The Presence of the Past

The perception of history in America is one that deviates among a culturally diverse group of people with their own personal perspectives of history's significance. The historians within the field often times a have completely different connection with history than the people they intend to engage. Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen with the help of other historians examine the role of history in the lives of everyday Americans, who do not work within the field.

In The Presence of the Past, the researchers used a survey to determine how Americans feel about history, and how it has affected their lives. The results varied among different groups of people. One of the more interesting results of the survey was that minority groups such as Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans shared similar viewpoints. These groups shared distrust to the history that they were taught in school, and placed more emphasis on the history of their ancestors rather than the history of their nation. According to results of the data most Americans regardless of demographic trusted the accounts of the people who were present, as opposed to a scholar or expert of the subject the matter. In many instances people would verify things learned from schools, museums, or books with older relatives or people who were present. It is also important to note that in the information age many people do independent research on the Internet as way of being involved in history and as a way to check learned information. These results show an important difference, because historians use more formal tools of research instead of relying solely on oral accounts from people.

The Presence of the Past promotes important discourse on the relationship between non-historians and history, but also how history should be presented to those same people. This issue is present in History Wars with controversies like Enola Gay, which portrays how the perspective and intent of historians' work can be misunderstood and distorted by the general public. It also shows how the perceptions of historical events evolve with ideologies of the present day. Though it is impossible to satisfy everyone, historians have to find a medium between academics in history and the general public to serve the community as a whole.