In recent years, the culture wars have included arguments about the way that slavery is taught and remembered in books, films, television programs, historical sites, and museums. In the first attempt to examine this phenomenon, Slavery and Public History looks at recent controversies surrounding the interpretation of slaverys history in the public arena, with contributions by such noted historians as Ira Berlin, David W. Blight, and Gary B. Nash.
From the cancellation of the Library of Congresss Back of the Big House slavery exhibit at the request of the institutions African American employees, who found the visual images of slavery too distressing, to the public reaction to DNA findings confirming Thomas Jeffersons relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, Slavery and Public History takes on contemporary reactions to the fundamental contradiction of American historythe existence of slavery in a country dedicated to freedomand offers a bracing analysis of how people remember their past and how the lessons they draw from it influence American politics and culture today.
