After 400 years of colonization of Massachusetts by Europeans, we enter a period of town anniversaries. How can we use them as an occasion to start addressing that “settlement” in Massachusetts also meant “displacement”, the beginning of attenuated conflict, and the “disappearing” of Native American presence and history, often in plain sight? As some leading organizations change their identities to be more inclusive, how are you approaching these events in your own towns and institutions? Do you have celebrations coming up? What can we do to bring residents together and start telling these complex stories? Are you working on this? Are you wondering how to move forward, and thinking about how to mark significant anniversaries without celebrating conflict and dispossession? Bring your questions, observations, and experiences, as well as your obstacles and successes in reframing narratives and using your collections in a new way.
A Conversation with Linda Coombs, program director at the Aquinnah Cultural Center, Desiree Mobed, Director at the Alden House Historic Site, and Michelle Pecoraro, Executive Director of Plymouth 400