Library of Congress Adds Our America to Collection

“Our America: Who Are We? A Digest of Impressions, Reflections and Opinions,” a book edited by Sondra Myers, senior fellow for international, civic and cultural projects and director of the Schemel Forum at The University of Scranton, was added to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. 

The book, published this summer, is a collection of writings that explore the essence of who America is as nation and as a people. The book includes writings of former Presidents of the United States, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, as well as economist Joseph Stiglitz, historian Joyce Appleby, abolitionist Frederick Douglass and poet Walt Whitman, among many others.

“My aim is to provide reflections and impressions by scholars, political leaders, historians, critics, naturalized Americans and artists who are themselves trying to define just what this country and its people are all about,” wrote Sondra Myers in the preface of the book. “I mean to create an impressionistic array of facts, opinions and hopes that give us a more palpable sense of our America.”

This is Myers’ tenth book. Her others include “Democracy is a Discussion,” “The Interdependence Handbook,” “The New Rwanda:  Prosperity and the Public Good” and “The People's Choice: Public Education and American Democracy.”

“Our America: Who Are We? A Digest of Impressions, Reflections and Opinions” can be ordered for $20 by contacting the University’s Schemel Forum at Alicen.Morrison@scranton.edu. All proceeds from the book will benefit the Schemel Forum.