AASLH

The Religious History Affinity Group Committee will discuss the role of religious places in the Civil Rights Movement. Join us and learn about interpreting extraordinary history at religious sites. - Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/religious-places-and-the-civil-rights-movement-2/

Overwhelmed by the new ideas you’ve (re)discovered at the conference? Daunted by what you will do upon your return? Take this session to reflect on which ideas will have the most impact on your organization and your ability to lead it with a priority-setting activity designed by co-editors of the Small Museum Toolkit. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/small-museum-leadership-considered-picking-your-high-priority-project-2/

Local history has long focused on a white, mainstream voice. It is a challenge for historians to explore and expose the unheard voices of the past. This panel will focus on sites which have gone beyond the white, male, or mainstream voices of local communities to explore a broader history that includes re-framing the big stories of the past to include untold perspectives. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/whose-history-are-you-getting-exploring-the-neglected-stories-in-your-community-2/

Carolyn McKinstry delivered a special presentation for the AASLH conference at the 16th Street Baptist Church. McKinstry was present on September 15, 1963, at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham when segregationists bombed the church, killing four young girls. As a teenager, she felt her “calling” by attending the mass meetings and rallies at the 16th Street Baptist Church. She was among thousands of students hosed by firemen during the 1963 marches, and survived a second bomb explosion that destroyed a large portion of her home in 1964. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/carolyn-mckinstry-keynote-address-2013-aaslh-annual-meeting/

Born in Senegal in 1941, Doudou Diène was a prizewinner in philosophy in Senegal’s Concours General. Having joined the UNESCO Secretariat in 1977, in 1980 he was appointed Director of the Liaison Office with the United Nations, Permanent Missions and United Nations departments in New York. Prior to this, he had served as deputy representative of Senegal to UNESCO and, in that capacity, as Vice President and Secretary of the African Group and Group of 77. Between 1985 and 1987, he held the posts of Deputy Assistant Director-General for External Relations, spokesperson for the Director-General, and acting Director of the Bureau of Public Information. He is also very active with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/doudou-diene-keynote-address-2013-aaslh-annual-meeting/

Edwin C. Bridges graduated from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. He taught history in high school in Greenville and also taught at Georgia Tech before joining the staff of the Georgia Department of Archives and History in 1976. After six years a the Georgia Archives, where he last served as Assistant Director, he was appointed Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History in 1982 and retired in 2012. Ed’s professional interests have centered on the historical background of current policy issues and on the management of modern records. Bridges has been active in national archival organizations and also with information policy and Alabama history groups in the state. - Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/edward-bridges-awards-banquet-speaker-2013-aaslh-annual-meeting/

Natasha Trethewey, the 19th United States Poet Laureate (2012-13), is the author of Thrall, Native Guard, for which she won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, Bellocq’s Ophelia, which was named a Notable Book for 2003 by the American Library Association, and Domestic Work. She is also the author of Beyond Katrina: A Mediation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In his citation, Librarian of Congress James Billington wrote, “Her poems dig beneath the surface of history—personal or communal, from childhood or from a century ago—to explore the human struggles that we all face.” In this keynote address, Trethewey reads from her recent book of poems, Thrall, and discusses how she uses the history of America to inform her work, as well as the stories of her past growing up a mixed-race child in the segregated South. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/natasha-trethewey-keynote-address-2013-annual-meeting/

How do visitors use museums to make sense of history and connect it to their lives? Hear about four evaluation projects that contributed to organizations becoming more visitor-centered in their planning and development of programs and exhibits. Learn also how the Visitors Studies Association can be a valuable resource for history organizations. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/beyond-counting-visitors-four-examples-of-evaluation-in-history-museums/

Building on the success of the 2011 AASLH Annual Meeting session Connecting to Collections: Tools You Can Use, this sequel provides information on new initiatives/key developments from existing statewide preservation programs. Speakers discuss advances in preservation fundraising, disaster planning, and collections value assessment, and how results can benefit the community. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/connecting-to-collections-tools-you-can-use-the-sequel/

Food history is a powerful pathway to community connections. Transcending nostalgia, local history museums can serve as educational clearinghouses for vital knowledge that not only illuminates the past and celebrates place, but demonstrates relevance today and generates solutions for community resilience in the face of future challenges. Sponsored by the National Council on Public History. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/from-sustenance-to-relevance-reinterpreting-food-place-and-local-history/