Tanya Lane, Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum
Proposal Type
Panel
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking Specific Expertise
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
Related Topics
- Advocacy
- Memory
- Museums/Exhibits
- Oral History
- Place
- Public Engagement
- Social Justice
Abstract
This proposal is inspired by the question: Who decides what is worth repairing?
Many positions within historical institutions are often filled by people who act as outsiders to the communities they serve, whether that be a college or university, museum, tribal nation, local government, or other.
How can we, as public historians, best align ourselves with these communities and their goals? In what ways can we improve our ability to listen to community members in an effort to gain their confidence?
Description
Seeking specific expertise, for example: a professional who acts/has acted as a liaison between community and contractors. I am also seeking panelists.
If you have experience working for community, you know that this type of work is rewarding but also challenging. Community is a living, breathing body that creates opportunities for engagement in their respective historical institutions. Panelists will discuss how to demonstrate flexibility and openness while remaining dedicated to best practices.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Tanya Lane, [email protected].
All feedback and offers of assistance should be submitted by July 1, 2018. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Hi Tanya,
My name is Samantha Citarella. I am a recent graduate student of George Washington University and hold an MA in American Studies. I wanted to reach out to you, based on your proposed topic and see if we could visit the idea of collaborating for the conference.
Based on your interest in the question: Who decides what is worth repairing? And the position that public historians find themselves in as they grapple with this question among communities, I thought my research project might shed light on some interesting dynamics.
I researched the use of a community-based effort and the development of Neighborhood Heritage Trails. This project put the design and creation of historical and public narratives in the hands of the community (or neighborhood) in its initial stages. The details of the latter process are lengthy and beyond the immediate discussion of this message, but I thought maybe you’d be interested in talking further about some ideas. Have you had any one else inquire about collaborating?
I look forward to talking to you soon. Thanks so much!
Dear Samantha,
Thank you for your comments, they are appreciated. I am very much interested in discussing your ideas further and I feel that your project directly fits my topic and the conference theme of “Repair Work.”
Please contact me in the near future so that we can begin planning.
[email protected]
(860)285-1888
on Facebook: Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum
Again, many thanks!
Tanya R. Lane
Curator, Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum
It’s great to see this “reflexive” look at public historians’ own roles within communities that we’re often not a part of – that’s a strong connection with the “who decides what is worth repairing?” question!
You may have perused the other topic proposals here already, but I would encourage you to try to connect with some of these folks who are posing similar questions about institutions’ relationships with their communities: Jack Pittinger, Mark Barron, and Leslie Leonard.
Thank you for your feedback, Cathy. I so appreciate your contribution to the conversation.
This is an interesting topic, and one on which I suspect a variety of conference attendees would have thoughts. I’d love to see the group consider a format other than a panel that would allow for more conversation, but do what the participants feel the most comfortable with.