English Professors Tobi Jacobi and Ed Lessor recently participated in the Prison Public Memory Project by helping to set up Pop Up Museums in three different locations in Hudson, NY on three different days in July (the 9th, 14th, and 24th). A Pop Up Museum is a temporary exhibit. Popping up in different locations, the community is invited to bring something on topic to share and to contribute to the community-wide story. Using history, art, and dialogue to engage people from all walks of life in conversation and learning about the role of prisons in society, the Prison Public Memory Project works with communities to discover, preserve, interpret, and honor the memories of those who worked at and were incarcerated in correctional facilities.
Tobi Jacobi showing some of the artifacts she has collected and studied.
For almost 80 years between 1904 and 1975, Hudson was home to the New York State Training School for Girls, once the largest reform school for girls in the United States and one of the largest employers in Columbia County. Over the years, the school became an important site for new research in sociology and psychology, though there were accusations that the punishment practices — which included solitary confinement — were too harsh and that “colored girls”, like famous jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald who spent a year at the school, received unequal treatment and services.
Conceived by Tobi Jacobi and Ed Lessor, who have been exploring the Training School’s “hidden history,” these Pop-Ups invited the public to engage in conversation about the space, daily life, and residents of the Girls Training School during the 1920s/30s. Participants were able to interact with historical artifacts such as photographs, letters, and institutional records in a hands-on museum-like setting.
A scene from one of the pop up museums.
Visitors were also able to engage with the Training School’s history in a variety of interactive drawing and writing activities led by Prison Public Memory Project staff and volunteers. Community members were invited to bring any of their own photos, documents, and other artifacts relating to the Training School or to the people who lived or worked there for temporary display on the museum tables.
For more information, here is the local paper’s coverage of the event: http://www.registerstar.com/news/article_e52d355c-2761-11e5-b3db-03a55a34f1f4.html
(The information above was taken from the event’s General Press Release)