How to Accomplish Quality Historical Fiction

From writers like Cooper, Stowe, and Lew Wallace (to say nothing of Marga­ret Mitchell, John Jakes, and Alex Ha­ley) and film-makers D. W. Griffith and John Ford, Americans, for better or worse, have been learning their “his­tory.” The popular view of the black condition in America that underlay the politics of abolitionism and affirmative action was shaped not by F. L. Olmsted, Eugene Genovese, or Herbert Gutman, but by Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Gone With the Wind, and The Birth of a Nation. Surely more Americans’ perception of Huey Long has been shaped by Robert Penn Warren than by T. Harry Williams. The examples are endless.

Novelistic and cinemagraphic depictions of historical episodes pack a vastly greater wallop than do scholarly ac­ counts. Compare your American history survey text’s chapter on the Great De­pression with The Grapes of Wrath. Novels don’t have to be great, however; bad novels are even more influential among the public than sound historical works. But consider how much good a work could do if it were reviewed by historans before rather than after its publica­tion.

In most cases works of fiction, and in every case works purporting to present historical fact, can be brought much closer to sound replication of the past through consultation with an appropri­ate professional historian. Such advice is not expensive (unfortunately for  those of us in the profession) and often entails very little in the way of revision or alteration of plot, character, and setting. If professional consultation is undertak­en early enough in the project, preven­tion will make cure unnecessary.

The models for such collaboration between historians and popular produc­ers are numerous. NEH’s insistence on such collaboration in historical film and TV scripts they fund has led to many worthy collaborations. Commercial film producers and publishers are much less likely to bring historians into their pro­ ductions, however, and that is where the American Historical Association can ful­fill an important professional obliga­tion.

I look to the day when no TV pro­ducer, no film producer, no author or publisher of historical fiction or nonfic­tion, adult or juvenile, would dream of undertaking such an effort without involving historians at a very early stage. In time this vision can be brought to reality if the historical profession takes this responsibility seriously. This news­letter, the Journal of American History, the Newsletter of the OAH, the History Teacher, and other professional publi­cations already provide scholarly re­views of some popular works, most es­pecially TV “docudramas.” Both the scope of material reviewed and the me­dia to which reviews are offered should be vastly broadened. Reviews of widely disseminated popular historical works could at least prevent teachers from using seriously flawed works in class­ rooms, and at best reduce sales on the commercial market. It would not be long before commercial producers would be forced to consult professionals before they publish or exhibit their works.

To help accomplish the objective of bringing better grounded and less fanci­ful depictions of the past to the general public, I propose the establishment  of an AHA Committee on Popular His­tory. By popular history, as distin­guished from public history, I mean history that is sold on the mass market. In talking about Jakes’ readership, not Tuchman’s; ABC’s audience, not PBS’s.

This committee, under AHA auspices, would try to encourage   publishers to involve historians in their plans at early stages; would commission reviews of popular historical works, including works of fiction; would prepare publica­tions, such as a regular column, for distribution to school teachers at all lev­els and to publications reaching wide educational audiences; and be available to provide reviews or consultation to Choice, Publishers’ Weekly, the Library Journal, and other early review publica­tions.

For those historians who believe that the profession has a part to play in informing public discourse on  matters of state and society, the establishment of an AHA Committee on Popular History is more than a proposal worth thinking about.  It  is a  proposal worth doing.