Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, not...
What a great resource you are, Gintaras. many thanks!
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I'd never heard of this work until I saw the movie "Good Will Hunting" where Matt Damon's Will extols it to the shrink played by Robin Williams. How's that for a peculiar way for an old History major/teacher to come to a source?
I remember that scene as well. Kind of amusing in retrospective seeing Matt Damon as a polymath and janitor, spouting out what he learned from Howard Zinn and a few other sources. I guess that was supposed to contrast with the conservative history they learned at Harvard.
ReplyDeleteBlack Day in history as the Supreme Court interceded on the Florida handcount and allowed Harris to certify Bush's "victory." One can only wonder how much different things would be today if Gore had won, although I can't say I was a big fan of Al at the time.
ReplyDeleteWho should turn up on Bill Moyers' Journal last night but Zinn himself, and great it was to see him, too. The first half of the show had activists and organizers (one from Chicago, ahem) working with those angry about bailouts, CEO bonuses, lack of help for those in foreclosure, etc., so he fit right in. He was also promoting a presentation on the History Channel Sun. night of "The People Speak" a number of actors doing readings from activists of history such as Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth (whose "Ain't I A Woman" speech never fails to give me chills) and others. I've seen this before on PBS, but I'll still be tuning in: http://www.history.com/content/people-speak
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun program. I miss PBS over here.
ReplyDeleteWell, I sure missed PBS, too, when I watched this on the History Channel with approximately 4,923 commercials in the two hour period--argh! I hope no one else watched on my recommendation and was similarly aggravated. Poor Zinn, so not a commercial dude, yet his work got abused. If you can find the program on DVD, that would be the way to go. I'll say no more about the sad fate of a fine work.
ReplyDeleteI believe Bill Moyers recorded shows are available at PBS's website.
ReplyDeleteHas a decision been reached on the next reading?
Nope. Seems like there are several suggestions ranging from Zinn's People History, the continuation of Schlesinger's Age of Roosevelt, Zeitoun, and Garry Wills' Henry Adams.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I have trouble reading a book online and my eyes suffered quite a bit of strain in reading Zinn on my pc screen. If we are going to read it or another, I'm definitely getting a book!
ReplyDeleteIt takes some getting used to, but I like these on-line texts as background material on a subject. Anyway, I'm up for Zinn if others are game. We can take it one chapter at a time since he deals with his subjects thematically.
ReplyDeleteHoward Zinn, a true American hero, RIP:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/29zinn.html?ref=obituaries
Howard Zinn, historian and shipyard worker, civil rights activist and World War II bombardier, and author of “A People’s History of the United States,” a best seller that inspired a generation of high school and college students to rethink American history, died Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Auburndale, Mass.
This is a very nice tribute to Zinn:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/opinion/30herbert.html
My favorite line:
"In the nitwit era that we’re living through now, it’s fashionable, for example, to bad-mouth labor unions and feminists even as workers throughout the land are treated like so much trash and the culture is so riddled with sexism that most people don’t even notice it."