I love learning about history. In fact, I love it so much that I made it my minor in college. My main focus was the Civil War and what it did to the people who lived during that era, but I also dabbled in other areas, such as Renaissance history.

The thing I love the most about history is when you can see it up close by going to a museum or historical sites. I’ve had the privilege of being in close proximity to many working history museums and historical landmarks. A few family members have the same enthusiasm I do for history, so I was also able to tour some Civil War battlefields as well.

My family and I always went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn for events such as Holiday Nights or the living history you get to see over Memorial Day weekend. During this weekend, people camp out in tents just as Civil War soldiers and accompanying families did during the war. Seeing regular people dressed as Civil War soldiers, carolers, or regular civilians always made me want to get into historical reenactment.

If you’ve ever been to Greenfield Village, you know there are several sections including Porches and Parlors, a section dedicated to, well, porches and parlors. This section included a few school houses, a house dedicated to old musical instruments and, my two favorites, The Adams family home, the birthplace of columnist George Matthew Adams, and The Daggett Family Farm which was one of the oldest buildings in the village (1754). The day visiting the village was long, and sometimes very hot or very cold, but it was always worth it to be immersed in the history.

More information about Greenfield Village can be found on The Henry Ford website.

Another place I visited frequently while I attended Oakland University was Meadowbrook Hall. Not only did I get to cover The Meadowbrook Ball one year (the theme was Breakfast at Tiffany’s) but I also got to take a class there. We learned all about Tudor England (King Henry VIII and his six wives, along with the whole royal lineage of England) while getting tours of the entire hall every Friday. This included getting to see where the family stayed, as well as the workers’ quarters, farther back in the hall.

I loved seeing and learning about the little bits and pieces I would have otherwise skipped over. We also got to learn about the founding of Oakland University and what Matilda Wilson did in the hall and for the university as a whole.

Matilda Wilson was the founder of Oakland University and she was married to one of the Dodge brothers and, later, Alfred Wilson. She had five children, all of which lived in the hall at some point. Danny and Florence Dodge even got their own wings in the hall.

It truly was one of the best classes I’ve ever had.

Of course, it’s always easy to focus on the glitz and glamor of many parts of history. I mean, who doesn’t love to see and learn about all the elegant gowns, the finest of dinnerware, and the life of royalty or the rich and famous? I know I do.

However, we have to focus on the not so great, and sometimes downright gruesome, parts of history as well. Not every day was a walk in the park for people back then, as much as it is for us right now.

People starved during times of war, they died due to illness or brutality, and many injustices were committed.

When I visited residences literally made of newspaper and cardboard in Greenfield Village or visited battlefields, I was always reminded of the bad things that happened there.

Unknown soldiers could be buried under my feet or bullet casings that were used to wound someone. I remember everything I was taught in school about the horrors that went on when I walk into one of the slave quarters at Greenfield Village or any plantation house I visit.

You can’t go to a plantation house with a very dark blood stain from centuries ago and only focus on the beautiful paintings. This can be said for any part of history. The chair Lincoln was shot in still has remnants of his blood as well as the car John F. Kennedy rode on the day he died.

We also can’t deny anything like that ever happened. We should not forget all the gory parts and solely focus on the lavishness of fashion or the chivalry of war. It would be doing a disservice and a dishonor to those who went through the atrocities and those who still live with the scars and after effects of them.

You always hear stuff like “it was better back in the day” or “I wish we were back in old times.” People always assume that it was better back in the old days. But when you look at it, was it really? The same unrest that you see today was prominent in the old days, too, and I think people just skip over that.

People died, there was political unrest in many places, and there wasn’t that much equality going around. We can’t deny that when we say it was better back then.

We shouldn’t forget the past, but we also can’t focus solely on the great parts. We have to remember the bad parts in order to make the present we’re living in a better place.

Alyssa Ochss is the page designer at The Alpena News. She graduated from Oakland University and loves pop culture and all things nerd. You can reach her at aochss@thealpenanews.com.