Bearing Witness: The Impact of Memorialization

One of the first locations Dr. Stephanie Arel visited when she began research for her book Bearing Witness: The Wounds of Mass Trauma at Memorial Museums was the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland. She went there to understand how they were memorializing the Holocaust and the impact this work had on the museum's workers. In this episode, we have the opportunity to catch up with Samantha McLaughlin, one of the first interviewees, about how her work at the Galicia Jewish Museum deepend her dedication to the subject and how she has evolved and expanded her work in the field. 

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

In 1992, Les Anneaux de la Mémoire (The Shackles of Memory) was an exhibition which was focused on the city of Nantes, France and its role and complicity as a trading port along the route of enslaved people in the 18th century. The exhibition was such a success that it became an association in Nantes that to this day publishes journals, researches and curates memorials and exhibitions, and commemorates people who were enslaved in the Western slave trades. To expand our discussions about the memorialization and commemoration of slavery outside of the US, we have the honor of speaking with Researcher, author and Vice President of the association, Jean-Marc Masseau, Project Coordinator, Barbara Chiron, and Secretary of the  Les Anneaux de la Mémoire association, Christine Renard in this episode. 

This is one of three of our episodes that discuss the topic of memorialization and commemoration of the innumerous lives taken and impacted by the Atlantic slave trade. Please be sure to listen to the two other episodes in conversation with the Equal Justice Initiative which operates the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and The Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana, the first slavery museum and memorial in America.

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

The memorialization and commemoration of the lives taken and lineage affected by the Atlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery in America is a fairly new field. On December 7th, 2014, the Whitney Plantation opened as a memorial ground and a museum in Wallace, Louisiana. It was the first of its kind in the US. In this episode we speak with two people whose work helped make the museum and memorial what it is today. Director of Research, Dr. Ibrahima Seck is a preeminent researcher, author, and educator in the field of study of the Atlantic slave trade, especially the history between West Africa and Louisiana, and Ashley Rogers is the Executive Director of the Whitney Plantation whose has wide expertise in museum operations. Together, under commission of The Whitney Plantation’s custodian John Cummings who envisioned it as a sight of remembrance and acknowledgement, they helped to create the nations first ever slavery museum and memorial. 

This is one of three episodes that discuss the topic of memorialization and commemoration of those enslaved in the Atlantic slave trade. Please be sure to listen to our two other episodes in conversation with the Equal Justice Initiative which operates the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and Les Anneaux de la Mémoire (The Shackles of Memory), an association memorializing and commemorating slavery along the ports in Nantes, France.

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

In this episode, we speak with Tera DuVernay, the Deputy Director of Museum and Memorial Operations at the Equal Justice Initiative. Tera is also known for her work as a Researcher for several films including the academy award winning film 13th about mass criminalization in America. She has worked with the EJI for over 5 years and was on the core team who developed and opened the EJI’s Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. The Equal Justice Initiative was founded in 1989 by Brian Stevenson, the author and esteemed public interest lawyer, with the goal of changing the narrative about race in America through legal representation, research, and media projects about criminal justice reform. The organization continues to expand on this goal through their museum, memorial and Community Remembrance Project.

This is one of three episodes that discuss the topic of memorialization and commemoration of the innumerous lives taken and forever impacted by the Atlantic slave trade. Please be sure to listen to the two other episodes in conversation with The Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana, and Les Anneaux de la Mémoire (The Shackles of Memory) association in Nantes, France.

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

For the last hundred years, politicians, civilians, and academics have attempted to deny the Armenian Genocide. Currently, efforts exist to annihilate both a period of history and its people. In this episode, we are joined by Regina Galustyan of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute Foundation who discusses her research about the efforts of the perpetrator at denial and her hopes for the future of her country. 

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

It is once again a bustling, modern European city, but in 1995, Sarajevo was ravaged by Serbian forces during the Bosnian War of the 1990's. For four years, the Serbian military surrounded the city playing target practice with its citizens. In this episode, we speak with Nejra Mulaomerovic whose home stood on the front lines and we learn about her love of photography, her commitment to truth-telling, and her efforts at honoring memory. 

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

This episode introduces listeners to Sopheaktra Tim and Chamroeun Lak. Both are memory workers in Cambodia, a country where most older adults experienced the violence of the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and his regime ravished Cambodia from 1975-1979. These workers discuss their efforts at remembering their fallen ancestors as well as the resilience in their country, and the way they connect with these ancestors today.

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

In this episode we speak with Lisa Conte, head conservator at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Alexandra Drakakis, a former curator who worked there for 13 years, to discuss the impact of the memorial and museum on the survivor community and on their own lives.

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.