America on the move

Journal of Transport History, The, Sep 2005 by McShane, Clay

America on the move 'America on the Move: Transportation and the American Story', National Museum of American History, National Mall, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington DC Phone 1 2026333129. Web site: americanhistory.si.edu. Janet F. Davidson and Michael S. Sweeney, On the Move: Transportation and the American Story, Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic, Washington DC (2003), 320 pp., US$35.00.

'America on the Move', http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/index .html (visited 22 November 2003, 6 December 2004).

America on the Move, produced by Andrew Ames, History Channel television programme (broadcast 29 November 2003), DVDIVHS video (2003), ninety minutes, US$24.95.

This long-awaited exhibition and accompanying media from the National Museum of American History (NMAH) have chosen an emphasis on travel and social impact, and demonstrate excellent organising concepts as historians of transport become more concerned with the mobility experience and move away from narrow studies of technology and industry. The museum was heavily criticised by Ralph Nader, among others, for relying on its major sponsor, General Motors, and the entrance to the exhibition hall certainly proclaims GM's sponsorship in large letters. The exhibition does take a generally 'whiggish' approach to the evolution of mobility -things keep getting better and better -but I don't think it fair to blame this on GM; that is the way most historians view change. It is striking, by the way, that part of the exhibition has a photo of Nader and a discussion of his book Unsafe at any Speed, yet there is no mention of GM's 1930s president, Alfred Sloan, or the car designer Harley Earl.

There are some quibbles, however. Perhaps the exhibition tries to cover too much, and water and air mobility suffer, by contrast to automobile and railroad mobility. Also, the displays are excessively sanitised. The plastic manure under the plastic urban horse is all right, I suppose, but photographs on the Web site make it clear that graffitti have been removed from the Chicago subway car. Yet the graffiti make an important historical point which should not have been ignored. It is also hard to believe that the giant green Southern Railway locomotive ever shone like this when it was operational. The Hansom is an unusual choice as an example of a carriage, since they were used mostly as cabs, and then only in two or three large north-eastern cities.

The book based on the exhibition is a lavishly illustrated, well written coffeetable affair by Janet Davidson, who is a curator at the NMAH, and Michael Sweeney, a journalism professor at Utah State University. It is a valuable addition to the exhibition, giving further depth to many of its themes and reflecting some of the strengths and limits of its parent. It is quite sensitive to matters of race, ethnicity and gender, and covers railroad workers and longshoremen quite well. It is remarkable to see the National Museum lionise labour-union organiser Harry Bridges, long a victim of overly zealous federal prosecutors. As with the exhibition, the book tends to talk about 'the first American this or that', a sure sign that something was borrowed from Europe, for example the automobile and the ocean liner. Oddly enough this treatment extends even to the steamboat, despite the prioritisation of Robert Fulton. It is easy to understand why a crowded exhibition might not mention this, but a book can do better.

Without wishing to be a determinist, this reviewer would conclude that surely western settlers were driven, at least in part, by economic motivation, not just 'collective grit and individual determination'? In general, the book's treatment of the west is a strength, although drawing on the ecological insights of historians like Donald Worster and William Cronon would have given these sections more depth. The authors (and the exhibition) have covered the urban experience quite well and there is an excellent discussion of the On the road' literary genre featuring such writers as Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson and Ken Kesey. One suspects, however, that the museum's critics in Congress would not have welcomed them in the exhibition itself.

The book, for all its virtues, seems to be pitched at largely the same popular audience as the exhibition, for it is undocumented and really does not get far beyond the museum materials. This is fine, but perhaps a wasted opportunity? A scholarly work, based on the museum's artefacts and the research that went into the exhibition, might have been a significant addition to the literature. The Web site and video of the television programme, are, in any case, the media by which those of the general public who are interested in the subject but unable to visit Washington are likely to familiarise themselves with the topic. It would be surprising if the viewing audience for the video was not larger than the number of people who read the book. One would also expect that the Web site gets more hits in a day than the exhibition gets visitors, or the total number of people who buy the book. For the public at large, then, surely, the book, if not exactly dead, is perhaps a little unnecessary?