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Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory
Abraham Lincoln has long dominated the pantheon of American presidents. From his lavish memorial in Washington and immortalization on Mount Rushmore, one might assume he was a national hero rather than a controversial president who came close to losing his 1864 bid for reelection. In Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory , Barry Schwartz aims at these contradictions in his study of Lincoln's reputation, from the president's death through the industrial revolution to his apotheosis during the Progressive Era and First World War.
Schwartz draws on a wide array of materials—painting and sculpture, popular magazines and school textbooks, newspapers and oratory—to examine the role that Lincoln's memory has played in American life. He explains, for example, how dramatic funeral rites elevated Lincoln's reputation even while funeral eulogists questioned his presidential actions, and how his reputation diminished and grew over the next four decades. Schwartz links transformations of Lincoln's image to changes in the society. Commemorating Lincoln helped Americans to think about their country's development from a rural republic to an industrial democracy and to articulate the way economic and political reform, military power, ethnic and race relations, and nationalism enhanced their conception of themselves as one people.
Lincoln's memory assumed a double aspect of "mirror" and "lamp," acting at once as a reflection of the nation's concerns and an illumination of its ideals, and Schwartz offers a fascinating view of these two functions as they were realized in the commemorative symbols of an ever-widening circle of ethnic, religious, political, and regional communities. The first part of a study that will continue through the present, Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory is the story of how America has shaped its past selectively and imaginatively around images rooted in a real person whose character and achievements helped shape his country's future.
Schwartz draws on a wide array of materials—painting and sculpture, popular magazines and school textbooks, newspapers and oratory—to examine the role that Lincoln's memory has played in American life. He explains, for example, how dramatic funeral rites elevated Lincoln's reputation even while funeral eulogists questioned his presidential actions, and how his reputation diminished and grew over the next four decades. Schwartz links transformations of Lincoln's image to changes in the society. Commemorating Lincoln helped Americans to think about their country's development from a rural republic to an industrial democracy and to articulate the way economic and political reform, military power, ethnic and race relations, and nationalism enhanced their conception of themselves as one people.
Lincoln's memory assumed a double aspect of "mirror" and "lamp," acting at once as a reflection of the nation's concerns and an illumination of its ideals, and Schwartz offers a fascinating view of these two functions as they were realized in the commemorative symbols of an ever-widening circle of ethnic, religious, political, and regional communities. The first part of a study that will continue through the present, Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory is the story of how America has shaped its past selectively and imaginatively around images rooted in a real person whose character and achievements helped shape his country's future.
382 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
About the author
Barry Schwartz
6 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Barry Schwartz was an American sociologist. He received his B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. from Temple University (1962), University of Maryland (1964), and University of Pennsylvania (1970), respectively. He taught at the University of Chicago and University of Georgia and was a fellow at the University of Georgia Institute for Behavioral Research (1977–1983), the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (1987–1988) in Stanford, CA, the National Humanities Center (1992–1993) in Research Triangle, NC, the Smithsonian Museum of National History in Washington, DC (1993), and the University of Georgia Humanities Center (1994). He was also a Davis Fellow, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hebrew University (2002) in Jerusalem. In 2000, he received the William A. Owens Award for Outstanding Research and Creativity (University of Georgia); in 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Hebrew University.
From the early 1980s, Schwartz dedicated almost all his research to the problem of collective memory. His work affirms the perspectives of both realism and constructionism. The path of Barry Schwartz’s work runs from interactional social psychology to cognitive sociology, the sociology of knowledge, and collective memory. The last, major, phase cannot be inferred from the first but is inextricably connected to it.
Barry Schwartz was an American sociologist. He received his B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. from Temple University (1962), University of Maryland (1964), and University of Pennsylvania (1970), respectively. He taught at the University of Chicago and University of Georgia and was a fellow at the University of Georgia Institute for Behavioral Research (1977–1983), the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (1987–1988) in Stanford, CA, the National Humanities Center (1992–1993) in Research Triangle, NC, the Smithsonian Museum of National History in Washington, DC (1993), and the University of Georgia Humanities Center (1994). He was also a Davis Fellow, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hebrew University (2002) in Jerusalem. In 2000, he received the William A. Owens Award for Outstanding Research and Creativity (University of Georgia); in 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Hebrew University.
From the early 1980s, Schwartz dedicated almost all his research to the problem of collective memory. His work affirms the perspectives of both realism and constructionism. The path of Barry Schwartz’s work runs from interactional social psychology to cognitive sociology, the sociology of knowledge, and collective memory. The last, major, phase cannot be inferred from the first but is inextricably connected to it.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 24, 2021
3.5 stars. This book covers two very interesting things that I have always wanted to better understand. First, who the real Abraham Lincoln was. Second, how our memory changes with time. Schwartz sets out to explain why and how (collective) memory evolves with time and finds that the best way to explicate that is by focusing on the memory of Abraham Lincoln.
Schwartz does a fantastic job of painting a time appropriate picture of how people viewed Lincoln at the end of his life (~1865). "When Abraham Lincoln awoke on the last day of his life, almost everyone could find something about him to dislike." The reasoning he gives, taken from primary sources both North and South alike, is very understandable when full context of the times is laid out. Then, fascinating twists and turns occur as the nation comes together to mourn Lincoln following his assassination, followed by decades of decline in Lincoln fervor (and re-growth of Washington's appeal), and then a remarkable and strong increase in perceiving Lincoln as a demigod during the early 20th century (Schwartz does not look past the 1920s).
Much of how I conceived of Lincoln definitely was in line with him as an almost perfect being, a savior, and someone who was a century ahead of his time. I also felt that view was too good to be true, and indeed I now fully accept that while Lincoln was a great president and man in a lot of ways, we as a society have promoted Lincoln beyond the bounds of reality.
What I missed in this book was a deeper look into why and how collective memory is fluid and mutable, not always rooted in historical fact. It is touched on here and there, but mostly Schwartz just relies on showing what society does each decade to "remember" Lincoln and how it is often disconnected with historical truth. Unfortunately, he too often shies away from discussing why or how that happens.
Schwartz does a fantastic job of painting a time appropriate picture of how people viewed Lincoln at the end of his life (~1865). "When Abraham Lincoln awoke on the last day of his life, almost everyone could find something about him to dislike." The reasoning he gives, taken from primary sources both North and South alike, is very understandable when full context of the times is laid out. Then, fascinating twists and turns occur as the nation comes together to mourn Lincoln following his assassination, followed by decades of decline in Lincoln fervor (and re-growth of Washington's appeal), and then a remarkable and strong increase in perceiving Lincoln as a demigod during the early 20th century (Schwartz does not look past the 1920s).
Much of how I conceived of Lincoln definitely was in line with him as an almost perfect being, a savior, and someone who was a century ahead of his time. I also felt that view was too good to be true, and indeed I now fully accept that while Lincoln was a great president and man in a lot of ways, we as a society have promoted Lincoln beyond the bounds of reality.
What I missed in this book was a deeper look into why and how collective memory is fluid and mutable, not always rooted in historical fact. It is touched on here and there, but mostly Schwartz just relies on showing what society does each decade to "remember" Lincoln and how it is often disconnected with historical truth. Unfortunately, he too often shies away from discussing why or how that happens.
July 29, 2011
I met the writer while at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, 2006. I will be using his work in my own research on Lincoln in Public History/Museums.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews