Her impeccable research, combined with her stature within the profession, positioned Maier to nudge the narrative – but did it move? We can gain some measure of how these respond (or don’t respond) to historical correction by examining the relative impact of Maier’s work. Although traditional narratives, particularly those of a nation’s founding, are not impervious to change, they prefer to stay put. She had no ideological agenda other than setting the record straight, but that is no easy feat. Maier deconstructed popular mythologies by reconstructing historical narratives, basing her work exclusively on contemporaneous sources. In four important books she wrote and rewrote the history of the nation’s founding, but how seriously have her findings been treated? Her New York Times obituary appeared under this banner: “Pauline Maier, Historian Who Described Jefferson as ‘Overrated,’ Dies at 75.” (i) A lifetime of work exploring the popular roots of revolution and nation-building was reduced to a catchy sound bite. Upon her untimely passing Pauline Maier has been much celebrated, and deservedly so.
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