James Loewen’s “Lies Across America” Should Inspire Local Public History Projects

I’ve been listening to James Loewen‘s Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong using my public library’s subscription to Hoopla Digital. Listening to it, I wonder how Professor Loewen, who passed in 2021, ever slept at night knowing the scale of injustice society perpetuated and the mountain of indifference society placed in the path of restoration of rights and acknowledgement of historical harm. Of course, no single person or small group or set of books can accomplish these things, but a large number of individuals, small groups and publications can have a much larger impact. Based on my reading of one of his other books, and even an e-mail exchange I had with Professor Loewen, I believe that he hoped people would use his methodologies and practice local history projects of their own.

Could honorable people have fought with the Confederacy against the United States?

My lukewarm take on David A. French‘s Pondering the Question of Confederate Honor, published November 1, 2017 at NationalReview.com. For contrast, David French doesn’t like Nat Turner & John Brown.