It’s tempting when we reflect on those people whose accomplishments we considerhistoric to imagine ourselves at their side, on “the right side of history.” Alas, historytakes no side. Nor does history judge its actors. People do that, and they usually on contemporaryvalues rather than context so crucial to understanding history. As a result, historicalaccounts are exaggerated in the retelling, but we lose sight of the complexity of theirorigins. Generally, people don’t plan to make history — they’re just doing the best they can in acomplicated and sometimes hostile world. C.W. Post, for example, was a struggling inventor and land speculator before he arrivedat Battle Creek in 1891 as a patient at the Sanitarium. His physician, Dr. John HarveyKellogg, didn’t expect him to live, but in January of 1895 Post launched the companythat created the cereal industry and turned Battle Creek into a manufacturingpowerhouse. As far as we know, Erastus Hussey had no affiliation with the abolitionist movementwhen in 1838 he settled in Battle Creek, where he was stationmaster for theUnderground Railroad. He and his wife, Sarah, aided and sheltered more than 1,000people escaping slavery, some of them who made their own contributions to BattleCreek’s history. Both are featured in this month’s Things Worth Remembering exhibit at Willard Library.The exhibit also marks the January 1943 anniversary of the Percy Jones GeneralHospital — today’s Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center — receiving its first patients duringWorld War II. Stop in and take a look — and return often! We regularly update the exhibit with newartifacts and photographs, and we’re always open to your contributions.