#75 William Walker, Historical Markers, and (Re)Writing History
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 629 Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2017
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the corner of 4th Avenue and Commerce Street in Nashville, there's a historical marker that reads:
"William Walker; Grey-eyed Man of Destiny; Born May 8, 1824, Walker moved to this site from 6th Ave. N. in 1840. In early life he was doctor, lawyer & journalist. He invaded Mexico in 1853 with 46 men & proclaimed himself Pres., Republic of Lower Calif. Led forces into Nicaragua in 1855; was elected its Pres. in 1856. In attempt to wage war on Honduras was captured & executed Sept. 12, 1860."
The interesting thing is that it doesn't mention that Walker reintroduced slavery to a country that had abolished the institution in the year he was born.
In this episode of The Road to Now, Ben investigates how historical markers get made, and the agenda of those who work to establish them. He tracks down the origins of the William Walker marker, which was established in 1970, and speaks with Pippa Holloway to learn about her work in erecting a marker to Civil Rights activist Penny Campbell. It turns out a lot has changed in the half-century between the two markers, but some things remain constant then and now.
For more on The Road to Now, visit our website: www.theroadtonow.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our friend Dolphus Ramser was born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, a town so rich |
| 0:07.4 | with history that it provided the inspiration for its independent record label and management |
| 0:12.6 | company. |
| 0:13.7 | So great was the city's influence on Ramzer that he continues to live and work in Concord |
| 0:19.0 | today with a full-time staff located in both North Carolina |
| 0:22.6 | and California. He and his team always put their clients music first, work as hard as they can, |
| 0:28.7 | and have fun along the way. Visit Ramser.com to learn more. |
| 0:37.1 | Hey Bob, do you ever pay attention to historic markers? Well, yeah, I'm, I'm Hey, Bob. |
| 0:38.3 | Do you ever pay attention to historic markers? |
| 0:40.5 | Well, yeah, I'm kind of drawn to them. |
| 0:42.7 | When I drive down the road, say my wife and I are going on a trip, |
| 0:46.5 | and we pass one, we'll often swing back around and see what it said. |
| 0:51.2 | Yeah, definitely captivated by him. |
| 0:53.1 | You ever think about where they come from? Well, I just imagine they were always there, right? Something of note happened in a particular spot, and the townspeople got together, and they put a little wooden sign maybe first, and then they come and raise some money and put a piece of granite there or a metal sign at some point. |
| 1:11.3 | You don't think that it magically, if you do something historically, it just springs out of the ground? |
| 1:15.0 | Right, practically, right. Yeah. |
| 1:17.2 | Well, I've been thinking a lot about this one particular marker, and in today's episode, I wanted to track that down and figure out exactly why this marker said, what it said, and where it came from. |
| 1:35.4 | On the corner of 4th Avenue and Commerce Street in downtown Nashville, there's a historic marker |
| 1:39.8 | that I noticed every time I walk past it. It's dedicated to a man who you've probably never |
| 1:44.1 | heard of, |
| 1:44.6 | but whose life story explains a lot about the United States in the mid-19th century. |
| 1:48.8 | I'm going to read the markers' text, |
... |
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