Who Will Write Our History

  It’s the kind of modern history lesson that makes you glance sideways at the world while shaking your head, exclaiming, “Wow, I didn’t know that!” “Why didn’t they ever teach us this stuff in school?” It’s a common reaction to mind blowing revelations and new learnings about our past that public historians are pleased …

Small Town Museums Reveal Historical Photos

Who’s Photographing Beaver County History . . . Today? <figure> <img width=”2560″ height=”1707″ src=”https://thesocialvoiceproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Beaver-County-History-Photo-Montage-by-TSVP-scaled.jpg” alt=”” loading=”lazy” sizes=”100vw” /> <figcaption>Images from Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Sample of 460 pictures from 1938 to December 1941 available at Programmar, Yale University’s web-based platform for organizing, searching, and visualizing the 170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945 created by the United …

Oral History in the Age of Digital Storytelling

Filmmaker Chris Padgett recognizes the value of community-based storytelling. His recently released video trailer for Rivertown Anthology: Voices of Beaver County is just the beginning of what promises to be a highly creative and deeply thoughtful ongoing film series about “the people and their stories” in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Padgett’s work falls in line with …

So What About History

It’s the shortest question, and yet the hardest to answer. It challenges public historians in ways that put their knowledge, competence, credibility, and authority on the line. So What? It’s a fair question, of course, but it can unsettle us.  Behind these words is subtext: I don’t care. I’m not interested. This is irrelevant. For …

The Legend of Pat Tillman

“NFL player Pat Tillman joined U.S. Army in 2002. He was killed in action 2004. He fought for our country/freedom.” ~President Donald Trump’s 2017 social media comment used to condemn NFL players who protest during the national anthem   “The very action of self expression and the freedom to speak from one’s heart—no matter those …

WHICH HISTORY TO HONOR?

In our system of government, citizens of each state send politicians to Washington DC as their representatives.  But did you know that states are also represented in our capitol by representative artwork, such as murals, portraits, and paintings reflective of each state’s history. Perhaps the grandest display of state art can be found in the …

Historical Hero Worship

Most people want to learn the truth about history, even if it rattles common sense or deflates comfortable–but dubious–accounts of history. We recently posted a provocative mini-essay about a particular populist conception of WWII veterans–that they were all heroes. Of course, many were. Some, if we are to be truthful with ourselves, were not. During …

That’s Offensive

“We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization,” read an official statement from the Philadelphia Flyers sports organization.  “As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our …