Monuments dot the landscape of many cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated areas. Whether they take the form of objects or spaces that already exist (such as a cannon, a tree, or the town green) or are purposefully designed, monuments serve as visual pronouncements of community history and identity. Monuments can unite communities at a particular point in time, but they are also attempts to connect that community with both its past and its future.<\/p>\n
World War II Memorial<\/a> (Total Video Time: 4:36; video transcripts on page)<\/p>\n Monuments don\u2019t reside in library collections, but the records that document their history might; as such, we\u2019ll examine how the monuments (and memorials) in your community can be analyzed as historical sources. There are six points of inquiry to consider when analyzing monuments:<\/p>\n The chart below provides analysis questions for each point of inquiry:<\/p>\n What does the monument commemorate?<\/span><\/p>\n Who sponsored or advocated for the creation of the monument? Why? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What do we know about this person\/these people\/this organization?<\/span><\/p>\n How was the monument funded?<\/span><\/p>\n When was the monument dedicated?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Was the final monument design adapted? How and why?<\/span><\/p>\n What historical narrative is communicated by the monument\u2019s design?<\/span><\/p>\n -Who is included in this narrative?<\/span><\/p>\n -Who is excluded from this narrative?<\/span><\/p>\n -What is the function of the narrative? Who might be helped by this narrative? Who might be hurt by this narrative?<\/span><\/p>\n What is the monument made of? <\/span><\/p>\n -Is there any special significance in the selection of materials for the monument?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n How does the monument fit in with surrounding spaces? (relative location)<\/span><\/p>\n Has the monument site changed–has the monument been moved?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n What message or narrative is told or supported by these inscriptions?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n -The immediate, local community?<\/span><\/p>\n -Other monuments?<\/span><\/p>\n -Society at large?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Has the monument been continually used in the same fashion?<\/span><\/p>\n -If not, how has the community\u2019s use of the monument been adapted?<\/span><\/p>\n Is the monument viewed as a local landmark?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n adapted from Gerald A. Danzer, <\/span>Public Places: Exploring Their History<\/span><\/i>. Nearby History. (Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1987), 5-14.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Previous Section<\/a> | Next Section<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Estimated time to complete this section: 7 minutes Monuments dot the landscape of many cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated areas. Whether they take the form of objects or spaces that already exist (such as a cannon, a tree, or the town green) or are purposefully designed, monuments serve as visual pronouncements of community history and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":81,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page-sidebar-left.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1527,"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479\/revisions\/1527"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/locallinkages.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n Monument history<\/span><\/td>\n When was the idea of the monument first conceived?<\/span><\/p>\n \n Monument design and materials<\/span><\/td>\n How was the design of the monument selected?<\/span><\/p>\n \n Monument site<\/span><\/td>\n Where is the monument located? (absolute location)<\/span><\/p>\n \n Monument inscriptions<\/span><\/td>\n What words or symbols are inscribed on the monument?<\/span><\/p>\n \n Monument connections<\/span><\/td>\n At the time of its dedication, how did the monument relate to:<\/span><\/p>\n \n Monument afterlife<\/span><\/td>\n How has the monument been used since its dedication?<\/span><\/p>\n