I Read Lies Across America Because I Love It When Other People Are Wrong

This log cabin is a lie!

Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong by James W. Loewen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love little nitpicky bits of information, and I love tiny moments in history, so although I never really found my groove with this book, I did love learning all its little nitpicky bits of information and discussions of tiny moments in history.

I read the 1999 version of the book, not the updated 2019 version, so there is some outdated terminology that I hope has since been corrected, and I know for sure that there’s been positive progress in the depiction of some of these historical figures and events, as well. I was loaded for bear when I visited the Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historical Site recently, ready to fight for Catharine’s due representation, only to happily find that it’s already there! Most of my tour of the house was actually about Catharine’s work, since she was the one most often home with the freedom seekers, and the docent was well-prepared to be peppered with all of my Catharine Coffin questions.

The Wikipedia page for the Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Site, at least, also now also indicates the “symbolic nature” of the log cabin inside that weird mansion-like mausoleum they’ve got on their premises--

--and relates a short version of the shell game-like history of its logs that Loewen goes into more detail about, but I remember that when we went there as a family I still thought after reading the info and viewing the exhibit that it was an authentic cabin--not Lincoln’s cabin, but someone’s proper cabin!--so Loewen’s criticisms were still valid then.

I was interested to read Loewen’s retelling of one of my other Special Interests in History, that time in 1924 when the Ku Klux Klan took over nearly every political office in Indiana from school board up through the governor’s seat. Loewen’s 1999 version lacked some of the nuance of the story that we know now (shout-out to The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland!), but I wonder if his synopsis is the first time that the tale had been told via mass publication? I don’t know if I really agree with his assessment that there ought to be some historical markers about the period, because it’s not really a place-based event--unless we want to put a marker at each of the Indiana Welcome Centers?--but I do wish that it was part of everyone’s general education, and especially part of Indiana history books. There are a few more important things kids can learn about in the fourth grade other than the Constitution Elm!

Parts of the book had some weirdly overt assertions of opinion that I’m not used to in a history text, and I also didn’t love most of Loewen’s first-person hijinks--he really did not need to write a passy-assy honest-to-god letter to the Jeffrey Amherst Bookshop omg how embarrassing. But hey, it’s closed now, so Loewen won!

After reading the book and looking at the pages that I’d marked, it’s clear that I was most interested, by far, in the lies that have been told me about the places I’ve lived, like Arkansas and Indiana, and the places I’ve visited. Combine that with the fact that this book took me a really long time to slog through, so much so that I only managed to finally finish it during a 54-hour power outage when I felt like I absolutely had to do SOMETHING productive sans electricity, and I think that what I really want is a Lies Across America travel guide! I want glossy photos, specific locations for each marker, and related interesting amenities, quirky things to see, and ideally even nearby sites with accurate information. Bonus points for corny on-theme buffet restaurants!

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