Reverb Effect

Historians have long searched for the "voices" of the past, crafting stories past actors might have told from the records they leave behind. They sift through endless boxes of old letters, reports, memos, maps, photos, blueprints, and testimonies. But what are the chances the historian will hear the literal voice of a historical actor they study? Dr. J. Martin Vest pieces together the history of a family that, instead of writing letters, used nineteenth-century wax cylinder recordings to correspond across the country. In this often-obscured part of the history of recording, we learn how in the same way a family might settle into the parlor and listen to a popular music record, they might also record themselves at their most intimate moments, for an audience on a much smaller scale.

In what ways can a look be unsettling? Intimidating? Might it be dangerous? How does one study the history of an act so fleeting, and so difficult to record?

PhD candidate Molly Brookfield studies the history of men's harassment of women in public places, in other words, street harassment. She's interested in behaviors like catcalling or ogling, actions often considered trivial or even complimentary, rather than overtly violent or threatening.

We'll uncover the history of the more insidious behaviors men often perform in public space. Behaviors that leave no visible mark yet have the power to disrupt a woman's daily life. But is this really a story of the past? We'll consider the alarming persistence of such behaviors, and their transition into an accepted, sometimes even normal aspect of urban life.