There are some topics that make me feel a little inadequate as a writer. This week is one of them.
Historian Gordon S. Wood died earlier this week after being struck by a vehicle in a grocery store parking lot. He was in his ninth decade of life, so while his death is certainly sad, it does not fall into the category of tragedy that accompanies the loss of someone whose life is cut short. Even so, I fear that too little attention has been paid to the passing of one of America’s greatest intellectual minds.
Too often, we celebrate greatness only on athletic fields, movie screens, concert stages, or social media. While excellence in those arenas certainly deserves recognition, we do not spend enough time honoring intellectual greatness. We do not spend enough time celebrating the scholars, teachers, scientists, writers, and thinkers who dedicate their lives to expanding human understanding.
Gordon S. Wood was one of those people.
Professor Wood was among the foremost experts on early American history. His books may not have achieved the commercial success of some popular historians, but anyone serious about understanding the American founding eventually encounters his work. His scholarship helped generations of readers understand not only what happened during the Revolutionary era, but why it happened and why it still matters.
I can proudly say that I was reading Gordon Wood long before Matt Damon made him famous in Good Will Hunting. For the record, Damon’s reference was not a particularly accurate characterization of Wood’s views. Still, it introduced many people to a historian whose work deserves far more attention than it receives.
As a middle school history teacher, I often found myself drawing from Professor Wood’s research when teaching early American history. What made his work so valuable was not simply his knowledge, but his commitment to nuance. In an age when both liberals and conservatives often attempt to use history as a weapon in political arguments, Wood reminded readers that history is not partisan. It is a serious academic discipline that requires careful study, thoughtful interpretation, and intellectual honesty.
Of all the things Gordon Wood wrote, one of my favorite passages did not come from one of his books. It came during an interview with American Heritage magazine.
He was asked:
“Can you give me the most cogent reason there is for us, at the close of the twentieth century, to understand that period of creation back two hundred years ago?”
His response was:
“Historical knowledge is essential for understanding yourself in the present. It’s like an individual without memory. A person suffering from amnesia is a scary, lost person. And a society that doesn’t understand its past, and doesn’t understand it correctly, is going to make all kinds of mistakes in the present.”
“I don’t think there are particular lessons to be learned from any particular event in the past. But what the past does teach you is wisdom—the sense of being part of a larger process. There are circumstances, cultural traditions, histories that impinge on you and prevent you from doing certain things. To be aware of those conditions, to be aware of those circumstances, is important for decision makers in the present. They’ve got to know and we as a public have got to know what our past was like if we’re going to be functioning citizens in the present.”
That answer rings just as true today as it did when he first gave it more than a quarter century ago.
We live in an era of endless information and remarkably little wisdom. People spend hours scrolling through social media, consuming opinions in thirty-second clips, while rarely taking the time to engage with serious scholarship. We increasingly seek entertainment when what we often need is understanding.
Professor Wood spent a lifetime creating a body of work that helps provide that understanding. He taught history, but more importantly, he passed on wisdom. He helped us see ourselves as part of a larger story and reminded us that our present circumstances cannot be understood apart from the past that shaped them.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, there may be no better time to revisit the people, ideas, and documents that created our nation. We do not all need to read every book Gordon Wood ever wrote. But we would be well served by reading at least some of them and by reflecting on the lessons they contain.
More importantly, we should take a moment to recognize a man who spent his life pursuing truth, expanding knowledge, and enriching our understanding of the American experience.
We often mourn celebrities when they pass away. Perhaps we should spend a little more time mourning the loss of people who dedicated their lives to helping us think more clearly and understand our world more deeply.
Gordon S. Wood was one of those people.
He was an American scholar of the highest order, and we are all better off because of his life’s work.
That’s the perspective this week.
Until next Friday,
Mr. Tuescher
Retired History Teacher
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