It is an appalling thought to even consider editing primary
documentation. We are historians, not novelists. The selective
editing of secondary, and tertiary material, is a sad reality that
seems to be increasing, as our culture becomes more ideological. It
seems to be a function of late imperial societies, if the late 19th
century British are a predictor. And with the rise of electronic
documentation, and its replacement of paper resource materials all
these issues will only be exacerbated. A strong cultural consensus
within the community of scholars who care about the accurate
representation of the past, in its fullest possible complexity, to my
mind, is the only bulwark to bowdlerization, and other socially
temporal correctednesses.
-- Stephan
Stephan A. Schwartz
Email:
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Personal Website:
www.stephanaschwartz.com
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www.schwartzreport.net
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On 24 Oct 2006, at 18:20, Sally Phillips wrote:
> I have an eight-page letter from a family member setting forth the
> family
> history. The letter is a clear demonstration of racism and
> elitism. But it
> is a true picture of the time when it was written and it shows
> history just
> in its attitudes. In addition, the personality of the author comes
> through
> in these asides. It would ruin the letter to edit it to make it
> politically
> correct. I am using it unedited, in order to show future
> generations what
> the times were like. That is the whole point. --Sally Phillips
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Melinda Skinner" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 5:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Transcribing Civil War Diaries
>
>
>> I certainly agree with Mr. Omohundro. I am not a historian but a
>> writer
>> who has been dismayed to be saddled with the desire to clean up
>> primary
>> source material for some kind of political correctness. What ever
>> happened
>> to truthful reporting? We need to view history with all its warts
>> and
>> problems. Just my very unofficial 2 cents.
>> -Melinda Skinner
>>
>>
>> -------------- Original message ----------------------
>> From: [log in to unmask]
>>> When co-editing recently a Civil War diary my collaborator and I
>>> encountered
>>> various critical references to slaves and free blacks, Jews, women,
>>> Yankeees,
>>> Abraham Lincoln, etc.
>>>
>>> We could have left all such items out, thereby gutting this primary
>>> source.
>>>
>>> There was some pressure about or resistance to including the most
>>> derogatory
>>> references, but we held fast, and were able to get the entire
>>> text--everything--published.
>>>
>>> To do otherwise would have been a disservice to history, and to
>>> scholarship.
>>>
>>> Michael Chesson
>>> U/Mass-Boston
>>>
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>>
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