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A Brutality Concise Format

Doom Towns: The People and Landscapes of Atomic Testing is an interesting historical text. The choice of author Andrew G. Kirk to present oral history narratives in the format of a graphic novel is…for lack of a better word novel. Oral histories gathered through the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project are brought to life through the illustrations of Kristian Purcell. Additionally, the armchair historian or even academic scholar can dive deeper into the primary source material contained within the book. It takes the reader on both a narrative journey and a scholastic one. 

The book begins with contextualizing the era of atomic testing from 1946 to 1963 for both the audience as well as the author. It continues this contextualization later in the work by giving information on the environmentalist movement and the Cold War. Reading the graphic novel sections, as a comic book reader and someone familiar with some of the details of the atomic era, I felt deeply drawn in. Comic books as a medium have always been very accessible for me to understand both story and emotion of character. Reading these sections I was equally engaged but with the haunting thought at the back of my mind that this was based in truth, on someone’s lived experience. 

While “Graphic History” as Kirk calls it is a field, I haven’t encountered much I think it’s the perfect delivery system for a topic so deeply emotional as the atomic testing era. Oral histories filter facts through personal perception and that’s an important thing to remember when discussing recent history such as this. I thoroughly enjoyed the read even if I, as the reader, had to carry an emotional weight. 

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Stolen History

Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit discusses the Cyrus E. Dallin statue, The Massasoit, and its many descendent works. The book is an exercise in contextual understanding of monuments both their original intention at the time in which they were created as well as their more contemporary shifting understanding as the narrative surrounding their context gets its own memory. This book is also apart of a larger conversation that has been ongoing about the sections of celebratory histories associated with monuments. The authors, Lisa Blee and Jean M. O’Brien, discus monuments as a method of preservation of the historical narrative. With the creation of The Massasoit the Improved Order of Red Men wanted to “freeze” Ousamequin’s (the historical figure on which the statue is based) legacy by having a tangible reminder of his role in the settlement of Plymouth. However, as time marched on the portrayal of Native Americans that The Massasoit, participates in of helpful, stoic, peace pipe-caring peoples evolved. 

Natives themselves became more involved with cultural/social memory of early America. The Improved Order of Red Men is a fraternal organization of white men. This group that fundraised for the statue stands in stark contrast to the groups of actual Native Americans that gather on Thanksgiving to commemorate the National Day of Mourning. Since 1970s, Natives have begun to loudly reframe the narrative associated with The Massasoit, that of a beginning to America. They rebuke this as merely the beginnings of white America. The United American Indians of New England (UAINE) used the statue to close the distance between the past and the present, in order to question the larger historical narrative pushed by social memory. Standing next to a native body created and idealized by a white man for a white cause, the UAINE makes passers-by question not only their perception of history but who and why they were taught that version.

Here is a video about the National Day of Mourning. It features commentary on mythologizing the American Historical Narrative, images of Dallin's statue, and footage from the 2016 protest.

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The Authority Question

In our current time, historians and archivists are seen as strong allies, diving in together to facilitate truth and perception. However, this has not always been the case. In the book Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives, Blouin and Rosenberg detail the ‘archival divide.’ The historian and the archive often have similar goals but rather contradicting audiences and methods. The authors discuss archivist move away from the historians in the 1950s moving toward a ‘records management’ ideal over historical preservation. Due to the explosion in volume of material archivists were faced with deciding what exactly is worth preserving since its unsustainable to attempt to preserve everything. 

Because of this divide, a new form of history called ‘social memory’ came into the larger cultural conversation. Social memory impacted historians and archivists, especially as detailed in chapter seven the authority of the archive. Memory, both individual and collective, is dependent upon the social context in which the original events took place as well as the context in which its being remembered. The book’s final chapter offers solutions on how the archival divide can be bridged, as well as managing archival silences. 

In summation, the book does a good job of using the two fields that frequently overlap as both juxtaposed and in conversation as a way to have a larger discussion about how we, the people, remember our past and moreover who/what do we trust to steward that work. Blouin and Rosenberg give not only the contexts for the changes to the two occupations but the fallout and ways to course correct.

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Digging For History

This week I read Detroit Remains: Archaeology and Community Histories of Six Legendary Places by Krysta Ryzewski. I think that this book showcases how a discipline focused on the past can be used to inform the future of a place. The six case studies represent the diverse stories and social changes the city of Detroit has undergone in its tenure.

The author’s methodology is clear from the writings. In chapter two Ryzewski choses to investigate the local social memory surrounding Tommy’s Detroit Bar and Grill, following documentation and archeological investigation in the speakeasy that previously resided in the building’s basement. The team didn’t have previous investigations to build upon going on mostly local accounts for the beginning of their project. Through archival research the team was able to find a membership card that proved the exitance of speakeasy at the address and they were able to move with more confidence into their archeological research. 

Not only do the case studies detail the work that Ryzewski’s team did but also contextual information for the location and time period. For example, in chapter four Ryzewski discusses not just the information the team found about the Blue Bird Inn but greater context on African American migration, Detroit’s neighborhoods, and the jazz scene in not just the local area but in popular culture. 

The final chapter does a good job of summing up the goal of not just the book but the goals of larger historic archaeological investigation. Without involvement in the local community any kind of historic preservation is doomed to fail, and this book demonstrates not only how to preform and present investigation but how to let the community inform your investigation.

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Who are National Museums For?

In Curating America's Painful Past: Memory, Museums, and the National Imagination the author, Tim Gruenewald, discusses the legacies and present of American Museums and how they contribute to the creation of a national narrative of history. He contextualizes the book within the social upheaval of 2020 examining our collective memories as a way of pushing for current solutions. 

In chapter 4 of Gruenewald’s book, he examines the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI.) In 2018 I had the fortune of visiting this institution and while I had historical context for much of the treatment of Native Americans due to personal interest and enjoyed the communal and hopeful tones of the NMAI, I understand the criticism leveled in this chapter. Had I not taken previous steps to understand the constant upheaval between the U.S. government and Native peoples I think I would have noticed missing elements. The approach of this museum is fundamentally flawed like Gruenewald asserts, you can not celebrate survival without an understanding of what people had to overcome. In their attempt to decolonize the museum they in fact removed the context in which native people lived and still live. For an institution such as this I also agree that it's strange the only memorial on the National Mall for Native Americans is specifically for veterans. 

I think this chapter as well as the other examples explored call greater questions of what these museums are for, If not presenting a well nuanced forum for discussion about our nation’s past, present, and future. Due to their location on the National Mall you would think these Musuems are for us, the people, but Gruenewald's work left me asking these questions: Are they merely propaganda? If the white house is the people’s house, are these museum’s not the people’s as well? And if they are, then are they fulfilling their obligations? 

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Interpreting Interpreting Our Heritage

Tilden’s work Interpreting Our Heritage hits the mark on what interpretation should be: connection. His 6 principals of interpretation boil down to relationality between the object/place, the audience, and the interpreter. I especially thought his passage on ‘cultivating humility’ was integral and should’ve been included in the core principals. This one idea of a humble connection lends itself to the idea that interpretation isn’t instruction, but rather a conversation. When you leave any interaction with interpretation you want to feel curious or enlightened, not overwhelmed with static information, or worse, spoken down to. Tilden’s notion that it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of overexplaining or underestimating your audience is one that rings true. Additionally, Tilden took care to note that children’s interpretation does not stem from established interpretation for other ages but rather has different goals and needs. As someone that has attempted the difficult art of children’s interpretation, this is familiar. However, the implication, possibly accidentally made, by Tilden that children are the only group who want for a more tactile engagement with sites and objects I think is unfair to other age groups. I’ve seen adults engage tactilely in museums and other educational spaces and be pulled back to that sense of wonder we all had in childhood. While this is my first engagement with Tilden’s specific set of principles, I think they have become quite common in the interpretation field as in other similar works I’ve found these same goalposts for engagement.

I've also found some footage of Freeman Tilden speaking on Interpretation via the NPS Interpretive Development Program's Youtube channel.