2008 Woodie Awards
Space historian speaks in lecture series
Jaegun Lee, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 3/15/07 Section: News
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Dr. Roger D. Launius, chairman of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. spoke to a crowd of students and faculty members from UMass and the other five Colleges.
In his speech, entitled "American Memory and the Challenges of Presenting the Past to a Diverse Public," Launius addressed a number of issues contemporary historians face in presenting history to the American public.
He explained that human memories are mostly constructed by personal experience of an individual and those whom they associate with.
"Most Americans," he said, "don't necessarily have a great deal of connections to great historical events.
"Mostly what they have is connections to personal things at the local level, at the family level, the inner relationships which intersect with national themes," he explained.
He pushed on the issue by stating that such people cannot differentiate between wars, such as the Civil War, the American Revolution and the Crusades.
"At some level, like politics," he argued, "history is local, too."
He elaborated on how the construction of memories and the creation of national identities act as barriers for contemporary historians to deliver alternative views to the official history.
Launius said that with such restrictions applied, museums are not likely to present exhibitions which would promote diversity and historically important speculations.
"The passing of the cultural debates early in the first part of the 21st century has made it exceptionally difficult to present the past in all complexity in a national museum, such as the one that I am in, to the broad diverse public that it serves," he said.
Launius listed 10 exhibitions not likely to be seen in America. Among them were musicians dying in plane crashes, speculation on the moon landing conspiracy and the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Such issues, according to Launius, challenge authoritative and prominent beliefs and values among the American public and are likely to be shut down eventually.
Launius served as chief historian of NASA between 1990 and 2002, has been a guest commentator on major television networks and is frequently consulted by the media for his insights on space issues.
He has also served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and presented the Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History at the United States Air Force Academy in 2006.
He has written or edited over 20 books on aerospace and on a variety of historical topics, including American politics during the Mexican-American War, and the relationship of baseball to American culture.
The annual Five College History Lecture series is funded by the Five Colleges Incorporated.
Jaegun Lee can be reached at jaegun@student.umass.edu.
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