Celebrating Anniversaries. Commemorating Wars.

We have been commemorating the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War for years now. My twitter feed has been noting archival projects, social media blitzes, major reenactments, and museum exhibits throughout the events. Cultural Institutions began planning years in advance.  Internet outreach has enabled us to build up interest and create long running projects that aim to keep people engaged. I have very mixed feelings about these activities and while I tend toward the opinion that they are a good thing, a little piece of me thinks otherwise.

One way that cultural institutions aim to get the public involved is through Crowdsourcing. A good example of this is a project through the University of Iowa.

Saylor and her colleagues “crowdsourced” the Civil War by digitizing the letters and diaries and making them available to the public. They created a website where transcribers can choose a document, transcribe it in a niffy box, and email it to them for review.

Goals: To get the public involved, highlight a major event, and get much needed help for making archival materials more accessible.

The Civil War events are having a small lull. According to the civilwar150 site, not much of significance happened during the War in the spring and summer months of 1864. My Twitter feed on the events has been quiet. Perhaps, it's a good thing that the centennial of WWI is getting underway too so I have more commemorative articles to link to. (Am I being fascetious? I'm not sure. That's what I'm here to discuss.)

The United States World War One Centennial Commission has a wonderful web site to remind us about this oft forgotten catastophic event. 100-years after a War, it is easy to see it as ancient history. It is easy for us to forget how the events of the past have lead us to where we are today. The roots of Russian history and conflict go back this far, for one thing. As one example of the need for remembering our history - Understanding events in the Ukraine today can be related to World War One. And, yet, my mind still questions this "celebration" of anniversaries.

I fall victim to anniversary syndrome. For a Town's 250th I think, "let's do it up!" For my school's fiftieth I say, "let's plan retro events and highlight our community!" Anniversaries give cultural heritage professionals a chance to pull in the general public, to help them get as excited about history as we are. In some ways, these celebrations are artificial constructs. We can find an anniversary for anything and make it worth celebrating, but is that a bad thing? If the general public wants festivities to get excited about history, the fact that they are interested is a good thing, right? Anniversaries allow archivists to convince people to dig through their attics and basements to find materials that document our history. Society has used anniversaries to highlight our heritage for at least hundreds of years. We have highlighted war in this way for probably thousands of years -- from stitching battle history into tapestry to honoring our Veterans with special days each year.

2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of what we now sadly know as The First World War – it would never be The War to End All Wars.  As we look back over the century we should remember that these men did not die in vain – they fought a war that, like the one that followed only 25 years later, was necessary to contain the territorial ambition of a major European power.  About one hundred years before the outbreak of the First World War British and Allied troops had defeated France at the Belgium village of Waterloo - and contained a major European power.
Remember the courage and honour the sacrifice of the boys who became men 100 years ago and support the young men and women who have followed in their footsteps and are today's soldiers.  - (from Spirit of Remembrance  web site - "Battlefield tours for discerning travelers") 

I am a bit troubled by the hoopla. How do we pick and choose what anniversaries to mark? What anniversaries are we forgetting? Are there under-documented events/wars/communities that need more attention from the governments that sponsor them? Are we glorifying War -- molding it into something romantic through a "celebration?"  Are we all doing all of this for the right reasons?  

To be sure, much good work is being done. These anniversary events deserve remembrance. Cultural heritage institutions could use the boost, excitement, collections, and donations that come from these events. It is a fine line to walk. Anniversaries, especially those of war, deserve related activities that suit the occasion. We need to remember that these events involve people. We need to remember without a sense of adventure and without romanticism. We need to ensure that our communities are boosted by our commemorations. We run the risk of trivializing terror and giving an amusement park atmosphere to what should be solemn memorials.

Let's remember this as we go on to mark the third year in our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Conflict.

What do you think about using anniversaries to boost the work of cultural heritage institutions? Do these anniversaries help our communities? If these anniversary celebrations are a good thing, with whom should cultural institutions partner to make them worthwhile?

The Underdocumented and Multiculturalism

http://www.annefrank.org
Anne Frank stands as a symbol for
respect for human differences.

 

"My teenage years were a crossroad. They were the point where I learned the contradictions between what I had been told and what was....I didn't know it, but I was learning about life through these novels---a different depiction of life than what the media was selling me..." [Getting Diverse Books Into the Hands of Teen Readers: How do We Do It?]
 
"Of the multitude who throughout history have spoken for human dignity in times of great suffering and loss, no voice is more compelling than that of Anne Frank." - John F. Kennedy, 1960

Both archival materials and books have the power to help people see the world in a different way. The materials written and created by humankind can speak to diversity and tolerance. Archives and literature can work hand-in-hand to shed light on our differences as well as showing our sameness. The idea that we are not alone and that diverse peoples share remarkably similar feelings -- can exhibit strength AND insecurities -- is important to both express and share.

I often talk about how archivists and librarians should work together, but I am extending my thinking even further. I am realizing just how seamlessly we can work together to reach diverse audiences. This summer I am taking a Children's and YA Literature class to gain my certification as a school information specialist. This week we are talking about "multiculturalism" in children's literature.

Multiculturalism Defined

1. of, relating to, reflecting, or adapted to diverse cultures  [Merriam Webster]

2. Celebrating human diversity by willingly promoting legal, political, and social recognition of cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences. [Business Dictionary.com]

3. a body of thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural and religious diversity. [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

In the world of archives, we can use the idea of multiculturalism with our practice of creating diverse collections, including our goals as archivists to document the under-documented. Connect cultural institutions to the classroom and use multiple types of resources to make connections to the real world.

• Bring primary documents (diaries, letters and the like) into the classroom alongside literary works to better explain realistic fiction. Ideas come from somewhere. Making the connections would be beneficial for education on many levels. Much has been written on how students (and adults) need to make connections between classes and "the real world". This is another reason why and how.
  
  In fact, Anne Frank's diary was edited to remove some of the more sexual content that was deemed unseemly in 1947. [I am wondering how sexual content can be more unseemly than a girl hiding in an attic in fear of her life, but that relates to censorship. That is actually my other class topic for the week, but I will save that for another post.] However, this is what students need to read, so they can see that their typical thoughts and feelings ARE typical. So that they see that people "different" from them are only human too. Anne Frank is the best known example of archival material that does this, but every small community has its own cultural items that can also make connections between people.
  
• Bring literature into the archives to show connections between first person events and the stories that we concoct to explain our reality or getting us thinking. We can bring the literature in by connecting to it in our access tools. Our finding aids can include a bibliographic section that reads: "For more information on this subject, or for a look at how these types of materials have influenced the literary world, see..." We can also use books in our archival exhibits and programming.

Librarians and archivists need to get talking about shared collection development. How can we work together to promote diversity and knowledge? How can our collections play off each other? We should not be operating in separate spheres when our materials have similar things to say. We have shared purposes and different terminology.

The History Books Forgot About Us

In the 1960s, the study of history began to change. My teachers in the decades that followed compared the "new social history" to the study of what they called "dead white men." The 1960s shift lead to the development of various branches of history including research based on gender, ethnicity, and more. We weren't just studying the famous or powerful in the late twentieth century. We began considering how various communities influenced society, molding and changing civilization.

The shift continues today with the Internet. Outside the scholarly world of history, individuals are finding their own voices. They are recording their memories for posterity -- perhaps not always consciously. They broadcast their ideas to the world. Archivists are paying attention. We are thinking about how we are going to save these individual voices for the future.

Our words are important to the study of history

The Voices

The Internet, and social media in particular, provides a unique platform for the history of the future. And the platform is quickly changing to emphasize those individual voices. Consider Facebook's shift to its "timeline," for example. The platform are giving us the tools to share our life stories as completely as possible. If we can save these voices and stories, historians will have a new unique tool to explore our heritage in a whole new way. The history of dead white men is truly dead. Millions of voices are replacing it.

History is About Us


I am curious to see how history books will not forget us in the future. How will historians sort out the voices to project them in a logical way to students? A few years ago, I came across a theory about teaching history backwards. The concept behind this is that if students see themselves as part of history, they can reach back to better understand the context of events. How did historical events get us to where we are today as a society? How has history helped create the life you live today? History is about us and if we start from that perspective, the context and importance of it all can neatly line up from there.

An Archivist's View

This is my own view and does not necessarily reflect the views of my fellow archivists. (I am interested to hear their comments.) Over the past ten years, I've promoted the idea that caring for your personal papers and caring for the papers of your community can lays a foundation for our archives work in small institutions. This approach fits quite well with the idea of studying history backwards. If we take care of what is most important to us -- our own personal papers and digital records -- and learn to recognize how they fit in with a larger society or collections of papers, than we have more of a vested interest in saving archives. Society has an opportunity to ensure that history books will no longer forget about the general populace. Saving our own memories in recorded form gives historians the tools they need to consider larger groups. Furthermore, a plethora of safely stored recorded information cannot be ignored.

The Internet gives us a unique new tool for the study of history. It is changing our ideas of what a "community" is. It is giving us more communities to consider. Still, our presence is recorded beyond the computer. The papers in our homes still provide a valuable perspective on our lives. Our individual histories exist online and offline. We have the opportunity to care for these recorded perspectives so that history remembers us. Our descendants will look to our lives to better understand their own if we give them the tools.

Exploring the History of Women - More on Documenting the Underdocumented

Women's history is often elusive. Records of women's activities were limited up until the twentieth century. The documents that showed women's role in society were hard to come by or non-existent. Fewer women than men were well-educated or knew how to write. Fewer women participated in activities outside of the home that led to the creation of documentation for us to examine. Many women's traditional activities were not considered worthy of record.  March 2011 is the anniversary of Women's History Month in the U.S., providing us with the perfect opportunity to consider the documentation of my often under-documented sex. March 8th also marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, which grew out of early twentieth century labor movements that sought comparable treatment for both sexes in the workplace. We now celebrate women's history to recognize the achievements (big and small) of all women around the globe. From cleaning the house to running major corporations, from raising children to winning competitions, the activities of women should be documented and appreciated as vital to our understanding of our communities and of a greater humanity.


According to American Libraries, "The roots of National Women’s History Month go back to “Women’s History Week,” first celebrated in Sonoma County, California, in 1978...The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 1975, during the U.N. International Women’s Year and encouraged member states to establish a similar day on a date appropriate to their traditions. Celebration of International Women’s Day has extended to over 60 nations..."


The following is a list of just a few of the wonderful online resources I've explored for archival material and documentation projects related to Women's history: 


Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet by Duke University


Do History - Martha Ballard's Diary online


Georgia Women's Movement Oral History Project - (with a link to related oral histories throughout the United States)

Quilts as Women's Documents: The Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project

UNESCO Libraries Portal - sources for women's history

US.gov collaboration 

"The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society."

Women Working 1800-1930 - Diaries, Memoirs and Journals. Harvard University, Schlesinger Library Radcliffe Institute

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Over at the Life in Context Facebook page, we encourage you to post images and stories about the strong women in your life. Please browse on over and take part! Document the memories of the women who have influenced you.