Welcome to American History Z!

Like so many people, I took history in elementary school. I learned about the founding fathers, Washington’s wooden teeth, the Revolutionary War. Like so many people, I took history in high school, too. I learned about the Civil War, the 20th century of war, the Great Depression. Like a smaller number of people, I took history in college. There, I learned about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War, the Berlin Wall. And like the smallest number of people yet, I chose history as my major. And finally, four years later, I’m getting to the good stuff. 

 My focus within that major is American History; a subject that, to some, may seem to be already overdone, already overstudied, somewhat like kicking a long-dead horse. But the academic study of American History is currently turning over a new leaf. Over (thank god) are the days of just names, dates, and the heroification of individuals.  Scholars like Lawrence L. Levine are beginning to integrate the study of culture, the study of entertainment and leisure with traditional realms like politics, military history and the great documents. What is emerging is a fantastic blend of the stuff you thought you’d never touch again (Jefferson did this, Kennedy did that, that first Thanksgiving was really special…) with the stuff that is inextricably tied in to the way you live your everyday life (”300”, Phantom of the Opera, Sox in the series…). 

This isn’t history the way it has been taught. This is history the way it should be explored, debated, questioned, doubted, probed and ENJOYED. This blog is my way of giving you access to the questions we should have been asking since day one; the fun ones. Let me give you an example. In 19th century America, the plays of William Shakespeare, that oh-so-esoteric and high-falutin’ playwright, were the single hottest and  most popular ticket in town. People who could barely read flocked to his plays, people who had put up the money to support the whole production showing up in numbers just as great. Shakespeare was parodied, included in all kinds of pop culture references, in advertisements, in other plays. Most often, performances of his plays were accompanied by food, lots of noise, talking to the actors on the stage, vocal reactions to what was happening, drinking, songs in between the scenes, acrobatic acts, cutting scenes that seemed too long, etc. Shakespeare was a part 
of the popular culture, exactly as he was when his work was first published in 17th century England. Shakespeare was The Man. Literally. Bet nobody ever told you that, huh? 

That’s the kind of question I hope to be writing about on this blog. The ones you haven’t heard, didn’t know, never got to talk about. . My focus will be mainly on the 20th century, will some spillover to the 19th and our own, the 21st. I will address issues of history, culture, the role of sports, of movies, of Six Flags, I hope to humanize and make more accessible things like military history, strategy and moments in our past that seem to have defined us in some way. And my name…well. That’s not really important, is it? Call me Wishbone.