School History Wall a landmark for future generations

History is a funny thing. Mention the word and most people have a visceral reaction: they either love it, or, hearkening back to school days when they were forced to memorize a parade of boring facts, they hate it.

The past is an essential component of our everyday existence, not merely what you had for breakfast this morning. If you don’t understand what shaped your life, it is difficult to chart your course for the future. History informs who we are as individuals, organizations, communities, and nations. It is why “What is Past is Prologue” is engraved on a large statue outside of the entrance to the National Archives in Washington D.C.

On June 13, a new exhibit opened in La Conner that richly illustrates the history of the town’s school district, how it has prepared students for life for over a century, and what that has meant to communities on both sides of the Swinomish Channel.

The History Wall stands as a vibrant permanent fixture in the new La Conner Middle School — and a far cry from how history has been taught traditionally. Artist Mary Ennes-Davis of Bellingham created a stunning visual statement that celebrates both a small town, and a small tribe’s, dedication for its children and their future.

The History Wall simult-aneously informs, documents, and preserves the story of how children have been formally educated in La Conner since the town’s founding. The 60-foot-long, 9-foot-tall display explores the complex relationships be-tween people and communities, ideas and action through a 3-D exhibit that grabs the viewer and pulls them into colorful shadow boxes, actual school artifacts, memories, text and photographs.

But most importantly, the wall challenges people to think outside the usual historical timeline box and see things in a new way by realizing, in the words of educator John Dewey, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

Ennes-Davis began work on the wall last fall by consulting with school staff, town elders and the Swinomish Tribe. Looking back now, she realizes that she had no idea what she had committed to. She threw herself into researching the district’s rich history and gathered the stories, pictures, and memorabilia generously offered by those in the community, an assemblage that rapidly grew.

Everyone had their personal idea of what mattered most, which quickly grew beyond what feasibly could be included in the display. Although she wishes the “wall had space for everyone,” in the end, as Ennes-Davis noted, “it was impossible to list every person or event. The images and people I chose are symbolic of all who have been part of the generosity and determination on which this town’s history is founded.”

Drawing on her exhaustive research, and a rich trove of La Conner School District artifacts in storage that Superintendent Tim Bruce had preserved, Ennes-Davis went to work in 2016 to combine old desks, doors and chalkboards, globes and inkwells, old trophies, and more to craft a stunning visual narrative.

As she worked to create each panel, crucial themes unfolded from her thorough research that guided her artistic vision, one that she is grateful to have had fully supported by Bruce and the school district.

The artist noted after the project’s completion:

“Just as the channel winds its way through the fields and town, generosity gracefully weaves its way through La Conner Schools’ history. The district has similarities with other schools:athletic teams, school spirit, academic standards. Yearbooks and trophy cases document these accomplishments.

“What sets La Conner apart is the small size of the district in contrast to the great scale of generosity from both sides of the bridge. These gestures are the stitches that have sewn together multiple generations of families who have provided resources and support for over 140 years. A small community with great ideas, values and expectations; a shared community with the Swinomish Tribe connected by a bridge. A bridge that has changed over time, and a relationship that has also changed and grown with varied challenges and accomplishments.”

Generations of schoolchildren will grow up with the History Wall, passing it daily en route to classes, recess, and one day, graduation. As they engage with it on multiple levels their appreciation of its content will evolve over time: one day they will understand that they are mirrored in the stories told there.

For the rest of us that aren’t students, one visit to the History Wall will not be enough: each examination will reveal more connections, more lessons to be learned. The artist left a few secrets there, too: a note behind one of the old chalkboards for future generations to find and a film, “Popeye the Sailorman,” actually threaded onto the vintage projector.

Mary Ennes-Davis has created a singularly unique testament to the people of La Conner and Swinomish and to the very idea of community. For generations of students, staff, and visitors, indeed for all of Skagit County, the History Wall is a landmark that will only grow in stature as time progresses.