Museums are everywhere. Along the Northern Rail Trail in Franklin, New Hampshire, the author came across an old train yard with an interpretive sign indicating, "the granite blocks you are looking at are all that remains of this eighteenth-century railroad table." Of course, trains did not cross the region until the nineteenth century.…

Eng and Chang Bunker (1811--1874) were conjoined twins of Chinese ethnicity born in Siam (today, Thailand). Before the Civil War, they toured the United States to exhibit themselves as a "human curiosity," a wonder of nature, their conjoined state documented by local doctors at each stop on their tours, and their exhibition touted as…

This book explores tensions between "critical social justice" and what the author terms "white justice as fairness" in public commemoration of Minnesota's US-Dakota War of 1862. First, the book examines a regional "white public pedagogy" demanding "objectivity" and "balance" in…

In recent years, the removal of monuments which glorify historical figures associated with racism and colonialism has become one of the most visible and contested forms of decolonisation. Yet many have objected that there is educational value in leaving such monuments standing. In this paper, I argue that public monuments can be understood as…

In March 1958, a tense six months after the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik I sent a shockwave of fear and purpose through the United States, an essay published in the Franklin Institute (TFI) monthly member newsletter, "The Institute News," opened with an oddly defiant, even dismissive tone ("Sputnik, Teachers &…

Stacy Boldrick is a Lecturer in Art Museum and Gallery Studies at the University of Leicester, where she conducts research in iconoclasm and its significance for social groups and institutions. She is the author of "Iconoclasm and the Museum" (Routledge, 2020). In 2013, she collaborated with Tabitha Barber to curate Art Under Attack:…

This essay explores the ways that museums educate adults, and reveals that, as cultural educators, museums have the ability to promote hegemonic stories through their displays. I discuss these ideas through my visits to two museums in Atlanta, Georgia, USA: the Atlanta History Centre and the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History.…

"Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power" is an exhibition of American Black artists from the 1960s through 1980s. Originally developed by the Tate Modern in London, the exhibition travelled to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, in early 2018. When we visited the exhibition, we intended to study how…

The authors offer their personal reflections on changes in public presentations of Deaf history that have occurred since the 1981 publication of Jack R. Gannon's "Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America." This rear-view-mirror perspective on the move into public discourse touches on progress, protest, and navigation through…

The Civil War ended in 1865. From 2011-2015, Civil War sesquicentennial events took place around the nation. The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium used the opportunity to feature two exhibits on the critical role that the river played during the Civil War. Both exhibits highlighted contributions to the war effort by the surrounding…

The idea of a shared place in the universe--a shared history--was embodied in 2019. The heft of the Smithsonian--its unparalleled collections, its diverse and deep-rooted expertise, and its outsized ability to connect with millions of people--is being brought to bear on the most critical issues of all time: conversations about democracy, identity,…

In gathering and circulating histories, the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) enacts both community publishing and self-publishing models, as they have been defined in literacy studies. As a community institution situated within a larger constellation of counterpublics and dominant publics that have often overlooked, erased,…

As the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, we are tasked with stimulating a national dialogue on race and helping to foster a spirit of reconciliation and healing. This directly impacts our social media practice and how we engage with digital audiences. It helps us reach new audiences, highlight relevant museum…

Museums can provide spaces for both the personal and the political and the past and the present to unite. This case study examines how the National Museum of African American History and Culture has worked to embrace current and historic social justice issues in public programming. The result has strengthened audiences beyond imagining and allowed…

This paper examines the role of museums in the creation of anglophone stories in the USA, and how the (non-)translation of signs contributes to create a narrative of exclusion vis-à-vis other groups, notably native Americans, the Spanish, and the French. Particular attention is paid to open-air museums that preserve old buildings and areas…