History 21 The Podcast - 3.09 AMM Essential Questions
The Association of Midwest Museums, the largest network of museum professionals in the Midwest, invited ACHS staff to participate in their Essential Questions Series focusing on the challenges and triumphs we experienced during the pandemic. Rebecca, Kassy, and Sara discuss the unexpected opportunities that arose from slowing down as well as how we continue to carry those lessons into the future.
Host Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator, and Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director.
Essential Questions Series - Conversations about Change, Equity & Sustainability
With the Anoka County Historical Society
During this talk show style interview, Richard Josey starts with a broad look at how the Anoka County Historical Society's programming or operations have changed over the last few years and their takeaways. Then they talk further about how the museum took to digital modes of community and member engagement - stretching their programming to include a podcast, digital collections, and even the creation of an original film - An Un-Wise Murder. Hear about their steps to find balance between digital and in-person offerings.
Richard M Josey Jr.
Principal, Collective Journeys LLC, Newport News, Virginia
Richard Josey is the Founder and Principal Consultant for Collective Journeys LLC, a consultancy for museums and historical organizations interested in becoming inclusion-centered organizations. Richard spent over 20 years building inclusive narratives at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Minnesota Historical Society. Josey began his career in 1985 as a history interpreter portraying African-Virginian experiences in the 17th and 18th centuries, including slavery. In 2001, he became a manager of interpretive programs and soon after supervised staff and developed programs that cross class, race, and gender boundaries. In 2012, Josey became the Manager of Programs at the Minnesota Historical Society. As the Manager of Programs, Josey directed the development of interpretive programs and provided administrative supervision and support for the Society’s network of 26 historic sites and museums. Richard is also an alum of the Getty Leadership Institute and the formerly titled Seminar of Historic Administration. He is also honored to serve on the faculty for the newly titled History Leadership Institute as well as the George Washington Teacher’s Institute. Josey’s guiding principle speaks to the overall purpose of Collective Journeys LLC – to positively impact efforts to create community transformation and development.
Follow Richard on social media: @collectivejourneysllc @goodancestors19
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
The Myth of Closure: ambiguous loss in a time of pandemic and change by Pauline Boss (155.93 BOS)
Author and therapist, Pauline Boss suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has left many feeling “ambiguous loss” – that is loss that is unclear or undefined, leaving us with lingering feelings of distress. Beyond simple diagnosis, this book also prescribes ways in which to build resilience for the future.
As an award-winning professor of social psychology, the author of this book suggests only after grappling with the truth of our history, rather than the whitewashed versions we often get, can we rebuild our systems to be more just.
Based on global research involving thousands of business leaders, this book looks at the various responses businesses had to the pandemic and how they fared. Organizations of the future may need to be more “digital, distributed, inclusive, resilient, empathic” in a post-pandemic business context.
The Book of Hope: a survival guide for trying times by Jane Goodall (304.2 GOO)
While known to many as the foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is also an anthropologist, interested in humans and their relationship to others. Revealed to readers via a dialogue with co-author Douglas Abrams, the book illuminates what hope is and how we can cultivate it in our lives when things seem hopeless.
A thorough summary of the impact COVID-19 had on what it means to be a leader in business. The author, a former Wall Street Journal business columnist, interviewed hundreds of businesspeople to determine what strategies and decisions made for the most resilient companies.
This book claims to offer the blueprint for creating a connection-driven and resilient workplace amid the changing and turbulent times. The author offers advice which can be put into action, helping readers gain the skills to be happier, more productive employees.
Saint Paul Almanac. Volume 12: resistance and resilience by Kimberly Nightingale (977.6581 SAI)
Though published just before the pandemic, this volume eerily foreshadows themes that would soon be ubiquitous during and throughout the pandemic. Through stories, poetry, art and more, this volume of the Saint Paul Almanac embodies what it is to strive for the organization’s vision of “a world of equitable communities made strong through literature and the arts”.
After studying patients who had experienced brain injuries, Dr. Stejskal discovered that resilience is a learned skill, that develops out of five critical behaviors. Her conclusions are based on decades of research and she shares with readers the ways in which they can learn to build resiliency.
For a hyperlocal look at how the pandemic and social unrest changed life in 2020, check out this book of stories, poems, and more. Collected by the Ramsey County Library, contributions to the book were written during online writing workshops, and serve as an archive depicting life during that time.