Valentine's Meat Juice, Richmond, VA, late 19th c. |
A History of Richmond in 50 Objects In January 2010, the BBC began airing a series of 15-minute long radio bits entitled "A History of the World in 100 Objects." Each began with an object from the British Museum--something as famous and significant as the Rosetta Stone, or as seemingly commonplace as a drum or roof tile--and, through a combination of close description, historical context, and storytelling, the series conveyed a riveting sense of human ingenuity and world history. For good reason, the BBC's model has been used by other institutions to capture less grandiose histories, not least by Richmond's Valentine Museum for a 2013 exhibit on the city's history. This seminar seeks to engage students in two major activities achieved by the BBC series: the construction of history by selecting objects that exemplify key aspects of Richmond's history, and the writing and development of publicly-accessible narratives about the past. Students will immerse themselves in research at local institutions, looking for interesting objects or images; think about how to tell the history of Richmond and its diverse population via objects; persuade their fellow students which stories best belong in the finite list of 50; think broadly about how history must be both honest and responsible to the present; and write for a wide public audience, not just for professors. |
