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Cited by 103Historical and Cultural Archaeology StudiesMemory, Trauma, and CommemorationCultural Identity and Heritage

Public Memory and the Search for Power in American Historical Archaeology

Shackel, Paul A.·2001·American Anthropologist
DOI 10.1525/aa.2001.103.3.655
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Abstract

How Americans remember the past is often reinforced by landscapes, monuments, commemorative ceremonies, and archaeology. These features and activities often help to create an official public memory that becomes part of a group's heritage. I suggest that public memory can be established by (1) forgetting about or excluding an alternative past, (2) creating and reinforcing patriotism, and/or (3) developing a sense of nostalgia to legitimize a particular heritage. These categories are not mutually exclusive, and the lines that separate these categories may not always be well defined. I show how post - Civil War American landscapes, monuments, and commemorative activities helped to reinforce racist attitudes in the United States that became part of the official memory. African Americans have struggled to revise the official memory of the Civil War, although the power to change this memory has been situational and not always successful.

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Authors
Shackel, P. A.
Affiliations
University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Corresponding author
Shackel, Paul A.
Venue
American Anthropologist
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2001-09
Volume
103
Issue
3
Pages
655-670
ISSN
  • 0002-7294 (ISSN-L)
  • 1548-1433
DOI
10.1525/aa.2001.103.3.655
OpenAlex
W2029021193
Cited by
103
References
94
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
FWCI
2.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 2319 d)
Locations
American Anthropologist (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Cultural Identity and Heritage
Keywords
public memory, official memory, commemoration, monuments, landscape, nostalgia, patriotism, forgetting, racism, African American memory, American Civil War, post-Civil War United States, heritage, power

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