Cultural History and Material Culture: Everyday Life, Landscapes, Museums.

In this volume Thomas Schlereth brings together fourteen previously published and two new articles that discuss the value of material culture study in understanding America's past and the role of museums in interpreting material culture. Arguing that a richer sense of the past emerges when historians connect the things of the past with larger issues of social change, Schlereth proposes a theoretical and historiographic framework for the study of material culture. In so doing Schlereth has reaffirmed his position as an important scholar in this field. Predicating his analysis on the relationship between culture and material culture, Schlereth elevates the study of objects to embrace a deeper historical epistemology than has characterized the field. As the study of material culture incorporates theories suggested by cultural anthropology, sociology, literary criticism, and the behavioral sciences, its application to historical analysis becomes more meaningful. This interdisciplinary approach corresponds with changes in the historical field at large, but its success requires a mastery of the relevant literature.

These sixteen essays, spanning almost fifteen years, reflect Schlereth's maturing interpretations of material culture. As a result, more recent articles and the introductory passages to each essay argue more successfully for the intersection of cultural history and material culture than older works. Still, early articles provide the seeds for later ideas and explore important, but often neglected, dimensions of material culture. Taken together the chapters in this book serve as a primer for material culture studies and would prove useful for students entering the field. Weaknesses in some chapters are addressed in others. For example, an article on "Plants Past," first published in 1980, lacks the sophistication for reading the historic landscape evident in chapters that discuss changing land use patterns in urban areas, class relationships to space, and environmental history concerns.

Schlereth is a master at extrapolating from objects those questions that inevitably inform our understanding of larger historical processes. From the particular he sees the broader implications. This is most evident in chapters that explore the material culture of groups in the workplace, notably the artisan community as the Republic took shape and the middle class as white collar office work flourished during the Progressive era. Historiographically well-versed, Schlereth is able to build on recent scholarly research into these important groups. It is his familiarity with the ideas presented by scholars that permits full exploration of the objects from these cultures. By example Schlereth suggests a methodology for interpreting material culture.

While advocating a range of possibilities for utilizing material culture in understanding the past, fortunately Schlereth admits to the limitations of the medium. Material culture lends itself to selective saving. More artifacts from elites have survived than from the working-class. Less of the history of marginalized groups has been preserved than that of groups in power. Urban areas have benefitted from institutions that collect and preserve material culture more than secondary and tertiary cities. Rural communities exhibit a proclivity to save more than areas where new goods are readily available. People privilege some historical periods over others, leaving gaps in what has been saved. As with any historical evidence, historians must be alert to bias and particularism.

Despite a broader definition of what constitutes historical evidence, the use of material culture by historians as a window into the past remains limited. In Victorian America: Transformations of Everyday Life, 1876-1915, a companion book to this work, Schlereth attempts to integrate material culture into a broad study of American society during a period of increased production and consumption. This is the synthesis of cultural history and material culture Schlereth has been encouraging. For this model to be successful, however, historians who have not traditionally used the medium of material culture need to be convinced of its efficacy. Inroads here have been slow.

What has changed over the last fifteen years is the increased presence of academic historians within the world of material culture, notably in museums. Schlereth devotes the last third of his book to this phenomenon. The National Endowment for the Humanities, through its power as a funding agency, has insisted on a primary role for scholars in interpreting material culture. Schlereth has supported this effort and additionally pushed for the critical evaluation by academics of the work done in museums. Museum exhibitions are now regularly reviewed in scholarly journals.

A prolific writer and active consultant for numerous museum projects, Schlereth has made significant contributions to the field of material culture. In his work he calls upon historians, working in a variety of settings, to expand their way of doing history. To develop and implement a sound theoretical and historiographic framework for material culture studies and cultural history such as Schlereth has presented here, however, requires diligence. Disciples will have to adhere to the master's example of rigorous analysis based on extensive readings within those fields complementary to material culture. One can hope that such efforts will be forthcoming.

Marilyn Zoidis Carnegie Mellon University