Wallace Section II

To round out the semester we return to Mike Wallace and his often pessimistic views of history. While he does go overboard at times, a healthy amount of skepticism is essential to be a good historian; questioning information and sources is paramount. In this section of Mickey Mouse History, we actually address the topic of Walt Disney World. Wallace analyzes how Disney World has contributed to the portrayal of American history.

Disney Main Street and Epcot are two of the areas that Wallace focuses on. Main Street is the "recreation" of Walt Disney's home town, and paints a picture of middle class suburbia bliss. However, this is a fantasized depiction of history. The same is true for Epcot and the numerous corporate sponsors who want the idealized version of history told in the theme park. These Disney parks show the happy side of history, and never incorporate anything controversial. Wallace is opposed to this, because as we know, he is a fervent proponent for social history and the inclusion of all those who are underrepresented. He explains Disney's reasons for this fictional history because most visitors can relate to this middle class history and it makes them feel good.

Wallace continues his analysis of Disney by telling about the park that never was, Disney's attempt to create a theme park about the history of America. While this park was never built, Wallace comments about the ramifications it would have had on real historical education. Disney parks present the public with an ideal world, so how would a truthful representation of history have fit into this ideal? Wallace points out that this is the conflict, and one of the main reasons why the project was canceled.

As we have read throughout the semester, Wallace seldom agrees with history that is not strictly history, and doesn't include those of all social, economic, and racial walks of life. While this is certainly a biased perspective, Wallace has given us some valuable points to contemplate. He addressed the role of film and the internet in history, and how entertainment is now becoming edutainment. How should we face these issues and challenges as public historians? His questions promote debate and communication within the field, which is essential if we are to tackle these issues. Wallace has certainly made me think, and discussing his book has prepared me to deal with controversy and the changes to come for public historians.

Cinematic History

Robert Brent Toplin discusses the topic of portraying history through film. Toplin focuses on how history is utilized and interpreted in the movies, and the genre of cinematic history. He believes historical films are important because they help to reach wide audiences, but many factors must be considered when using this medium which is known to take creative liberties. Toplin raises the issue of when the movie is filmed and how that influences how the historical time period it portrays. He also factors in what historical movies tell us about the cultural and social climate of the historical setting.

Toplin is a strong advocate for historians becoming involved in cinematic history. He believes that extensive research should be conducted in the field to contribute as much as possible to historical accuracies and the audience understanding of historical films. Like Davis, Toplin feels that historical movies serve the greater good by involving an audience that might not be reached otherwise. Therefore, he challenges historians to refine the making of films and share their expertise with filmmakers to transform historical cinema into something that provides a truthful historical picture to the audience.

Movie or Monograph?

Natalie Zemon Davis writes her article Movie or Monograph? A Historian/Filmmaker's Perspective about the role she played as an historical movie consultant. Davis is a historian, and became involved with the French movie Le Retour de Martin Guerre. Having published a book about early modern France, her expertise was called upon by the film's writers and directors, as the story took place during the sixteenth century.

While Davis was consulting on the film, she faced the dilemma of historical inaccuracies. She explains that films have the job of guiding the audience in the general direction of historical accuracy, but they should be allowed to take some historical liberties. As long as the story is historically plausible and the plot doesn't deter too much from the original account, Davis believes films do not have to be 100% accurate. She calls for the "imagination to be guided by evidence", letting the film capture the spirit of the historical event, not necessarily every accurate detail.

As a caveat to this statement, Davis tells about how she wrote a book that presents the historically accurate story of Martin Guerre while she was working on the film. This eased her mind about the historical liberties in the film, because she corrected them in print. Davis feels that having both the written and cinematic versions of the story available guides the audience into dialogue and debate. For her, this is the most important role that historical films can play; their purpose is to make the audience think about the event. However, this raises the question of whether an audience will take the initiative to become informed and involved in the debate, or will simply take an historical film at face value? Davis is wonderfully optimistic that film goers will want to investigate further into the story, but if this is not so then this audience is only reached by a partial truth. With the important role that films play in our lives today, it is up to historians to become involved with movies so audiences can benefit from historically accurate and trustworthy cinematic experiences.

Comparing Websites

The Alamo Official Site-- San Antonio, Texas
http://www.thealamo.org

As the official website of the Alamo historical site, this webpage is put together extremely well. It offers a wealth of information to visitors, and maintains a professional appearance throughout the site. The website explains the story of the 1863 Battle of the Alamo, and why the former mission is an important historical site.

Being a very dynamic website, each page is filled with pictures and pop-up menus to entice the visitor into further exploration of the site. The homepage divides the site up into history, visitor information, educational resources, and donations. These categories are easy to navigate at a glance, and when scrolled over, pop-up menus appear that describe what each category contains so the visitor can find exactly what they are looking for.

The highlights of this website are the numerous primary sources provided for the visitor, which include letters from those involved in the Battle of the Alamo. A large picture gallery also adds to the site. All of the links I checked on the site were in working order, and the site appears to be up to date and maintained regularly. There is a large section about planning a visit to the Alamo, with an extensive list of contact persons who welcome any inquiries about visiting. The educational section is also packed with lesson plans and guides for student research about the Alamo. Finally, there is a section for children that contains several puzzles and games relating to the historical site.

The only downfall of this website that I found is that some parts are particularly text heavy. While every page does contain pictures, in the history section, the pages begin to look boring. The text is plain Times New Roman with a white background, and continues on for several long paragraphs. This could be improved by adding more color to the pages and choosing an interesting font. Also, the paragraphs could be shortened or the text could be split up into several pages. Even with this flaw, the Alamo website is definitely worth a visit, and is the best source about this historical site that I have found on the internet.


The Alamo
http://www.americanwest.com/pages/alamo.htm

When searching for information about the Alamo online, this is one of the first websites to appear. This is also one of the worst and most outdated websites that I have come across. It is a single page with a drab tan background and small text, with one small picture of the historical site. The website provides a one paragraph summary on history of the Alamo, including a few sentences about the famous battle.

Half of the one page website is taken up by a "recent" visitor email. There is no date on this email, and it is hardly relevant and provides visitors to the site with very little information. I thought the website could redeem itself through the long list of related links at the bottom of the page. It even divides the links up into information about the Alamo, biographies of those involved in the Battle, and movies made about the Alamo. However, only a few of these links work, and the information provided by these supplementary websites is disjointed and confusing, and does not relate to the original website. Overall, this website is a disappointment and does a disservice to those who are trying to research and learn about the Alamo. It does not even compare to the official Alamo site, and has no similarities to it at all.


The Battle of the Alamo
http://www.lone-star.net/mall/texasinfo/alamo-battle.htm

This website is almost as bad as the one before it, and also does not compare to the official Alamo site. It is another single page site, with a plain white background. This site has slightly larger text that is easier to read. However, all the site contains is text, and lots of it. It explains the Battle of the Alamo, but fails to address the actual Alamo mission building. The site is quite boring for the visitor, with only a single tiny picture of the Alamo historical site.

There are annoying ads in the menu bar, and like the previous website, hardly any of the added links work. The only section of links that work is the libraries and museums section. Some of the links direct the visitor to interesting sites that are of much higher quality than this one. This website should take an example from these other sites and update their look and the information provided. Sadly, this website was updated in September and is still in this bad of shape. Unfortunately for those researching the Alamo on the internet, the only option I have found is the official website. While this makes up for what the other sites lack, it is disappointing to find only one great website about such an important moment in American history.

Double Fold

In his book Double Fold, author Nicholson Baker makes a strong argument about how libraries handle primary sources, specifically newspapers. Baker does not pretend to take an unbiased approach to his work, and is a strong proponent for saving original documents. He is so strong of an activist that he even spent his own money to save a single archive.

Baker begins his narrative in the British Library, where thousands and thousands of original newspapers were stored. He then weaves a story about the situation in the United States, which is just as dire. In order to preserve the information on these primary sources, libraries began converting these documents into microfilm and destroying the originals. This process does preserve the information in the newspapers, but with numerous downfalls. The tangibility of the original document is lost, picture quality is lessened and distorted, microfilm can not be digitized, and and the process is time consuming and expensive.

The reasons for microfilming have equally as many downfalls as the process itself. Libraries argued that original newspapers could not stand the test of time and would disintegrate. Several ridiculous tests were devised to show that the paper of books and newspaper could not remain intact. Using strong language to show his complete disagreement with these tests, Baker shows the idiocy of the so-called "double fold" test.

To Baker, the solution for saving these precious primary sources is the digitization of the information. This way, the originals can be saved and archived, but the information is still available to the public. Digital media preserves the source in much better condition than microfilm, as pictures are crisper and clearer and text is not as hard to read. This solution has many merits and valuable points, especially in today's world. Students who use these primary sources are often unfamiliar with how to use microfilm, but feel right at home accessing a digitally formatted document. Not only will the information be preserved, but more people are likely to use it and learn from it when they feel it is more accessible to them.

Preservationists like Baker are doing all they can to raise awareness about the destruction of primary sources. This is an issue that I was not even aware of, and I am glad to know that others are working to stop it. Hopefully the digital age will aid in their struggle and primary documents will survive the microfilm movement.

Can You Do Serious History on the Web?

Carl Smith makes a compelling argument about the use of the internet in his article "Can You Do Serious History on the Web?" Being a designer of an enormous online exhibit himself, Smith weighs the pros and cons of using this form of technology for serious academics. While he admits that the internet is by no means flawless, its advantages greatly outweigh any disadvantages. According to Smith, serious history is "original work that is responsibly based on primary sources, is intelligently informed by relevant scholarship, and makes a clear argument or group of arguments." This can absolutely be seen on the web not only through online exhibitions, but in various academic historical websites.

One example of serious history on the web is the website we are currently constructing in Public History. Smith even points out that students constructing academic websites is one of the best uses of serious history on the web. We are compiling a variety of sources, including the Fallschase interviews, archived materials, recommended readings, and historical site reviews to construct a narrative about environmental history in the Big Bend. While unfortunately there are bad websites available, our class is embracing technology in order to promote serious history on the web.

The Other Suburbanites

"The Other Suburbanites" by Andrew Wiese tells the story of African American suburbs before the 1950s in the United States. Mainly focusing on a community near Cleveland called Chagrin Falls Park, Wiese tells about the differing perspectives of African American suburbs. He recalls that outsiders, especially white people, have viewed these areas as slums, places that are run down and unattractive. However, past community residents had a much different view, and believe they made better lives for themselves and lived the suburban American dream. Wiese draws attention to the fact that historians have largely focused on white, middle class suburbs when analyzing the role suburbs have played in history. His research aims to change this by studying African American suburbs, and cultivating an understanding as to why these areas are just as historically important.

One of the reasons for Chagrin Falls Park's importance is the rich oral history provided by the community. Sixty oral interviews were conducted during Wiese's research. These interviews provided first hand information about what it was like constructing a new community and establishing new homes and jobs. This use of oral history is highly beneficial to Wiese's article, as it draws the reader in and facilitates making a connection to the past. Employing oral history is a much more effective technique than Wiese simply restating his research for the reader.

Wiese also makes other arguments about the importance of Chagrin Falls Park. This suburb is an example of what happened in urban areas after the Great Migration. The history of race and class relations in the community is very tense and negative. Things like zoning restrictions served to isolate African Americans from other white areas. However, even through such adversity, opportunities like owning land, building houses, and better jobs enlivened these suburbs. Weise's final point about the uniqueness and importance of the area is how Chagrin Falls Park survived due to a strong network of friends and families that stablized and supported each other and the community throughout the history of the area.