One of his specialties is cultural geography, which he described in a telephone interview as the way people interact with their environment. He was surprised by the dearth of historical markers concerning the town's celebrated witch trials, and that started him thinking about the way people memorialize or ignore historical events. It's interesting to try to figure out why they were selected. And those sentiments may fade over time, reducing the importance of those sites while others receive renewed attention. He cited President Ulysses S. Grant's tomb in New York City, which fell into disrepair and wasn't fixed until descendants threatened to exhume the body and take it home to Ohio.
People lose interest.
He mentioned several examples of the opposite trend. The place each Kent State University student died during the anti-Vietnam war demonstration in 1970 now has a permanent marker, although school officials dragged their feet on an official monument until 1990. Foote said he is disturbed by the high degree of tolerance Americans have toward violence, both historic and current. In the book, Foote has an explanation for some of this. In a nation created from revolution, it can be difficult to rationalize the suppression of protest and insurrection.