Peter H. Wood, Duke University Professor Emeritus“Thomas Day: Nineteenth-Century Free Black Cabinetmaker”The Graduate Center, CUNYNovember 8, 2010How might a southern-born free black also be an abolitionist? ASHP staff member, Donna Thompson Ray, interviews historian Peter H. Wood about the life of cabinetmaker, Thomas Day, and how his experience as a free black characterized nineteenth-century race relations in the South. Wood provides an assessment of Day’s life as a business owner, family man, community member, and agent of social justice. Day is projected through both public and private (hidden) personal narratives. Behind the aesthetically appealing walnut pews, pine wardrobes, and mahogany side chairs was a man of deep social conviction operating in tenuous circumstances.“Thomas Day: Nineteenth-Century Free Black Cabinetmaker” is a Now and Then podcast conversation. The Now and Then podcast series features conversations and interviews with scholars, educators, and ASHP staff members on topics in history.

Free Blacks in the South: The Life of Thomas Day

The American Social History Project ·  Center for Media and Learning is dedicated to renewing interest in history by challenging traditional ways that people learn about the past. Founded in 1981 and based at the City University of New York Graduate Center, ASHP/CML produces print, visual, and multimedia materials that explore the richly diverse social and cultural history of the United States. We also lead professional development seminars that help teachers to use the latest scholarship, technology, and active learning methods in their classrooms.

History

Society & Culture

The third episode of Making Queer History Public features interviews conducted in 2020 with educators and activists Dr. Lori Burns and Kate Okeson, who have been on the frontlines of preserving queer history and topics in our classrooms for years. Today, we will discuss their fight for New Jersey’s first inclusive education law. Hosted by veteran educator, Rachel Pitkin, we take a deep dive into what an inclusive education looks like and the efforts utilized by Lori and Kate to make this law a reality.For this episode, we also interviewed Ashley Chiappano Riker, Safe Schools and Community Education Manager at Garden State Equality. We were unable to use this audio in our finished episode. Check out these resources to learn more about efforts to incorporate and preserve LGBTQ+ history topics in our classrooms: SHEC (Social History Project for Every Classroom): https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/Make it Better for Youth: https://makeitbetter4youth.org/Garden State Equality: https://www.gardenstateequality.org/Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in United States History: https://www.weteachnyc.org/resources/resource/hidden-voices-lgbtq-stories-in-united-states-history-lesson-plans-Public-facing/GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network): https://www.glsen.org/ONE Institute (Formerly the One Archives Foundation): https://www.oneinstitute.org/"Looking Back, Looking Up, Moving Forward: A Survey of Social Studies in New Jersey Schools," New Jersey Historical Commission (2022): https://njsocialstudies.org/Rebekah Bruesehoff: https://www.rebekahbruesehoff.com/Teach.LGBT:https://www.teach.lgbt/  Keep up to date with the American Social History Project by signing up for our newsletter here! Make sure you follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter! Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Let us know at cml@gc.cuny.edu

Making Queer History Public Episode 3: Preserving Queer History in Classrooms with Dr. Lori Burns and Kate Okeson

In the second episode of Making Queer History Public, we talk with psychotherapist, teacher, and activist, Michelle Esther O’Brien. We discuss the work Michelle has put in coordinating the NYC Trans Oral History Project, a community archive devoted to the collection, preservation and sharing of trans histories.  Making Queer History Public is sponsored by a Humanities New York Action Grant. Learn more about the NYC Trans Oral History Project, and access their archive, here. Listen to an interview with Michelle O’Brien on oral history methodology here. You can find out more about Michelle’s work here, and support her on Patreon @meobrien.Check out Miss Major's full interview here: https://nyctransoralhistory.org/interview/miss-major/To learn more about Miss Major, take a look at her website: https://missmajor.net/Check out B. Hawks Snipes' full interview here: https://nyctransoralhistory.org/interview/b-hawk-snipes/Follow B. Hawks Snipes on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhawksnipes/?hl=en Find other LGBTQ+ archives and oral history projects in the NYC region:Lesbian Herstory Archives and Lesbian Elders Oral Herstory Project (Brooklyn, NY)LGBT Community Center National History Archives (New York, NY)Fales Collection at New York University (New York, NY)Princeton LGBTQIA Oral History Project (Princeton, NJ)Queer Newark Oral History Project (Newark, NJ)New York Public Library’s LGBTQ Initiative (New York, NY)ACT UP Oral History Project (New York, NY) Cherry Grove Archives Collection (Long Island, NY)LaGuardia and Wagner Archives LGBTQ Collection (Queens, NY) Follow Making Queer History Public on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or Google Play. Follow the American Social History Project on Twitter at @ASHP_CML Keep up to date with the American Social History Project by signing up for our newsletter here!Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Let us know at cml@gc.cuny.edu

Making Queer History Public Episode 2: Trans Lives and Oral History with Michelle Esther O'Brien

In the first episode of Making Queer History Public, we talk with archivist, writer, and documentarian, Steven G. Fullwood, about his experiences archiving the lives of LGBTQ+ folks at the Schomburg Center. We also discuss the historical exclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in institutional archives and the work that people like Steven have done to bring their stories to light. Learn more about the Nomadic Archivists Project here, and the In The Life Archives at the Schomburg Center (NYPL) here. Other sources mentioned in the episode:Find Ann Cvetkovich’s An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (Duke University Press, 2003) at your local library.Read Joan Nestle, “The Will to Remember: The Lesbian Herstory Archives of New York,” Feminist Review, Spring, 1990.Read a blog post about the Black LGBTQ+ StoryCorps Archive at The Schomburg Center. Learn more about the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.Follow Making Queer History Public on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or Google Play. Follow the American Social History Project on Twitter at @ASHP_CML.  Making Queer History Public is sponsored by a Humanities New York Action Grant.  Keep up to date with the American Social History Project by signing up for our newsletter here!Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Let us know at cml@gc.cuny.edu

Making Queer History Public Episode 1: LGBTQ+ Archives with Steven G. Fullwood

Making Queer History Public is a new podcast series by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning that explores LGBTQ+ public history. We will be looking at archives, museums, public art, and education initiatives, all to investigate how queer and trans histories are being told, how LGBTQ+ people are pushing public history narratives forward, and where you can go to learn more about queer and trans-led projects and experiences.This is a preview of our first episode, which is centered on queer archives. Here, we talk to Steven Fullwood, the founder of the In The Life Archive at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.Making Queer History Public is made possible with funding from Humanities New York.

Introducing "Making Queer History Public," A New Podcast From ASHP

This episode features Kubi Ackerman, then-Director of the Future City Lab at the Museum of the City of New York. Ackerman is not interested in monuments for the past, but instead asks how we might memorialize the present and the future, as well as send warnings or messages to future generations. Encompassing topics like socio-economic inequality and the climate crisis, Ackerman and the Future City Lab help us challenge conventional notions of monuments and develop participatory exhibitions about urban futures.This episode features audio from the program “Monuments of the Future: Alternative Approaches," held on February 6, 2019, in the Martin E. Segal Theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center. This program was sponsored by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, The Gotham Center for New York City History, and the CUNY Public History Collective.  The series is supported by a grant from Humanities New York and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Free Blacks in the South: The Life of Thomas Day

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