Please allow me to introduce myself as a new subscriber.  My name is Jeff
Hyson, and I'm a fourth-year Ph.D. student in history at Cornell.  At the
moment, I'm developing a freshman writing seminar on "Presenting the
American Past," and I'm hoping list members can assist me in assembling a
collection of readings.  My plan is to spend the first half to two-thirds
of the semester taking students through the history of American history
museums, exploring changes in their purposes, methods, and audiences.
(This may also include field trips to Cooperstown, Seneca Falls, and the
Strong in Rochester.)  The last part of the course will be devoted to
in-depth readings in the two big public-history controversies of recent
years: Disney's America and the Enola Gay.

Here's the dilemma: Since this is a writing seminar (with a program
requirement of 8-12 assignments totalling about 30 pages, including
revisions), reading assignments must be brief and to-the-point.  The
official guideline is 70 pages a week, but colleagues who have taught
similar courses say 30-40 pages is more realistic.  This leaves me
searching for clear, relevant, SHORT essays relating the history of
American public history.

Some possibilities are obvious: Benson, Brier, & Rosenzweig, eds.,
_Presenting the Past_ (1986); Rosenzweig & Leon, eds., _History Museums in
the United States_ (1989); the two volumes from Smithsonian Press, _
Exhibiting Cultures_ and _Museums and Communities_; and Mike Wallace's new
collection, _Mickey Mouse History_ (1996).  I'll likely select one or two
of these as a "text" for the course.  I've also got PLENTY of material on
the Enola Gay and Disney's America.  What I'm looking for now are readings
on U.S. history museums from the 1840s to the 1980s: case studies, critical
assessments, journalistic pieces, and/or primary sources.  These readings
need to be easily accessible to freshmen, essentially self-contained,
and--to really take the prize--reasonably well-written, so that I can
better integrate them into the more mechanical aspects of a writing seminar
(i.e., "How does George Brown Goode construct his argument in this essay on
the Smithsonian?").

I realize this is a rather tall order, but I'm very excited about teaching
this course, and I want to construct a provocative reading list.  Any and
all suggestions are welcome, either on-list or privately.  Thanks very much
for your assistance.

Jeff Hyson
Doctoral Candidate, Department of History
Cornell University
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