To be honest this is the first time in my years of studying history that this woman has come to attention. Shirley Chisholm is the first African American woman to run for the Presidential Office. The First African American to wish to run as a presidential candidate from one of the major parties. She went up against the status quo throughout her political career. Beginning with becoming the first African American women to be elected as a U.S. Congresswoman in a New York District. Only four years after that she had her sights set on the presidential nomination.
This election would be historical in its own way, the republican nomination would be given to Richard Nixon. This was after the events at Watergate but before the public knew Nixon was involved. His opponent from the Democratic party would not be Shirley Chisholm in the end but George McGovern. He lost to Nixon by a land slide.
Shirley Chisholm knew her odds in 1972 were not in her favor. Many believed that her end goal was not to receive the presidential nomination but could gather enough delegates to ask for cooperation from the other nominees. She wanted to fight for equal rights of women, African Americans, and Native Americans.
Shirley Chisholm would have a large turnout but many feared that if they voted for her then their vote would not really mean anything. The democratic citizens top priority was stopping the Republican vote, Richard Nixon from becoming president of the United States. There were those who supported Chisholm, but others felt angered by the idea of an African American woman running. Other politicians and many journalists did not take her bid seriously and would even go as far to say that being a woman would be a mental hindrance. She did not publicly fight against any specific person or organization, but she did speak her beliefs about equality for all. There were many times that the article states where her posters would be written across with the N word and offensive images.
Shirley Chisholm died in 2005 and was unable to see the nomination and election of Barack Obama. Yet, it was her first steps into just trying for a nomination that influenced the history of African Americans and women in politics.
As I begin to write this blog about mummies. I think to myself, “why are we so interested about the dead and its rituals? What makes mummies a thing of fear?” Since the beginning mummies have been seen depicted on the big screen as coming to life. We even dress up as mummies during Halloween and walk around with toilet paper wrap around our head. Mummies have intrigued people since their emergence into popular culture.
Mummification is a process to honor the dead and prepare them for their next life. Each high priest at the time had their own mummification process and had evolved from each generation of priest. This article that I read combined both of these ideas in a Hodge podge kind of way. A new discovery in Egypt’s El-Asasef necropolis that is located near Luxor has been unveiled. It has been unveiled in the most public of settings. The newly discovered tomb has been opened in front of media from all around the world for the first time. Our intrigue for the dead has made the unveiling such a media spectacle.
A group of mummies found inside a tomb from Luxor, Egypt.
The archaeologists have uncovered two mummies, one male and one female. They believe the female to be named Thuya and the male to be named Thaw-irkhet-if. The male is believed to be a priest who would embalm many pharaohs in his life time. This may be the reason why the female mummy is so well preserved. In this article one can see photos of archaeologists opening the tomb for the first time. The antiquate paintings and hieroglyphics on the roof. In these images one can also see the beautiful artifacts that these two mummies believed they would be taking with them to the afterlife. The tomb still has a great deal to tell researchers in the near future.
After hundreds of years of finding mummies, we as a nation are still so intrigued by them. So, intrigued that a new discovery needs to be publicized all around the world. It may be great to help flourish the economy of Egypt, yet the mummies should be treated with dignity and respect.
In May of this year I was selected to be a member of the 2018 class of the Alexander Briseño Leadership Development Program (ABLDP), a program designed to mold participants into trans-formative leaders. All class members were sorted into action teams, the goal of which is to solve a problem pertinent to that field or industry. The action teams would deliberate and propose solutions at the last meeting of the program where industry leaders would be listening to the presentations. If the panelists like the pitch, the proposed idea has a chance of coming to fruition. My action team was Arts and Culture and I was paired with eight other classmates from companies and organizations all throughout San Antonio. We brainstormed as a team to think about what positive contribution we could make to the Arts and Culture community in San Antonio. What was missing? Or what existed but could be made better?
San Antonio has many great pieces of public art all throughout the city. There are murals, sculptures, galleries, and artists of all trades in almost every pocket of the city. The issue is that these art pieces are not widely known or visited. It may be an issue of accessibility or even relevance, but the fact is that we are a city lacking in art awareness and engagement. Our solutions to this problem involved a series of proposed projects. How to combat the issue of accessibility? Bring art to the people! We proposed a mobile art initiative beginning with an art installation on a river barge called ‘Studio Rio’ that traveled the San Antonio River. In the next phase of the project , art exhibits would be added to buses, then kayaks, then maybe even scooters. Art would be on the move and accessible to every resident in San Antonio because it would be in their backyards. Through project revisions our proposal eventually changed and evolved into something bigger. Ultimately we decided to create an arts consortium to advocate for the arts in San Antonio. Although there are no shortage of art organizations in San Antonio, all are limited in their marketing capabilities by societal and economic constraints. The art river barge is an important component of this project and will serve as an activation point for learning about the arts in San Antonio through the use of a QR code. If this project comes to fruition we would be partnering with the San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture and Go Rio to promote accessible, mobile, and approachable public art access in San Antonio.
So, how does any of this relate to public history? During my time with ABLDP and working towards this goal of making public art more widely known and accessible, it dawned on me that we, as public historians are the consortium working to bring hidden histories to life, just as the advocacy group will be working towards the goal of making public art more accessible. Art and culture provide a sense of personal identity and breath vitality into communities. I guess this post serves as a thank you to all the artists and historians out there for doing what you do. Thank you for your passion, dedication, and life enrichment. It is necessary and very much appreciated.
During my time scrolling through the internet from Pinterest to Facebook I have come to love taking a detour to the history channels articles. They may not be the most academically dense, but they give some insight on a range of topics that are interesting and valuable in their own ways. For this article I came across a short article about a late 19th century photographer from the United States. A man by the name of Edward S. Curtis
Edward S. Curtis was a man who in 1887 decided to leave his home state of Washington State. He traveled throughout the west coast of the United States capturing photos of multiple Native American tribes. For the next 30 years or so he had met and researched close to 80 separate tribes along his journey. The photos have come to be a rare find in the museum community because this was a time of American expansion ideals and Native Americans and preserving their culture was definitely not a priority for many. This is during a time after Andrew Jackson signs in the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and Natives are displaced from their homeland.
In this article Edward S. Curtis has commentary shown under every one of the twenty photos shown. This was a great idea from the people at the History Channel because it allows readers like me to not only know what I am looking at but some type of perspective. A downfall of Edward S. Curtis’ commentary is one may be able to hear the racist undertones. He may not have been aware of it but in present day it could be frowned upon by others.
An example of this being his photo entitled “Out of Darkness, 1904.” He states, “Navajo Indians emerging from the shadows of the high walls of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona typifying the transition from barbarism to civilization.” A product of his time Edward S. Curtis may believe that the Native Americans he is taking photographs are barbaric, but he is still doing a great service of researching and taking photographs of these tribes.
My project is complete. It was a lot of work, but i’m very pleased with it. I hope to actually continue the project further down the road, incorporate even more issues of The Rattler, and maybe even do a study of other college papers in San Antonio. For those who are unfamiliar with my project here is my abstract for the project:
This project is part of an ongoing historical discussion on the evolving state of journalism. The focus of this project is on the content produced by student writers in the St. Mary’s University publication The Rattler. While student writers at The Rattler now engage these topics freely and often aggressively, their predecessors did so only in times of warfare or international instability. The international scope of warfare opened the floodgates of political dissent in student newspapers by allowing these writers to distance themselves from the related issues they faced closer to home. Of the eras preceding the 21st century analyzed in this project, only the period of World War 2 saw the offering of substantial content about politics an social reform.
My research consisted of reading several journalistic history articles, and sifting through hundreds of issues of The Rattler, and reading thousands of articles. There were so many interesting and surprising bits of history to find there, but I could not include them in my project. Creating the charts and making sure my data was accurate and impartial was the most complicated part. Revising my writing afterwards while being mindful of my audience was also quite the task. Further down the road, I will definitely be revisiting this project and improving on the existing presentation methods and adding in even more data.
As museums and city officials debate the tearing down of monuments and attempt to share the histories of previously marginalized groups in America, so too will they become battlegrounds between ethnic and social minorities and those hostile to those elements in their communities.
Elif Gokcigdem, a historian of Islamic art and historical journal editor stated “Museums and empathy are a powerful combination that can provide transformative experiences of dialogue, discovery, understanding and contemplation to all regardless of age or background.” This presupposes a state of open-mindedness and curiosity from the museum’s community. What happens if that same community is hostile to this transformation?
Age and background are a force at play when reinterpreting history. Opponents of newer and more inclusive interpretations conclude that reinterpretation is revision. These anti-revisionists are generally of either an older age-bracket than other museum visitors, or part of a group that is dominantly portrayed in the existing narratives. In light of this truth, museums must contend with newly hostile elements in their communities. Monuments sanctioned by the city serve much the same purpose as museums, and struggles to remove monuments that glorify those that brought pain to others are gaining momentum.
The most vicious battles have been, and will continue to be waged in the American south over interpretation of slavery and the Confederacy in museums and monuments. In recent years, there has been a call to action for Texas politicians to begin the process of historical reinterpretation of Confederate monuments. The Confederate monument at Travis Park with the inscription “Lest We Forget Our Confederate Dead” came down in 2017.
County Commissioner Tommy Calvert protesting the Confederate War Dead Memorial at Travis Park
Anna Deluna , 47, a San Antonio resident came to witness the removal of the monument and shared her opinion. “We just wanted to see it come down. It just represents racism and inequality and oppression and we are glad now that it’s coming down. It just seems like nowadays things are really, really difficult with Trump being in power, race relations. Maybe the silver lining is statues like these and attention being brought to them.” Her boyfriend, Doyle Avant, 53 agreed “I think it’s disingenuous to say it’s just history and it’s heritage. The heritage argument is really nonsense.” Despite support from many San Antonio residents like these, death threats were made to the construction contractors and workers responsible for the monument’s demise.
Removal of Travis Park Confederate monument in 2017
Avant’s point about history and heritage, and the way many mistake the two is both poignant and relevant. It is poignant because those who must drive past Confederate monuments to work or school every day are reminded of the darker parts of their city’s heritage, not its history. The two must be distinguished. When an African-American goes past the Confederate monument to Jefferson Davis in Atlanta, they are not gaining any historical understanding of the Confederacy or the institution of slavery. The monument is simply indicative of what past residents of Atlanta deemed fit to glorify as part of their heritage as White southerners that dominated city politics. If there was a monument of Jefferson Davis signing the Confederate States Constitution, it would be closer to history – but still a monument to White southern heritage. These monuments inspire the few and bring grief to the many, so why not tear them all down, and throw them into the sea?
It’s an understandable impulse. However, these monuments in the context of a greater historical narrative do have value. Those protesting the removal of these monuments, even with their incredibly hostile rhetoric and willingness to resort to violence do have a point. Destruction of these heritage markers is historical revisionism. While their love for the darker aspects of their heritage, such as the condoning of slavery is disturbing, the Confederacy and all of its baggage is an important chapter in American history. These monuments could have use in educating future generations on the dangers of political tribalism and fueling racist ideologies. They must be reinterpreted, and not revised. Relocation of these monuments to museums or historical sites with other historical artifacts and museum professionals to interpret them is a far more pleasing solution. Those who are rightfully offended by their presence in prominent parts of their city no longer need see them every day, and those who value these monuments as part of their heritage may still visit them. Hopefully in the process, these people will gain knowledge about their histories and possibly, lose the misguided love they feel for the darkest elements in their heritage.
It is nearly the end of my first semester as a Public History graduate student. As I reflect on all the things I’ve learned and think about where I most want to make an impact, diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of my mind. Throughout my professional career I’ve gravitated to informal education which has given me the opportunity to explore different non-profit organizations in Austin and San Antonio. I am passionate about working with the under-served community, partly because of my own experiences growing up in the barrio. I come from a family of migrant workers, many of which did not receive a formal education. As an adult, I’ve worked at many places that my parents couldn’t afford to take me when I was a child such as the San Antonio Zoo and the Children’s Museum of San Antonio. Social and economic inequality tend to breed cultural inequality, leading to an unfortunate systematic imbalance.
According to the 2016 National Awareness, Attitude, and Usage Study many museums and other institutions are not sufficiently diverse. Audience diversification is an area that museums need to grow and improve.
Data provided by the National Awareness, Attitude, and Usage Study
The National Art Education Association (NAEA) Museum Education Division and the Association of Art Museum Directors conducted a study on the impact of art museum programs on K-12 students. The study concluded that there are a variety of educational benefits that can be gleaned from visits to museums including questioning, developing multiple interpretations, and engaging the senses. I think this can be applied to a multitude of experiences in other educational institutions. For instance, one can watch a myriad of nature documentaries but nothing really compares to being face to face with a giraffe, playing tug of war with a lion, or being immersed in a tropical habitat with butterflies flying all around you. All of these are experiences that you can have at the San Antonio Zoo but at $18.99 per adult and $15.99 per child for general admission plus extra for interactive exhibits, these are experiences that not everyone will be able to afford.
If you would like to one day work in the museum field, on the job experience is essential. There are many unpaid internships that offer valuable experience in the museum industry. However, if you lack the financial means these opportunities are way too costly to take advantage of. A full time internship is essentially a job without the pay. If the internship is out of town, relocation and living expenses must also be taken into account. The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) is launching a program to diversify the museum landscape by offering paid internships for minority undergraduate students at ten art museums across the country. The project aims to “proactively address the demographic disparity in our industry by recognizing that access to funds is sometimes the biggest hurdle for many people”, according to Madeleine Grynsztejn, the president of AAMD. The program was developed after a 2015 study by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the American Alliance of Museums revealed that “minorities made up 28% of staff in US museums, but non-Hispanic white staff members held 84% of the more prestigious positions like curators, conservators and educators”. The program offers students a 12-week placement with a stipend of $6,300. The students will work alongside mentors and help with educational programs and exhibition projects.
Diversity is also taking different forms outside of traditional venues. People want their stories to be told and they are creating a medium specifically for that purpose. Zines are self-published original works, usually reproduced via photocopier for circulation. Launched from a copy machine in San Antonio, Texas, St. Sucia “tackles Latina feminism on a spectrum far and wide, the inclusive zine showcases a kaleidoscope of experiences, beyond borders and the binary, giving a voice to the underrepresented”. The inclusive zine is now included in university syllabuses for Gender Studies and Chicano Studies at universities across the nation. St. Sucia is made up of Isabelle Ann Castro and Natasha Hernandez, and includes submissions from all over. Natasha emphasizes the importance of giving a voice to Latinx mujeres: “It’s super important to just see yourself represented in the community, to see things are possible. All these things are important for us to feel validated, like we can dream to be all these things”.
This is my chosen profession and I want to work towards this goal of increasing diversity and inclusiveness in museums. Museums should be sites of empowerment, where audiences of all racial and ethnic backgrounds can see themselves reflected. Children’s author Xelena Gonzalez encapsulated this sentiment:
To accomplish this feat, there needs to be reform at all levels to provide sufficient representation in audience and staff at museums and other institutions. I strive to transform the museum from an ivory tower into an institution of everyday life for all.
1892 marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in the Americas. To mark the occasion the 1893 World’s Fair would be a celebration of that event. The city of Chicago won the right to host the fair, beating out New York in a
Field Museum Flickr
very close vote. Planners would put on an incredible display of human achievement on the shores of the biggest lake in the United States. Officially it was called the World’s Colombian Exposition, its nickname was The White City. The main focus of the exposition would be Columbus’ voyage, however, the plan would be to show off all sorts of exhibits from around the world. Any country that wanted to participate would be given a display area to showcase their culture and achievements. As with other World’s Fairs during this time, many new inventions would be seen by the public for the first time. However, the legacy of the White City would not be the glimpse into the future it provided, but a legacy of death.
A Celebration Built on a Lie
By the 1880s, it was known that Columbus was not the first European to set foot in the Americas. Researchers had uncovered evidence that Leif Ericsson had landed in Eastern Canada and made it as far south as modern
Brooklyn Museum Flickr
day Massachusetts. Usually when new evidence is uncovered, the story is retold with the new facts, however in this case a powerful organization in the United States that would use its influence to keep Columbus in a place of historical prominence. The Italian American Association used its influence to prevent Columbus from being demoted in the history books in the wake of these new revelations. Their lobbying efforts were successful in keeping Columbus and his voyage the main focus of the 1893 World’s Fair. Through their continued efforts Columbus would eventually receive a national holiday, one that is steeped in controversy. Columbus changed the course of history, there is no doubt about that. The problem with the Columbus story is the way it has been told in schools for many years. In most textbooks Columbus gets the hero treatment. The part of the story that gets left out is the millions of deaths he is responsible for. The 1893 World Colombian Exposition did not mention his kidnapping of natives who were taken back to Spain and paraded through the streets like trophies. Nor would visitors find a description of his treatment of the natives, who he and his men tortured to make them hunt for gold. Details like how he spread disease among the natives would go untold in favor of tales of heroism, the wonders of discovery, and the opening up of this great land to the pioneers that would follow. Not exactly the multi-voiced truth of history that one would hope to find today.
A Celebration of Mass Murder Hides a Serial Killer
Columbus’ blood soaked legacy was not the only horror attached to the 1893 Exposition. Blocks from the fair a man opened a building and rented out rooms to people coming from out of town to visit the fair. Many who rented a room there never checked out. The building was owned by Dr. H. H. Holmes, and would be known as the Murder Castle. History would record Holmes as America’s first serial killer, and most of his killing would be done in his Chicago complex that he custom-made for murder. There were hidden gas vents for killing unsuspecting guests. Chutes ran from rooms directly to a sub-basement where a kiln oven awaited bodies dumped down the chute, incinerated with no one the wiser. Due of the shoddy record keeping at the time, no one knows how many people died in that building. Estimates are between 20 and 200, and there is no way to do any forensic research since the building was burnt down and any remaining evidence has been long destroyed.
The Best and the Worst of Humanity
It is ironic that the first serial killer in America operated in the shadow of a celebration of the first mass murder in the history of the Americas. The World’s Colombian Exposition of 1893 is a reminder of how important multiple voices are when telling any history story. By giving the Italian American Association too big a voice Columbus stands much taller in history than he probably should. Today you can still visit grounds where the fair was held. The main attraction is the Museum of Science and Industry, a museum dedicated to the technical achievements of man, much like the fair was. While the fair did give us the Ferris Wheel, it also gave us an important lesson about how we remember history.
The competition among retail stores is brutal; it always has been. Most people are familiar with the names JC Penny, Montgomery Ward, Woolworth’s, Marshall Fields, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, and Sears. Most of these stores have been operating for one hundred years or longer. Some like Macy’s have given us iconic institutions like a Thanksgiving Day Parade, or like Sears who gave us the tallest building in the US at the time. Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer was
Now called Willis Tower this was originally the headquarters of Sears Dept Store. https://theskydeck.com/the-tower/
an advertising creation of Montgomery Ward who, more importantly, also started the catalog mail order service. This business model would be copied by Sears and Roebuck. Sears would become so successful at it they eventually rose to be the biggest retailer in the United States, a title they would hold from the 1920s until 1989. Sears would actually play an important role in the history of the United States, and even as they currently struggle to stay in business they have made a lasting impression on the history of America.
The Internet is to Amazon as the Mail was to Sears
The 1900s in the United States is going to see the end of what many call the Wild West period. Millions of Americans were living in rural areas with very few of the amenities city dwellers enjoyed. Sears would build his empire on the desire for quality goods otherwise not available to these people. Modeling the idea that Ward pioneered, Sears would send catalogs out to rural homes offering thousands of goods they could order. The items were shipped out and they could pick them up at the local train station. Sears was instrumental in bringing city comforts to the rural population of America. It evened the social divide between farmers and city folk. People could buy almost anything from Sears. Clothes, veterinary supplies, hubcaps, or even houses were all offered for sale among the pages. While Sears helped make America by helping to break a social divide between rural and urban people in the United States, they would play another big role in breaking a different divide in America.
Through the Mail, No One Can See the Color of Your Skin
The first half of the twentieth century in America was marked by a deep racial divide. This was the height of the Jim Crow era when African Americans were legally second class citizens. They were not afforded the same rights as non-colored citizens. Not only was the discrimination legal, but there was also the de-facto discrimination. Businesses did not have to treat non-white customers with any form of equality. African Americans were barred from sitting at lunch counters with whites or using the same doors as whites to enter buildings. With zero legal protection, there were limited options for African Americans to have a positive shopping experience. Enter the Sears catalog. Ordering merchandise through the mail was a colorless experience. The people filing the orders had no way of knowing if the customer was white, black, or brown. This allowed African Americans to shop within the relative safety of their homes. They had access to the same items that whites had access too. They didn’t have to settle for poor treatment and inferior goods at the local store, they could get quality merchandise through the mail. Everyone was equal in the processing room of Sear’s warehouse.
In Conclusion
Sears may not be around much longer. Wards closed its last store about fifteen years ago, and Sears may be following suit. When the last store closes its doors and turns off the lights for the last time a chapter of American history will close with it. Sears might get a passing mention in a few history classes, but its contributions to the history of the United States will go mostly ignored. These are the stories that we can not afford to lose, and that we should not allow being forgotten.
In the last thirty years, there has been a paradigm-shift in community perception towards museums. More and more museum professionals are becoming comfortable experimenting with exhibit format and taking risks. This change has resulted in museums becoming vessels for dialogue and a conduit between living history and the community. For example, the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways had a very deliberate mission in mind, coupled with newer, riskier presentation methods. Their mission was to educate the public to the plight of contemporary Native Americans, share the history of the Anishinabe people, and serve as a place of healing for those who have experienced historical trauma. The Ziibiwing Center accomplished these feats through strict adherence to their mission statement:
The Ziibiwing Center is a distinctive treasure created to provide an enriched, diversified and culturally relevant educational experience. This promotes the society’s belief that the culture, diversity and spirit of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and other Great Lakes Anishinabek must be recognized, perpetuated, communicated and supported.
The clarity of their message, the relevance of their goals to the community and the sincerity shown served to lend the Ziibiwing Center’s mission a sense of urgency to their community. The museum is not just a repository of artifacts and knowledge. It serves as a proponent for social change and cultural preservation in their community. It is my belief that as museum experts become more professional and are drawn from academic backgrounds, museums will serve as a vanguard to inspire reforms in social justice, inspire unity and collaboration in communities. Museums and museum professionals will accomplish this feat by starting a dialogue with the community utilizing the language of history and cultural experience.
Since this is in some ways a departure from what museums have historically been, the mission statements of museums must be reflected upon as well. In a sense, these ‘new model’ museums serve to inspire collaboration and empathy. ‘Old model’ museums served to educate the public on established truths with minimal room for dialogue and debate. Museums have historically served, as I stated before, as a repository of artifacts and knowledge. Many newer museums are performing this same task, while simultaneously valuing the input of their community and incorporating their stories into the running narrative. In this way, the ‘new model’ museum is a community center, a forum, a grief counselor, a cultural icon and a leader in the community. While this may be chasing an ideal somewhat, the proponents of the Ziibiwing Center would certainly testify to this statement’s truth. Museum professionals should continue to communicate history as a living, breathing entity that permeates every facet of our society. In doing so, museums will show that history is identity, and that the preservation of that history is a means to perpetuate the ‘life-ways’ of a community.
