The Spanish Element in Our Nationality

The Spanish Element in Our Nationality delves beneath the traditional English-only narrative of U.S. history, using Spains participation in a series of international exhibitions to illuminate more fully the close and contested relationship between these two countries. Written histories invariably record the Spanish financing of Columbuss historic voyage of 1492, but few consider Spains continuing influence on the development of U.S. national identity. In this book, M. Elizabeth Boone investigates the reasons for this problematic memory gap by chronicling a series of Spanish displays at international fairs. Studying the exhibition of paintings, the construction of ephemeral architectural space, and other manifestations of visual culture, Boone examines how Spain sought to position itself as a contributor to U.S. national identity, and how the United Statesin comparison to other nations in North and South Americasubverted and ignored Spains messages, making it possible to marginalize and ultimately obscure Spains relevance to the history of the United States. Bringing attention to the rich and understudied history of Spanish artistic production in the United States, The Spanish Element in Our Nationality recovers the Spanishness of U.S. national identity and explores the means by which Americans from Santiago to San Diego used exhibitions of Spanish art and history to mold their own modern self-image.