Bloodlines

The museum in Hart County documents the changing landscape of the county as well as the changing faces.

The museum, which shares its’ location with the Chamber of Commerce, houses old clothes and photos documenting the ever-changing façade of a small city.

The county’s historical society maintains the museum and provides many of the items found within.

I met the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Pat Dipert, for an interview a few weeks ago and she gave me a tour of the museum.

At the conclusion of the tour I spent a short time exploring the small house.

The smell of mothballs clinged to the old garments and old photos had been enlarged and placed in the corner.

One photo, of a few teenagers in front of the Nancy Hart hotel, was interesting. Not because the hotel is gone, being replaced by a Bank of America; but because I actually met a woman who was in the photo.

I met living history. Exploring the small space further, I came across a book that listed the families in Hart County and their origins.

Some families were traced back to their European origins. It amazed me how much history the town was able to save and display for the public to see.

As a journalist with an interest in health and medicine something else appealed to me about this fascination with genealogy.

Do they know their family health histories as well as they know their family tree?

I thought about how predisposition plays a major role in many people’s health.

Family health history can be very useful in preventative medicine.

But alas, there was no book that traced the cause of death of the residents of Hart County.

I think a book of death would probably be a little too morbid anyway.