A Historian Reads: Coming of Age in Buffalo

As the previous review of Grace Palladino's Teenager: An American History noted, studies of youth and youth culture have unfortunately fallen to the trap of homogenizing a culture in the efforts to understand it. William Graebner's 1987 book Coming of Age in Buffalo was an early attempt to introduce diversity to the study of youth. He argues that youth are not all the same across the nation. Instead of approaching youth strictly as an age group, Graebner offers readers the option of looking at youth through the regional, racial, social, religious, and economic sub groups that they belong to. He does this by presenting Buffalo, NY as a case study and example of how to approach youth from the regional perspective.

Youth in Buffalo are divided by race and religion, notes Graebner, and this impacts how these youth interacted and behaved. Also important to note, is that these differences also influenced how adult authority figures reacted to these youth and their feelings towards them. Graebner uses school yearbooks, church pamphlets, and parent teacher association publications to teach readers about these divisions. However, Graebner quickly notes that these materials, even those produced by high school students, are ultimately filtered through adult authority figures and embedded with their ideas of propriety and youth. Here he stumbles upon one of the greatest problems facing historians of youth cultures and "deviant" cultures. They are rarely the creators of the primary sources about them. As seen in studies regarding teenage pregnancy in the 1940's and LGBT communities in the early twentieth century, many of the primary sources used by historians in their research are created by those in the dominant culture who record these communities and individuals using their social lenses. Youth are similarly impacted by these phenomenon because much of what they consume or create is done through the help of adults who generally exercise greater power and influence. Graebner identifies this issue and quick to note the fallacy that it creates. Studying youth often leads to greater information about adults.

This books is relatively short in length for a university press, however it is packed with detailed information about Buffalo teen culture and the diversity within. It does so through very clear writing and organization that is never confusing, overwhelming, or dull. More importantly, Graebner adds a unique spin to the tradition academic history book and includes large photos, articles, drawings, and ads from Buffalo that have an almost "scrapbook" feel. It involves the reader to a larger degree because no longer are you just reading about teen hang outs but you see photos of actual teenagers in Buffalo at a friend's house listening to music. It takes history out of the inhuman analysis and reminds us that our subjects lived and experienced life the same way we did.

Despite methodological issues that appear with a study about youth, Graebner moves the literature forward by acknowledging these trappings and using this admission to make a better analysis of youth. However, it is Graebner's approach to the generalization of youth that makes this book so noteworthy. His ideas, although provoking, did not catch on in the study of youth despite the influential nature of his book (it is frequently cited in academic and popular publications about youth and the 1950's until today). I believe it is a book worth revisiting for its theoretical thesis and can be used to inspire more detailed and localized studies of youth in America. For too long, American youth have been categorized into a homogeneous label that ignore the richness of natural diversity and this is doing more harm than good to the study of youth.

A Historian Reads: Teenagers, An American History

In the process of doing any historical writing, it is necessary to do what historians call, historiography. What this means is reading what other people have written about the subject we are interested in. This is an important step for historians because it informs us about our subject but also lets us know what has already been discussed and how it has been discussed. Historians generally do not want to write something somebody else has already written about unless they disagree with the previous account. Either way, historians must dedicate their time to understanding the discourse about their research topic. In my own research I have had to do several groups of historiography because my topic touches on a variety of topic. My study lies within their intersections.

One of the books I have read during my historiography research is Teenagers: An American History by historian Grace Palladino. Palladino's study looks at youth in America from the mid-twentieth century onwards. She explores the concept of youth and "teenagers," which are relatively new constructs in our vocabulary. The teenager, as we think of them today, was discovered during the Great Depression as high schools became mandated and culture became divided by age. During World War II Palladino demonstrates that increased freedom and concern with the war allowed teens to develop a culture separate from adults and young children. Both men and women began to develop their own social structures outside of adult supervision and regulation. Mainly due to the power that disposable income gave them, teenagers created their own ideas about what was desirable, fashionable, and necessary. With the war over, a return to "normalcy" desired by most Americans, and the second Red Scare in full boom, those in power reacted to teenagers. Comics, movies, and music became the target of accusations of communism and subversion. To reformers and parents, these popular culture products were responsible for turning their well behaved children into wild and rebellious delinquents.

Teenagers having fun and disapproving adults looking on.

Palladino's book achieves its goal of expressing American history through the perspective of the teenager. It is ambition and covers a rather large span of time. However, her book has one glaring issue. It ignores the experiences of minority teenagers. Outside of a chapter about African American teens in the South, Palladino's story is about white middle class teens living in the mid-west and east coast. This has been one of the prevailing issues in youth culture studies. Until recently, African American, Latino American, and other minority groups have not been explored as a part of youth culture. An earlier book about youth culture, William Graebner's Coming of Age in Buffalo, expressed the need for historians to look at youth culture as a diverse collection of subcultures that are divided by race, religion, and class. Palladino does not take Graebner's statement into consideration and continues the narrow view of youth that is just now beginning to be expanded. However, Palladino's study should not be dismissed. Palladino persuasively discusses the role of white middle class teens in American social history and insures that readers will leave with a better understanding of what teenagers and teen culture mean in the context of the past century. For the purposes of my research, Palladino does contribute to my own understanding of youth culture and how youth culture has been understood by historians until recent years. More importantly, it provides me with a prime example of why my own research is such a necessary contribution to the field.