ABSTRACT
For over a century, the heritage industry in North America was controlled by an elite group of academics, civil servants, and politically powerful citizens with a particular vision of what was important in the past and how it should be presented. This group created public historic sites which promoted the elites’ view of the past and the logical progression its members saw from past to present. The vast majority of historic sites thus focused either on prosperous and powerful men of European descent, or on a nostalgic view of European pioneers and the establishment of the dominant society in North America. These narratives downplayed the contributions of indigenous and minority peoples, women, and the working class, and naturalised the power and wealth of those whose stories were highlighted.
