Christmas in one way or another taps into our national consciousness, says Penne Restad, senior lecturer in the Department of History. It provides “a communal and calendrical touchstone of the nation’s faith, hope and moral aspiration, a national monument of harmony and transcendence.”
In her 1995 book “Christmas in America: A History” (Oxford University Press, 1995), Restad documents in rich detail the evolution of the holiday in the United States.
