November 2018 – Public History at UMass Boston

November 27, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Alumni Spotlight: Clara Silverstein

Clara Silverstein is the Community Engagement Manager at Historic Newton in Newton, Massachusetts. A public/private partnership between the Newton Historical Society and the City of Newton, Historic Newton “inspires discovery and engagement by illuminating our community’s stories within the context of American history.” Silverstein has worked for Historic Newton for more than three years now, but the career path that led her there was anything but ordinary.

Before working in community engagement, Silverstein had a long career as a journalist and author. But when journalism became an unsustainable career because of the changes in the marketplace, she decided to apply her research skills and interest in American history in a new field: public history.

Clara Silverstein, photograph provided by Silverstein, 2018

“I changed careers when I was over age 40. It wasn’t too late!” Silverstein recalled of her decision to switch careers. She looked at many programs in the Boston area before deciding to enroll in the public history track of the history MA program at UMass Boston. “I liked UMass because it didn’t seem to focus on the MA merely as a stepping stone to a PhD,” she said. “The schedule also seemed flexible for someone who already had family responsibilities and part-time work. Best of all, it was affordable.”

While at UMass, Silverstein worked with the Tracing Center on the History and Legacies of Slavery, which prepared her for her later work at Historic Newton, where she interprets the Underground Railroad and slavery. Utilizing her already strong research skills, she completed the program with a thesis comparing the interpretation of the founding story of America at Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Two Visitors, Historic Newton House Tour, 2017

After graduating with her Master’s in History, Silverstein did freelancing and contract work before finding a permanent role at Historic Newton. There, as Community Engagement Manager, she plans and manages public programs, including lectures, walking tours, panel discussions, and an annual House Tour attended by more than 400 people. She also manages Historic Newton’s social media accounts, newsletter, and press outreach. “I like finding creative ways to interest the public in history, whether it’s leading a tour about sports heroes or posting an interesting fact about the city on social media,” Silverstein told us.

Since Historic Newton aims to interpret local history in the context of American history with special emphasis on social justice, there is no shortage of creative opportunities for Silverstein. At Historic Newton, she emphasized, “We like to connect past the past with the present.” In the past, for example, the institution has hosted a panel linking activism around abolition in the 19^th century with the current Black Lives Matter movement. Their latest panel event, which took place on November 4^th, was a discussion about the history of language around race, LGBT issues, and disability.

Clara Silverstein giving an introduction at a Historic Newton Event, Newton Center, MA

A rich and diverse collection supports the Silverstein’s efforts to bring history to life for the public. Historic Newton collects a variety of documents and photos that relate to the history of Newton, plus many objects that relate to the material culture and institutions in the city. From maps and records of abolitionist societies to clothing and kitchen tools, Historic Newton preserves and makes accessible the records and items that give insight into the city’s past.

Despite loving her work, like many public historians in small institutions, Silverstein finds it challenging to manage a mountain of responsibilities during a 40-hour work week. Inevitably, she has to let some things– like social media posting– slide when she is overloaded with event planning. Yet she finds ways to get it all done, making use of the assistance of interns whenever possible (take note, current public history students!).

Maintaining a sustainable work-life balance makes it possible for Silverstein to set aside time after hours for her passion for writing. She just published her first novel, a work of historical fiction entitled Secrets in a House Divided: A Novel of Civil War Richmond. (If you’re looking for something to read over Christmas break, you can find it here!)

Ultimately, Silverstein is glad to have left her career in journalism behind. With an eye to the future, she stated, “I want to stay involved in interpreting American history to the public no matter what form it takes – writing, speaking, planning programs, leading tours. I think I have found my calling in life!”

Clara Silverstein and others at the Jackson Homestead Renovation Celebration, 2016

Her advice to current students?

Take advantage of your proximity to Boston and visit its rich historical resources while you’re in school so you can learn how various sites interpret history. Appreciate the opportunity discuss what you’re reading with professors and mentors who structure your learning. Once you leave school, that’s gone!

November 12, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Presidential Predicament: Developing a Self-Guided Tour at the Adams National Historical Park

By: Kurt Deion

When I first toured the Adams National Historical Park as an eight-year-old in 2003, it never crossed my mind that someday I would have the opportunity to help reshape the visitor experience there. Fifteen years later, that is what I am doing as a project intern.

The John Adams Birthplace Home. A panel-based, self-guided tour here will partially focus on John Adams’s transition from student to attorney and his early romance with Abigail Smith. (Courtesy of Kurt Deion, 2011).

Under the auspices of the National Park Service, the Adams National Historical Park maintains several buildings related to the politically-prominent Adams family, which are spread throughout Quincy, Massachusetts. These include the side-by-side saltbox birth homes of John and John Quincy Adams, the second and sixth presidents of the United States. The elder statesman spent his childhood at a plain, wooden structure on his parents’ farm at Penn’s Hill, and in his adulthood he moved to the neighboring house, where his son was born in 1767. This second home was where he established his burgeoning law practice, and where matriarch Abigail Adams raised their children alone when her husband was away supporting the American Revolution.

The John Quincy Adams Birthplace Home. Here, the tour will feature additional aspects of John Adams’ law career and his role in drafting the Massachusetts Constitution. (Courtesy of Kurt Deion, 2011).

The Adamses uprooted from the Penn’s Hill farm in the 1780s and moved a few miles north to a residence that became known as Peace field. Naturally their belongings followed them, and short of disturbing the interior of the Peace field estate, in modern day the NPS is faced with a dearth of original furnishings to display at the birthplaces. At present, however, the ANHP is in the process of rethinking its historical narrative; in this context, the lack of artifacts at the saltbox homes creates an opportunity to refocus on the lives of the family members, such as John and Abigail. My internship responsibilities include identifying and prioritizing the stories that should be told at the birthplaces, via a self-guided tour.

Before I arrived at the ANHP, my supervisor had already outlined some general areas she wished me to investigate, such as John’s law career and his early romance with Abigail. Yet I was given much freedom within those parameters to prioritize particular stories at the birthplaces. In addition, because the Adamses were prolific writers, I had many primary sources as the foundation for content, for they left behind thousands of documents in the form of letters and diaries. And finally, the ANHP’s draft Visitor Experience Plan outlines their priority to implement the principles of inclusive history, which I learned about in the UMass Boston History MA program. My education at the university has emphasized the need to tell the accounts of groups marginalized by those in positions of power, which in the United States has historically been white Anglo-Saxon Protestant men. In my role at the ANHP, I must determine what stories are important that can also resonate with modern audiences regardless of age, race, and gender.

Abigail Adams. Portrait by Gilbert Stuart.

The correspondence exchanged between John and Abigail during their courtship and early marriage paint a picture of their thoughts as a young couple in 18^th century Massachusetts. These letters also provide a good basis for any future research focused on Abigail’s maintenance of the farm in John’s absence, and her personal philosophies. I struggled more with discerning which of John Adams’s court cases to include in the tour. As I read through his annotated legal papers at the Boston Public Library, I found many of the lawsuits to be archaic and inaccessible in the 21^st century. Some, however, revealed much about John Adams’s thinking about rights. In King v. Stewart, for example, Adams represented a loyalist whose home was ransacked in part because of his prospects as a Stamp Act collector. Adams also defended the British soldiers implicated in the Boston Massacre. These cases demonstrate Adams’s belief in the right to a fair trial and representation, even for those whose political allegiance differed from his own.

It was very rewarding to find those cases that resonate with current issues and principles of law. In Sewall v. Hancock, John Hancock was tried for smuggling in Admiralty Court, which deprived him of a right to a trial by jury. As his attorney, John Adams argued that British Parliament was depriving American colonists of a right granted to their brethren across the Atlantic. This allowed me to draw a line from John’s experience as an attorney, to his resentment for the British Crown at the dawn of the Revolution, and also to his draft of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1779. When he drafted the document in his law office, it included the right to trial by jury. This and other protections, such as freedom of the press and prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments, were subsequently included in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I hope that the relevance of these documents in Americans’ lives today will help illustrate the importance and influence of John’s legal work.

November 6, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Navigating Academic Conferences with Social Anxiety: The NEA Fall Meeting

By: Violet Hurst

On Friday, October 26^th, I attended the New England Archivists’ (NEA) Fall Meeting at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. The theme of the meeting was “Our Common Code: Ethics in Archives,” and it gave archivists and allied professionals the opportunity to discuss archival ethics in three areas: appraisal and acquisitions, description, and access.

As a second-year graduate student in the Archives Track of the history program at UMass Boston, I wanted to attend the Meeting in order to learn more about current ethical issues in the archival profession. I looked forward to listening to panelists discuss their experiences and share their knowledge, and I was excited to hear the plenary address by the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi. I was excited to being surrounded by a community of professionals who cared about such things as ethical issues, something that many professions overlook, or even actively ignore. But I knew that there was another, more anxiety-inducing reason that I, as a graduate student and soon-to-be job-seeker, was attending the conference: to network.

The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi. Photograph by Christopher Michel, 2016.

Since early high school, I have struggled with moderate social anxiety that flares up when I am confronted with unfamiliar, public social situations. At academic conferences, I feel a sense of inferiority as I am confronted with a sea of (seemingly) confident students and professionals. I find it difficult to start conversations with people whom I’ve never met, especially when there is the pressure to appear knowledgable, interesting, and in all ways hire-able. I feel overwhelmed by the constant need to be “on”– from when I’m making connections with professionals in the field to when I’m pouring myself a cup of coffee in the conference reception area.

Despite my anxiety, I find it both personally rewarding and professionally necessary to attend academic conferences like those hosted by NEA. At conferences, students like me have the opportunity to learn from the real-life experiences of archivists in the field. We are able to participate in conversations about the most current trends and issues in our chosen career. We can ask questions from those who have worked in the field for years, and we have the opportunity to learn from a rich diversity of people. Most importantly, we have the opportunity to introduce ourselves, for the first time, to members of the tight-knit archival community.

My name badge and program from the NEA Fall Meeting, October 26, 2018

During my undergraduate education in history, I lived under the blissful impression that networking was something that only those entering the business and finance world would have to face. It was only in graduate school that I learned that networking is an inescapable aspect of entering the professional world that very few students are able to avoid entirely. Over the past year and a half, I’ve had to attend conferences, workshops, community events, and informational interviews that took me out of my comfort zone, and along the way I’ve formulated strategies to deal with my anxiety in these situations. I share them here in the hopes that they might help others with social anxiety navigate the academic conference.

1. Look for the familiar.

When attending an academic conference or workshop, there is a lot of pressure to spend the whole day making connections with new people and entering into new spaces. It can be useful to take a minute to remember that not everything about the conference is new and overwhelming. There is bound to be a face in the crowd you recognize, or a event space or setup that is familiar– or even a brand of complimentary tea that you like. Making yourself more comfortable in a new space goes a long way toward making you ready to interact with new people.

Pavilion, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA. Photograph by Violet Hurst

At the NEA Fall Meeting, I was lucky enough to recognize several faces in the crowd from previous internships and from my graduate program. I was also very familiar with the building and the conference space at the JFK Library, having interned there from May 2017 to August 2018. These things made me feel like I was on solid ground and made me comfortable enough to engage with elements of the conference that were unfamiliar.

2. Learn the schedule.

Eliminating your uncertainty about the structure of the day is another way to make you more comfortable at a conference. At most conferences, a full schedule of programming is readily available in programs or handouts at the registration desk. Knowing in advance when breaks are and whether you will have to get up and move around for different sessions can help the day go more smoothly. I also like to look at the topics of upcoming panel discussions or presentations in advance in order to start thinking about things I may have to contribute to the conversation.

3. Take notes.

I never used to know what to say when starting a conversation at an academic conference. It can feel so unnatural or even awkward to walk up to someone you’ve never met and start a conversation. Fortunately, conferences provide you with plenty of material to talk about. I find that it’s useful to take notes about things that spark my interest during presentations and discussions. Then, during breaks, lunch, or other unstructured time, I can turn to someone and say something like “It was so interesting when ___ talked about ___. Have you encountered a similar situation in your work?” If I’m feeling really bold, I’ll even seek out a presenter to ask a question or have a discussion about the themes of a particular presentation.

Jennifer Bolmarcich of the Archives & Special Collections at Amherst College delivers her presentation on "Heavy Small Collections" at the NEA Fall Meeting — I took a lot of notes in order to discuss Jennifer Bolmarcich’s presentation on “Heavy Small Collections” with my tablemates at the NEA Fall Meeting.

Despite my fears, I’ve found that most people are excited to talk more about their work and their experiences.

4. Don’t be afraid to take a break during breaks.

This may sound non-controversial on its face, but traditionally, breaks at conferences are considered the time to network. If you’re comfortable enough to network during breaks, go for it! But if you need to take some time for yourself, absolutely do that. Find a quiet spot to clear your head and decompress for a minute– even if that quiet spot is in your car or a bathroom stall. Taking time to recharge will make you more ready to go out there and network at other times, like during lunch or transition periods.

5. Hold onto perspective.

If you walk away from a conference kicking yourself for your inability to network, remember that it’s still good that you went. If all you do at a conference is listen and learn, you’ll likely walk away from the day with new ideas, perspectives, and questions that will make you a better professional in the long run. Perhaps you’ll even emerge with a better sense of which people and institutions are doing work that aligns with your interests.

It’s also important to remember that not all networking happens at the day of the event. You may meet presenters or participants at some point down the road (it’s a small [archives] world, after all), and you’ll be able to refer back to having heard or encountered them at a previous conference, workshop, or community event.

November 1, 2018Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Special Post: Alumnus Edet A. Thomas Forthcoming Article

We at the UMass Boston graduate program in history are pleased to announce that an article by recent alumnus, Edet A. Thomas, has been accepted to the Pardee Periodical Journal of Global Affairs. Edet’s article will appear in the journal’s forthcoming Fall 2018 issue. A full abstract of his article is below. Congratulations to Edet!

“Wicked and Illegal Traffic”: Newspaper Portrayal of Nigerian Women in the Cannabis Trade (circa 1970 – 1980)

By Edet A. Thomas

Abstract

This paper examines the portrayal of Nigerian women involved in the illegal international cannabis trade by the Nigerian newspaper press between 1970 and 1980, to offer new perspective of historical scholarship on Africa’s role in the global drugs trade. Besides citing oral sources, the researcher analysed news reports, opinion articles, letters to the editor and pictures as published in Daily Times, New Nigerian, West African Pilot, Daily Express and The Punch. Findings suggest that the managers of the newspaper press, guided as they were by patriarchal notions of how women should behave in traditional Nigerian society, took liberties in sensationalizing stories about the suspects. In terms of extent and intensity, there was far more press coverage of cases involving women, who made up only 2% of the 1,169 persons convicted for cannabis-related offences between 1966 and 1975. The paper demonstrates how prevailing socioeconomic conditions shaped the press’s framing of women’s drug-related activities in an era of relative economic prosperity.