Dear Editor:

    It was with chagrin that the Perrysburg Area Historic Museum board members learned of the name change of Harrison Rally Day by our Chamber of Commerce to the blatantly commercial slogan, “Positively Perrysburg Fest.”

    The original name was proposed and promoted for years by members of Historic Perrysburg, Inc.

    Harrison Rally Day(s) has always been the celebration of Harrison’s rally appearance June 11, 1840, at Fort Meigs when he was running for election as our ninth President from the slave free state of Ohio.

    It has morphed from two days of historic presentations and family fun at the Country Charm Shopping Center, Fort Meigs and the riverfront, to one day uptown.

    One of the most grievous things is reading and hearing the local news announcing that the name change is predicated by President William Henry Harrison being a slave owner. So were Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Taylor, Polk, Tyler, Jackson, Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Grant.

    Consider what the outcome would have been if it were not for General William Henry Harrison being the savior against attacks by the British during the War of 1812 locally and in Canada. Our 1816 founding was a direct result of his successful campaigns.

    If our townspeople feel, “No one knows who Harrison was anyway,” perhaps there should be some literature, signs in the community and lessons in our schools that tell his complete story.

    Our group’s motto is “Preserving Yesterday for Today.” We feel the community was blindsided by this commercially inspired idea.

    There are certainly other names that are historical to our area that would not smear Perrysburg with the designation of our being elitists. This renaming decision is an absolute indication of misplaced political correctness.

    Judith P. Justus

    President, Perrysburg Area Historic Museum

    Dear Editor:

    Thanks for publishing Richard Baranowski’s interviews on the Veterans History Project. I am concerned that some generations have forgotten the contributions and sacrifices made during wartime and peacetime.

    My wife, Janice, and I are children of WW II. Four of my five uncles were drafted. Three saw combat, and the youngest was in the Pacific on his way to Japan when the war ended. I, as a 10-year-old, drove a tractor for my grandfather as German POWs jerked sweet corn for market.

    I read every book I can find on the war. Now to help remember, I watch the following DVDs on these dates: June 4 “Midway” June 7 “Longest Day,” July 4 “Gettysburg” and on December 7 “Tora, Tora Tora.”

    Every three or four years, I watch “Band of Brothers,” and every five or six years, on PBS, “The War.”

    These interviews are appreciated.

    Jon Lee

    Dear Editor:

    The renaming of the Harrison Rally Day Festival to Positively Perrysburg Fest supposedly was done “in the spirit of diversity, inclusion and progress.”

    One might add cowardice and sanctimony. William Henry Harrison, like a majority of Americans in his age (perhaps including ancestors of current Chamber of Commerce members), was not an abolitionist. Slavery even then was considered repugnant by many, but most Americans at least tolerated its existence. Why? Are we made of

    Why? Are we made of morally superior stuff compared to our fore-bearers? No. Had we been born 200 years ago, a majority of us would have done the same and accepted the status quo. It took real courage back then to be an abolitionist; today, scrubbing our public festivals of the names of long dead former heroes takes none.

    Harrison indeed lacked the moral courage to condemn slavery while he pandered to voters. But he did have physical courage to brave arrows, musket fire, and cannonballs time and again.

    We would do well to remember that our comfortable Republic today exists because of flawed, complicated men like Harrison who forged it in blood for our lasting benefit.

    Real progress can only be made by looking at the past in all its horror and glory. People without a past are people without a future, creatures of an ever-changing present who are easily frightened and manipulated. We must remember figures like Harrison so we know the price of civilization, and so we can weigh our virtues and vices against those who came before and try to improve ourselves where possible.

    How are we doing so far? A line from The Sundiata, a 13th century Epic from Mali, says it best: “Men of today, how small you are besides your ancestors.”

    Collin Rudnik