Multimedia Resources
Resources featuring videos, podcasts, webinars, and courses.
Each image is a clickable link, taking you to the resource.
Archives + Accountability
Southern Futures podcast
Hosted by Melody Hunter Pillion at the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC-Chapel Hill; features Maria R. Estorino, Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Director of the Wilson Special Collections Library. She discusses her cultural background as a Cuban American growing up in the South and relates her search for identity to her work in the archives. An interesting discussion about the narratives of who we are/think we are and the role of diversity in archival collections (or lack of) in connection to any bias we may have if the unconscious notion of whiteness as supreme exists, (Archives + Accountability). [Video Length: 28:00]
Evaluation: A thought-provoking discussion for archivists to ruminate on relevant topics of diversity and the importance of working with communities and what they value. She brings up important topics of how archivists can engage in new processes that promote diversity and archives as active places, such as artistic engagement. The featured guest brings up specific outreach activities and events that highlight the points she brings up.
Community-Driven Archives
A Webinar
This presentation explores the idea of community-driven archives, what that means, and some examples of this in practice. [Video Length: 01:31:30]
Evaluation: This is sponsored by UNC Libraries and features two archival practitioners, Jimmy Zavala and Nancy Godoy. It offers practical suggestions for increasing engagement between archival institutions and local communities as a way to preserve community memory. Diversity is the resulting impact and each of the speakers discuss the specifics of community-driven projects they have undertaken, as well as the outcome.
A Documentary on Race & Reconciliation
A Zoom Discussion With Panelists
This presentation was sponsored by WFAE 90.7 News (an NPR station), which is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It featured a panelist discussion centered around a recent documentary by Frederick Murphy and titled “The Other Side of the Coin.” (Note: This presentation is about the documentary, which is available for purchase from the website.) [Video Length: 01:43:36]
Evaluation: This was a powerful presentation. The host (journalist Mary C. Curtis) engaged each of the panelists in thought-provoking conversation about the documentary, as well as the theme of how the history of race in America, systemic racism, and individual stories or experiences can be used to bring reconciliation to communities. Murphy’s documentary pairs people together. For example, in one situation an older white man traced his family’s history and discovered that his ancestors had enslaved people. The man found descendants and the documentary features their discussion on how we, as a society, can and should deal with this painful past.
This documentary illustrated how conversations with people of various backgrounds, in accompaniment with the truth of history, can lead to an understanding and acknowledgement of the past, yet bridges us to a future that is inclusive. It offers some practical ideas for ways that historical institutions can explore the concept of healing and reconciliation and what this means in terms of history, museums, and archives. Interestingly, the filmmaker has experience as a therapist and his skills are interwoven into the documentary’s presentation. Documentarian Frederick Murphy also founded an organization called “History Before Us,” which began in 2016 as a path toward filling in the gaps that exist with history for future generations.
History, Preservation, and Public Reckoning in Museums
A Conference: The Future of the African American Past
The video series features roundtable discussions from a 2016 conference, “The Future of the African American Past,” and was co-hosted by the American Historical Association and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Session 7 is titled “History, Preservation, and Public Reckoning in Museums.” Panelists are Lonnie G. Bunch (NMAAHC chair), George W. McDaniel (Drayton Hall), David W. Blight (Yale University), Dolores Hayden (Yale University), Dorothy Spruill (Somerset Place State Historic Site).
[Video Length: 27:05]
Evaluation: A very insightful conversation between panelists with extensive work in areas of African American history. Lonnie Bunch III is also founder of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History (read his memoir about this!). Each of the panelists brings up important points about the relationship between history and interpreting African American history, particularly within the realm of historic sites that are former plantations. Important points also relate to how this history is presented, preservation past and future, and engagement with the public.
Southeastern Museums Conference
Museums Cannot Be Silent: A Virtual Program
Free recordings of previously-recorded discussions focused on the theme “Museums Cannot Be Silent.” Of top interest is the January 2021 program about the Whitney Plantation, the only museum in Louisiana which focuses on the history of slavery. [Video Length: 01:05:03]
Evaluation: Executive Director Ashley Rogers shares details of the Whitney Plantation’s founding in 2014 and the details involved with planning exhibitions focused on slavery, as well as the development of projects centered around descendants. She discusses challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic and future plans, as well as specifics on what they do to enhance the focus on the enslaved inhabitants rather than the owners of the plantation. It is a small museum with limited staff and offers key insights for similar institutions. One important point that she discusses is that, as a former plantation with a history of stolen labor, they have a policy of always paying employees and project assistants rather than offering volunteer work or unpaid roles.
Villanova University
Virtual Presentation: Decolonizing Museums
Featured speakers are: Dr. Dan Hicks (professor of contemporary archaeology and curator of world archaeology), Dr. Ruba Kana’an (professor of Islamic art and architecture), and curator Chaedria LaBouvier (also art historian, writer and activist). Each have experience as museum professionals.
[Video Length: 01:37:34]
Evaluation: Villanova University’s Lepage Center is sponsoring an entire season focused on decolonization within various realms of society. This presentation offers in-depth insight centered around the idea of decolonizing museums. Three museum professionals share techniques they find relevant to the decolonization of museums, situated within the history of museum infrastructure and policies of collection. They bring up important points about how biases and racist hierarchies have dictated what we think of art or artifact collections and history, which gets to the root of the issues we need to address. They also break down the basics of a museum’s purpose and the definition of decolonization. The role of curatorship is a strongpoint of the conversation, which they discuss as being important in defining the role of an individual museum or institution.