They can, and do.
Not all historians are sympathetic to the same issues. Some question our founders’ motives, while others give multiple motives. Some attack leaders and elites, while others battle over the very purpose of history. Some want to construct a good story, while others insist on obedience to rigid scholarship.
Biographers these days often analyze and ask questions. Readers want to know the details of others’ lives as much as they long for leaders as pure as “Ivory Soap—99.44% Pure.” The question is, “Should history build character and patriotism as Ben Franklin and Washington Irving hoped or should teachers concentrate on skills and citizenship?”*
* from the 2017 summer issue of Humanities, published by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
More Memos to Self: “Professional historians demand reality, are comfortable with pain, irony, tragedy, and contingency” and “Most importantly, how do we offer a realistic portrait of America’s past without extinguishing idealism?” – from same source as above.
Next: There Is Hope
The Wellness Librarian 