History in perspective ...

Here are thoughts on some recent non-fiction books dealing with historical topics:

IF YOU ASK ME by Eleanor Roosevelt contains her “essential advice” on ten issues that reverberate today, including women, race, politics, religion and health.  Based on her advice column which appeared in Ladies Home Journal, this will be a fun – and eye opening – book for students to consult.  Each answer is followed by the date it appeared in brackets, like this: “Do you really think all men are created equal? Yes, but they do not always have an equal opportunity for development, either before or after birth. [November 1943]” IF YOU ASK ME has a short introduction written by one of Roosevelt’s granddaughters, several pages of notes, a bibliography, and suggested additional reading, plus a series of photographs on the end papers.   

Readers, especially students, will be surprised by the relevance to today of many of the comments that “ahead-of-her-time” Eleanor Roosevelt made decades ago. 

HEIRS OF THE FOUNDERS by H. W. Brands is subtitled “The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants” and focuses on a period of history about which I particularly enjoy reading.  These three men were indeed political titans and skilled orators. Brands does an excellent job of relating key events in their lives, including multiple failed attempts to achieve the Presidency. The debate over nationalism versus states’ rights, plus regional differences (East vs. West and North vs. South) of this era (roughly 1810 to 1850, from the war of 1812 to the Missouri Compromise) are highlighted as well.   

A best-selling author, Brands holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin; two of his books, The First American (about Benjamin Franklin) and Traitor to His Class (about FDR), were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Teachers and students of American history will find HEIRS OF THE FOUNDERS to be very readable – almost like a novel. It contains pictures of the three men at various ages and of their homes and offers extensive notes and a comprehensive index.  HEIRS OF THE FOUNDERS received a starred review from Library Journal.   

 

IMPEACHMENT: AN AMERICAN HISTORY is the combined work of four authors: Jeffrey A. Engel (who writes about the Constitution and discusses Donald Trump in an Introduction and Conclusion); Jon Meacham (on Andrew Johnson); Timothy Naftali (on Richard Nixon); and Peter Baker (on Bill Clinton).  Clearly, these writers are knowledgeable scholars and have created a powerful text, filled with relevant quotes like this one from Gerald Ford (1970): “What is an impeachable offense? An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.” They contrast the circumstances and motivations of the three times when impeachment has been used, arguing that there were strong political motivations in the cases of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, but more bipartisan support for the clearer case of “high crimes and misdemeanors” involving Richard Nixon’s actions. IMPEACHMENT: AN AMERICAN HISTORY received a starred review from Kirkus ("impeccably researched and well-presented").

On a related note, see also Meacham’s recent reflection in The New York Times on George H. W. Bush. 

Nevertheless We Persisted

“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.” ~Hemingway

The above quote was read and then repeated at John McCain’s memorial service and it is as inspirational as the “48 Voices of Defiance, Strength, and Courage” who contributed to NEVERTHELESS, WE PERSISTED. That new text is quite an interesting collection with perceptive essays from a variety of often lesser known individuals who have overcome obstacles related to race, gender, religion, and sexual identity. I especially liked “Learning about Empathy” by Imran Siddiquee because I think it nicely parallels the work Voices of Equity students have been doing on “What it Feels Like to be ___ at New Trier.”  In a description of this collection, the publisher notes the athletes, many types of artists, politicians and teens who contributed and asks, “How did they break out of society's limited view of who they are and find their way to the beautiful and hard-won lives they live today?” 

NEVERTHELESS, WE PERSISTED contains a foreword by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and received a starred review from VOYA and from Kirkus which called it “required reading” and described these essays as stories “of struggle to find identity and self-love while confronting the racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism that remain embedded in American culture.”  The text includes a brief biography of each contributor as well as several guiding questions to prompt individual reflection and class discussions. Inspired readers interested in activism resources should also look for KEEP MARCHING by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner (published in May).

A related, but much more academic work is WHITE KIDS by Margaret A. Hagerman (published by New York University Press). Its subtitle is “Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America” and the author begins powerfully with quotes from middle school students about their perceptions of race. Hagerman, an Assistant Professor of Sociology, continues by sharing results of her studies based on two years of research with white, affluent, Midwestern students. She asks: “How do white kids learn race? What role do parents play in shaping children’s racial views?” It may not be surprising that many white parents consider themselves “anti-racist,” but Hagerman explores further, focusing on key differences in the outcomes of white racial socialization across families, neighborhoods, and schools.  She argues that all children growing up in the United States have lives that are structured by race and provides numerous examples (education, law enforcement, family relationships, opportunities) while trying to better understand how “some of the children in this study thought the shooting of Trayvon Martin was a grave violation of human rights and … other children did not even know Trayvon’s name.” Hagerman deftly examines the political and cultural segregation that we also have been contemplating (e.g., living in a bubble); hopefully, her work will spark more conversation. While perhaps too scholarly for most students, our teachers, administrators and parents will find much to contemplate and discuss.