public history

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/15/2022
  

  A Neighborly Civil War in Virginia over Street Names

  Leaders of a group of suburban Virginia homeowners who want to change the Confederate-related street names in their community have been accused of being puppets of George Soros and threatened. 

• 
• SOURCE: The City Life
  5/3/2022
  

  Traveling Smithsonian Exhibition to Highlight 1968 Poor People's Campaign

  Reflecting Dr. King's increased attention to matters of inequality and economic justice, the Poor People's Campaign was launched in his honor a month after his assassination. The exhibition will begin at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mississippi Free Press
  4/29/2022
  

  Natchez's Deacons For Defense HQ on National Register of Historic Places

  A Natchez barbershop will be recognized as the meeting place of the group organized for Black community self-defense against racist terrorism. 

• 
• SOURCE: James Madison's Montpelier
  4/27/2022
  

  Montpelier Board Pushes Back Against Accusation they Excluded Descendants' Committee Leadership

  The Montpelier Foundation board argues that the organization representing the descendants of those enslaved at James Madison's estate has rejected good faith cooperation in order to score political points in the latest escalation of the battle over how the Founder's relationship to slavery should be portrayed. 

• 
• SOURCE: Richmond Times-Dispatch
  4/19/2022
  

  Reversal on Power-Sharing Shows Montpelier Really Wants to Stop Talking About Slavery

  by Michael Paul Williams

  “They wanted to yank the narrative of Montpelier away from slavery, despite all of their protestations to the contrary,” said board member James French, chair of the Montpelier Descendants Committee.

• 
• SOURCE: Vanity Fair
  4/21/2022
  

  Previewing Tulsa's New Bob Dylan Center

  by Douglas Brinkley

  "The center—a high-tech vessel holding the man’s oeuvre and an overview of the man—will be the spiritual home of Dylan, a relentless performer who is forever on the road."

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  4/20/2022
  

  Montpelier Descendants Call Foul on Board over Firings

  The firing of three senior staff members who support the involvement of the Montpelier Descendants Committee in the public presentation of James Madison's estate, and the slavery practiced there, has raised questions about whether Montpelier is committed to historical honesty. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/18/2022
  

  Montpelier Staffers: We Were Fired for Backing Descendants' Group

  The firings suggest that there is a backlash by members of the Montpelier board against recent changes in the presentation of James Madison's participation in slavery. 

• 
• SOURCE: National Trust for Historic Preservation
  4/18/2022
  

  National Trust Condemns Actions Against Staff at Montpelier

  "The National Trust strongly condemns these actions against highly regarded and nationally recognized professionals, which will impede the effective stewardship of Montpelier and diminish important public programming at this highly significant historic site."  

• 
• 4/17/2022
  

  Bringing Queer History to the Public (Excerpt)

  by Marc Stein

  The author of a new book of essays on writing queer public history recalls how he developed a voice for writing to the broader public – including by writing for HNN. 

• 
• SOURCE: Uncommon Sense
  4/11/2022
  

  What You Need to Know about Public Commissions for the Upcoming Semiquincentennial in 2026

  by Joseph M. Adelman

  Historians who hope to be involved in the commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary need to be aware of the structure and politics of state and federal commissions established for the semiquincentennial. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  4/10/2022
  

  Are Museums Ready to Reckon with Ill-Gotten Human Remains?

  The acquisition of many skeletal specimens by museums was entangled with the harvesting of tissues from the bodies of the socially marginalized. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/5/2022
  

  WaPo Editorial: Montpelier Estate Board Shredding Agreement to Include Descendants of Enslaved in Decisionmaking

  The Post Editorial Board says "Montpelier has a problem. It has gone from being a model for other such sites nationwide to being an embarrassment."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Madison's Montpelier Board Strips Power from Enslaved Descendants' Group

  "Matt Reeves, the director of archaeology said he fears the effort to cut off the committee is aimed at undoing years of progress in conveying a more honest and complete view of history. 'They really want a narrative that’s restricted to nothing that’s negative about James Madison'.”

• 
• SOURCE: Cultural Heritage Partners
  3/25/2022
  

  Montpelier Board Abandons Promises to Descendants of Enslaved

  by Montpelier Descendants Committee

  Montpelier Descendants' Committee founder James French contends that the group "will not be deterred from our mission to contribute to uniting the country by telling a more complete and truthful history of our founding, including the full role of its indispensable ‘invisible founders'.”

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  3/21/2022
  

  Get Ready Now for the Storm of Takes Coming at America's 250th Birthday

  by John Garrison Marks

  Major anniversaries tend to crystallize debates about how Americans learn and remember history. America's 250th will follow a presidential election and years of political argument about the teaching of history and make all parties eager to win the symbolic war.

• 
• SOURCE: WRDE
  3/13/2022
  

  Maryland Governor Proclaims Year of Harriet Tubman

  Governor Larry Hogan observed the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famed freedom fighter and encouraged visitors to state and federal sites in the state that preserve the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad. 

• 
• SOURCE: Perspectives on History
  3/14/2022
  

  National History Unites a Community

  by Mary Manning

  "According to the National History Day office, more than half a million students in grades 6–12 now present their research in exhibits, papers, performances, digital documentaries, and websites annually."

• 
• SOURCE: Los Angeles Review of Books
  3/12/2022
  

  Erin Thompson's "Smashing Statues": Tear 'Em All Down

  How does taking down a statue relate to the more complicated work of eliminating the racist ideas and structures that put it up? 

• 
• SOURCE: Stars and Stripes
  3/6/2022
  

  He Grew Up With a Dog Named Dixie; Now He's Renaming Military Bases Honoring Confederates

  “People try and say ‘Oh, you’re not a patriot because you don’t love the Confederacy.’ No. I love the United States of America. And anybody that kills U.S. Army soldiers, that tries to destroy the country that I love — I can’t honor that.”