PROPOSAL TYPE
Experiential
SEEKING
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
RELATED TOPICS
- Museums/Exhibits
- Oral History
- Public Engagement
ABSTRACT
Revolution reshapes societies, but how we document, preserve, and interpret its impact shapes collective memory. This presentation explores “reverse exhibit development,” using oral history as the foundation rather than the frame. Drawing on experience creating a Vietnam War exhibit centered on local veterans, I share how starting with individual voices—rather than global context—reshapes public engagement. Like museums interpreting the Lewis & Clark Expedition, but inverted, we began with personal stories and only expanded outward when context was necessary. This approach highlights how public historians can honor lived experience, preserve memory, and bring history to communities in transformative ways.
DESCRIPTION
This session introduces a different approach: developing exhibits “in reverse,” starting with oral histories and material culture from individuals within the community, and only expanding outward when broader context is needed. I will share the case study of my Vietnam War exhibit, which was built not around battles, military strategies, or political debates, but around the voices of local veterans who generously shared their experiences. Their stories determined the themes, artifacts, and interpretive strategies. Global and national context was included only when veterans themselves pointed to it or when their narratives required it. This method placed individual humanity at the forefront, creating an exhibit that resonated with both veterans and community visitors. To frame this approach, I will draw a comparison with exhibits on the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Many museums across the nation tell the story of the expedition as a broad narrative, then zoom in on how their particular location fits into that journey. My Vietnam exhibit took the opposite path: beginning with individual, localized stories and then opening outward into the larger global context of the war. This reversal demonstrates how museums can honor local voices without losing sight of global significance, and in fact, may create deeper connections for audiences. Key takeaways from this presentation will include:
-Listening to Learn: how oral history interviews can shape interpretive strategy and exhibit design.
-Preserving Memory: balancing personal narratives with historical context to create accessible, meaningful exhibitions.
-Material Culture: integrating artifacts with stories to anchor memory in tangible ways.
-Public Engagement: how centering individual voices fosters deeper community connection and trust.
I would love feedback on interest in this topic, anyone who has done similar projects who might want to collaborate, and any ideas on elaborating or focusing the proposal.
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:
B. Michelle Nowling, Ravalli County Museum & Historical Society, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be sent by November 15, 2025. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Hey! This sounds like it could be similar to the proposal I posted (also looking for folks) about Las Barracas. We are currently working with the community to compile their stories and then co-creating how they wany the history represented (whether an exhibit, a mural, or a community space). Happy to chat more about it.
Good morning! This is similar to a project I am conducting about women in higher education – we are starting by collecting oral histories from women associated with my university during the 20th century as students, faculty, administrators, staff and community partners, and building a digital exhibit based on the themes that emerge from the oral history collection. I’d love to talk more about it!
Hello! This connects to my dissertation work that used narrative inquiry (Endarkened Narrative Inquiry) to explore the perspectives and experiences about Black urban growers/farmers. I have collected narratives of 13 growers in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina and have begin infusing their narratives into a series of children’s book, with their permission. I’d love to chat more if possible.
I would love to chat about the projects you have mentioned! Please email me at [email protected] and let’s start a conversation about possible collaboration!
Love seeing both of these proposals in conversation. They are very close to what we do.
I’m the co-founder/director of Vanport Mosaic, a memory-activism nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon. We amplify, honor, and preserve the silenced histories that surround us.
For the past ten years, we have worked alongside survivors and descendants of Vanport, a World War II-era company town that was once Oregon’s second-largest city and was destroyed by the 1948 flood. Vanport was the largest temporary federal housing project in the nation, home to a vibrant, multi-racial, multicultural working-class community of shipyard workers and their families. With the community, we’ve built a living archive of over 100 oral histories, which then drives everything else: exhibits, performances, tours, documentaries, a community-designed archive in progress, and now a self-guided immersive audio walk that functions as a living memorial, where almost no physical trace remains.
We are also engaging in a kind of “reverse exhibit development” (starting from oral history and community engagement, then expanding outward only as needed) and grappling with the layered histories of BIPOC displacement and resistance, similar to those in Las Barracas.
I’d be very interested in discussing the possibility of joining one of these sessions or a combined roundtable. I’d be happy to connect by email or Zoom if either of you thinks Vanport Mosaic could be a good fit.
Hello all!
I would love to chat about the projects you have mentioned! Please email me at [email protected] and let’s start a conversation about possible collaboration!
I think there is great synergy in the comments and would love to see this come together as one proposal covering what you have in common. This is a discussion that needs to be heard and should be heard. I think the conference could benefit from this and I think would be great for places who are doing exhibitions and may need a fresh way of thinking about how to approach the work.