American Identities An Introductory Textbook

by Rudnick, Lois P.; Smith, Judith E.; Rubin, Rachel Lee

• ISBN13: 9780631234319
• ISBN10: 0631234314
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-07
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

American Identities is a dazzling array of primary documents and critical essays culled from American history, literature, memoir, and popular culture that explore major currents and trends in American history from World War II to the present. The textbook charts the rich multiplicity of American identities as refracted through the different lenses of race, class, and gender, and shaped by common historical social processes such as migration, families, work, and war. Rather than simply teaching history, American Identities actively engages students in the history-making process while developing the skills crucial to interpreting meaningful and enduring cultural texts. Substantial editorial matter and the accompanying instructorrs"s guide provide resources for classroom use and for student projects, including: bull; bull;Headnotes and study guide questions for each reading bull;Exercises for individual and group reading and viewing bull;Timelines bull;Interview questions bull;Bibliographies to guide students into becoming readers of American culture and historians of their families.

Author Biography

Lois P. Rudnick is Professor of English and American Studies and Director of the American Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Judith E. Smith is Professor of American Studies and Director, Graduate Program in American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Rachel Lee Rubin is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Table of Contents

Alternative Contents by Type

Acknowledgments

Preface: How to Use This Book

Introduction

Identity, Family, and Memory

Understanding Identity

Identities and Social Locations: Who Am I?

Who Are My People?

American Families in Historical Perspective

What We Really Miss About the 1950s

Memory and Community

Generational Memory in an American Town

Growing Up Asian in America

World War II and the Post-War Era 1940-1960

World War II and American Families

War Babies

From Citizen 13660

The Cold War and Domestic Politics

Containment at Home: Cold War, Warm Hearth

The Problem That Has No Name

The Civil Rights Revolution, 1945-1960

From Like One of the Family: Conversations from a Domestic's Life

Family Migrations, Urban and Suburban

Songs of the Chicago Blues: "I'm A Man" Bo Diddley; "I Just Want To Make Love To You"

Halfway to Dick and Jane: A Puerto Rican Pilgrimage

From Goodbye, Columbus

War and Social Movements, 1960-1975

The Civil Rights Movement

Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Message to the Grass Roots

Songs of the Civil Rights Movement: "Oh Freedom;" "Keep Your Eyes On The Prize;" "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round;" "We Shall Overcome"

Student Activism

Port Huron Statement : Students for a Democratic Society

The Port Huron Statement at 40

The Vietnam War

Mapping the Losses

From Born on the Fourth of July

From Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War

From Black Power: Its Need and Substance

"Respect"

"Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)"

13-Point Program and Platform

Women's Lives, Women's Rights

Sources of the Second Wave: The Rebirth of Feminism

NOW Bill of Rights: National Organization for Women

The Liberation of Black Women

Jessie Lopez de la Cruz: The Battle for Farmworkers' Rights

This Country Was a Lot Better Off When the Indians Were Running It, and The Occupation of Alcatraz Island from Indians of All Tribes

The Gay Liberation Movement

Gay Liberation

The Fighting Irishman

The Drag Queen

The New American Right

From Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right

A Post-Industrial and Global Society, 1975-2000

Deindustrializing America

The Great U-Turn

From "It Ain't No Sin To Be Glad You're Alive": The Promise of Bruce Springsteen

A Musical Representation of Work in Post-Industrial America: from Nebraska

Class in America: Myths and Realities (2000)

Marriage and Family: Modern and Postmodern

Motherhood and Morality in America

The Making and Unmaking of Modern Families

Multicultural America

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