Just about anyone who has had a childhood hero understands the desire to only look at the positive qualities of that hero, not their negative ones. However, as people grow up, many begin to address their heroes’ shortcomings and realize that everyone has flaws and weaknesses. How the hero deals with and, in some cases, overcomes their negative attributes is what makes them human and all the more worth looking up to. If everyday people come to this qualifying realization about their childhood idols, why can’t some historians do the same when writing articles?
What I am referring to is the way in which some historians present only the positive, heroic history of a person, government, ruler, or organization they deem to be worthy of praise. For example, Norman Jones’s article “The Continuous Death and Reresection of the Liberal Arts,” discusses the long journey of liberal arts institutions, all of which have had major ups and downs throughout the years. Interestingly enough, Jones attributes the staying power of these institutions to the hard work and dedication of the AACU, or the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Throughout the article, Jones showcases the main achievements and helpful nature of the AACU without ever saying one bad word about them.
Could it be possible that the AACU has never made any mistakes and thus has no flaws? Definitely not. Even the seemingly invincible Superman has his shortcomings. What seems to be more probable is that Jones, who is a senior fellow of the organization, wanted to promote a golden image of the AACU for its one hundredth anniversary. Instead of admitting the organization’s shortcomings and possibly providing information that would destroy his argument about the influence the AACU had on the liberal arts, Jones decided to tell a more simplified version of the past where his desired hero reigned supreme.
Do other historians do this? Sometimes. Throughout history, historians have had some kind of objective in their writing, whether that be to describe the rule of a particular king or the nationalist history of a country. That is to say, some historians do write to make one side, person, or organization look good. The way in which they accomplish this task is by leaving out information, just like Jones did. Other historians try to produce more neutral interpretations of the past, but since bias is inherent in every person, it is difficult to accomplish. In that sense, nearly every historical work is going to make one side seem better or more important than it actually is even if the historian is trying hard to prevent that every occurrence from happening.
In that case, is history a lost cause? Absolutely not. Every person, whether they are a child looking up to their hero or a historian writing about liberal arts, automatically has some bias associated with how they see evidence and the world around them. Therefore, every piece of history is going to be swayed in one direction or another. However, that does not mean that history is useless. All this unavoidable factor means is that people cannot rely on a single source to get the truth about a person, organization, or event. Sources much be compared with one another, critiqued, and evaluated to the highest extent. In doing so, people will be able to see a more complete picture of the person or event they are trying to study.
Just as children have a hard time coming to terms with the flaws of their idols, historians often have issues with presenting the past in its entirety. Some authors, like Norman Jones, are more obvious about their biases than others and end up creating one-sided historical accounts. Even so, that does not mean that the accounts are meaningless. Maybe the AACU did have a major impact on the staying power of liberal arts institutions. Maybe they did not. The important idea to remember is that people cannot rely on one account alone to reconstruct the past. Sources must be compared, critiqued, and analysed in order to draw out the full meaning, and beauty, of the past.
To learn more about Norman Jones’s work, please visit the following link:
https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/2015-2016/fall-winter/jones
Bears Make History: Tale By Morgana O. 