"Our United States," by Woodburn, Moran, and Hill

[ScottP]

With an increasing number of students joining Powell History for the "Story of America," I thought I would recommend another book that would make a great accompaniment to "A First History for Adults." That book is "Our United States," by Woodburn, Moran, and Hill (Longmans, Green and Co., 1930).

What makes "Our United States" a great book is that it is actually designed to facilitate the learning of the past by the reader, not simply to expose him to the sum of what the author knows. It is not merely a "knowledge dump," as one of my students has termed it, like virtually every modern presentation of the past. "Our United States" is a selective telling of the fundamental facts about the story of America which must be grasped first, if the reader aims to embark on a productive study of history. In the words of the authors, "it is a better educative procedure to follow...the main lines of progress that have marked the history of our country than to attempt to carry them all along at the same time. Instead of presenting a mass of miscellaneous and unrelated facts merely in the order of their happening, we have sought, therefore, to bring out in a unified way the great movements in our history, their causes, beginnings, and growth, and to make known the achievements and character of the great men and women who have made the United States what it is today."

As this passage indicates, and as the book fully demonstrates, the authors of "Our United States" have a remarkable awareness of how the issue of hierarchy applies to history. There *is* a necessary order of learning in history (with certain options), if one is to properly construct knowledge of the past. When that order is respected, it is possible to create a satisfying orientation to history that meets the needs of a first-time reader. On this level, Woodburn, Moran, and Hill have succeeded brilliantly.

Enjoy!

Scott Powell

www.powellhistory.com