PUBLICK OCCURRENCES — April 14, 2021
Session Focus:
Curating Marginalized Heritage/Indigenous History/Finding Community through History
How does building community facilitate the telling of fuller, more expansive histories? How can we overcome the challenges that come with expanding our interpretive scope to serve and engage wider audiences?
Three panels at the upcoming Mass History Conference will explore this question in different ways.
The first panel, CURATING MARGINALIZED HERITAGE, explores two exhibits — one on disability heritage and one on histories of enslavement in Beverly, Mass.. — and will discuss how the creators accessed the stories of marginalized people through artifacts and documentation.
The second, INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND HISTORICAL INSTITUTIONS: BEGINNING CONVERSATIONS, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, looks at how Massachusetts historical institutions can work with local tribal communities to bring indigenous perspectives to the forefront of public history work.
The third, FINDING COMMUNITY THROUGH HISTORY, looks at two case studies at the New Bedford Historical Society and the Somerville Museum and asks: How can history organizations reach out into the community and create local partnerships, and how can these efforts invite more civic engagement and collective reflection?
Join colleagues and peers from around the Commonwealth for these lively conversations, which aim to enrich history practice for everyone. Registration for the Massachusetts History Alliance annual conference on June 7, 2021 is now open! View the full program and register here: https://masshistoryalliance.org/register-for-the-2021-mass-history-conference/