From: JANET IRENE SEYMOUR <janet.seymour@wisconsinhistory.org> Subject: Re: Offensive names Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2018 17:31:38 +0000 Message-id: <DM3PR0601MB1947819853D6A99939A1760887C80@DM3PR0601MB1947.namprd06.prod.outlook.com>
Bill: You asked about the possibility of including a caveat at the beginnin
g of the article. The following text appears on the Smithsonian Transcripti
on Center website, which includes similar documents to those you referenced
:
"Please note that some language in this collection may be culturally insens
itive, or offensive to some viewers. It is presented as it exists in the or
iginal document for the benefit of research. The materials reflects the cul
ture and context in which i t was created and not the views of the Smithson
ian Institution."
________________________________
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu < <localhistory-request@listser
ve.uwec.edu> on behalf of Diana Bolander <museumdirector@platteville.org>
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2018 10:56:25 AM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: RE: Offensive names
Bill,
We recently did an exhibit on African American Lead Miners and one of the m
iners, James Williams, had a diggings that was called the "Nigger Jim Mine"
on government documents as late as the 1960s. We felt that it was importa
nt not to censor this and instead to draw attention to it as an opportunity
to talk about discrimination and the Jim Crow era. We had two advisors fr
om different universities look over the exhibit text to make sure it was ap
propriate.
Private message me if you have any questions or would like to see the text
we ended up using. The Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michi
gan might be a good resource as well. https://ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcro
w/
Diana
Diana Bolander
Museum Director
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums | City of Platteville
405 E. Main St./PO Box 780 | Platteville, Wisconsin
(608) 348-3301
museumdirector@platteville.org | mining.jamison.museum
-----Original Message-----
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu [mailto:localhistory-request@
listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of William Schuette
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 6:12 PM
To: List Serve <localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu>
Subject: Offensive names
We have old settler's articles and newspaper stories on our Web site from t
he late 1800s and early 1900s, which contain a few derogatory names for Afr
ican Americans and Native American females. How do other organizations trea
t such occurrences? Do we leave them as written with the understanding tha
t the usage was based on the time period, perhaps with a caveat at the begi
nning of the article explaining why they were retained? Or do we delete the
se references and put a bracket [ ] with an explanation as to why the word
s have been excised?
Bill
Sauk County Historical Society