NEWS

Barry Schwartz

William A. Owens Award 2000

Barry Schwartz is the foremost sociologist on history and collective memory in the United States. His books, including George Washington: The Making of an American Symbol and Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory, trace the development of these former presidents’ original reputations to their current status as cultural symbols. Schwartz’s premise is that our concept of history is shaped by current political and social concerns.