What's the fuss about all those footnotes?

The Glorious World of Footnotes

When I first started my undergrad at Boston University too many years ago to mention here I entered the history program, with an emphasis in education. Gone were the days of multiple-choice finals and in its place was the treacherous world of term papers. Soon, writing a twenty page term paper was something that could be achieved in a hardworking weekend and became the norm of my collegiate experience. But one thing I had to learn was about those footnotes. I was used to the MLA style of my high school English classes but using footnotes was a new experience for me.

A footnote adding additional information to my Master's Thesis

I quickly learned how to cite my sources within those notes at the bottom of each page and I became adept at their usage. I learned that not only could I cite my sources within them I could also cite additional information that wasn't quite important enough to make it into my paper but valuable to its content nonetheless.

The Inspiration for a Blog

Over time I began to reflect on those little footnotes of added information. What makes information valuable enough to be in the main body of a piece of writing, versus just a footnote? Isn't it all important? Well, at the very least, it should all be interesting. Or at least for me it was! I wanted to start to explore those little footnotes in greater depth.

One Special Footnote

There was always one footnote in particular that was special to me and it involves the Chicago mob scene of the Prohibition era. Being from Chicago I've always been interested in our infamous fame from people like Al Capone and Dean O'Banion. Plus as a history teacher the Prohibition era always grabbed my attention, being an era my students were always eager to learn about as well.

The footnote that was always special to me was about "Schofield's Flowers." Dean O'Banion was 'partners' with the shop's owner, William (Big Bill) Schofield, and it's also where O'Banion died. The flower shop holds special meaning to me because I am a Schofield! The shop's owner was my great grandfather, Ray Schofield's, brother.

I grew up hearing about the infamous Schofield's Flowers from our family history but I realized that in history it was always nothing more than a footnote. In time I decided to write a book exploring the shop, the family that owned it (my family), and how it played a role in the Chicago mob scene. That book is still in progress, stay tuned, but it also gave me the inspiration to start this blog! So join me as I dive into the world of the various parts of history that have, thus far, only been regulated to a footnote.

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