Tag Archive

museums

Letters from Chile: A photo gallery

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In addition to the photos that have accompanied Zach McKiernan’s “Letters from Chile” series this spring, there have been many more that we didn’t post with the articles, but which we’re including here in a visual addendum to the series. All are by the author unless otherwise noted. Read More

Letters from Chile: A dead dictator's homage, a public history movement (Part 2)

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/continued from Part I

At the outset of this series, I proposed two seemingly simple questions in hopes of unpacking the complexity of sites of memory and how they “engage citizens in human rights issues” vis-à-vis the past.  What type of historic work is taking place?  Read More

Developing public history at a community college

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As a professor at a community college, I am typically absorbed in teaching, focused on my classes and students–as many as five classes and upwards of 120-150 students per semester.  But recently, I’ve been increasingly engaged  in public history by way of developing an associate’s degree program in the field and through involvement in other activities, including the utilization of a restored 1808 manor house on campus, which was the centerpiece of a horse farm when the region had a thriving thoroughbred racing and breeding industry.  Read More

National Stadium, national memory: A personal letter

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This is a personal letter.  It is personal because I came to Chile to write and participate in the history of the museum project “National Stadium, National Memory,” whose aim is “the material establishment of national memory in respect… to the Concentration Camp… in 1973.”  Read More

The Museum of Memory and Human Rights: Making consensus matter?

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front entrance of museumSince my September arrival in Chile, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights has become a common ground for my historical work, with handfuls of visits to its Center of Documentation for conversations and conferences, and the permanent exhibit. Although not a physical or recovered site connected to human rights violations, it sits squarely in the memory landscape of Chile, a barely-born institution that has made waves since its 2010 inauguration under then-President Michele Bachalet. Read More

Conference preview: When historic sites close

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We have an ever-growing body of scholarship about how and why historic sites are created, but a panel today focuses on what happens when they close.  Chaired by NPS Ranger Chuck Arning of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and featuring panelists Barbara Franco (Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum), Bob Beatty (American Association for State & Local History), Sheila Kirshbaum, Tsongas Industry History Center), and Bruce Beesley (Indiana State Museum & Historic Sites), the panel will offer ideas and best practices for making the best out of bad times. Read More

History on a shoestring at Nido 20: A memory site in its infancy

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In Chile between 1973 and 1990, according to the 2004 National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture (The Valech Report), 1,132 sites were utilized as centers of detention, torture, and extermination.  They ranged from hospitals and soccer stadiums to police precincts and private houses.  Read More

Memorial Paine’s everyday lives: Local stories with universal lessons

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memorial mosaicRaúl Lazo liked to ride horses.  Luis Gaete worked with his hands in the fields.  Juan Leiva believed rural education was a right.  José Castro had a red tractor.  Juan Leonardo, president of the Association of the Relatives of the Disappeared and Executed Detainees of Paine (AFDD-Paine), explained on a sunny countryside morning that this was a principal point of Memorial Paine: to (re)humanize those community members who fell victim to Pinochet’s repression in the rural region for which the memorial is named.  Read More