He is the author of are we there yet . the american automobile past, present, and driverless. Its available for signing at the conclusion of the program. Please, without further ado, join me in welcoming him this evening. Thank you so much. Really generous and sweet introduction. Thank you so much. That was really lovely. Thank you, amanda. Really generous and sweet introduction. I think everybody for being i especially amanda told me that the smithsonian associate people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are. So i feel like i have to be up on my toes and really give you my a game to take that seriously. And to be a little intellectual, be a little heavy. Theres a lot of material in the book. Everything from teaching my daughter to drive to a freudian analysis. And a little bit of this theory of how one understands that. The reason i am doing that is to put us in the present moment where, as some of you may have heard, Driverless Cars are on the horizon. But at the end of th
Dan thank you so much. Thank you, amanda. Really generous and sweet introduction. I thank everybody for being here, otherwise, i would be up here by myself. Especially, amanda told me the smithsonian associate people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are. I feel like i have to be up on my toes and really give you my agame to take that seriously. And to be a little intellectual, be a little heavy. Talking about the past, present, and future of the automobile. Theres a lot of material in the book. Look at that. It is right there. Everything from teaching my daughter to drive, to a freudian analysis of henry ford. I cannot capture all of that tonight. What i thought i would do is talk about the early automobile and a little bit of this theory of how one understands that. The reason i am doing that is to put us in the present moment, where, as some of you may have heard, Driverless Cars are on the horizon. But at the end of the day, i really want to talk about cars. I am both a
About history. Rock creek park cover 1700 acres from the mouth of the creek in georgetown, north to the districts border with maryland. We visited built in the early 1800s. Standing in front of pierce mill in Rock Creek Park. This is one of the last vestiges of the rule path of washington. It is the only one, part of the way of life in farming that happened in the early 1800s. The owner of the mill was a former quaker from pennsylvania. He came to the Washington Area hethe late 70s, 90s, and bought a lot of land. Ultimately 160 acres along rock. There was an old mill here that this millit he built in about 1820. Had a whole farmstead here, a farm house, a house that may have been a distillery, a barn, springhouse, an entire farm area here. The mill was built in 1820 and stayed in operation through almost the entire 19th century. The mill was subsumed into Rock Creek Park in 1890 when the Rock Creek Park was founded and it kept operating for several more years and ended in 1897 when the
And that was the end of milling operations forever. Back in the early 19th century this was rural land out here this was Washington County. It was a separate legal jurisdiction from Washington City which is what we now think of as downtown. Florida avenue was the old boundary street, that was the Northern Boundary of Washington City and this was Washington County. Washington county was sparsely inhabited, less than 10,000 people lived out here, mostly farmers and large land holders and farmers here grew all sorts of crops, a lot of wheat and corn and rye was grown for a local use and for shipping along the east coast. Mills were very important to this Rural Economy and because you had formers that were growing grains, you had to they had to really come up with an efficient way of compacting that material for transportation to markets elsewhere. And essentially thats what the millers job was to turn a crop of harvested grain into flour and meal and pack it into barrels so that it would
Park. And rock creek this is one of the last vestiges of the rural past of washington, of itsll, the only one tight left. It was part of a way of life of arming and milling that happened in the early 1800s. The mill the owner of the fromwas a former quaker. Ennsylvania named isaac peirce he came to the Washington Area in the late 1790s and not a lot of land. Ultimately 160 acres along Rock Creek Park. There was an old mill here that he bought, and he built this mill in about 1820. A hold farm stand here farmstead here. There was a building that may barn,een a distillery, a an entire farm area here. The middle, as i said, was built in 1820 and stayed in operation through almost the entire 19th century. Was subsumed into Rock Creek Park in 1890 when Rock Creek Park was founded, and he kept operating for seven more in 1897d finally ended when the main shaft of the mill wheel broke, and that was the end of milling operations forever. Back in the early 19th century, this was rural land out