From Steamship to Phonograph: Frederick Douglass, David Blight, and the Politics of Memory
We may not have to listen to Frederick Douglass, but isn’t it extraordinary that we can choose to do so?
Tag: Monuments
How We Remember War: A Veterans Day Special Issue
The commemoration of war has often, as in the case of Charlottesville, been used to bind together the sinews of power. The three articles in this series seek to explore avenues in the other direction, commemorating war as a means of bending the arc of history toward justice. As their authors suggest, changing the way we remember war has the potential to fundamentally rework our understandings of both the past and present. In the process, we may find new opportunities to foster more equitable approaches to our shared history and society.
“Bloom Where You’re Planted”: Local History as Activism and Healing
Local history matters. It is tangible in a way that learning the stories of nations simply isn’t. It can unearth role models, reshape communities, and provide a guide forward. It is powerful.
White Supremacy and the Landscapes of Memory in Richmond, Virginia in the 1960s
It might seem that memory and heritage have lost their power to excite political action and are no longer the medium through which white supremacy is asserted. Yet Lost Cause mythology has never gone away and maintains its firm grip on the thoughts and emotions of many white Americans.
No Country for Johnny Reb or Bobby Lee
Removal without consideration of the historical context that led to their placement and the social wounds inflicted by white supremacy that are continually reopened in communities around the nation does nothing to resolve structural racism and heal those wounds.
Protesting Invisibility in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland developed during the early twentieth century as a sundown suburb: an area covering more than ten square miles where racial restrictive deed covenants prevented African Americans from owning or renting homes.
Monuments and Power in Urban Spaces: Looking at New Orleans, Louisiana from São Paulo, Brazil
The removal of monuments in New Orleans has captured national attention, with reports of tempers flaring and tensions rising among protestors and counter-protestors in one of the country’s most historically and culturally significant cities.
