February 2023
Maps and Social Justice
Are you or your organization doing work that uses maps, GIS or other geospatial approaches to teach about social justice topics? Is your work open to anyone to use and have applications for the K-12 classroom? If so, then we want to connect with you! U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota, the Leventhal Map & Education Center, and New American History are hosting a virtual convening to connect like-minded institutions and organizations.
Details »March 2023
Real and Imaginary: Plantation Images of the Enslaved in Lynchburg, Virginia
Self-emancipated from a plantation in Maryland, the most photographed man in the 19th century, Frederick Douglass, once stated “It is evident that the great cheapness and universality of pictures must exert a powerful, though silent, influence upon the ideas and sentiment of present and future generations.” Thinking about plantation images, real and imaginary – where is the line between fact and fiction? In what ways do the plantation images out of Lynchburg, Virginia act as tools through which the city…
Details »April 2023
Preparing Historic House Museums and Historic Sites for America’s 250th
Are you ready for America’s 250th? Open to public historians of any period, we will use a new toolkit to assist participants in shaping their approach to 2026. Participants can select just the morning session (ideal if you're just getting started with your 250th planning), or the full day experience if your plans are a little more developed. In the morning session the workshop will cover engagement with the themes of America’s 250th, building inclusive and dynamic narratives of the…
Details »June 2023
Finding Freedom Across Two Centuries: Artwork of the Amistad
How does artwork shape historical memory? The story of the Amistad Africans, one of the few successful slave ship mutinies in American history, which led to a trial at the U.S. Supreme Court, was the subject of multiple works of art, including prints, paintings, quilts, and monuments. The subject is iconic in American art history. How was the character of Cinque of the Amistad developed for white abolitionist audiences? In what ways could a painting owned by a Black Philadelphian…
Details »The Museum of the Street: CETA murals, placemaking, and urban revitalization
This project documents the impact of a mural-making program in the late 1970s, a time of social unrest, the degradation of American cities, and differing attempts by politicians and community groups to address severe inequities. A special program which channeled funds to cities began in 1976 -- the year of the American Bicentennial (the 200th founding of the nation-state) allowing localities such as mayoral and city council administrations to devote funds across social and cultural projects in an attempt to…
Details »January 2024
Material Matters: It’s in the Details
Presence and Absence in Pennsylvania: Carved Head of Captain John Carlton by John Fisher, c. 1786 Inside a mid-20th century car dealership-turned-local history museum is the representation of an indigenous man. He is carved from the trees that gave name to “Penn’s Woods.” These were eighteenth century woods inhabited by an intersection of peoples speaking different languages: Algonquian, English, High German, and Low German. They each built their architecture in their own image. Few remnants survive. The architecture of white…
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