‘And then you see it, incredibly, unfurling its granite steps before you.’
Dwight Pitcaithley, former chief historian of the National Park Service, once wrote that the ‘perception’ of an historical artefact is ‘part of the nation’s ritualist public tribute to its own humble origins.’ In firming up ‘the nation’s image’ of itself, this perceived historical artefact is ‘indispensible’. He was referring to Lincoln’s birthplace, the very cabin before you. (Not, of course, to the less humble marble and granite monument around it.) Continue reading
American Library 