84. On Richmond’s Transformed Monument Avenue, A Group of Historians Erect Rogue Historical Markers Museum Archipelago

Near the empty pedestals of Confederate figures that used to tower over Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, a new type of historical marker now stands. The markers have most of the trappings of a state-erected historical plaque—but these are rogue markers erected by a group of anonymous historians called History is Illuminating.


History is Illuminating decided to use historical markers as a medium to talk about the Black history taking place while those statues were erected as monuments to white supremacy.


In this episode, an anonymous member of History is Illuminating discusses the ubiquity of the Lost Cause narrative, the reasons for being anonymous and going rogue, and the means of historical marker production.


Topics and Notes


00:00 Intro
00:15 Historical Markers in the U.S. South
01:00 History is Illuminating
01:20 Rogue Historians
02:10 Lost Cause Narrative
03:13 Monument Avenue
05:15 The Origins of History is Illuminating
06:10 Studio Two Three
06:20 Naming History is Illuminating
08:10 Constructing the Historical Markers
08:30 Episode 42. Freddi Williams Evans and Luther Gray Are Erecting Historic Markers on the Slave Trade in New Orleans
09:05 The Markers
09:45 John Mitchell Jr.
10:30 Going Rogue
11:00 Means of Historical Marker Production
12:35 Learn More and Donate to History is Illuminating
13:05 SPONSOR: Pigeon by SRISYS 🐦
13:52 Outro | Join Club Archipelago 🏖


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Transcript
Below is a transcript of Museum Archipelago episode 84. Museum Archipelago is produced for the ear and the only the audio of the episode is canonical. For more information on the people and ideas in the episode, refer to the links above.




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[Intro]


Over the past few weeks, near the empty pedestals of confederate figures that used to stand on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, a new type of historical marker started appearing. The markers have most of the trappings of a state-erected historical marker--etched letters and an iconic shape.


But there is no official logo, just a bright sun icon at the top, text in the middle describing a past event, and at the bottom simply the words: History Is Illuminating.



History is Illuminating: If you start looking at historic markers that were installed in the 60s, 70s, 80s across the South, not just in Virginia, but in states all across the South, they're so biasly worded and the subject matter is so biasly chosen.



History Is Illuminating is a group of anonymous historians from the Richmond area who, as the confederate statues were being removed, decided to use the format of those historical markers as a medium to