A Day in the Trenches

As any historian will tell you, scholarship can take some unusual turns.  Those turns involve not only what you find, but in how and where you present your findings.  In my case, a turn took me to Black River Middle School in Chester, New Jersey.

From left to right: me, Ryder, Mr. Joe Pizzo.

One of my grandsons, Ryder James Leckie, was fortunate enough to have Mr. Joseph Pizzo as his 7^th-grade English teacher. When Mr. Pizzo asked the class if anyone knew an author who could come and talk about his or her writing, up shot Ryder’s hand. He promptly volunteered me to visit with Mr. Pizzo’s class and talk about my book, Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle. (This seemed heavy stuff for the 7^th grade, but Ryder had assured everyone: “you can buy it on Amazon.” He’s a budding marketing guru.)  Inasmuch as I live in Richmond, Virginia, guaranteeing my appearance at a New Jersey middle school was an act of faith on Ryder’s part.

But who am I to deny a grandson?  So my wife and I hit the road for New Jersey. Then the shock: Once at our daughter’s home, we found that Ryder had volunteered me not only for his class with Joe Pizzo—but for all five of Joe’s classes over the course of the day!

Actually, it was a great day. Joe Pizzo is a talented and dedicated teacher who loves his work.  And after teaching five of his classes I came away with a new appreciation of how hard our public school teachers work. But I enjoyed every minute. Five classes paid attention, asked good questions about the source materials I passed around—I risked a stamped copy (remember the Stamp Act?) of the London Gazette—which always came back unwounded and which generated plenty of comments. Who was “this guy” Henry Laurens and why did he write so many letters, one student asked when I showed the class a copy of Letters of Delegates to Congress. And there were always questions about George Washington—from his false teeth to his talents as a commander and politician.

It was the kind of day that reminded me of why I became a historian, and that what historians do matters. The day certainly drove home that what Joe Pizzo and his colleagues do matters. And it was nice to know that Ryder had started it all.

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