| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.3

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Methods/Theory

Robert R. Archibald. A Place to Remember: Using History to Build Community. (American Association for State and Local History Book Series.) Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press. 1999. Pp. 224. Cloth $46.00, paper $19.95.

Public historian Robert R. Archibald locates the place of history in the fabric of community life. After more than ten years as president of the Missouri Historical Society and nine as director of the Montana Historical Society, Archibald is well positioned to reflect upon the contours of public history. The resulting volume reads alternately as personal memoir, meditation on the nature and goals of history, and manifesto on the importance of history for the present. He frames his narrative with a journey to his hometown in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a journey that inspires an exploration into the relationships between place, memory, identity, and community. Upon his return home, Archibald is moved by the power of place, by the objects and relics, both natural and man-made, that become catalysts for memories long dormant. In this process, he finds that his personal feelings about the town and his professional work in public history—two realms that he had long endeavored to keep separate—have merged. Archibald chooses to embrace this blending of emotion and history, arguing that "in the absence of empathy, emotion, concern, and caring, history becomes an exercise in nostalgia, or an academic sidebar of limited use in a real world. If we do not care, we will not be motivated to take action" (p. 22). This logic fuels his book, opening up a series of questions about the role of history in forging community and shaping politics. Written for a broad audience, this book does not engage the extensive scholarship on public memory and history. It nevertheless remains a thought provoking and creative work. . . .

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