My first blog post will be highlighting the relatively new work by Jason A. Heppler. Paul Schadewald, and Rebecca S. Wingo as well as the co-authors and contributors to this book entitled, Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy. I was surprised by the price of the book and the fact that it would take weeks to get a copy delivered. I did a quick search online and found a fully free version. Partnering with TOME (toward an open Monograph Ecosystem) to make a full digital copy of this book available for free.
This book was an incredible read. Each chapter is a case study covering a range of topics and ideas. I’ll briefly discuss the role that the historian plays in society, but I’d like to spend most of my time discussing two interconnected questions. Who owns history? Who controls the narrative?
The book is a demonstration of how historians can engage with their community, and what that partnership can bring about. From co-authored pieces with collaboration from 16 community and campus partners to oral histories to examining the creation of archives for the people. This quote from Sara Ludewig, who participated in three History Harvests in Chapter 5 is a great representation of ideas put forward in this book and aligns with my beliefs as well. ‘’The History Harvest I have worked on changed my perspective on how historians experience and archive the past. I got to be an active participant in the preservation of history by listening to people’s experiences and documenting the artifacts they wanted to represent them.’’
My next question on who owns history, and who controls the narrative is answered in chapter 2 by the actions of the People’s Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland (PAPVC). The archive already existed, but they were able to assist with digitalizing it on a web space. This chapter also delves into the narrative, with a specific example being the different narratives around the death of Tamir Rice, and how the narrative pulled away from him. The PAPVC helps by telling the stories of the people of Cleveland, and their experience with police violence. Our jobs as historians should be to help give voice to our communities, and those we work with.
This book is helpful to read when preparing for our Owl Walk and food truck project at Temple University for a multitude of reasons. The introduction of the book addresses how the work isn’t all-encompassing, and how some voices are left out of this work to some degree. Community engagement is going to play a critical role while gathering information on the history of food trucks. The archival record most likely leaves out a lot of information. We can gain a lot of information from conducting oral histories and through community outreach. Some alumni’s memory may have faded, but their stories still matter. Perhaps they have pictures or menus that they could share as well.