer family, living in unsettled areas. But she also saw much of herself in Laura's character: a younger sister who struggled to be as good and well-behaved as her older sibling.
She also brought up the character of Dr. Tan, and why it is significant.
In Little House on the Prairie, the Ingalls family becomes sick with malaria. Laura sees a tall black man in their cabin, the first black man she's ever seen. She admits that she would have been afraid of him, if she hadn't liked him so much. To some, this appears to be an example of racist depictions in her books. However, as Dr. Leslie pointed out, this is an assumption, made by readers who are not completely informed.
Laura's description of Dr. Tan is minimal, because she was a young child when she met him. It's not as if she would have known much about him or his life; she only knew what she observed. She observed his height, the color of his skin, and the fact that he was helping her family feel better.
However, Dr. George Tann (spelled according to historical records) was a neighbor of the Ingalls family, and homesteaded the property adjacent to them. He had been born and raised in Pennsylvania, helping on his family's farm. Although he did not attend school regularly as a child, he was educated enough to learn homeopathic medicine. He did not attend medical college; someone in his position either learned through an apprenticeship or was self-taught.
Dr. Tann was very successful, as a doctor and also as a homesteader. His practice was a thriving one, and he was held in high esteem. In fact, he is the doctor who delivered Laura's younger sister, as she writes in her memoir Pioneer Girl.
Dr. Tann died in 1909. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Independence, Kansas. His grave is marked with flags so that people can locate it easily.
I think this is a wonderful example of how necessary it is to try and understand the context of something before we label it or make an assumption.
I also had fun in the art studio, and brushed up on story-time techniques using the Whole Book approach and browsed in the gift shop.
No comments:
Post a Comment