If history can indeed be interesting, why is it not commonly treated as such? Experts believe the issue lies in how it’s taught—mainly through textbooks. In his book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, sociologist and historian James W. Loewen explains why they fail to capture our imagination:
“The stories that history textbooks tell are all predictable; every problem has already been solved or is about to be solved,” he writes. “Textbooks exclude conflict or real suspense. They leave out anything that might reflect badly upon our national character. When they try for drama, they achieve only melodrama, because readers know that everything will turn out fine in the end.”
“Textbooks also keep students in the dark about the nature of history. History is furious debate informed by evidence and reason. Textbooks encourage students to believe that history is facts to be learned,” Loewen adds.
Studying it this way meets a certain need—“a need that should not exist”—to simply absorb information in order to pass standardized tests. “It is the need for teachers who are not, first and foremost, teachers of history or social studies,” Loewen says.
David Cutler, a teacher of history and journalism at Brimmer and May in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, calls textbooks intimidating. They’re typically massive, around 1,000 pages long. “With so much dense, mind-numbing text, too many students give up trying to understand what’s really important,” he says.
“None of the facts is remembered, because they are presented simply as one damn thing after another,” Loewen notes. He drives the point with a simple metaphor, “While textbook authors tend to include most of the trees and all too many twigs, they neglect to give readers even a glimpse of what they might find memorable: the forests”.
History truly comes alive when it feels tangible and allows you to make your own conclusions instead of blindly following someone else’s retelling of events. Photos, records, speeches, songs, even old newspapers, diaries, and letters—these are all ways to connect with the past in a personal and thought-provoking way.
Kyle Blackmer, a humanities teacher at The Heights School, shows how just a few photos can turn history into an immersive experience. For example, when teaching about the American Civil War, he lines up portraits of generals and asks students to describe their personalities based on their appearance.
“Seeing the proud, manicured, Napoleonic McClellan, the melancholic, humble Grant, and the anxious, intense Sherman all side by side is a great primer for studying the differences in leadership between these three and sets up a deeper look at their actions in the war,” he explains.
Truth is, it’s natural for humans to be curious about the past. We have an innate drive to explore what came before us, something that 16th century British antiquarian William Camden described as a “back-looking curiositie”. Psychologists refer to this as epistemic curiosity—a thirst for knowledge that motivates us to discover new ideas and learn.
So when people have the opportunity to engage with history in an enjoyable way, their enthusiasm shines through. According to a survey by Conner Prairie, 91% of Americans are eager to visit history museums that promise to spark their curiosity and offer fun ways to learn. Moreover, 89% are interested in museums that help them feel more connected to the past, giving them insights into both today’s world and the future.