Week Seven

Although I physically was not present in our usual Public History meeting space, I was still in the classroom of Public History that is the general public. I had the opportunity this week to travel to Denver, Colorado for the 60th NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) conference. I did not go with the intention or expectation that I would encounter Public History during my visit, but I was pleasantly surprised when I happened to see theory we learned in class in action in this unexpected location. 

NACA is a conference with two aspects. The first is an education purpose where you learn through presentations given by experts in programming and event planning. The second aspect is that NACA serves as a space for vendors, artists, musicians, and people with all sorts of skills to display the things they have to offer in hopes that you will invite them to your campus or use their products in your programming. One of the tables being displayed was for a mobile museum whose title is Black History 101. The two folding tables held just a small portion of the 5,000 artifacts that comprise the full exhibit. The exhibit’s scope spans from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to the development of hip hop.

The display was located just outside the area that was being used for registration and check in. You also had to pass by it on your way to one of the stages where presentations were being held. This was a good location to catch people’s attention as they walked between lectures as opposed to the main “marketplace” location where the rest of the vendors had their stations set up. The marketplace was on the third level of the convention center, away from where people would be milling about, and was very loud and crowded — two traits not conducive to processing and absorbing potentially difficult knowledge. 

I was at the conference for three days and had the unique opportunity to observe the miniature exhibits set-up, reception, and changes that were made. One of the main things that I noticed the first day it was set up, was that there was no sign indicating exactly what the table was for. I knew what the table was only because I had extensively looked through the booklet that listed the different vendors. However, other people passing by who may not have had the chance to browse the booklet did not seem to want to stop by the table because they were unsure as to what it was. I noticed on the following day that the table now had a small sign with the name of the company that sponsored the table. The company’s name is “Book a Muslim” which, at least for me, ignited feelings of hesitancy as it sounds a little disrespectful. The company’s name alone did not sound inviting and I was left with feelings of uncertainty. By the third day of the conference, there was a large poster that had “Black History 101” in big bold lettering, finally giving passersby an invitation to interact with the tables’ contents. This was an interesting example of remedial evaluation where those in charge of the sampling of artifacts worked to change their set up in order to maximize the amount of conference attendees that stopped by their table. 

Link to mobile museum website.