Historical Literacy

Journalist and historian David McCollough had this to say at this year's annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures:

The lessons of history are going right by our young Americans…For the past twenty-five years, we have been raising a generation of youth that are for all practical purposes, historically illiterate.

According to this account of Mr. McCollough's address, the generational illiteracy results both from what is taught (or not taught) in schools and from what is no longer taught as families gather around a dinner table. He also emphasized that history should be interesting because it is about people. Sadly, that is not often enough the way that it is taught.

I would love to hear the entire address. The account of it is very good.

Hat Tip: The Thicket