Exploring the Future of Urban Public Schools' History: Collections, Preservation, Access, and Writing

• In Event: 45.031 - Community Preservation and Historical Memory: Education and Resistance Unveiled

Abstract

Education history involves the work of a range of participants whose efforts are rarely coordinated. Without collaboration, important material culture and stories are often lost before they can be preserved, researched, and shared. This work faces varied and complex challenges: low priority placed on preservation; lack of archival spaces; absence of collecting policies; and reform measures leading to the loss of rich material culture. As a collaboration between the executive director of an urban public school system museum and archive and an education historian, our paper discusses the work of producing history from both perspectives, highlighting their interdependence. This paper makes a significant contribution by presenting a collaborative analysis of problems as well as suggesting an agenda for future collaborative efforts.

Authors

• Charles Tocci, Loyola University Chicago

• Kimberly Springle, Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives