The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American LifeSome people make photo albums, collect antiques, or visit historic battlefields. Others keep diaries, plan annual family gatherings, or stitch together patchwork quilts in a tradition learned from grandparents. Each of us has ways of communing with the past, and our reasons for doing so are as varied as our memories. In a sweeping survey, Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen asked 1,500 Americans about their connection to the past and how it influences their daily lives and hopes for the future. The result is a surprisingly candid series of conversations and reflections on how the past infuses the present with meaning. |
Contents
The Presence of the Past Patterns of Popular Historymaking | 15 |
Using the Past to Live in the Present Relationships Identity Immortality | 37 |
Using the Past to Shape the Future Building Narratives Taking Responsibility | 63 |
Experience Is the Best Teacher Participation Mediation Authority Trust | 89 |
Beyond the Intimate Past Americans and Their Collective Pasts | 115 |
History in Black and Red African Americans and American Indians and Their Collective Pasts | 147 |
Other editions - View all
The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life Roy Rosenzweig,David Paul Thelen No preview available - 2000 |