Slavery and Public History
The Tough Stuff of American Memory
Edited by James Oliver Horton, Lois E. Horton
288 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 12 illus. , notes, index
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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-5916-2
Published: February 2009
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Awards & distinctions
2008 Honorable Mention, National Council on Public History Book Award
Edited by noted historians James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton, this collection explores current controversies and offers a bracing analysis of how people remember their past and how the lessons they draw influence American politics and culture today. Bringing together some of the nation's most respected historians, including Ira Berlin, David W. Blight, and Gary B. Nash, this is a major contribution to the unsettling but crucial debate about the significance of slavery and its meaning for racial reconciliation.
Contributors:
Ira Berlin, University of Maryland
David W. Blight, Yale University
James Oliver Horton, George Washington University
Lois E. Horton, George Mason University
Bruce Levine, University of Illinois
Edward T. Linenthal, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Joanne Melish, University of Kentucky
Gary B. Nash, University of California, Los Angeles
Dwight T. Pitcaithley, New Mexico State University
Marie Tyler-McGraw, Washington, D.C.
John Michael Vlach, George Washington University
About the Authors
James Oliver Horton is the Benjamin Banneker Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History at George Washington University.
For more information about James Oliver Horton, visit
the
Author
Page.
Lois E. Horton is professor of history emerita at George Mason University.
For more information about Lois E. Horton, visit
the
Author
Page.
Reviews
"A chastening reminder that many are still missing the point [of black history in America], and even that the point may be more elusive than we thought. . . . Scattered throughout the book are many fascinating stories." —Times Literary Supplement
"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. Slavery and Public History will help us all to remember and understand, so we can remove the vestiges of slavery that still affect us."—James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
"An invigorating book, written by historians who have emerged from the archives to grapple with misleading and hurtful tales that have been part of our national tradition. In these vibrant accounts boring history becomes lively practice, and the American public shows that it can embrace new research, more complex understandings, and more honest interpretation. I'll never take the words on a historic marker for granted again."—Linda K. Kerber, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship
"The history and the continuing resonance of slavery is one of the last great unmentionables in public discourse. This grand and groundbreaking volume does much to illuminate the challenges, ambiguities, and risks faced by those who dare to interpret the 'peculiar institution' outside of the academy. As this work clearly demonstrates, public history is not for the faint of heart."—Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director, National Museum of African American History and Culture
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