Caitlyn Jones, University of Houston
PROPOSAL TYPE
Roundtable
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
- Seeking Specific Interest
RELATED TOPICS
- Advocacy
- Digital
- Memory
- Place
- Public Engagement
- Social Justice
ABSTRACT
Across the United States, statues and monuments have been thrown into question. Universities, public schools, government buildings, and even state flags have been reconfigured as Americans reckon with a history of racism and attempt to answer a key question: Who should we be proud of? Historians have informed these conversations and have an opportunity to help promote a more equitable commemorative landscape moving forward. We hope that panelists and attendees can learn about new projects in this session and have a conversation about how to work with communities and officials to enact change in a way that attempts to acknowledge and repair an environment built on inequality and exclusion.
DESCRIPTION
The idea for this session stems from an ongoing digital humanities project titled Building the Past: Memorialization on the University of Houston Campus led by graduate students in the history department at the University of Houston. Using ArcGIS StoryMaps, we will break down building namesakes on the UH campus by demographic factors, demonstrating the disconnect between the university’s white, wealthy, male commemorative landscape and the incredibly diverse student body. We hope that by illuminating this history for the public – particularly students and members of the historically Black community nearby the school – we can add local context to ongoing conversations about national memorialization and spark a movement that pushes for more inclusive campus commemoration.
We know we are not alone in this endeavor as we have drawn inspiration from projects like Princeton and Slavery and the Racial Geography Tour from the University of Texas. While we hope to present our own work briefly during this session, we also want to expand the conversation to include other groups who are working with communities to reimagine local memorialization. This could include students or professors at other universities, historical consultants, preservationists, government historians, or advocacy organizations.
This session could take the form of either a roundtable or structured conversation aimed at an overarching question: What is a historian’s role in advocating for change in commemorative landscapes?
The session could also expand on these questions:
-What are some best practices when it comes to mobilizing community support for a cause?
-What tools, formats, or platforms are most useful for conveying the multilayered nature of memory and place?
-What are some strategies for approaching officials or people in power when advocating for changes in policy?
-Can historians be activists and scholars in today’s political, educational, and professional climate?
For feedback, we are looking for at least two additional participants to join our session. This could range from students to emerging public historians to experts in the field. We would like these individuals or groups to discuss their experiences with projects related to this topic as well as how they navigate professional barriers and public pushback. Additionally, if any NCPH members have feedback to adjust the scope of the panel to meet conference needs, any commentary is welcomed and appreciated.
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: Caitlyn Jones, University of Houston, [email protected]
ALL FEEDBACK AND OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY JULY 1, 2021. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Caitlyn – This topic, though vitally important, has been covered relatively extensively in nationwide conferences as of yet. I’d suggest making this more explicitly about university and college campuses, weighing their unique concerns, and incorporating the reflections of initiatives/attempts that resulted in little and/or seemingly inadequate change. You may also consider referencing the Fees Must Fall movement in South Africa for international context. From a social justice perspective, I’d also be curious to hear panelists address the reframing of memorialization/commemoration efforts as “gaslighting” as we ignore deeper systemic issues in university and public history settings. – Sarah
Thank you for the feedback and suggestions, Sarah! This gives us more to consider as we craft our proposal and a more focused scope.
Hi:
I agree with Sarah’s comment about making this presentation specific to college campuses. It will help keep the conversation on track. I am glad that you have included a desire to discuss responding to negative pushback. I think that given today’s environment it is imperative that we address this for the sake of students embarking on this work.
Caitlyn, I agree with the other comments about focusing on the college campus. The November 2020 issue of The Public Historian about commemorating slavery on college campuses may have some really useful context and issues to raise–particularly the burden of invisibie labor and concerns about cooptation. I would also be interested in how activists (within and without colleges) can provide robust archives of the entire scope of the process of advocating for research, issues of redress, and how historically harmed communities and/or descendant communities are involved. Finally, I’m curious about how student activists–past and present–regard their activism. Good luck1
Caitlyn – I’m in agreement with the other comments here. Either you need to make this explicitly about universities / colleges or you need to make it explicitly about the crossover conversations beyond the academy. Your proposal right now hovers in the middle.
If you decide to go the university / college route, I suggest pulling in someone from either Clemson or the University of Minnesota. They both posted some interesting positions for university historians — one engaging explicitly with the modern communities historically excluded (UofM), one explicitly researching the history of the university (Clemson). The choice to hire in this vein would speak to the potential of this type of formal reckoning, one that many institutions otherwise avoid. I’m not entirely sure who to contact — maybe Kevin Murphy at UofM and Josh Catalano at Clemson?
One of my former grad students (now VAP) here at the University of Cincinnati also received some funding to examine our slaveholder namesake, but was ultimately politely told to shut it down. Her name is Anne Delano Steinert and she would be great too.
Caitlyn – there’s another panel here called “UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS, UNSAVORY HISTORY, & PROUD ALUMNI.” Y’all might have some interesting crossovers or be able to better articulate your differences if you touch base with each other.
My two cents is that this also plays out very different depending on if the university is publicly funded or privately funded and whether the school is located in a conservative or liberal state. I think that the reckoning at UNC with race on a multitude of levels that has been happening for a decade now is informative. This is just a thought if you want to go the university route.
This did get me thinking about another approach.
As a consultant, I’m finding clients in need of knowledge to helps them assess if they have the needed resources to explore an idea…I wonder if a slight twist in the question provides an opportunity for participants to take away a useful “guide”. Perhaps a thought to consider with the other comments.
But, the question –
“What is the historian’s role in defining commemorative landscapes?”
REASON – I’m wondering if this is an opportunity to offer a how-to type framework that gets people to envision a process they can explore the opportunity at their own institutions. It could be pretty cool to hear somebody say, “based on these examples, this seems to be the best way to approach this work. First you…”
Given the increased social acceptance of intersectionality of race and other identities, it would be interesting to find creative ways to incorporate anything that reflects race AND . That could open up some interesting conversations!
And I realize this might be too much to change now.
So, I also support the ideas and thoughts before me, beginning with Sarah P.