Preserving memory
Subtitle: the struggle to create America's Holocaust Museum
By: Edward T. Linenthal.
Publisher: Viking
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780670860678
Subjects: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -- History.; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -- Exhibitions.; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Exhibitions.; Holocaust memorials -- Political aspects -- United States.; United States -- Politics and government -- 1981-1989.; United States -- Politics and government -- 1989-1993.
Description: From the moment it opened on April 22, 1993, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has captivated the American public with its innovative and affecting representation of one of the century's most troubling events. In its first year, it attracted nearly two million visitors -- at the rate of five thousand a day -- each of whom walked away with a lasting impression of awe in the face of the unimaginable. This honest, lively, and readable story of its creation portrays the emotionally complex and intellectually complicated struggles surrounding the birth of the museum. Striking in its tone and subtle observation, Preserving Memory tells the remarkable story of the fifteen-year struggle surrounding the project. Beset by endless obstacles, but imbued with the determination to create a worthy memorial to the pain and devastation of the "Final Solution," the museum's creators succeeded in making a monument to the extremes of human goodness and evil. - Jacket flap.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-321) and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface : Violence and the American Landscape; title: Locating Holocaust Memory in American Culture; title: The Decision to Remember; title: Who Owns the Memory? : The Politics of Representation : The President's Commission on the Holocaust; title: Who Owns the Memory? : The Politics of Representation : The United States Holocaust Memorial Council; title: Summary Reflections : The Volatility of Holocaust Memory; title: The Site of Holocaust Memory; title: Building Holocaust Memory; title: Embryonic Thoughts : The Commission's Museum; title: Beginnings : 1980-87; title: The End of the Wiesel Era and Beyond; title: Jeshajahu "Shaike" Weinberg and the Changing Nature of the Permanent Exhibition; title: Interior Space : The Mood of Memory; title: Personalizing the Story : Faces and Artifacts; title: Enduring Issues : Shaping the Boundaries of Memory; title: The Boundaries of Horror; title: The Boundaries of Representation : The Perpetrators; title: The Boundaries of Representation : An Artifact Out of Place; title: The Boundaries of Interpretation : Contested Issues and the Voice of the Exhibition; title: The Boundaries of Inclusion : Armenians and Gypsies; title: The Center and the Periphery of Holocaust Memory; title: Endings : The Lure of Redemption; title: Mobilizing Holocaust Memory; title: Burdensome Memory; title: Treacherous Memory; title: Murderous Memory; title: Hopeful Memory