This post is based on the Barra Foundation's LOI guidelines, which can be found here.
Problem
Traditional historical institutions rigidly adhere to canonical narratives, nudging aside whiteness or elitism to occasionally accommodate for other experiences and perspectives. In order to draw in "new" audiences (e.g., not white, middle-class retirees), we must approach history at a grassroots level, engaging people within their communities and through their self-made testimonies. In lieu of relegating historical interpretation to the arts and culture sector, we ought to seek connection and political relevance through activist and social service organizations.
Project
The following is a scalable model project. I propose that we split our funds among three local organizations:
These organizations would be responsible for utilizing a portion of their funding to assign at least one advocate to collect Black, Latinx, and Asian oral histories from their local communities. They would be required to record, transcribe, and upload at least fifteen stories to a shared site. Whatever funding these organizations would not use to meet the criteria could be put towards general operating support – in order to enhance their other programs, in accordance with their missions:
• community building through the power of Black art
• championing immigrant rights
• building youth leadership
Rationale
The profession has lost touch with the original role of history as a catalyst for social change – as a medium through which to divine collective memory and meaning. As American socialist and feminist Rose Schneiderman once proclaimed, "The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too." It is important that we use our funding to dually support community members' everyday needs, while also fostering interest and investment in past and present legacies. By engaging civically-minded organizations in a collaborative public history project, we would not only draw connections between the academy and the public at large, but between disenfranchised populations themselves.
Outcomes
This project would lay the foundation for future public history-based collaborations among organizations of color within the city (both within and outside of the arts and culture sector). I am interested in further exploring ways of promoting a self-sufficient funding model that does not require these organizations (or their resultant coalition) to rely on larger, predominately white and wealthy donors and private foundations. Are there other, less staff- and resource-heavy ways of generating revenue beyond blogging for cryptocurrency? Further, what other local organizations would be well-suited for such collaborations?
100% of the SBD rewards from this #explore1918 post will support the Philadelphia History Initiative 