Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 18, 2021 at 8:25:23 AM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Friesen on Wendt, 'The Daughters of the > American Revolution and Patriotic Memory in the Twentieth Century' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Simon Wendt. The Daughters of the American Revolution and Patriotic > Memory in the Twentieth Century. Gainesville University Press of > Florida, 2020. Illustrations. 296 pp. $90.00 (cloth), ISBN > 978-0-8130-6660-8. > > Reviewed by Hannah Friesen (San Diego State University) > Published on H-War (February, 2021) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > Simon Wendt explores the complicated history of the Daughters of the > American Revolution (DAR), one of the most influential women's > activist groups in recent American memory, in order to comment on > issues of gender, race, and class, as well as historical memory and > the concept of nationalism. Wendt, an associate professor of American > studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, examines the sociocultural > context in which conservative female activists during the twentieth > century made notable efforts to commemorate and memorialize both male > and female contributions to various American historical events. His > argument centers on the DAR's "remarkable agency in US nationalism > and explains the tenacity of a particular nationalist ideology that > deemed ingrained gender and race hierarchies vital to America's unity > and progress" (p. 2). Wendt's purpose is to reveal the overt > manipulation of historical memory by the DAR, which ultimately worked > to reinforce American understandings of gendered and racial > hierarchies during the twentieth century. Additionally, he tackles > the social function of female activism and its internal struggles > with issues like regional tensions between members hailing from the > Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the West. > > Relying on the merits of cultural history, political science, > sociology, and gender studies, Wendt synthesizes five different > categories of historical analysis into one cohesive review of the > social, political, and cultural implications of the prominent DAR > organization. At first glance, his objective seems overly ambitious; > however, Wendt manages to construct a powerful account of female > agency, as well as conservative activism, through proposed > nationalist beliefs and practices regarding their interpretations of > historical memory. The deliberate choice to use a particular > organization to explore the interests of conservative female > activists during the twentieth century enables Wendt to avoid the > pitfalls of a disorganized amalgamation of multiple activist groups > and to instead concentrate his attention on how a single organization > engaged with complex social, political, and cultural issues, > specifically concerning American historical memory on the national, > regional, and local levels. > > Wendt opens by focusing his attention on the various DAR > commemorative efforts and the exclusive and conservative DAR > worldview that accompanied their activist energies, the racial > prejudices inherent within the organization, and its rapid decline, > particularly in the postwar period. To elaborate, the first chapter > offers an analysis of twentieth-century DAR members' attempts to > recognize female participation in the American Revolution, > specifically in terms of patriotic motherhood and in the role of > dutiful helpmates to the founding fathers. By shaping historical > memory from this perspective, Wendt asserts that the DAR worked to > preserve the gender hierarchy in place within larger contemporary > American society. Chapter 2 relates the DAR's purpose in exploring > topics like western expansion and nation-building. Pulling from ample > archival research of various midwestern and western DAR chapters, > Wendt demonstrates that by revisiting the historical memory of the > pioneer days, the narrative proposed by the Daughters could both > "maintain strict racial boundaries of national inclusion while > simultaneously upholding traditional gender binaries within white > America" (p. 7). > > In chapters 3 and 4, Wendt considers the contradictory attitude the > exclusively white DAR members held toward other racial groups, and > more broadly, the role race played in the United States' white > nation-building rhetoric. Chapter 3, for example, highlights the > relationship between white Americans and indigenous Native Americans > as an example of how the DAR attempted to bring Native Americans into > the patriotic fold of the United States. Using deliberate historical > amnesia to negate strained racial relationships and instead > concentrate on friendship and cooperation, the DAR showed support for > indigenous communities in historical memory that was unique, for it > did not extend to African Americans. Instead of attempting to > incorporate African Americans into cultural memory, Wendt contends, > the DAR employed additional tactics of historical amnesia to promote > a distorted image of American history, one that ignored the > perpetration of racial violence and the positive contributions from > Black communities. Lastly, the author concludes with a discussion of > the DAR's decline in the postwar period, as a result of the > organization's failure to adapt to the sociopolitical challenges > posed by the social movements from the 1950s through the early 1970s. > > Wendt's monograph is based on a solid foundation of archival research > from around the United States. His mountain of evidence ranges from > DAR chapter collections to members' personal correspondence to > excerpts from the DAR monthly newsletter and _DAR Magazine_, to > chapter scrapbooks and national and local news media platforms. > Furthermore, he provides a variety of illustrations that clarify the > types of commemorative practices these women engaged with, including > the construction of historical monuments and geographical markers. > Wendt's work also offers an expansive bibliography, and his > historiographical account of the field is impeccable as he balances > the expectations of the various categories of historical analysis. > His terms are always well defined and placed within the context of > his argument, specifically in regard to methodological concepts like > historical memory, gender, nationalism, and cultural activism. > > Wendt ultimately supports his argument that this conservative female > activist group, whose original intention was to emphasize the roles > of women in American history, also made sure to safeguard traditional > understandings of the gendered and racial hierarchies entrenched in > twentieth-century America. If there is a downside, the fourth chapter > seems to be needlessly split in its attention to race, with disparate > discussions of ethnic nationalism through considerations of African > Americans, the Civil War, and late nineteenth-century immigration > patterns. However, Wendt provides a significant account of female > activism and the important themes the DAR's story might reveal about > social, political, and cultural factors in the twentieth century. > > In all, this monograph is a worthwhile read to those in a variety of > academic fields, including but not limited to history, political > science, sociology, racial and ethnic studies, and gender studies. > However, due to the clear and engaging style of his writing, this > book might also intrigue non-academic readers interested in the DAR > organization. _The Daughters of the American Revolution and Patriotic > Memory in the Twentieth Century _is a wonderful read which will be > immensely helpful to those who are interested in the intersections > between race, gender, nationalism, activism, and historical memory. > > Citation: Hannah Friesen. Review of Wendt, Simon, _The Daughters of > the American Revolution and Patriotic Memory in the Twentieth > Century_. H-War, H-Net Reviews. February, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56092 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6494): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6494 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80733248/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
