Historians in the Field: Ramblers at the 2020 AHA Annual Meeting
The 134th will take place in New York City from January 3-6th, 2020. Loyola History faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students will be taking part at the meeting in numerous ways. Dr. Ben Johnson along with Sonia Hernandez, Trinidad Gonzales, John Mor谩n Gonz谩lez, and Monica Mu帽oz Martinez will be receiving special recognition at this year鈥檚 meeting for the 鈥溾�� project. The project was awarded the for its 鈥� distinguished contributions to public history.鈥� Read on for an interview with Dr. Johnson followed by a list of the panels and sessions Loyolans will be participating in this year鈥檚 meeting.
Congratulations on the AHA's Herbert Feis Award! Can you tell us about "Refusing to Forget" and how the project was started?
Along with four other scholars of the border and Mexican-American history, I established Refusing to Forget in 2013 in an effort to take advantage of the centennial of some of the worst racial violence in U.S. History, which took place in Texas along the border in the 1910s. We were frustrated that these events and their reverberations had been studied by scholars for decades but were not well known in the general public or widely taught. So we convinced the Bullock Museum of Texas History to develop an exhibit on the violence, applied for five state historical markers, and developed a website to provide information to educators, the press, and the general public.
The AHA has awarded the Herbert Feis Award annually since 1984 to "recognize distinguished contributions to public history" What does winning the award mean for the project?
Well, it鈥檚 very gratifying to receive this kind of recognition from the most important national professional organization of historians. It sends the message that the kind of public history we have done it not just of regional interest, but is in fact important to the U.S. and Mexican history, and to the practice of public history.
"Refusing to Forget" has been such a successful project from the beginning with public lectures, online and museum exhibits, and the creation of historical markers, what is next for the project?
We鈥檇 like to get one more historical marker approved 鈥� to mark the 1911 in Rock Springs, Texas 鈥� and conduct events around some of the historical markers that have been approved. And we have a book coming out next year that looks at the legacies of legislative hearings into this violence conducted in 1919. But for the most part, we鈥檙e winding down.
The project addresses such a sensitive and relevant topic for today. How do you teach this kind of historical examination in your classes at Loyola?
I teach about these events a bit in my U.S. survey class as a part of how white supremacy was created and maintained by extralegal violence in the early twentieth century, and have taught them in greater detail in a Latina/o history class. I look forward to bringing some of these experiences into our graduate curriculum, since Refusing to Forget is a good example of the bridges between public history and more conventional academic history. It鈥檚 a delicate balance, though, because if you present people only as victims in an odd way you end up dehumanizing them. So I go to some lengths to introduce specific individuals and family stories, and to put these tragic episodes in the context of a larger history that has seen survival, resilience, and even triumphs by border communities.
Five Loyolans will be presenting papers and posters at this year鈥檚 meeting. Dr. Gema Santamaria will be presenting 鈥�鈥� on January 5th. PhD candidate, will present 鈥�鈥� along with serving as chair of her panel, 鈥�Transnational Ties of Jesuits in the United States鈥�. Undergraduates will also be taking part at this year鈥檚 poster session in large numbers. Jacob McAloon will present 鈥�鈥� and Kristin Morrison will be presenting 鈥�鈥�. Rounding out the undergraduate poster session, Shelbi Schultz will introduce her work 鈥�鈥�.&苍产蝉辫;
Several Loyola faculty are also serving as chairs and commentators of panels including Dr. Michelle Nickerson, Dr. Jilana Ordman, Dr. Kyle Roberts, and Dr. John Pincince. and PhD candidate, Hope Shannon, will be serving on roundtable discussions addressing career diversity. Dr. Mooney-Melvin will discuss the role of career diversity in graduate education during the roundtable conversation, 鈥溾��.&苍产蝉辫;Hope Shannon will speak on the importance of building relationships with alumni who are positioned outside of academia as well as some techniques to make this possible during 鈥溾��.