Honoring the Good and the Bad of Kenyon's History

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    This week, as my group starts to finalize what our case looks like, I've started focusing more on some of the individual objects that we've selected. One of the things that caught my eye this week was an article about Kenyon in relation to the Kent State shooting because we're planning to put it in the center of our case. We've been focusing a lot on how to tell a story through the presentation of our objects and decided that the Kent State shooting was one of the most impactful stories to include, thus why it took the middle spot in the case. The topic of the shooting is a sensitive one, but it's an incredibly important part of Kenyon's history that needs to be shared. It doesn't show Kenyon in a bad light, in fact it displays Kenyon very positively, but it does talk about a negative period of history. 

    Robyn Autry's writing on how museums must represent the past while showing both the good and the bad sides of history is a big issue for museum curators. Although our jobs with the Archives and Special Collections do not carry nearly as many responsibilities as that of museum curators, I found myself really enjoying and relating to Autry's writing. Autry discussed how these curators can use difficult moments from the past in a more positive way: "curators at black museums strive to present America’s slave past in a way that contributes to ideological missions to instill a sense of pride in among blacks. In interviews, curators discussed how they used language selectively and amplified certain events in order to evoke a sense of pride in visitors, especially black youth" (Autry 65). Her points on engaging black youth is extremely important because it's a way to turn a traumatic past into one that can empower today's generation and hopefully make a difference in the future. Later in the paper she discusses how this relates to the ideas of group unity: "The vast majority of black museums draw on this history to construct a celebrated past to anchor black identity, framed within a narrative of progress that resonates with more conventional representations of American social values and mores" (Autry 77). It's important to note that Autry mentions that these museums create an identity for black Americans, but that this identity must be shaped by greater American identity.

    Autry's writing reminded me heavily of the addition of the Kent State shooting in our case. It is a difficult part of American history, but if we highlight it in a way that is empowering, I think it could be used to teach people about the tragedy in a more constructive way. I also think that it's important for us to place the Collegian article about the shooting in the center of the case so that it can be included in a narrative that is more conventional, such as Autry concluded. We're including much lighter topics in our case, like John Green's international bestsellers, which helps us frame the Kent State shooting as simply an important part of Kenyon's history in the world, instead of focusing just on the shooting itself. If we can place everything correctly, I think our Kenyon in the World case will show both the good and bad parts of history, while still empowering its viewers.


Autry, Robin. 2013. “The Political Economy of Memory: The Challenges of Representing National Conflict at ‘Identity-Driven’ Museums.” Theory and Society 42:57-80.

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