A Primer on Arthur Schlesinger

1. ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER, JR.
Brought to you by
Amanda Roddey, Jill Reinholt, Laura Sturchio,
and Maddy Haderlein

2. FIRST, PRONUNCIATION

3. Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1917
Attended Harvard
University
THE EARLY LIFE

4. POLITICAL INFLUENCE
 Wrote for the Office of War Information during
WWII and then the Office of Strategic Services
 Best known for his work as the historian for the
Kennedy administration
 Worked on both John F. Kennedy and Robert
Kennedy’s presidential campaigns
 Leader of anti-communist liberals
 Called for the impeachment of Nixon and
denounced the impeachment of Clinton

5.  Wrote more than 20 books that provoked discussions
about America’s past
 Including:
 The Age of Jackson
 What About Communism?
 Cycles of American History
 The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural
Society
 Won two Pulitzer Prizes and one National Book Award
 The New York Times stated, “Mr. Schlesinger saw life
as a walk through history.”
HIS WORK

6.  Did not observe political correctness
 Staunchly anti-Communist
 Founder of the Americans for Democratic Action, the best-
known liberal pressure group
 Once stated: “What the hell,” in response to a question from
the Washington Post about his attack on multiculturalism.
“You have to call them as you see them. This too shall pass.”
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

7.  Highly valued history and its power to influence today’s ideas
and events
 Believed everyone must use what they know about the past to
determine how it will affect the present
 “Science and Technology revolutionize our lives, but memory,
tradition and myth frame our response. Expelled from individual
consciousness by the rush of change, history finds its revenge by
stamping the collective unconscious with habits, values,
expectations, dreams. The dialectic between past and future will
continue to form our lives.” Arthur Schlesinger
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

8.  Since today’s world is speeding up with all of the
technological advances, recent history is important to analyze
and should be a center of focus in American education.
 Learners should push to be given more evidence, as well as
provide more evidence to support their beliefs.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Common Core?

9.  Encouraged citizens to criticize what they see and what they
are told
 Pushed citizens to learn from the mistakes of the past
 Students should learn to fight for autonomy and VOICE!!
 On Schlesinger, after his death:
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7667081
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

10.  While Schlesinger was growing up, his parents lost faith in the
educational system because of a teacher’s false statement
that people from Albania were called Albino’s and had white
hair and pink eyes…
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH EDUCATION?

11. "Now we look back and see the roles of women, the role of
minorities, and it gives a different cast to American history."
Afrocentric
Education?
For an article in favor of Afrocentric Curricula:
http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~cawalker/afrocentric.htm
WRITING HISTORY, TEACHING HISTORY
Is this the way to right history?

12. MULTICULTURALISM??

13.  Schlesinger objected multiculturalism and separateness of
many different cultures and traditions
 Thought that if too much influence is put on one’s original
culture, there cannot be a simultaneous unified American
culture
 Emphasized the principles of “the Melting Pot”
 Stressed the importance of a national identity and the danger
of having many divided groups that strongly identify
themselves by their race or ethnicity
 Specifically because of the conflicts that occur because of different
beliefs
 Also, within schools, bonds need to be strengthened in order to avoid
“tribalization”
MULTICULTURALISM VS. THE MELTING POT

14. MULTICULTURALISM VS. THE MELTING POT
The “old
school” and
Schlesinger:
The Melting Pot
The “new
school”:
The Salad Bowl
What were you taught?

15.  “Schlesinger shows that diversity has been America’s
trademark since inception. Our unique admixture of peoples
has prompted both native-born and foreign observers to ask:
what can hold so variegated a nation together” (MacDonald
1992)
 Today, says Schlesinger, the American identity is in jeopardy
as multiculturalism and Afrocentrism elevate racial and ethnic
ties over national affiliation (MacDonald 1992)
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-disuniting-of-america-by-arthur-m-
schlesinger-jr/
MULTICULTURALISM VS. THE MELTING POT

16. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR TODAY?

17.  African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians and Hispanics
aren’t able to assimilate in the American mainstream as easily
as Europeans
 Non-white groups stress their culture and heritage
 American society no longer seen as a “melting pot” but as a
“salad bowl”
 All individuals represent a separate, but equally important piece of the
salad.
 No one has to change, or melt, to be an American.
 In some areas the white population is no longer the
majority, which threatens a historically dominant culture
 Tensions about introducing English as the official language in the
U.S.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE

18.  Many ethnicities and nationalities makes up the current
United States
 “…before they were us, they were them” –Barack Obama
 each and every group came from somewhere but now WE are one
 Obama on multiculturalism:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiXuEk_CyWs
ALLEGIANCE ABOVE ALL?

19. From the viewpoint of Sonia Nieto:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIvmbFKIXvE
WHAT ABOUT MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION?

20. Children should know and understand their
cultural history and identity
BUT, this should NOT take away from their
identity as an American
UNITY, under a single national identity, is what
will keep our country together
WWSD:
WHAT WOULD SCHLESINGER DO?

21. How should our students be educated?
How important is one’s culture outside of being
“American”?
What history do you want your children to
learn?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

22. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
What will our children be taught?

23. A New York Times article written after his
death:
FOR MORE INFORMATION

24. Asante, Molefi Kete. (Accessed June 8, 2013(. “Afrocentric Curriculum.” Retrieved from:
http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~cawalker/afrocentric.htm
”Arthur Scheslinger, Jr.” (Accessed June 8, 2013) Retrieved
from:http://www.notablebiographies.com /Ro-Sc/Schlesinger-Jr-Arthur.html#ixzz2VUNIIlGB
Bates, Karen Grigsby. (March 1 , 2007). “Historian Arthur Schlesinger Dies.” Retrieved
from:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7667081
Block , Melissa. (March 01 , 2007). “Colleague Recalls Historian Arthur Schlesinger.” Retrieved
from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7673292
Cunlif fe, Marcus. "Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr." Pastmasters: Some Essays on American Historians.
Edited by Marcus Cunlif fe and Robin Winks. New York: Harper and Row, 1969.
Martin, Douglass. (March 1 , 2007). “Arthur Schlesinger, Historian of Power, Dies at 89.”
Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html?pagewanted= all&_r=1&
McDonald, Heather. (June 1992). “The Disuniting of America, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.”
Retrieved from: http ://www.commentarymagazine.com /article/the-disuniting-of-america-by-
arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/
Schlesinger, Arthur M . (Mar 1 1967) “On the Writing of Contemporary History”. Retrieved from:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/ 1967/03/on-the-writing-of-contemporary -
history/305731/
REFERENCES