Mass Humanities: Interview with Karilyn Crockett (Fall 2001)
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2679_ABD 10/8/01 10:10 AM Page 1 Inside: Making Use of History page 2 Monkey Dance page 3 Humanities Calendar page 7 Mass Recent Grants page 8 HumanitiesA Publication of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities — Fall 2001 The Foundation’s Main Office MYTOWN: Moves to Northampton Leaders of the Future Learning the Lessons of the Past An Interview with Karilyn Crockett by Amy Hoffman fter 15 rent-free years in South Hadley, on but when I asked Crockett, she explained that A the Mount Holyoke College campus, the modest brownstone in one of the few un- main office of the Foundation is moving. In the A gentrified pockets of Boston’s South End developing the tours’ content had been a compli- past year or two, both the Foundation and the houses MYTOWN, Inc.—the Multicultural cated process. The first step had been a commu- College began to feel pressed for more space. Youth Tour Of What’s Now. Karilyn Crockett, nity meeting, where residents identified places that We were off on a hunt for a new home. the group’s founder and director, occupies a were important to them and individuals who had It soon became clear that free space was fourth-floor office at the top of the stairs, sharing stories to tell. The MYTOWN guides used these almost certainly a thing of the past; we need- space with a reference library, a couple of com- suggestions as the starting point for their research. ed to find quarters that we could afford—and puter stations, and a ringing telephone. A group Often, when young people enter the program, enjoy. Once the MFH board decided that the of seven or eight young people conducts a lively their understanding of history is what they’ve been main office should remain in the western part meeting around a table in an adjoining taught in school—the colonial period, the of the state, Northampton, a cultural hub, was room, which is hung with lists hand- presidents, and other “great white the obvious choice. written on big sheets of newsprint. men.” Only through the process In March, Kerry Buckley, Director of His- Occasionally one or another of of exploring local archives and toric Northampton, and his board of directors them stops by Crockett’s desk conducting oral histories do offered the Foundation space in the Shepherd to ask a question or fill her in they begin to understand the House, one of three properties on the campus on their latest decision. connection between their city’s of Historic Northampton, the local historical MYTOWN has been history and their own lives. society and museum. Built in 1796 on a lot offering walking tours of the MYTOWN is unique. originally laid out in 1654, the house contains South End, researched and con- Nothing quite like it exists any- artifacts and furnishings from many genera- ducted by Boston youth, since where else, although a program tions, including souvenirs from the turn-of- 1995. Crockett says she met with inspired by it was recently started in the-century travels of Thomas and Edith Shep- some skepticism when she first pre- New Haven, Connecticut. This fall, herd, and reflects the family's changing tastes sented her idea for the youth-led tours Karilyn Crockett Crockett plans to begin disseminating and values. The front two rooms on the first to community residents and potential her brand of youth leadership training floor of the house remain in their historic state funders, who doubted whether street-smart kids through local history research to other parts of and can be toured by the public on weekends; would be appropriate guides for schoolchildren, Boston via the Neighborhood Partnership the Foundation’s offices will occupy the back tourists, and history buffs. But these days the Initiative, a collaboration between MYTOWN part of the first floor and the entire second tours are “almost too successful,” she says. So and the Bostonian Society, funded in part by the floor. many people want to take them that the organiza- Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. tion may hire a staff person just to keep track of Karilyn Crockett grew up in Dorchester and scheduling. attended Boston public schools through eighth I tagged along on a MYTOWN tour of grade. After high school at the Winsor School, she Columbus Avenue on one of the hottest after- went to Yale, graduating in 1995 with a BA in noons of the summer. Despite the 90 degree heat, anthropology. MYTOWN, she says, is her “first about a dozen intrepid walkers from the job out of college.” The idea for MYTOWN did Cambridge Center for Adult Education had gath- not originate in her academic training—“I’m not a ered at the A. Philip Randolph statue in Back Bay historian or a social worker,” she says—but rather Station when I arrived. Our guide jumped up on in her combined experience of programs like the bench at the base of the statue, which made a Outward Bound and a family that had never for- convenient podium from which to talk to us about gotten its roots. She realized that many young The Shepherd House, Randolph’s organization, the Brotherhood of people in Boston, especially those who are of color, new home of the Foundation’s main office Sleeping Car Porters, and the lives of the porters immigrants, or poor, are missing what was a fun- The Foundation board and staff are themselves, who settled in the streets around the damental part of her own upbringing: a sense of delighted with the new location. Being in train yards. Other stops on our walk included the home. downtown Northampton will increase both Tent City affordable housing complex, built as a I asked Crockett what she means by a sense our visibility and accessibility. An added plus is result of a protracted community protest; of home, and why it is so important. Why did she that the state’s humanities council will be Southwest Corridor Park, in an area once slated decide that this should be the focus of her entire housed in an historic building. (If you would to be “urban-renewed” into a 12-lane superhigh- program? like to learn more about Historic Northamp- way; and Wally’s Café, a venerable jazz club. At ton, visit www.historic-northampton.org.) various times, our guide said, the South End had Karilyn Crockett: My family is originally from The Foundation’s main office will be mov- been home to Underground Railroad conductor West Virginia. When I was growing up—and ing September 24-26, 2001. We hope for a Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and even now—my family life was full of stories of smooth transition. Our new contact informa- community activist and one-time mayoral candi- West Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the tion is: date Mel King. At the end of the tour, the walk- coal mines, farming, harvests. Through family ers thanked our guides, agreeing that what had stories and memories, I came to understand Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities made the experience meaningful was the chance that West Virginia was a place that we knew 66 Bridge Street · Northampton, MA 01060 to learn from the residents themselves. and where we were known, a place of belong- 413-584-8440 · 413-584-8454 (fax) I assumed that the tours’ emphasis on con- temporary history was the youth guides’ choice, Interview continued on page 5 2679_ABD 10/8/01 10:10 AM Page 2 Making Use of History by Edward Byers Main Office 66 Bridge Street Northampton, MA 01060 (413) 584-8440 Fax (413) 584-8454 David Glassberg, professor of history at the University of films actually interpret what they see and hear.” While the www.mfh.org Massachusetts Amherst, has set himself an ambitious goal— series was widely criticized by professional historians as an Metro Boston Office to understand how our collective sense of history has devel- overly romantic view of the Civil War, it connected power- 125 Walnut Street Watertown, MA 02472 oped and how it has been created and transmitted over time fully with a large audience of public television viewers. (617) 923-1678 Fax (617) 923-8426 in 20th-century America. By “sense of history,” Glassberg On one level, the success of The Civil War was due to STAFF means a way of looking at the past that is “at the core of who the fact that it was widely perceived as “quality television” Main Office, Northampton [we] are and the people and places [we] care about. ‘Sense that “stuck to the facts.” What that means, as the author David Tebaldi Executive Director of history’ reflects the intersection of the intimate and the correctly points out, is that viewers “saw nothing with [email protected] historical—the way that past events of a personal and pub- which they could disagree.” As a highly skilled filmmaker, Kristin O’Connell lic nature are intertwined, so that public histories often Ken Burns knew how to use words, images, and music to get Program Officer forcefully, and surprisingly, hit home.” audiences emotionally involved. But in Glassberg’s view, Resource Center Director To develop that understanding Glassberg identifies the overriding reason viewers loved the series was that they [email protected] three broad areas that need investigation. The first of these saw it through the lens of their own family histories. As one Anne Rogers Executive Assistant is the process by which some versions of history get institu- woman from Massachusetts wrote: “The film helped me [email protected] tionalized and communicated through museums, monu- gain insight into the character and personal Hayley Wood ments, and civic celebrations.