Presentation

Documenting and Learning from Our History: Archives as Sites of Social Change

Authors: , , ,

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the uprising of 2020 revealed deep fissures in the way our society understands and thinks about its history. These historical understandings and misunderstandings are not separate from our colleges and universities. Our campus histories are deeply ingrained in how we understand our universities and ourselves as members of these communities. Yet, the histories of marginalized communities are often under-recognized and obscured in favor of “color blind” institutional narratives. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Archives and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Public History Project are both working to expand the university’s understanding of its history with a focus on centering underrepresented communities. This panel discussion will detail these efforts including the Archives Student Historian, a role designed to empower students of color to document their communities’ history, and the Public History Project, a multi-year effort to uncover histories of discrimination and resistance on campus. Panelists will reflect on the impact and challenges of this work.

Keywords:

How to Cite: Phan, C. , Abrams, S. , Butcher, K. L. & Tang, S. (2022) “Documenting and Learning from Our History: Archives as Sites of Social Change”, MAC Annual Meeting Presentations. 2022(1).