PUBLICK OCCURRENCES — July 3, 2020
Conversations on the Commons invites you to:
Black Lives Matter protests and history organizations: Partner, collect, change?
With Marieke Van Damme and Judith Monachina
Join us July 10th for a conversation on the responsibilities of historical organizations in light of recent widespread protests and growing acknowledgment that things have to change — that historically white organizations have a duty to challenge white privilege. But how? Share your experience, questions, and reflections, as our panelists will share theirs.
Panelists will be Marieke Van Damme, Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Society and Judith Monachina, who directs the Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College.
Friday July 10, 1:00-2:30 pm
Registration is free. After you register, we’ll send you an invitation to the meeting.
We’ll discuss:
How are historical organizations responding to Black Lives Matter protests and increasing public dialogue on racial issues in their towns and cities?
Are you collecting? What are the challenges and rewards in working towards collecting materials on current issues? Who decides what is collected? Who do you work with? Who “owns” the history, and what are the practical considerations for collecting a history your organization does not “own”? Are you developing partnerships? Why would a movement want to work with a historical organization?
How can historical organizations seriously address the need for structural change and tackle assumptions of white privilege? How can historical organizations start taking responsibility for their own history and actions, and begin moving towards a more diverse and inclusive future? Share authority with local residents?
You can also view our livestream. We will do our best to monitor your questions and comments.
Questions? Be in touch with Caroline Littlewood: commons@masshistoryalliance.org
Conversations on the Commons
Where people from Massachusetts history organizations get to vent, empathize, laugh, complain, think, collaborate, brainstorm, plan, and in general be up to no good.
Judith Monachina is the Director of the Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College. She works with community organizations and individuals to help them plan and implement oral history projects.
Marieke Van Damme has worked in nonprofits for twenty years, starting as an Americorps VISTA volunteer in Alaska. She worked in collections management for the National Park Service in Sitka, Alaska, and in Salem, Massachusetts; managed an 18th-century historic site in Peabody, Massachusetts; and served as Deputy Director at the Bostonian Society/Old State House in Boston, Massachusetts. Her recent board service includes president of the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club (Boston, Mass) and a member of the New England Museum Association board. She has been the executive director for the Cambridge Historical Society since 2015. As a co-founder of Gender Equity in Museum Movement (GEMM), she is committed to raising awareness, affecting change, and championing transparency about gender equity in the museum workplace. She holds a B.A. in History from LeMoyne College, an M.A. in Museum Studies from Harvard University Extension School, and an M.S. in Arts Administration from Boston University.