Controversial Monuments and Memorials

by David B. Allison

Out of the chaos and pain of Charlottesville, museum professionals, public historians, and community leaders must move quickly to face the challenges of competing historical memory, claims of heritage desecration and the ongoing scourge of racism. This book takes on the tough issues that communities across America---and analogous locales overseas---must face as white supremacy, political quagmires and visions of reconciliation with the past collide.

The events of summer of 2017 that culminated in Charlottesville are outgrowths of ongoing dialogues and disputes about controversial history that encompass numerous historical situations and touch every part of US history. Strategies for working effectively with communities will be explored, and the book will delve into the ways that other countries have attempted to overcome their painful pasts. In addition, this book will highlight essays and case studies from numerous museum professionals, scholars and civic leaders as they grapple with the past they interpret for their visitors.

The book will be framed by questions that help museum community leaders make sense of the competing historical narratives and political machinations that drive the current controversy around monuments and memorials---

Here is a guide to collective introspection, awareness of our own biases, and thoughtful community responsiveness which are the tools that will make this engagement meaningful and lasting.

Genres: Museums, History

328 pages, Paperback

Published July 30, 2018

About the author

David B. Allison is the editor of Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide for Community Leaders and author of Living History: Effective Costumed Interpretation and Enactment at Museums and Historic Sites, published in 2016. He is the Onsite Programs Manager at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and holds an M.A. in U.S. History from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis and a M.B.A. from Regis University. Prior to moving to Colorado, Allison designed and developed experiences for audiences at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, north of Indianapolis, where he worked for ten years.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, digestible essays and case studies about how museums, public history professionals, and community activists are engaging with the legacy of memorialization of certain difficult histories and controversial persons, with a particular focus on the Civil War and Confederate monuments.

I purchased this back in late-2019, so I was not reading the updated edition that came out last year. I am curious to see what updates were made as there were moments where I definitely wondered how the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement (and even Jan. 6) might effect what is presented here and what some of the takes are.

For example, I found the viewpoints article reprinted from the Civil War Times particularly cringey... And the case study presented in the final essay of the collection - about an in-process campaign to build a counter-monument in Florence, AL - is in a very different place now. It took more than a few Google searches to even find mention of the counter-monument, and unfortunately, that project appears to now be dead in the water. Efforts are now focused on protests advocating for the inciting Confederate statue to be removed and relocated to a local cemetery.

So I definitely understand why an update and new edition was called for. That being said, there is still plenty of thoughtful and useful information in here. You can really tell that effort was made to make the whole book worth your time reading it. And now it is itself kind of an artifact of its time.

[Rebecca Kilby Vannette · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the subtitle says for leaders, this book would be a great read for anyone looking to understate difference between history and memorialization. This collection of essays delves into how various communities have approached confederate, Native American, Nazi/holocaust, etc. memorials around the country and globe.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of thoughts on approaches to the issue of monuments and memorials dedicated to history’s critical times around the world. Anybody liking history should read this book. It makes you think!

[Emma North · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very interesting book for sure and the chapters were easily digestible!