America’s 50,000 monuments: More mermaids than congresswomen, more Confederates than abolitionists

By Gillian Brockell, The Washington Post Hundreds of public monuments have come down amid the racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd last year. Some were toppled by protesters armed with rope; others have been disassembled and carted away by professionals hired by local governments. These removals may seem, well, monumental. But according to a study of U.S.…

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Why History Museums Are Convening a ‘Civic Season’

The Smithsonian Institute’s American History Museum decided to re-create the training experience of the nonviolent direct action workshops like those Reverend James Lawson had begun in 1959 in Nashville where he taught Ghandian tactics to eventual movement leaders like John Lewis and Diane Nash. Read about how complicated histories can be exhibited in museums in new, highly engaging ways and watch a 20 min. video of that play and audience participation.

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