"From an insider's perspective, Robert C. Post ... offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like illustrations in a book"--Dust jacket flap.

“As is well known, Pete is an outstanding storyteller, and this book is no exception." —Claire Strom, Journal of Southern History In addition to chronicling significant exhibit work at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Curating the American Past, captures the excitement inherent in researching and writing history and Pete Daniel’s efforts to prevent diluted celebratory stories from replacing the red meat of the American past. In Curating the American Past, Pete Daniel reveals how curators collect objects, plan exhibits, and bring alive the country’s complex and exciting history. In vivid detail, Daniel recounts the exhilaration of innovative research, the joys of collaboration, and the rewards of mentoring new generations of historians. In a career distinguished by prize-winning publications and pathbreaking exhibitions, Daniel also confronted the challenges of serving as a public historian tasked with protecting a definitive American museum from the erosion of scholarly standards. Curating the American Past offers a wealth of museum wisdom, illuminating the crucial role that dedicated historians and curators serve within our most important repositories of cultural memory.

In 1945, the United States was the most powerful nation in the world. But an Iron Curtain soon surrounded Eastern Europe, and by 1950, Americans were fighting in Korea. In 1952, I Like IKE! swept the nation, and the Fabulous Fifties began. GM sold the most cars, gas was 29 cents a gallon, and a new house cost $9,000. In 1955, following President Eisenhowers mild heart attack, Americas favorite sick joke had Vice President Dick Nixon greeting Ike at the White House by saying, Welcome back. . . May I race you up the stairs? The Fabulous Fifties of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley gave way to riots, Hippies, and The Beatles during the Radical Sixties. The 1960s began with JFKs New Frontier, grew into LBJs Great Society and the Vietnam War, and ended with Nixons Silent Majority and men on the moon. Soon, Nixon resigned, Ford stumbled, Carters brother sold Billy Beer, and the star of Bedtime for Bonzo led the popular Reagan Revolution. In 1989, Reagans Evil Empire collapsed. Soon, George Bush was victorious over Iraq and Panama, and lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. Clinton was eventually impeached, and was later replaced by another Bush. Want more details? Read my book.

This book presents watercolor renderings along with a selection of the artifacts in the Index of American Design, a visual archive of decorative, folk, and popular arts made in America from the colonial period to about 1900. Three essays explore the history, operation, and ambitions of the Index of American Design, examine folk art collecting in America during the early decades of the twentieth century, and consider the Index's role in the search for a national cultural identity in the early twentieth-century United States.

This book presents some of the most significant social history to date in one single volume. Readers will find that Exploring America's Past is not only up to date, but also more inclusive and multicultural than other similar collections. The essays in this book concentrate on issues in America, ranging from freedom, to sexuality, to industry, to war, to minorities, to our youth culture, dance, and music. This comprehensive collection of essays will be ideal for U.S. history survey courses. Contents: Introduction and Acknowledgements; The Meaning of Freedom, Eric Foner; Chinese-Americans Build a Railroad, Jack Chen; Populist Dreams and Negro Rights: East Texas as a Case Study, Lawrence Goodwyn; The Sociology and Historiography of Immigration, Ewa Morawska; Studying American Political Development in the Progressive Era, Martin Sklar; Charity Girls and City Pleasure: Historical Notes on Working-Class Sexuality, 1880-1920, Kathy Peiss; Encountering Mass Culture at the Grassroots: The Experience of Chicago Workers in the 1920s, Lizabeth Cohen; Origins of a Sit-Down Era: Worker Militancy and Innovation in the Rubber Industry, 1934-1938, Daniel Nelson; The Politics of Sacrifice on the Homefront in World War II, Mark Leff; The Riddle of the Zoot, Robin D.G. Kelley; The Land of a Thousand Dances: Youth, Minorities, and the Rise of Rock and Roll, George Lipsitz; The Unraveling of America, Allen Matusow; Ronald Reagan and the Movie, Michael Rogin.

Image stepping out of your door one day and looking at the people walking by and the cars moving down the street in front of your house, but they are wearing different clothes and driving different cars than the ones you were yesterday. The Street is the same street, your house is the same house, but the people are not. They dress differently, speak faster, and move quicker, it is like everyone shifted into a different speed. Well, that maybe how people who lived and worked 60 years ago could feel when the compare yesterday with Today.

In 1898, the United States became an empire by accident due to our splendid little war against Spain. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the most famous men in America were not athletes or politicians; they were inventors and businessmen like Bell, Edison, Morgan, and Rockefeller. Teddy Roosevelt built the Panama Canal, launched the Great White Fleet, and became a Bull Moose. Woodrow Wilson was reelected in 1916 because He Kept Us Out of War! World War I began as a family feud between three European cousins named Georgie, Willie, and Nicky. The War to end all wars set the stage for World War II. Americas first female President was Edith Wilson, and our first Black President was possibly Warren Harding. Aside from Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, Sigmund Freud, Emily Post, or Sinclair Lewis novels and Hollywoods movies, Calvin Coolidge personified the Roaring Twenties. Following the Stock Market Crash, FDRs New Deal and his fireside chats helped up survive Hoovervilles, but it took World War II to end the Great Depression. What happened between Pearl Harbor and the Atomic Bomb? Read my book.

Writing the American Past reproduces dozens of untranscribed, handwritten documents, offering students the opportunity to transcribe, decipher, and interpret primary sources. Documents include diary entries from Massachusetts in the 1690s, a woman detailing the Great Awakening, an eighteenth-century treaty with Native Americans, a journal describing antebellum train travel, and a letter by a slave Skillfully teaches students to engage with the raw material of pre-1877 US history: the written document An introduction and headnotes to each document contextualize the sources and provide a foundation from which the student can explore the material

Presents 5 realistic adventure stories in each low-readability book that invite students to make choices that may have faced them and their families Covers the eras of exploration, colonization, wars, slavery, immigration, the Depression, and even space flight Includes student background information, questions, group and individual activities, and more Other student books in this series are: Adventures from the 1700's Adventures from the 1800—1850 Adventures from the 1850—1900 Adventures from the 1900's—1920's Adventures from the 1930's—1960's

Offers alternatives to conventional textbook learning for history students, describing the use of in-depth historical projects and investigations that result in better retention of knowledge.