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The Obediah Dogberry Society is a public history initiative that grew out of investigations into O. Dogberry Esq. and related regional history. One goal of the Obediah Dogberry Society is to make visible for public consideration Dogberry's biography and work. Our investigations and documentation result in public display and creative production. Several artists have been invited to participate in a Collective Portrait of Obediah.
Though historically obscure Obediah Dogberry was a colorful figure, widely remembered by Mormons for a confrontation with Joseph Smith. Investigating Obediah’s life and dedicating this project to him illuminates local history and is intended to foment further discussion and research. Our activities voice support for historic preservation in general and specifically those cultural institutions and museums which aided our research.
This project engages an eclectic approach to historical inquiry; a visual exploration of our surrounding environment, historic and contemporary media, public display and material culture. An awareness of current issues will be maintained while 'practicing' local history toward a visual biography of Obediah Dogberry. As a representative of the Freethought Press, Dogberry serves as a point of entry into further investigations of both the history of the Burned-Over District and the meaning of Freethought in our society today.
"...by accepting the fact that the past must be viewed from the present rather than from an impossible level of abstract objectivity, one can put past events into a useful context. Unlike traditional history, which claimed only to present a disinterested account, useful history aims at contributing something of a political value. As such it does not distinguish between what happened and what people believe happened. It recognizes that history can always be put into a context that will advance or retard one's position in the present and that history, therefore, should be judged by what it contributes to the present situation rather [than] it's proximity to absolute truth." |
-Edmond E. Jacobitti |
Historical Revisionism tends to promote contentious ideas that diverge from accepted versions of history. Alternate, new, radical, and occasionally inflammatory updates to the historical record are often debated heavily. Linda Schele has referred to History as "a continuously changing relationship between the people of the present and their perception of the past". The Obediah Dogberry Society is not concerned with re–writing but envisioning. Our Envisionist agenda promotes awareness, access to and creative and progressive use of historical information. By bringing Obediah into view we hope to ask both the average passer–by and the Historian a new set of questions.
The larger scope of Historical Envisionism encompasses media-based strategies of drawing attention to historical themes, events and movements while maintaining an awareness of contemporary issues. We suspect that O. Dogberry Esq. would gladly lend his name to this approach. His vociferousness and tendency to traffic in a diversity of information seem in keeping with our effort to enliven current debate through the envisioning of local history. His pen name and his writings describe Dogberry as an advocate of education, Literary pursuits, and broad cultural knowledge. He will be remembered through an appropriately engaging mission.
"How to use the past to change the world, and yet not be encumbered by it—both skills can be sharpened by a judicious culling of past experience. But the delicate balance between them cannot come from historical data alone—only from a clearly focused vision of the human ends which history should serve." |
-Howard Zinn |
It is not surprising that the early attacks which Obadiah leveled against Joseph Smith have not been easily forgiven. Regardless, it was Dogberry's outspoken character, jocularity, and pledge to provide diverse content to his readership that commit us to his remembrance.
The Obediah Dogberry Society began with the envisioning of one early Freethinker. The society exists not only to resurrect the spirit of our namesake but to reconsider the era of the Freethought Press and 'practice history' through research, creative production, and spectacle.
"Life's absurdities don't have to seem believable, because they are real. As opposed to art's absurdities which, to seem real, have to be believable." |
-Luigi Pirandello |
