What We Want and What We Need in Our History
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the passing of David McCullough last week. I shared some thoughts about his influence on how I think about the past and some of the things that I look for in a good history book. It’s been encouraging to see some of my friends and fellow historians share similar thoughts about his influence on their trajectory as historians and writers.
I’ve also been thinking about Nikole Hannah-Jones over the past few days as well.
Most of you will know her as the founder of the 1619 Project, which was first released in the magazine section of The New York Times in 2019 and more recently as a book.
The pairing of McCullough and Hannah-Jones togehter may seem surprising, contradictory, and even offensive to some, but I think there is something important for us to acknowledge about the two, especially at a time when history and history education has become so contentious.
Both writers have generated enormous interest and excitement in American history. McCullough achieved this through a string of popular narrative histories that included two Pulitzer Prize winning biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams. Hannah-Jones continues to do so through a collection of essays from academic historians and other writers that ask readers to think about America’s founding moment, not in 1776 (the title of one of McCullough’s books), but in 1619 and the arrival of the first enslaved people to the British colonies.
Customers stood in line in front of the office building of the The New York Times for copies of the original magazine version of the 1619 Project, while the book version spent more than 30 weeks on the NYTs bestseller list following its publication in November 2021.
McCullough’s decades-long success satisfied a largely white audience that consumed massive tomes about “Founding Fathers” and other moments in American history that reinforced a firm belief in the inevitability of progress and freedom. Hannah-Jones has succeeded in anchoring a more diverse audience in the story of the United States through a close examination of the history and legacy of slavery.
Both writers understand the importance of history education and finding ways to connect children to a larger national story. I also believe that both express a form of patriotism and committment to the American project that we all can and should embrace. This is often overlooked in regards to Hannah-Jones:
[F]acing the truth liberates us to build the society we wish to be. On of the criticisms of the project is that we focus to much on the brutality of slavery and our nation’s legacy of anti-Blackness. But just as central to the history we are highlighting is the way that Black Americans have managed, out of the most inhumane circumstances, to make an indelible impact on the United States, serving as its most ardent freedom fighters and forgers of culture…The struggle of Black Americans to force this country to live up to its professed ideals has served as inspiration to oppressed people across the globe. Too long we have shrouded and overlooked these singular contributions. They form a legacy of which every American should be proud. (pp. xxxii-xxxiii)
I believe that most Americans are looking for stories that inspire and connect us over time and which transcend racial, ethnic, and gender boundaries. I suspect that many of us are also looking for an interpretation of the past that helps us to connect with one another in the present as well. Both McCullough and Hannah-Jones, at least in part, achieved these goals, which helps to explain their success.
Let me be clear. I am not suggesting that neither writer should be immune from criticism. Both have come under fire for various aspects of their writing, interpretation, choice of subject, and broader framing of the America past. Some of the criticisms are justified.
I value both writers equally for their passion for history and a belief that history matters. They’ve deepened my understanding of American history and left me with feelings of pride and shame.
Most importantly, by delivering what we want and what we need in our narratives of American history, they move me to want to be a better citizen and neighbor.
I see very little, if anything, that renders their approaches to writing about American history contradictory or any perspective more legitimate than the other. All I see is the opportunity to learn and be challenged.
Kevin,
One of the thoughts that has stuck with me from the introductory essay in The 1619 Project is that in the 400 plus years of that history, no one has better demonstrated the quintessential tenets of the American experiment than African-Americans. Their thirst and quest for freedom and all that the word/idea entails was demonstrated in their struggles against slavery, easily rivaling, if not surpassing that of the revolutionary (white) patriots. Not to mention that many of the leaders in the colonies (Ben Franklin's son comes to mind) were loyalists, not freedom fighters. Hannah-Jones continues by describing the fight that continued post-Emancipation and continues today for civil rights, voting rights, housing rights, employment rights, etc., i.e., life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Again, nothing speaks more clearly or loudly about American values and the desire to have "a more perfect union" than the words and deeds of our African-American fellow citizens past and present. That was my takeaway.
Thanks for your thoughts and perspective.
Mark
"All I see is the opportunity to learn and be challenged."
Indeed - ain't it wonderful? A life spent in learning and growing is the best I can imagine.
Glad you aren't suggesting any historian is immune from criticism, as none of them is, AND criticism and discussion are how the shared pool of knowledge grows.