Historiography is often overlooked as a fascinating subject by most contemporary students, whether in the secondary history classroom or undergraduate course. Some sense of the changing historical interpretation of a topic such as Reconstruction may be provided through contrasting passages from a modern history text with earlier editions of books…

Many students assume that history has nothing to do with them and therefore is a waste of their time, so finding a way to get involuntary history students truly involved in a topic is always the most challenging aspect of teaching it. As passive listeners they will remember little; as active participants they will remember more and--in at least a…

Describes the author's use of advocacy oral history in interviews of people devoted to Montana's wilderness preservation. Discusses the use of questions to elicit broad humanistic responses as opposed to striking journalistic quotations. Examines the differences between traditional and advocacy oral history and the benefits of the latter. (GEA)

This document addresses the importance of teaching contemporary history. The failure to teach contemporary history leaves students ill equipped to deal with the present and the future, and also ensures that they will have little interest in the history of other times. Because memory is the central organizing principle in peoples minds, the…

The work of 17 major photographers who documented farm life in America during the 1940s is being presented in an exhibition entitled "Roy Stryker: U.S.A., 1943-1950." Launched at the International Center of Photography, New York, in May 1983, the exhibition will be touring nationally through 1985. Sample photographs are included. (RM)

Limitations of interpretations of revisionist historians concerning educational development in the 1930s and 1940s are examined. Revisionists have made uninformed assumptions about educational practice and have ignored significant aspects of educational development. Often their conclusions are too limited in scope. For example, they tend to view…