While many titles like Maus (Art Spiegelman), Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi), and Footnotes in Gaza (Joe Sacco) appear on history curriculum lists, ‘Graphic History’ - the teaching of history with comic books and graphic novels - is still a relatively new vocational practice, even in public history and popular culture. This short presentation for the Underhill Colloquium 2022 has two aims: (1) to briefly analyze historical reasons for why ‘graphic history’ as a format is still sparse in the teaching of public history - including the 1952/53 Canadian Senate Hearings on comic books and other ‘salacious literature’ (2) to introduce new titles and genres of graphic history (such as ‘graphic medicine’ or comics for studies of migration) as well as new platforms like the political op-ed webcomic platform, The Nib, for teaching and reflecting history.

1. Graphic History: Teaching with Comic Books
Underhill Colloquium March 18, 2022
Amie Wright (she/her) PhD Student Carleton University - sporadic tweeter @librarylandia

2. AGENDA:
- Introduction: Why are we here?
- A (Very) Brief History of Comics Censorship
- History & Comics: A Brief History
- Comics NOW: The Canon - and Beyond
- Why does this matter in 2022?

3. The ‘Comics Canon’

4. “Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize winning Maus
series is perhaps the most commonly utilized,
particularly within classes that focus on the
Second World War and the Holocaust. It is not,
however, the only available option for
historians.
There are a number of lesser-known, but equally
compelling texts that explore war, displacement,
and genocide in a variety of different contexts.
Thus far, very little has been written about
these less familiar comics.”
Alicia C. Decker and Mauricio Castro, “Teaching History
with Comic Books: A Case Study of Violence, War, and the
Graphic Novel” in The History Teacher Vol. 45 No. 2
February 2012

6. Macleans Dec 1948

7. “If we consider it necessary to
safeguard the physical well-being
of our children, is it not natural
that their minds, which should
control their bodies, must be
given even greater protection?”
The Senate of Canada. Proceedings of the Special
Committee on Sale and Distribution of Salacious and
Indecent Literature (1952-1953)

8. "Mr. Chairman, I am just a
doctor. I can’t tell what the
remedy is. I can only say that in
my opinion this is a public-
health problem."
"...I think Hitler was a beginner
compared to the comic book
industry. They get the children
much younger.”
Dr. Frederic Wertham, The US Senate Hearings on
Comic Books & Juvenile Delinquency (1954)

9. History & Comics: A Brief History

10. WWII: Comics included in Shipments

11. Canadian ‘Whites’ circa WWII
‘Golden Age’ 1941-1946

12. Golden Legacy – ‘A New Approach
to the Study of History’

13. Teaching History beyond the ‘Comics Canon’

16. Multivalence
Having many values, meanings,
or appeals.
Impactful comics are multivalent.
Comic Books as Historical Documents

18. Relevance & Importance in 2022…

19. “For history to be taught differently requires teachers and
students to look at history in a new light….
History no longer should be viewed as a fixed body of
uncontested information. Students should be encouraged to
imagine many possibilities when thinking of distant times,
places, people, and ways of living.”
Chara Haeussler Bohan & O. L. Davis Jr., "Historical Constructions: How Social Studies Student
Teachers' Historical Thinking is Reflected in Their Writing of History" in Theory & Research in
Social Education Vol. 26 No. 2 1998

20. Thank you!
Amie Wright (she/her) PhD Student Carleton University - sporadic tweeter @librarylandia