"Places of Refuge, Keepers of Memory" on History@Work

My wrap-up post to the series on "Responding Rapidly to Our Communities" for the National Council on Public History is now live on the History@Work blog. This post is both a summary of our current news and tragedy-heavy environment, the challenges of that landscape, and a call to take action guided by a few simple principles: to be keepers of memory and places of refuge during the storms. The closing lines come from the heart:

"When distilled to its essence, what tragedy demands of us should, in fact, be the most natural to summon: it demands our humanity. Tragedy simply asks that we reach into the depths of our most human of hearts, find the light, and beam it back out."

Upcoming Event: “Storytelling, Archives, and Resilience”

On Monday, April 23, I'll be speaking at the Northeastern University Alumni Center for a roundtable discussion on remembrance, commemorating five years of "Our Marathon," the Boston Bombing Digital Archive.

“Storytelling, Archives, and Resilience”

Monday April 23, 4:30pm with reception to follow

"Storytelling, Archives and Resilience," marking the fifth anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, will commemorate five years of the Our Marathon digital archive and the ways in which collecting, archiving, and sharing memories can facilitate remembrance and healing.

Join us for a roundtable discussion moderated by Dan Cohen, Vice Provost for Information Collaboration, Dean of the Libraries, and co-director of the 9/11 Digital Archive.

Panelists will be:

• Ashley Maynor, award-winning filmmaker behind The Story of the Stuff and currently Digital Scholarship Librarian at New York University
• Kristi Girdharry, the Our Marathon Oral History Project Manager and currently Assistant Professor of English at Johnson and Wales University
• Elizabeth Maddock Dillon, Our Marathon Principal Investigator and currently Professor of English at Northeastern University
• Jim McGrath, Co-director of the Our Marathon project and currently post-doctoral Fellow in Digital Public Humanities at Brown University.

RVSP here.

Upcoming Event: Two Panels at NCPH Conference in Las Vegas

In April, I'll be part of two panels at the annual National Council on Public History conference in Las Vegas. These sessions will be recorded and made available online to serve as a resource for anyone in the community following the event.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

8:30 am - 10:00am

Documenting Resilience: Condolence Collection Projects in the Wake of Violence

This session aims to provide insight and guidance to historians,
archivists and librarians who must develop responses to unanticipated
and unthinkable tragedies. Presenters will discuss research and
experiences with the condolence archives created in the wake of
violence at Virginia Tech, the University of California, Santa Barbara,
and in Las Vegas. Through the presentation of these case studies, we
will foster a discussion around essential questions and best practices
for those working with condolence artifacts and collections.

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Exhibiting Sorrow: Memorial Tributes to Victims andCommunity Healing in the Wake of Violence

This session aims to provide insight and guidance to historians,
archivists, and curators who are developing memorial exhibitions
paying tribute to lives lost in massacres and terrorist attacks.
Presenters will discuss research and experiences with curating
exhibitions related to the 9/11 terrorist attack; the Pulse Nightclub
shooting in Orlando, Florida; the rampage in Isla Vista, California;
the AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina; and
the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,
Connecticut.