In this pathbreaking study of the gendering of the practices of history; Bonnie Smith resurrects the amateur history written by women in the nineteenth century--a type of history condemned as trivial by "scientific" male historians. She demonstrates the degree to which the profession defined itself in opposition to amateurism; femininity; and alternative ways of writing history. The male historians of the archive and the seminar claimed to be searching for "genderless universal truth;" which in reality prioritized men's history over women's; white history over nonwhite; and the political history of Western governments over any other. Meanwhile; women amateurs wrote vivid histories of queens and accomplished women; of manners and mores; and of everyday life.Following the profession up to 1940; The Gender of History traces the emergence of a renewed interest in social and cultural history which had been demeaned in the nineteenth century; when professional historians viewed themselves as supermen who could see through the surface of events to invisible meanings and motives. But Smith doesn't let late twentieth-century historians off the hook. She demonstrates how; even today; the practice of history is propelled by fantasies of power in which researchers imagine themselves as heroic rescuers of the inarticulate lower classes. The professionals' legacy is still with us; as Smith's extraordinary work proves.
#419789 in Books Kai T Erikson 1978-04-15 1978-04-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .90 x 5.00l; .82 #File Name: 0671240676288 pagesEverything in its Path Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A yardstick for other disastersBy Book wormThis book was written about two years after the collapse of a containment pond that changed the landscape for a small town in rural Appalachia by a sociologist whose main job was to collect testimony of eye witnesses and survivors of the flood that scraped the valley bare for use in a law suit made on behalf of the victims against the mining company whose job it was to maintain the containment pond.the way it went about carefully reviewing the history of the area since settlement helped to understand the disaster in the context of the community; its cultural norms; its strengths and weaknesses.The story is often one of people finding it difficult to pick up the pieces. So much of their social fabric had been picked up and washed away. One question left unanswered is what has happened in the intervening decades.This man-made disaster has become a yardstick for comparison to judge other disasters.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I would recommend reading for understanding how Appalachia has been negatively portrayedBy MAGA classic text that should be taken with a bit of grain of salt in understanding communities. I would recommend reading for understanding how Appalachia has been negatively portrayed.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Dolores S.Great seller. Good book
