Slavery And Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory

(Hardback)

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Description

In recent years, a fierce public debate has erupted over the way that slavery is taught and remembered in books, films television programmes, historical sites, and museums. In the first attempt to examine this phenomenon, "Slavery and Public Memory" looks at recent controversies surrounding the interpretation of slavery's history in the public arena, with contributions by such noted historians as Ira Berlin, David W. Blight, and Gary B. Nash. From the cancellation of the Library of Congress's 'Back to the Big House' slavery exhibit at the request of the institution's African American employees, who found the visual images of slavery too distressing, to the public reaction to DNA findings confirming Jefferson's relationship with his slave Sally Hemmings, "Slavery and Public Memory" takes on contemporary reactions to the fundamental contradiction of American history - the existence of slavery in a country dedicated to freedom - and offers a bracing analysis of how people remember their past and how the lessons they draw influence American politics and culture today.

Reviews

"Americans seem perpetually surprised by slavery - its extent (north as well as south), its span (over half of our four centuries of anglo settlement), and its continuing influence. The wide-ranging yet connected essays in slavery and public memory will help us all to remember and understand, so we can remove the vestiges of slavery that still afflict us." - JAMES W. LOEWEN, AUTHOR OF SUNDOWN TOWNS"

Author Bio

James Oliver Horton is the Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University and Lois E. Horton is Professor of History at George Mason University. The are the authors of such classic studies as Slavery and the Making of America, Hard Road to Freedom, and In Hope of Liberty.