Historical Literature and Democratic Education

Abstract

STUDENTS OF HISTORY NEED ACCESS TO SOURCES of information that provide direct or primary evidence about reality. Primary sources are those records that people in the past have themselves created. In each generation those who would learn about the past must go back to these records and examine them for themselves. This is not a privilege to be enjoyed merely by professional historians. Without access to primary evidence nobody can make contact with life as it has passed through time, nor become fully aware of the historically created community to which each of us belongs. The universal use of history or social studies texts in the nation's schools contradicts this rule. Textbook writers usually put together their material by relying upon secondary sources. They tell of events which too often they have only read about in the works of others but which they themselves have not examined at first hand. The result is a dull, lifeless narrative. The history text may serve a purpose as a work of reference where one may check a fact, an event or a date. It is not easy to give such a book the title of literature. It fails to capture the drama of human existence or to mirror its joy and its pain. Because they dehumanize the story of humanity the texts stunt the intellectual and spiritual development of students and teachers alike. Daily contact with these books generates boredom rather than curiosity. The judgment of numberless Americans is summed up in six words: I hated history in high school.