Sense of History: The Place of the Past in American Life

As Americans enter the new century, their interest in the past has never been greater. In record numbers they visit museums and historic sites, attend commemorative ceremonies and festivals, watch historically based films, and reconstruct family genealogies. The question is, Why? What are Americans looking for when they engage with the past? And how is it different from what scholars call history? In this book, David Glassberg surveys the shifting boundaries between the personal, public, and professional uses of the past and explores their place in the broader cultural landscape. Each chapter investigates a specific encounter between Americans and their history: the building of a pacifist war memorial in a rural Massachusetts town; the politics behind the creation of a new historical festival in San Francisco; the letters Ken Burns received in response to his film series on the Civil War; the differing perceptions among black and white residents as to what makes an urban neighborhood historic; and the efforts to identify certain places in California as worthy of commemoration. Along the way, Glassberg reflects not only on how Americans understand and use the past, but on the role of professional historians in that enterprise. Combining the latest research on American memory with insights gained from Glassberg's more than twenty years of personal experience in a variety of public history projects, Sense of History offers stimulating reading for all who care about the future of history in America.

Author: David Glassberg
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
Published: 04/23/2001
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.02lbs
Size: 9.02h x 6.04w x 0.77d
ISBN: 9781558492813


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/19/2001 pg. 85
Choice 03/01/2002 pg. 1308
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2002 pg. 104 - Recommended/Special Interest

About the Author
David Glassberg is professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of American Historical Pageantry: The Uses of Tradition in the Early Twentieth Century


This title is only available via back order