Whose History Nations and Cultures

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Whose History?Nations and Cultures
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Nations and Cultures gt Museum of Chinese in the
American
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Nations and Cultures gt Background to John Kuo Wei
Tchen, Back to the Basics

• In 1993 the Journal of American History surveyed
  9,162 subscribers, asking to assess the state of
  the historical profession. 1,047 subscribers from
  many countries responded. Here are top three
  answers to several questions
• What person in American history do you most
  admire?
• Abraham Lincoln
• Thomas Jefferson
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• What book had the most influence on you? (top
  authors)
• Bible
• Richarl Hofstadter
• Karl Marx
• What movie portraying United States history do
  you most admire?
• Gone with the Wind
• Citizen Kane
• The Grapes of Wrath

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Nations and Cultures gt John Kuo Wei Tchen, Back
to the Basics

• objects to mechanical trickle-down view of
  historical practice
• shows exclusion of minority historians from the
  master narrative example
• his favorite movie is Dawn of the Dead (about
  zombies in a mall) rather than Gone with the
  Wind
• argues that community-based history sometimes
  leads to different, deeper conclusions than
  academic history example Chinese-Italian
  relations in New York studied through reunions
  for Public School 23 graduates
• argues for call-and-response production of
  public history, where historians collaborate
  with community members on a final product
  example Anna Deavere Smiths plays, revised
  every time they are publicly performed based on
  audience response

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Nations and Cultures gt A More Perfect Union
Material Culture
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Nations and Cultures gt A More Perfect Union
Personal Testimony
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Nations and Cultures gt Without Sanctuary
Collectors Commentary
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Nations and Cultures gt Without Sanctuary
Visually effective photographs
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Nations and Cultures gt Without Sanctuary
Inscriptions on postcards
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Nations and Cultures gt Without Sanctuary
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