History has enormous power. It connects us to the past,
our family or community roots, and shapes how we feel
about the present. Its analysis offers a glimpse of who we
were before as a society, who we are now and the journey ahead.

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Archivists and museum professionals have a
responsibility to be keepers of the story through
curating collections, preservation, exhibits, and outreach activities. As such, they are empowered to decide which stories to collect, which artifacts to deaccession when necessary, which words to use in describing artifacts with metadata, or the best way to exhibit and display history.

 

Unfortunately, gaps exist in the history that has been preserved and shared. The collective voices that make
up our history are not always preserved and too many
voices are silenced, effectively erasing them from history.

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Additionally, the painful and horrific chapters in America’s story have too often been swept under the rug. A gaping wound exists from the historic trauma of colonialism,
slavery, and systemic racism. It is time to heal the wound,
but how? “Truth is the best disinfectant” (WFAE News).

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Historians, archivists, and museum professionals have
the power to use history to nurture healing within their communities. This bibliography offers some guidance concerning practices of preservation, conservation, and collection curation that will fill in the existing gaps and
pave ways to build more inclusive and diverse collections.

 

It also offers practical examples of museums, archives,
and other historical institutions successfully doing this
work through education, revised exhibition styles,
outreach activities, community-driven frameworks
and initiatives to promote this reimagined path to
nurture healing.