Obituary: History Professor-Emeritus Gary B. Nash Saturday, August 07, 2021
Gary B. Nash, UCLA historian who shaped American history curriculum, dies at 88 Melissa Gomez, LA Times, 8-6-21
Gary B. Nash, a leading UCLA scholar revered for his role in shaping K-12 American history curricula and admired for standing his ground — even in a public entanglement with the wife of a U.S. vice president — has died. Nash died of colon cancer July 29 at age 88, his family said. Although he retired from UCLA in 1994, he wrote more than 30 history books and textbooks focused on American history, race and class, and continued to publish articles, essays and op-eds long afterward. In an interview with the Economist about the recent politically driven outrage over the teachings of race in K-12 classrooms, Nash said the attempts to ban “uncomfortable” conversations will lead to less productive discussions. “We want division of opinions for young people to grow up learning to express themselves, argue about it, think hard about it,” Nash said. “Patriotism is not just saluting the flag. It’s becoming responsible citizens who will take an active role in what’s going on around them.” Nash had his own brush with conservative-led efforts to censor school curricula. As founding director of UCLA’s National Center for History in the Schools, where he worked for 20 years, he spearheaded efforts to diversify American history courses and championed the stories of nonwhite groups that were often excluded from history textbooks. While at UCLA, he co-directed the National History Standards Project, which included four years’ worth of input from teachers, historians, parents and educators to propose a national history curriculum for U.S. students. Nash and his colleagues were ensnared in a political firestorm after the standards were published. Lynne Cheney, wife of then-Vice President Dick Cheney, led a crusade alongside conservative critics, attacking the standards as “politicized history.” Cheney complained that the standards, which were meant to help school officials recalibrate history courses, were not positive UCLA Faculty Association Blog: 3rd Quarter 2021
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