At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States was faced
with a new and radically mixed population, one that included freed
African Americans, former reservation Indians, and a burgeoning
immigrant population. In "The Autobiography of Citizenship," Tova
Cooper looks at how educators tried to impose unity on this
divergent population, and how the new citizens in turn often
resisted these efforts, reshaping mainstream U.S. culture and
embracing their own view of what it means to be an American.
"The Autobiography of Citizenship" traces how citizenship education
programs began popping up all over the country, influenced by the
progressive approach to hands-on learning popularized by John Dewey
and his followers. Cooper offers an insightful account of these
programs, enlivened with compelling readings of archival materials
such as photos of students in the process of learning;
autobiographical writing by both teachers and new citizens; and
memoirs, photos, poems, and novels by authors such as W.E.B. Du
Bois, Jane Addams, Charles Reznikoff, and Emma Goldman. Indeed,
Cooper provides the first comparative, inside look at these
citizenship programs, revealing that they varied wildly: at one
end, assimilationist boarding schools required American Indian
children to transform their dress, language, and beliefs, while at
the other end the libertarian Modern School encouraged immigrant
children to frolic naked in the countryside and learn about the
world by walking, hiking, and following their whims.
Here then is an engaging portrait of what it was like to be, and
become, a U.S. citizen one hundred years ago, showing that what it
means to be "American" is never static.
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