Yesterday I read an op-ed in a major publication in which the author drew a direct connection between the recent assault against the husband of Nancy Pelosi and the violence on the Kansas frontier in the 1850s.
First, because I am similarly frustrated with how some folks reduce Reconstruction and the Lost Cause into a soundbite designed to affirm an audience's perspective. I like to go with a "yes, and" approach here--yes, ex-Confederates told a different story in 1890 than they did in 1860, and let's look at some of the consistencies and inconsistencies in their stories and how those might be explained by the passage of time, etc. (maybe not the best example). ... and yet keep the importance of the audience concern in the forefront.
Second, we all struggle with nuance and complexity when having limited word counts. In fact, right now, I'm receiving staff comment on some draft text for an exhibit and they're tending to be along the lines of "you use this quote but not everyone believed that" or "that claim is belied by all these other (statistically insignificant) examples so you can't say that." etc. Putting aside the fact that exhibit labels do different work than what would be expected in a master's thesis (grrr), it is a struggle to make broad representations accurate when so many of us know the details. But you know this.
I’ve only just realized we were at the mercy of good faith historians all along.
I appreciate this very much.
First, because I am similarly frustrated with how some folks reduce Reconstruction and the Lost Cause into a soundbite designed to affirm an audience's perspective. I like to go with a "yes, and" approach here--yes, ex-Confederates told a different story in 1890 than they did in 1860, and let's look at some of the consistencies and inconsistencies in their stories and how those might be explained by the passage of time, etc. (maybe not the best example). ... and yet keep the importance of the audience concern in the forefront.
Second, we all struggle with nuance and complexity when having limited word counts. In fact, right now, I'm receiving staff comment on some draft text for an exhibit and they're tending to be along the lines of "you use this quote but not everyone believed that" or "that claim is belied by all these other (statistically insignificant) examples so you can't say that." etc. Putting aside the fact that exhibit labels do different work than what would be expected in a master's thesis (grrr), it is a struggle to make broad representations accurate when so many of us know the details. But you know this.