To the editor:
On Aug. 26, one of our grandsons was sworn in as a new recruit in the armed services in Portland. On the wall behind the recruits was a facsimile of the original Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution (which each inductee pledged to support and defend).
To my great dismay and disappointment, not one of the recruits could read the written cursive script of either document.
Several years ago, someone high in educational circles decided that learning how to hand write cursive was too old-fashioned to bother to teach, and instead made way for word processing, computers, tablets, cell phones, etc. While this is necessary and fine, forsaking handwriting permanently separates each student from an enormous array of sources; i.e., grandma’s old letters about the family, historic deeds, wills, testaments, political essays, poetry, as well as greeting cards and a plethora of others.
Regretfully, it is too late for this generation; the damage has been done. For those of us who pursue historic research, those who follow will be at an impossible disadvantage.
The real question, then, is why? What rationale is behind this forsaking of such a time-honored skill? Without the ability to read original sources, the gift of historic knowledge is denied and deprived. Next, will those sources no longer be saved and conveniently disposed of, as obsolete? Already, some official records such as tax and court records have been discarded. What will be next?
Our children deserve the right to know the truth as it was originally written, without being skewed or altered in any way.
Raymond W. Hildebrand
Stockholm
