Michael Morrison was supposed to give a talk at the Easttown Library April 29 on the history of the horse show, right? (It was scheduled everywhere and even had a nice sized blurb in the Daily Local.)

  
If you follow the Easttown Library, a note went up on their Facebook page was that the event was suddenly cancelled.

  
Why was a program about a huge part of local history cancelled?

Is it true he had to cancel because someone told them the historical society cannot speak for the horse show and isn’t that kooky? Seriously???? Why are people saying this??? It’s viable local history isn’t it? 

Correct me if I am wrong but didn’t the horse show and TEHS establish a partnership to write a BOOK not so long ago??? To chronicle a fascinating history and tradition and preserve documents and artifacts that had been moldering in a musty barn or attic somewhere? As in they wrote a book with a tag line on the cover that says “Working Together to Preserve History” with both the logo of the horse show AND the historical society on it? As in this book can be purchased off the Devon website ? 

So is the pretzel logic here that they wrote the book, but aren’t qualified to give a talk on the history? They did all this research and got all this stuff together to preserve and they can’t talk about it? Are we all Illuminati on this horse or what LOL?

Devon Horse Show on their own website describes the book like this:

  
And here is the book being promoted on the historical society website:

  
What’s next? We out here in Everyday People Land are not allowed to mention the Devon Horse Show without express written permission of the board? Will they be coming after elderly ladies who try to replicate the recipe for Devon Fudge next? Or little kids who try to make their own lemon sticks (you know the lemon with the candy straw in it) will be spoken to?

Is this new Devon Horse Show like those Las Vegas ads? Everything that happens at Devon Stays at Devon? Wonder if they will do a glossy series of ads featuring people in Low Brow Lily for Target LOL? (Sorry just had this whole visual and it made me giggle)

It’s so odd that an organization which formerly used to herald and celebrate its history now doesn’t want to isn’t it? It is like they seem to want over a century of history and tradition to disappear, isn’t it?

They seem afraid of a historical marker and talks on the history? Are the trying to re-write history? Create a new history? Or maybe they really don’t want the horse show to survive do they?

It poses an interesting local conundrum doesn’t it? Who does our collective local history belong to?

The thing is this ladies and gentlemen, the Devon Horse Show has been part of our lives collectively for over a century. Generations of families have competed and contributed and supported this show. This show is part of Chester County and Main Line and Philadelphia history.

If you live around here what is it you grew up doing around Memorial Day ? Even if you went to the beach you always made time for Devon didn’t you? So if we have these memories that are part of our personal history as well as our local history of going to the horse show are we now no longer allowed to talk about those things?

So seriously, who owns our history? And if experts from a historical society become so hogtied that they can’t speak about local history, how do we preserve our local history going forward?

I realize full well the new board of the Devon Horse Show doesn’t like my opinions or questions but are we not allowed both in this great country? Don’t they get that they are but temporary stewards of a piece of local and regional history and tradition? Are they trying to obliterate the history and tradition?

Devon Horse Show in the end can’t exist without all of us so how do we ensure it survives so our children can some day take their children?