UF Center for Latin American Studies
A Response to Mary Beth Norton by Dr. Lillian Guerra
July 3, 2018
Dr. Lillian Guerra, Center for Latin American Studies and Department of History faculty, published a response to AHA president Mary Beth Norton's piece “Why Are You a Historian?” on The Magazine of the American Historical Association Perspectives on History.
According to Norton, two scholars “cited parents active in leftist politics” in explaining why they became historians. For me, studying history was never a choice, in the same way that becoming a historian wasn’t simply a professional option: it was a route to social change. When I was a kid, my own “otherness” compelled me to study history. When I grew up, I decided that becoming a historian was the best way someone like me could change the world.
