James Oliver Horton

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James Oliver Horton | Patriot Acts: Public History in Public Service | The Journal of American History, 92.3 | The History Cooperative

Patriot Acts: Public History in Public Service

This last year has been one of great challenge and a great learning experience. There are many decisions that an Organization of American Historians (OAH) president is called on to make that are not readily apparent upon taking office. Through it all, with the guidance of a knowledgeable and patient executive director, the assistance of a hardworking and tolerant staff, and the support of a serious and committed executive board and the chairs and members of any number of organizational committees, it has been a privilege and a great honor to be your president.	1
The theme of this year's meeting is "Historians and Their Publics." Many of the sessions demonstrate how historians speak to various publics. Shared themes, different venues, and the inclusion of historians who work in a variety of settings blur the lines between academic history and public history and suggest that all historical scholarship and teaching should adhere to the same professional standards. I entitled my presidential presentation "Patriot Acts: Public History in Public Service" because I want to use it to address one of the most important roles that we, as historians, can play in a democratic society. In an era when patriotism and national security are topics of considerable debate, I heartily agree with those who believe that a broad understanding of our national history among the general public is critical to contemporary conversation. Our national union has always been fragile, held together in large part by a belief in the national ideals outlined in the Declaration of Independence: individual freedom and the opportunity for a bright and expanding future. The promise of America, rather than its historical reality, has given hope to the vast majority of Americans. Historically, the poor, the oppressed, the newly arrived, the people of color have focused their eyes on this prize. It is America's promise and the precarious state of that promise that underlies much current political debate and concern. Historians, with their particular knowledge and ways of thinking, can provide a critical context for contemporary conversation grounded in a firm understanding of our national past.	2
Over two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson cited history as the principal subject of public education. It is critical, he believed, that citizens in a democracy have "knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth."¹ Without such knowledge each generation undertakes debate and makes decisions as if for the first time. Here is where historians can provide an essential public service. We must remind contemporary America of its history and of the promise as yet unfulfilled.	3
Making such history accessible to the broad public in a form that it will accept and use is a daunting challenge. Yet it is one we must undertake as a matter of public service, a service that few others can render. Some might call it a matter of patriotism, that is, an act of education geared to strengthen the social and political fabric of the nation. The patriotism of which I speak is based on neither military chauvinism nor jingoistic nationalism; rather, it is based on a commitment to America's highest ideals and a determination that America's promise will one day become America's reality.	4
In 1943 Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from New York who taught at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, wrote the lyrics to the music of an Earl Robinson song entitled "The House I Live In." The song, meant as a musical condemnation of anti-Semitism and racism, was popular during World War II and was recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1945. It was far less controversial than an earlier Meeropol creation, "Strange Fruit," recorded by the black singer Billie Holiday in 1939. Using the pseudonym Lewis Allan, Meeropol wrote stunning words, painting a picture of black bodies hanging like strange fruit from southern trees, to expose and denounce the lynching of African Americans in the South. "I wrote 'Strange Fruit,'" he later said, "because I hate lynching, and I hate injustice, and I hate the people who perpetuate it."²	. . .

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