Tag Archive
16 October 2014 – David Rotenstein 1
In 2007 Atlanta journalist Nathan McCall’s novel Them was published. The book is a fictionalized account of a very real Atlanta neighborhood–the Old Fourth Ward–undergoing gentrification. The neighborhood is a place where civil rights historic landmarks jockey for attention and dollars among hip bars and restaurants. Read More
04 June 2014 – David Rotenstein 4
In early 1950, developers opened a “park and shop” center in suburban Washington, DC. By 1950 “park and shop” was an established commercial property type, and the phrase was in common usage (by general public and developers). Media coverage of its opening focused on the spacious new supermarket and other retail establishments, as well as on a state-of-the-art theater with late-Art Deco detailing, designed by a nationally-recognized architect. Read More
19 March 2014 – Emily Oswald 3
I learned about Museum Selfie Day on Facebook just a couple of days before the event. I made a mental note and visited the Harvard Museum of Natural History on January 22. The results were silly and less skillful than I’d anticipated. Read More
19 February 2014 – Jason Steinhauer 5
Continued from Part 1.
Unlike corporations that use historical images as a marketing strategy, museums, archives, libraries, and national historic sites are caretakers of history whose goal is not to distract from serious investigation but rather to promote it. We want people to understand context, to ask questions, and to dig deeper into sources. Read More
18 February 2014 – Jason Steinhauer 7
Suppose you’d never heard of @HistoryinPics, and I told you that a new social media account had grown to more than a million followers by featuring a different historical image in its feed every couple of hours.
As a public historian, you might be intrigued. Read More
14 February 2014 – Richard Anderson 1
I am a sucker for the drama of the Olympics. Yet while watching the ongoing Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, I have been struck once again by the continuous invocation of the past during the Olympics and–at the same time–the limited historical consciousness exhibited by the International Olympic Committee, national organizing bodies, corporate sponsors, and host cities. Read More
09 September 2013 – Amy Tyson 6
“Ask a Slave” is a brand-spanking new comedy web series that is going viral in certain circles. In the series (just two episodes at time of writing; there will be six total), actress/comedienne/NYU grad Azie Mira Dungey portrays the character “Lizzie Mae” who is supposed to be an enslaved housemaid for America’s founding couple–George and Martha Washington. Read More
04 September 2013 – Jason Steinhauer 2
Several months ago in this space I reflected on the large crowds that flocked to Washington to witness President Obama’s historic second inaugural. Again, this past Wednesday, crowds assembled in Washington to hear the President offer “historic” remarks, this time on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in commemoration of the March on Washington in August 1963. Read More
10 July 2013 – Matthew Barlow 6
The City of Boston took down the Boston Marathon Memorial on June 25. The memorial began life at the sites of the twin bombings on Boylston Street in the immediate aftermath of the explosions there on April 15. The city relocated the memorial to Copley Square once Boylston and surrounding streets re-opened to traffic the following week. Read More
31 May 2013 – Gabriel Loiacono 1
I am a historian from Wisconsin, spending a semester teaching in Pécs (pronounced paych), Hungary as part of the Fulbright program. Hungarians publicly remember the past in so many places and in so many different ways that I frequently feel a kind of happy, historical sensory overload. Read More