Studies Indigenous People

 Beginning Jan. 19, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation will launch a bi-monthly educational series featuring prominent scholars and historians from across the country, including a consultant for the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”

Foundation Executive Director Christy S. Coleman will lead the six-part inaugural Director’s Series in Jamestown Settlement’s Robins Foundation Theater, starting with Florida historian Jason Herbert. Herbert, who recently obtained his doctorate in history from the University of Minnesota, works for the Seminole Tribe of Florida as an ethnographer and studies indigenous people and ecology.

The Director’s Series reflects the foundation’s mission to raise awareness and understanding of American history through its two museums, Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, as well as through education programs. Each of the six programs in the series will feature Coleman striking up a conversation with her guests.

Herbert, a self-proclaimed movie buff, has hosted a weekly virtual watch party called Historians at the Movies (historiansatthemovies.com) since 2018. Coleman asked Herbert to come and explore that topic, looking at how popular culture — such as movies — influences the public’s understanding of history and culture. While not a film historian by trade, Herbert said his love of movies has helped him look critically at how films can affect people’s relationships with each other.

Historians at the Movies, which began with a few historians and has grown to include history experts and movie fans across the world, screened “National Treasure” as its first film and has since screened hundreds more. 

Movies, Herbert said, are a great avenue for people to get into history and to help prompt conversations about the past and why it matters. And they don’t all have to be labeled as history movies to teach something, either.

“All films are history films if we want to look at them,” Herbert said. “What does a movie like ‘Jaws’ tell us about mass hysteria? What about ‘Star Wars’? How did these movies change our relationships with one another?”

Herbert said movies can also be important when looking at topics such as representation, diversity and ethics, sparking questions such as: What is and isn’t — and who is and isn’t — being depicted? How does that affect how we view a movie? Who goes to see certain movies, and what do movies tell us about society at a point in time?

Herbert hopes that those who attend his event will come away from it being able to look at movies in a new light.

“Hopefully we can look at things from a different angle, to use films as cultural artifacts to understand our own lives,” he said.

The other guests scheduled to appear for the Director’s Series include:

March 16: Joanne B. Freeman is a Yale University history and American studies professor and historian of the Revolutionary era and early republic. Freeman is a leading expert on Alexander Hamilton and served as co-host of the national syndicated podcast “Backstory” and as a consultant for the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”

May 25: Lonnie G. Bunch III is an American educator and historian and the first African American (and first historian) to serve as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Bunch will discuss the evolution of museums and their roles today.

July 20: Keisha Blain, an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh and the 2022 New America National Fellow. Blain has written and spoken extensively about African American history and will discuss the impact of Black freedom struggles on American history and culture.

Sept. 21: Winona LaDuke is a member of the Ojibwe Nation, an author and internationally renowned activist on topics including sustainable development, renewable energy and food systems. LaDuke is known for her writings on Native American and environmental issues. She will speak about indigenous techniques to stem climate change.

Nov. 16: Shannon Lanier is a TV host, author, social media influencer and the sixth great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Lanier will talk with Coleman about the role and responsibility of journalism and media in American discourse along with the approaching 250th commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

https://groups.google.com/g/menyo12/c/DeXCrdsP8WY

https://groups.google.com/g/sunguh12/c/t0iGXVBsfmg

Coleman said she hopes that attendees will gain an understanding about just how dynamic history can be and that it impacts all segments of society.

History “is a discipline that has its own extraordinary elements,” Coleman said. “We’re living with it every day whether we realize it or not.”

Each of the programs will take place at 7 p.m. Online registration is required and is available at jyfmuseums.org/directorsseries. Each program costs $10 or $50 for all six in the series. Masks must be worn to attend the series inside the theater. A virtual option will also be available, with information to be added soon to the website.