The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life

Throughout the 1990s historians Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen undertook a major survey of attitudes about and understanding of history in the United States. Their findings are startling. We all have long seen the periodic stories about the inability of students to place the American Revolution in the correct century and to name the the first president of the United States. Then we typically bemoan the future and the kids that will lead us into it only to return to our football games on television without doing much of anything more. In "The Presence of the Past," however, the authors take a different approach to looking at the hold history has over us. In this important book they note that much of the consciousness of the past is more about collective memory of close and local events than about the overarching national master narrative. Collective memory is a powerful force for any person and group. Through linkages with such memory we identify and define and connect ourselves. Rosenzweig and Thelen see an intensely personal relationship with history among Americans. They note that far from Americans being disengaged from history, as has been routinely thought because of their detachment from national themes, most people have supplanted interest in these broader themes to the history of family and locale. Indeed, Rosenzweig and Thelen insist that Americans "pursue the past actively and make it part of everyday life" (p. 18). Tellingly, they find that no more than 24 percent of their sample answered that the history of the United States was the past they felt was "most important" to them, as opposed to the 50-60 percent who identified a more intimate past as central to their lives. The authors include considerable evidence to support these assertions, breaking down survey answers by ethnicity, education, and other indicators. While Thelen laments this development, Rosenweig is more optimistic about its implications for the cause of history in the twenty-first century. Their findings are borne out by my own experience as a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and I see this concern for local and personal history expressed by visitors routinely at the museum. The National Air and Space Museum is the most visited museum in the world, and it certainly seems that an important part of its attraction is the result of the immediacy of the subject that it interprets. Repeatedly, visitors come looking for an artifact to which they, or a member of their family or a friend, had a personal connection. Steve Lubar, who curated the "America on the Move" exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington made the same point by observing that for all of the exhibit's otherwise spectacular features, the majority of visitors only really pondered its later parts where their personal memory allowed them to connect to the artifacts and story in a deeply personal and idiosyncratic manner. He noted

In the book The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life, Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen interviewed 1,500 Americans regarding their association to the past and how it impacts their daily lives and dreams for the future. They were motivated to write this book due to an acknowledgement that most professional historians were unaware of how non- historians felt about the past. The authors believe that most historians look "down" on the average American's knowledge of history. Yet Rosenzweig and Thelen argue that ordinary people "take and active role in using and understanding the past- that they are not just passive consumers of histories constructed by others (pg. 3)".The authors labeled the responders by race (Mexican-American, Native American, African American, and White). They ignore d Asian-Americans for the vague reason that there were not enough interviewers who could speak Mandarin and it was not cost-effective. They didn't mention other Asian groups or any attempts to interview them. This struck me as odd since the United States has the largest Korean population outside Korea, the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam, and a large number of Filipinos. One trip to California could have added a fine balance to their research. While the authors mention a responder's occupation and location, they don't consider location and net worth to be a factor in the conclusions. Most of their conclusions are broken down to how a particular ethic group responded rather than to location or income level of the respondent. Perhaps they believed that an African-American in California is no different than a Black in the South, or that a poor factory worker might have a different opinion of the past than a wealthy factory owner.They state that participation in historical activities is not for the most part tied to particular social groups or backgrounds Their findings would disturb most high school History teachers. They state that most respondents had little good to say about the actual classroom experience of studying history. Rosenzweig and Thelen conclude that while som e admitted that they admired History teachers who helped them to revisit and investigate the past for themselves, most related the word "history" to something dead and gone, irrelevant, beyond any use in the present. One overall conclusion that Rosenzweig and Thelen found was an: "overwhelming evidence that Americans participate regularly in a wide range of past-related activities (page 9).The authors debate that an activity such as going to a museum, or looking at photos could be considered an involvement in preserving or presenting the past. For proof, the authors present very clear graphs show n the percentages of how many people looked at photographs, how many wrote in a journal, or participated in a "history-related" club. The respondents felt most strongly connected to the past when they either met with family members

Shocking news entered historian's ears as they listened to their life work being destroyed. The traditional teaching methods that have made up the whole of American history in the classroom, have lost the interest of their students, and created a lack of historical perspective in their citizens. How could students and others be uninterested in the identity and leading themes of their glorious nation? We must remain true to our methodological heritage, and breed a proud national identity. The history wars begin. The news that Americans are uninterested and disconnected with history is proved untrue in Rosenzweig and Thelen's, "The Presence of the Past". With a more broad and alternative survey of historical thinking, the authors point out that Americans have a love affair with the past, and incorporate it into their everyday lives. History is not dead, just the way it is taught is. In a 1500 person survey, including both the majority culture, as well as African Americans and Oglala Sioux, the book, "The Presence of the Past exhibits the importance that history plays in the lives of Americans. In conjunction with this, it shows a consensus of boredom with the traditional teaching methods of classroom history. Using a collaboration of questions and conversations, the book shows how Americans are in love with the past, as well as its study. Family history plays an important role in maintaining immortality for the aged, and shapes the present and future of the youth. In conjunction, Americans find history classes boring, and containing tedious lists of facts portraying an inaccurate past, that they fail to learn. Only nonfiction books and moviesfall below high school teachers on a survey of trustworthiness. In turn, Americans can't tell you the economic, and political causes of the Great Depression, however, could tell you exactly how it affected their parents, or grandparents, and in turn their own lives. After surveys such as the one taken by Rosenzweig and Thelen, Historians and teachers found that the uses and importance of history is changing. This creates a threat to the job security of history teachers, and a significant amount of fear for historians. In finding a solution to the changing role of history within American society, two schools of thought prevail. Some want to return to a more strict traditional teaching method, focusing on national identity, and facts, while others seek more hands on, and alternative ways of teaching. Rosenzweig and Thelen point out that the public doesn't want, or respond to traditional methods found in history classes, and desires change. The authors found through their survey that Americans respond to hands on history, such as that found in museums, and war reenactments. People seek historical truth for themselves, by going to museums, and interpreting the facts on their own. They in turn want to leave behind the biased realities portray

As good historians should, Professors Rosenzweig and Thelan have gone directly to the primary source, the American people, to document the public's state of mind concerning history in the 1990s. Rather than submerging the reader in tables and statistics, the authors rely upon anecdotal information gleaned from the responses of 1500 participants in the survey. To present their findings in this manner is entirely appropriate considering the nature of the findings which indicate that the American public does not trust the history presented them in school and in textbooks, nor that presented on commercial television or in fictional literature. Although most Americans have never heard of Carl Becker, they have taken it to heart when he declared every man a historian, and have taken it upon themselves to create their own narratives using their own experiences, as well as that of their relatives and trusted acquaintances. This is true across the ethnic spectrum of America; history is personal and familial, even though the narrative may diverge radically, depending upon the ethnic identification of the respondents. Taken in the context of the so-called cultural wars of the last thirty years, the significance of the findings is that the American public is more than capable of constructing a culturally relevant historical narrative. This is despite the efforts of the chattering classes of both ends of the spectrum that have taken it upon themselves to dictate their own "politically correct" versions. Surprisingly the survey revealed that the most trusted sources of historical information besides personal accounts from relatives and eyewitnesses were museums, college history professors and public television. In a seeming contradiction respondents on one hand denigrated the canned presentations and forceed regurgitation of high school history classes, while complementing the teachers for their personal efforts to make it interesting. This contradiction is explained by the respondents' belief that their teachers were handcuffed by government and school board policy. From this information history curriculum should include more time for students to delve into the primary sources pertinent to their own narratives, and less time being talked at. Other information extracted from the survey is the seeming acceptance of the post-modern critic of relative truth. Although the authors do not speak of this directly, it is inferred by the anecdotes of the participants. This is most evident in the closing chapters that concern the narratives created by the representative ethnic groups to "tell their history." The authors conclude "most Americans simply do not recognize themselves and their families in a distant narrative that stretches from election to election, war to war, and equates our national past with the history of nation-state (p. 129)." Statistically the participants breakdown by age, sex, education and ethni

In "The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life," Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen approach the subject of what history means to Americans in the course of their everyday lives. Through a nationwide survey, funded by the NEH among others, the authors seek a fundamental set of common references across race, gender, age, income, and education. Their findings indicate that Americans, across these aforementioned demographic characteristics, see history in light of a personal relationship. Rosenzweig and Thelen propose that a participatory historical culture exists and can co-exist with the traditional in this fundamentally historical culture. Recognition and empathy, resulting from "active participation with history as a process of inquiry and exploration," (p. 182), are vital elements in connecting people with themselves and others, as well as their past, present, and future. The "Presence of the Past" asks not only what purpose does history serve, but who will best record it in order to make it approachable. Americans responded to questions regarding trustworthiness of sources by consistently rating highest those willing to consider various points of view in presenting history. Museums, personal accounts, and college professors rated far higher than sources viewed as influenced by economic gain such as books, movies, and television programs. Oral histories played a significant role in giving history a personal connection as many respondents named not only family members but those who experienced situations first-hand as highly realiable sources while recognizing the limitations of time, memory, and bias. Rosenzweig and Thelen suggest that Americans themselves are, in fact, very comfortable recording and personalizing history in a variety of ways. This book encourages readers to redefine and expand their interpretation of not only what history is, but what it is good for. The standard of the traditional view of history out of a high school text is challenged by the inclusion of seemingly unconventional and unorthodox applications such as the use of inherited recipes at family gatherings, photography, hobbies, collections, gathering of genealogies, visits to museums and historical sites, reminiscing at reunions, re-enactments, and other escapist jaunts. Americans dispute the assumption that history is an ethereal manifestation that is to be beheld rather than experienced. Thus, this is a subject field that should be used and not just studied. According to the observations of the authors, content lacks connection without participation. To Americans, history is that which affirms a sense of self. The pursuit for roots, identity, and immortality emerge as the ultimate focus for the study of history. A need for a sense of placement within a framework of self, family, community, time, and therefore, immortality, seemed to be at the core of Americans' interpretation of what h