FYS 100 (10): Monumental Change (Maurantonio)

Images can be found in libraries, archives, and museums in online databases and collections, as well as the open web. Not everything is accessible though- usually what is online and digitized is a small fraction of what is in a collection. Some of these resources Boatwright Library pays for- information isn't always free. Also note- some of the context and description that tell the stories of these materials might be lacking.

Examples: 2020 protest art ("a riot is the language of the unheard- MLK") or Confederate monument postcard (Jefferson Davis Monument human flag)

Mapping projects can be a helpful way to visualize data. These maps illustrate the locations of existing and removed Confederate monuments and memorials. Their purpose is to document, inform, and serve as advocacy tools for social change.

• Map of US confederate monuments created by Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)
• Definitions: Memory, Commemoration, Monuments, and Memorials from the Inclusive Historian's Handbook site
• Whose Heritage? Map  map of confederate monuments created by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
• National Monument Audit & Map by Monument Lab

During the 2020 protests, photos from Richmond went viral, made headlines, and were circulated beyond local media outlets. Here are some examples by local and nationally based journalists, photographers, and artists. See this New York times article and essay in Aperture to view some of these photos and the stories behind them.

• Julia Rendleman: Monumental Change
• Brian Palmer: 2020-22, Reckoning, Resistance, and Refacement in the City of Richmond
• Dave Parrish: Art Against Racism
• Christopher Puma Smith: Richmond
• Reclaiming the Monument: Protest Projections

Since the 2020 protests, activists have been working alongside archivists, librarians, scholars, and curators to collect ephemeral materials like signs, banners, photos of murals and memorials, and more. Check out these sites for recent examples of activism in archives and read the stories about how they were collected:

• Alexandria Black History Museum: Back Lives Remembered Collection 
• Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Archive (The People's Archive at DC Public Library)
• George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Archive (University of St. Thomas)