By Carol Kammen
Contrary to what the White House is saying, I see the historical community doing its job. And doing it well. Over the past 50 years, scholarship has pried open the diversity of the past: that women had no voice and then by fighting for it, gained the vote and slowly after, became full citizens; that immigrants who came seeking a new life had to fight prejudice and scorn to earn their way to full citizenship; that laborers have had to use their ability to strike to gain fairer wages and working conditions; that those enslaved endured terrible, inhumane conditions on the voyage to the new world and once here had to struggle to be seen as full citizens, a struggle that plunged the United States into a civil war. We historians have learned to look at the consequences of taking land that appeared to be empty from people who were already here and had rich cultures of their own.
Along the way, Americans also did impressive things: we built dams, electrified the country, sought to educate everyone, filled libraries with books, and researched and created medicines that cured ills and prevented contagious diseases. We became a nation that brought peace and sought to bind peoples together that we might be strong against evil.
We are a people of paradox, a people of push and pull, of good and sometimes less than so. And we are both at the same time. To tell only the story of strong men doing good is to deny the complexity of the past—of our humanity, for women did not sit idly by; immigrants worked to prosper, blacks and others moved past hurdles to care for families, create businesses, gain education, run for office and serve honorably.
The beauty of this country is that we have sought to overcome our inner demons, to undo past mistakes, to make this a place of greater safety for all. And it is that complex history that needs to be honored that we go forward.
I am so proud to claim to be a local historian, to be colleagues with museum directors and public historians, to learn from each other the glory of this country and recognize that which we have overcome, to recognize scoundrels and to undo them. This is our story to tell and in doing so we state our truth, our neighbor’s reality, our communities’ worth, and our nation’s strength.
Please keep up the good work. We are strengthened by the work of Benjamin Franklin, Fredrick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Frances Perkins, Eleanor Roosevelt, and John Lewis. Truth in history is needed now more than ever, and it is not to be deferred or deterred. Stand strong.
Carol Kammen has had a long career as an expert local historian. For 25 of her years she edited AASLH History News magazine’s “On Doing Local History” column. She authored or co-edited several AASLH books: On Doing Local History; The Pursuit of Local History: Readings on Theory and Practice; Zen and the Art of Local History; and the Encyclopedia of Local History. Kammen received the Award of Distinction, AASLH’s highest honor, in 2007.
