College Dems to host activist

Author: Gretchen Schrafft

Literary editor and political activist Anthony Arnove will visit Middlebury next Wednesday to discuss his book, "Voices of A People's History of the United States." Arnove co-edited Voices with Howard Zinn, the celebrated historian and political scientist whose "A People's History of the United States" has found its way into school curricula across the country since its publication in 1980. Published in 2004, Voices serves as a companion piece to that work.

Arnove's appearance is sponsored by the Middlebury chapter of the College Democrats. It was conceived earlier in the year when members of the group were contemplating ways to raise social awareness on campus. Democrats member Rob King '09 got the idea from a similar event featuring Howard Zinn at Vassar College.

Anthony Arnove received his PhD at Brown University and is currently an editor at South End Press. In addition to Voices, he is also the editor of Iraq Under Siege and Terrorism and War. Arnove has also written featured articles for a number of publications including Monthly Review, Z Magazine, and the Nation. Since its publication, Voices has been hailed by critics as "a much needed wake-up call" and "required reading for every individual lucky enough to call America a home."

An attack upon the maxim that 'history is written by the winners,' Zinn's A People's History of the United States chronicles the course of American history from the perspective of disenfranchised men and women. It begins, for instance, by paying particular attention to the Native Americans who first encountered Columbus upon his arrival to America and continues in this vein all the way up to the present day. Among others, the work focuses on the plight of exploited workers, African Americans and women.

Voices mirrors the progression of A People's History, providing primary source material throughout. It draws upon archives, books, articles, pamphlets and a variety of other documentation in an effort to showcase what Arnove and Zinn refer to as "the eloquent, often uncompromising voices of resistance that have mostly been shut out of the orthodox histories, the major media, the standard textbooks, the controlled culture." These dissident accounts range from those of figures as well known as Sojourner Truth and Mark Twain to work simply credited to 'anonymous'.

Arnove is scheduled to speak at 4:30 in Dana Auditorium, Wednesday, March 15th. The discussion will focus on the significance of his work and will include a question-and-answer session. The College Democrats have also selected six Middlebury students to read excerpts from Voices.