Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory

Abstract

Davidson reviews "Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory" by Mike Wallace.

Mike Wallace, Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory (Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1996), xiv+ 318pp., $54.95 (cloth), $18.95 (paper).

In recent years, important debates over the role of history in American society have raged outside of academia in the realm of public history. Indeed most Americans learn about the past through traditional public history venues such as museums and historic districts, or entertainment-based cultural sites such as theme parks and the mass media. Mickey Mouse History is an insightful collection of essays written over the last fifteen years by historian Mike Wallace on diverse aspects of public history. Wallace's overarching attention to which narratives dominate our public conception of history, which ones are ignored, and why, provides an essential critical analysis of the role of history in contemporary culture.

The essays in Mickey Mouse History are grouped into four sections. Section I looks at the evolution and present status of the history museum. Wallace shows how the versions of the past that have emerged in public discourse represent the class-based cultural concerns of their creators. Institutions such as Colonial Williamsburg, founded by millionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr. celebrate an idealized colonial past; urban museums enshrined the material culture of an embattled elite at the turn of the century; and museums of science, industry and technology were designed by engineers to support the myth of continuous technological progress. While Wallace applauds the recent strides in museum practice, he unfailingly points to the topics and perspectives that remain perilously outside of public history, such as the Vietnam War, homelessness, and deindustrialization. Wallace often pushes for more questioning of the international causes and consequences of historical events and more explicit links to contemporary problems.

In Section II, Wallace tackles the topic raised in the title-Mickey Mouse history. From the petrified Cold War ideology of the "Hall of Presidents" to the corporate boosterism imbedded in the EPCOT attractions sponsored by Exxon, AT&T, Kraft and the like, Wallace probes the selective, idealized versions of history openly promoted by Disney. Wallace discusses the inherent contradiction between a corporate version of history such as Disney's and true historical questioning and dialogue as ideally strived for by professional historians. Another essay in this section recounts the story of Disney's ill-fated history theme park planned for Haymarket, Virginia. Wallace applauds the success of efforts to stop Disney, but expresses reservations about some of the tactics used. Wallace sees the conflict here not as between education and entertainment, but "between critical history and the interests of a multibillion dollar corporation with a considerable vested interest in the status quo" (171).

Wallace examines the evolution and present status of historic preservation in Section III. The cultural appeal of resisting free market pressures on the built environment is linked to public understanding of a usable past similar to the founding impulse of many history museums. Wallace pointedly discusses preservation's potentially fatal flawssuch as historic district gentrification displacing poorer residents, and dangerous partnerships with profit-hungry developers during the boom years of the 1980s that backfired as soon as the economy cooled down. Recent struggles against militant property rights advocates has caused many preservationists to champion land use management as a means of quelling the massive impact of development on the physical and social fabric of America. Wallace applauds these new efforts to broaden the preservation constituency. Section IV looks closely at the 1980s and 1990s backlash against the advances in historical interpretation from the new social history of the 1960s and 1970s. Wallace discusses "Ronald Reagan and the Politics of History" to illustrate the appeal of a mythic version of history as promoted by Hollywood. Another essay examines the proposed Enola Gay exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in 1994-95. Conflict between the efforts of NASM curators to discuss the ambiguities of the decision to drop the atomic bomb, and veterans groups seeking to protect the mythic interpretation of a necessary and glorious end to the war illustrate the need for multiple perspectives in the public interpretation of history.

Wallace's view of the critical events in public history is instructive for all historians struggling to expand their constituencies, interpret complex issues, and make history relevant to people trying to understand contemporary dilemmas. By exploring how public history has been constructed and changed, Wallace encourages continued efforts to make public historical discourse a constructive dialogue. This entertaining collection of essays is essential reading for anyone who believes that history matters. -Lisa Pfueller Davidson, George Washington University.