WEEK 4: HISTORY, HERITAGE & TOURISM

Let's give 'em something to talk about!

Each week one of our instructors hosts a seminar to “deepen the understanding and discover why where are doing [this studio]” – (Ken Yocom). During these seminars, students are encouraged to freely discuss theories and ideas presented in a set of assigned readings. Apparently we had all had a lot of time to read during last week’s “snow-apocalypse” because the discussion was livelier than ever before! We crammed two huge topics into the hour and a half, touching on Tourism and the difference between History and Heritage.

PhD student and studio instructor, Tyler Sprague, summarized our first set of readings using TIME as the unifying element that ties history together. To illustrate how this can be applied to our site(s), he pointed out that the San Juan Island National Historic Park was founded in 1963 when the Cold War was still fresh in Americans’ minds and the US government was preparing for the Vietnam War. This is an interesting observation considering the mission statement for the park is to “commemorate the historic events associated with the final settlement and peaceful arbitration…” As a class we began theorizing the intentions of the policy makers in creating this park and promoting the idea of peace at that time. We wonder if this drive to highlight on peacefulness is just as pertinent today, with a main park goal being to infuse visitors with a sense of pride, or at least respect, by having a stake in some positive aspect of U.S. history.

Image:This image sparked a discussion about the history of our country and comparing these historical events to the formulatoin of the National Historic Park. We are finding that deciding which histories to reveal while providing an educational and enjoyable park experience, is a tricky balance.

The discussion shifted and we focused on Lowenthal’s article, Fabricating Heritage, and his definition of ‘history’ as an objective truth compared to ‘heritage’ that is understood as a cultural construct merely rooted in history (1). This might first appear too theoretical but museology students chimed in to say that the NPS, and our class, has the opportunity to bind community together by developing a new heritage by pulling out forgotten or ignored information. We continued to admit to ourselves that, although we would like to reveal all of the hidden stories and perspectives of the San Juan Islands, nobody will have “the time, money, or resources to share it all,” (Manish Chalana) – we will have to choose an interpretive theme. And choosing will be yet another puzzle… good thing we have so many minds at work!

Image: San Juan is potent and impressing as both vernacular landscape and a historic site.

As a whole, it seemed that we began to understand the necessity to distill the most pertinent events to comprise this heritage-to-be. We know it will require the cooperation of stakeholders in this land, in giving us their opinions surrounding what theysee as most important to reveal (or not to reveal). This competition project is not solely about what we see as the most pressing details of SJI-NHP, or any National Park for that matter. It is about what the visitors and stakeholders of today and in future generations will be able to effectively apply to their lives. Without a sense of pride in our National Parks, the parks may cease to exist as constructive Heritage Landscapes, which (to quote from one of our previous weekly readings) are “important indicators in the restless search for identity that characterizes Americans as they make the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first century.” - Richard Francaviglia (2).

1. Lowenthal, David. "Fabricating Heritage." History & Memory: Studies in Representations of the Past. 10.1 (1998): 5-24. Print.

2. Alanen, Arnold R, and Robert Melnick. Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Print.