Here’s the cover of the Atlantic Monthly that
inspired the Park Slope 100. I saw it, I read the list and I
immediately got inspired to do a list for greater Park Slope.
Interestingly, my first reaction to the list of 100 Influential
Americans was one of annoyance. I guess it’s a natural reaction. The
list was pretty much the names you’d expect. Very predictable. Very
dull. There weren’t many woman or minorities on the list and that was
annoying. It seemed very textbook, very conventional.
Still it inspired my little exercise.
The article is called: WHO MADE AMERICA?
Who are the –most influential figures in American history? The
Atlantic recently asked ten eminent historians. The result was The
Atlantic’s Top 100—and some insight into the nature of influence and
the contingency of history. Was Walt Disney really more influential
than Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Benjamin Spock than Richard Nixon? Elvis
Presley than Lewis and Clark? John D. Rockefeller than Bill Gates? Babe
Ruth than Frank Lloyd Wright? Let the debates begin.