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Blog: Uses of history for the rest of us

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted October 31st, 2007 by Philippe Duhamel
Suffragette leaders Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst

Suffragette leaders Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst

As a way to conclude this month’s discussion on The Power of Place: How Sites of Conscience Inspire Civic Engagement, I want to offer some suggestions for folks who, like me, may not have much to do with museums in their daily lives. I mean, there’s a limited number of us who are going to join the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience<, right? So what are some of the ways the rest of us can make our activism more powerful using historical sites and history-based tactics?

Here are a few ideas that any group, any individual can use to promote human rights and a social change agenda with the help of history. Somewhere in between simply touring a museum, or starting one yourself, there’s a whole range of things you can do to make History work for you.

Blog: The Seven Wonders of Powerful Places: How Where Matters

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted October 29th, 2007 by Philippe Duhamel

Maison des esclaves, Sénégal

photo cc: masoud.nyc 

How can museums do more than entertain us (or bore us) about curiosities of the past? How can change feed on the past? As part of October's tactical discussion on the Power of Place, I have compiled a list of seven wonders that historical sites tap into to bring some awareness, conscience, and change to the world.

notebook: The Power of Place: How historic sites can engage citizens in human rights issues

In this notebook we learn about how museums are innovating ways to keep history alive so that the public can remember and talk about what happened in the past.  The International Coalition of Historic Site Museums transforms places of passive learning into places of active citizenship and engagement.

notebook: Public Audiences: Creating Space to Recognize Victims of Internal Conflict in Peru

This notebook describes the tactics that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Peru implimented to give a voice to victims of governmental human rights abuses.  The purpose of the commission was not an investigation, rather Public Audiences provided victims the opportunity to tell their stories and rewrite history in a sense to include the abuses they suffered.