Memory's Nation: The Place of Plymouth Rock

You don't hear much about Plymouth Rock anymore, but throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th, it was a major icon of American patriotism. Seelye, a professor of American literature at the University of Florida, traces the history of the Rock--said to be where the Pilgrims stepped ashore at Plymouth, Mass., in 1620--from when it was first used for political purposes in the years before the American Revolution to 1920, by which time it had begun to lose its symbolic role to the Statue of Liberty as Americans shifted their emotional identity from the Founding Fathers to later immigrants. He says flatly that the Plymouth Rock legend was a myth, but charts how the myth evolved over the years--in paintings, literature and public speeches--and how various political and social movements (especially abolition) made use of it. The book is rich, even lavish, in its detail and Seelye's sometimes antic curiosity allows him to touch on subjects that range from early New England patriotic iconography (e.g., the Liberty Pole) to the career of Daniel Webster, to the rivalry between Plymouth and Provincetown over Pilgrim bragging rights, to how the Rock itself has been displayed over the centuries. The unifying thread is Seelye's use of the annual speeches that for the better part of the 19th century were delivered on Forefather's Day at Plymouth or at meetings of the New England Society in such places as New Orleans or Brooklyn. The speeches can be heavy reading but are buoyed by Seelye's imagination and insight. Photos. (Nov.)