Alezandro's Blog Post #1

As an intern in the Education Department of History Colorado, I am largely responsible for working on El Movimiento, which will be a permanent exhibition opening in September on the Chicano Movement and its ties to Colorado. El Movimiento, or ElMo, is dedicated to exposing visitors to the vibrant and active history of Chicanxs in the United States, and more specifically in Denver. Though this Friday, July 7th, will only be my third day interning at the museum, I have attended four meetings, interviewed prospective volunteers, and worked on various projects for ElMo.

Pictured below is a screenshot from a website called Evernote, which I use to help organize the many tasks and meetings I am given or asked to attend at any given moment.

One of the most interesting topics I’ve learned during my short time here at History Colorado was on something completely unrelated to ElMo: NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. My intern supervisor, JJ Rutherford, set up a meeting with the NAGPRA Representative of History Colorado and I was able to learn about a highly specialized career job in museums that I had no idea existed prior to that moment. The NAGPRA Representative here at History Colorado is responsible for many significant things, but the one I found most interesting was that she meets with different native tribes to ensure that any exhibition including cultural items, which is open to objects of cultural patrimony, sacred objects, human remains, and/or funerary objects, is consulted and collaborated with any tribes to which the items might belong. This culturally-sensitive practice, though undoubtedly important, was not always exercised at History Colorado and many other historical museums in the past.

After learning about how far History Colorado has come, and about the positive track record this Center has with native tribes, I feel as though my work has more meaning. I realize now that museums across the nation have come a long way in being culturally-sensitive, and many museums still have work that needs to be done. Without this internship, I most likely would have never been made aware of the importance of NAGPRA.

On a separate note, one particular task I’ve been given is to make ElMo engaging and interactive to a younger audience through activities. While brainstorming a list of potential projects, I thought back to the Young Ambassadors Program and the workshops we did during Washington Week. One specific example is that I borrowed the idea of making murals like Patssi Valdez’s come to life through photoshop and mobile apps. I’m currently looking for murals painted by Chicano Coloradans to do the same activity. I look forward to working with the digital editing team here at History Colorado, among other departments, to make this activity feasible and pragmatic to youth.

Also, if you ever want to see El Movimiento but you are limited due to geography, check out our online exhibition of La Gente: http://exhibits.historycolorado.org/lagente/lagente_home.html. 

     I miss y'all!

Alezandro