Página en Blanco del ACT

While thinking about Páginas en Blanco, or blank pages in history, I happened to come across a P en B in the most unlikely of place--an ACT practice test! Though I never expected to actually be interested in the material in an ACT practice test, I found a short passage titled "Unfulfilled Promises" very entertaining. The passage is a true story about Helga Estby. Helga was motivated by a contest that offered $10,000 to "a woman who was willing to walk across the country." So, in 1896, Helga and her daughter, Clara, set out to New York City to claim their prize. However, upon arriving in NYC, no such prize existed. The whole event was kept a secret or "Página en Blanco" for many years because of the terrible affect Helga's trip had on her family: 2 of Helga's children died and her family lost their farm because they did not win the prize money. Basically, Helga learned the EXTREMELY hard way to never trust an advertisement.

Helga Estby

Though Helga's story is very sad, I found it interesting that her family and friends tried to keep her trek to New York a secret. After Helga's death, her kids decided to burn the hundreds of pages that Helga wrote about her journey to NYC because they felt that their mother was an embarrassment.

There are many stories like that of Helga Estby that have been kept secret for many years. I believe it is important to try to uncover the secrets and Paginas en Blanco of our history to expose a more realistic picture of our past, not necessarily the one painted in textbooks.