Collected Links
Often I come across stories online that connect in someway with what I'm reading or thinking about at the time. Sometimes on this blog, I'll collect some of those links with a few notes about what parts of them resonated with my train of thought. This week I seemed to see a lot of stories about how we remember (or don't) places and how markers, monuments, or programming can affect those memories.
"Race Riot" or "Massacre"?
On one level, this article tells a harrowing story of an 1866 massacre in which 46 black residents of Memphis were killed, others were raped, and homes, churches, and schools were burned to the ground. But when some people petitioned for a historic marker, they couldn't agree with the Tennessee Historical Commission about what to call the tragedy; was it a "race riot" or a "massacre"? In the end they put up the marker with their own money (and the city's blessing). In a region dominated by monuments to Confederate generals, this marker stands out and may lead to more like it as well as a broader conversation on memorializing the South's slave-holding and Jim Crow past.
For more on the massacre (and its lasting impact today), see this article from the Atlantic too: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-memphis-massacre-of-1866-and-black-voter-suppression-today/481737/
Public Squares
While there's a lot to unpack about how public places such as squares shape human interaction, I was more interested in how some squares are linked to certain events and how that connection is marked. Tiannanmen Square, for example, bears few markers of its iconic "tank man" and the protests that surrounded him, but rather has been stripped of features that may invite people to gather in the plaza.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary has run a successful Halloween attraction for over two decades but they've just opened another scary exhibit: "Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration." In part a response to criticism from historians such as Seth Bruggeman (who will be one of my professors at Temple!), the historic prison's new installation uses "informative wall panels, video displays, and interactive panels" to tell the story of American prisons today. And it includes a massive graph/sculpture in one of the courtyards.
UPDATE: And then I saw that Prof. Bruggeman linked to this article from the BBC about ESP employing ex-cons as tour guides. Well worth a read!
Stonewall to be National Monument
Exciting news for LGBTQ activists and historians of various stripes, I should think, as the site of the iconic 1969 riots looks to be slated for National Monument status this summer. It's fascinating that the bar itself will remain a private enterprise--I don't know what all that entails but it could be precedent setting?
Using Old Records for Climate Science
This article popped up on Facebook because it was written by a fellow graduate of Goshen College. I include it here because it features a few exciting way that scientists are using old records. I was especially intrigued by the UK Coastal Floodstone Project which is using a relatively recent convention (crowdsourcing) to make use of a really old one (floodstones). And I like that these efforts are displaying touch of longue durée. I also just really enjoyed looking at photos of floodstones (seriously, how cool is the image at the top of this post!?).
Ok, that's all for this collection of links, I imagine I'll have enough for another one before too long.
