Shapers Of Southern History: Autobiographical Reflections

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Summary: Memoirs of Southern historians
Review: Fifteen historians known for their work in Southern history connected with universities around the U. S. respond to the editor Boles proposition that they write essays on the relationship between their earlier lives and their eventual work as historians. As Boles put it in his letter to them, he was asking them to "think autobiographically and ponder what in your background and life experiences helped determine you to become a historian of the South." Material could embrace education, mentors, decisions, and successes and rejections. Boles is a history professor at Rice U. and managing editor of the "Journal of Southern History." The fifteen historians responded openly and thoughtfully. The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. Drew Faust, from Harvard, begins his essay "Living History," with, "We create ourselves out of the stories we tell about our lives...." Pete Daniel, on the other hand, in "Accidental Historian," begins, "Nothing in my family suggested that I would become a historian." The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs.