History has always been written by the conquerors and rewritten
by those in power. This is clearly shown across our landscape,
with monuments and markers that demean or demonize Native
Americans, ignore or tell half-truths about minorities and women
and make heroes out of Confederate soldiers turned Ku Klux Klan
leaders. All of this is addressed in James W. Loewen’s book,
Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. This
book is both a humorous and disturbing take on what our nation’s
landscape remembers and honors. Some of the markers addressed
are so ridiculous that it’s funny, while others are so openly
racist or sexist that it is upsetting to see them dot our
nation. This is, of course, the point of the book, to make
people aware of the inaccuracies of markers/monuments/sites and
how they negatively impact people. This information is
important, not only for people in the preservation and
interpretation field, but also for citizens on a local, state
and federal level. We all have a say in how ou