Historical Commission Research Articles

Beyond the endpoint: the report of the Belgian commission on colonial injustice and the wider tapestry of truth initiatives

ABSTRACT In recent years, Europe has witnessed a surge of truth initiatives to address the legacy of its colonial past as well as the enduring consequences thereof in the present. In the summer of 2020, Belgium became the first European country to establish a historical (truth) commission to investigate the historical and ongoing injustices related to its history of overseas colonialism. In this article, I analyse the report of the Special Parliamentary Commission on the Socio-Economic Impact of Colonialism in Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, to assess its contribution to broader debates on accountability and transformative change through the lens of disruptive accounts of the past. Additionally, the article explores Belgium’s truth initiatives ecosystem – of which the Commission was part of – to highlight the interplay between official truth-seeking processes and alternative narratives in confronting historical injustices.

The Historical Memory Paradigm as a Methodological Approach for Historical Commissions: The Case of Colombia's Historical Memory Group

Abstract: The last three decades have seen an increasing recognition of the potential of historical commissions as a tool to address the legacies of the past in contexts where social and political unrest and divisions are historically deeply rooted. Given their broad definition, historical commissions enjoy great flexibility in terms of how they carry out their investigations. This article analyzes the activities of the Historical Memory Group set up in Colombia in 2007, which adopted the historical memory paradigm, characterized by a combination of archival research and oral testimonies, as a core aspect of its investigative work, and argues that this paradigm provides a useful methodological approach to be included in the wide range of tools available to historical commissions.

From Scout Boy to Pioneer. An Example of Political Misuse of the Concept of a Youth Organization of Scout Boys in Slovakia

The Scout Boys, which had the original name Junák in Czechoslovakia, began official activity on our territory in 1914. Their promisingly developing membership base and attractive activity were disrupted by the events of World War II. Even before the coup in 1948, the Communists began massively building their party structures. One of the goals was to build a single and unified youth organization under the control of the Communist Party. Between 1945 and 1949, they gradually “united” all children’s and youth organizations that resumed their activities after World War II. One of them was Junák, which before the war had the largest membership base in Czechoslovakia and a welldeveloped system of working with children. The goal of our research was to find out how the children’s organization Junák was incorporated into the Czechoslovak Youth Union after the communist coup in 1948 and how its gradual transformation into the children’s Pioneer organization. In our research, we used periodical professional literature and periodical press, archival sources in the Slovak National Archives and the archive of the Slovak Youth Institute (IUVENTA) in Bratislava, as well as unpublished memories of Mr. Jozef Mikloš, chairman of the Historical Commission of Slovak Scouting.

The 50-Year Evolution of the William P. Didusch Museum of the American Urological Association

ObjectivesTo explore the history and evolution of the William P. Didusch Museum. MethodsWe reviewed the literature and personal accounts regarding the founding of the museum and changes to the museum over its history. ResultsWilliam P. Didusch was a world-renowned medical artist and was the staff artist for the Brady Urological Institute under Hugh Hampton Young. The William P. Didusch Museum was founded in 1971 and comprised the collection of Didusch’s drawings and instruments, which were housed at the AUA headquarters. In 1972 Didusch became the museum’s first curator.At the time of Didusch’s death, the AUA purchased a new building and began extensive renovations. In 1987, Dr. William W. Scott, the museum’s third curator, catalogued the items housed in the museum prior to it being reopened in 1989. Dr. Rainer Engel took over as curator in 1993 and supervised renovations to the exhibit area. In 2003 the museum moved to the new AUA Headquarters in Linthicum, Maryland and the central exhibit on the history of the cystoscope was finalized. Under Dr. Ronald Rabinowitz as Historian, the museum history committee and leadership was restructured and included a website with a virtual museum tour, links to history exhibits and a newsletter. ConclusionThe William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History continues to evolve in pursuit of its mission to document, preserve, and present the history of urology and to educate and engage the medical community and the public.

A comprehensive history of injection therapy for erectile dysfunction, 1982-2023.

Although oral phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors represent a first choice and long-term option for about half of all patients with erectile dysfunction (ED), self-injection therapy with vasoactive drugs remains a viable alternative for all those who are not reacting or cannot tolerate oral drug therapy. This current injection therapy has an interesting history beginning in 1982. To provide a comprehensive history of self-injection therapy from the very beginnings in 1982 by contemporary witnesses and some members of the International Society for Sexual Medicine's History Committee, a complete history of injection therapy is prepared from eyewitness accounts and review of the published literature on the subject, as well as an update of the current status of self-injection therapy. Published data on injection therapy, as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for ED, were reviewed thoroughly by PubMed and Medline research from 1982 until June 2023. Early pioneers and witnesses added firsthand details to this historical review. Therapeutic reports of injection therapy were reviewed, and results of side effects and complications were thoroughly reviewed. The pioneers of the first hours were Ronal Virag (1982) for papaverine, Giles Brindley (1983) for cavernosal alpha-blockade (phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine), Adrian Zorgniotti (1985) for papaverine/phentolamine, and Ganesan Adaikan and N. Ishii (1986) for prostaglandin E1. Moxisylyte (thymoxamine) was originally marketed but later withdrawn. The most common side effect is priapism, with the greatest risk of this from papaverine, which has modified its use for therapy. Currently, prostaglandin E1 and trimixes continue to be the agents of choice for diagnostic and therapeutic use in ED. A recent agent is a mixture of a vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (aviptadil) and phentolamine. After 40years, self-injection therapy represents the medication with the highest efficacy and reliability rates and remains a viable option for many couples with ED. The history of this therapy is rich.

Refurbishing a Rusty Cystoscope into the Retrospectroscope Award

Objectives The AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award is presented annually for the best presentation and paper at the annual History Forum. The award, bestowed by voting members of the AUA History Committee, includes a personalized and refurbished Brown-Buerger cystoscope and an AUA honorarium. The history of this prestigious award itself, however, is not widely known. Our objective was to identify the persons, vision, and processes required to establish the award and continue its tradition as a highlight of the annual meeting of the AUA. Methods We reviewed contemporaneous documents including AUA Board of Directors’ Meeting items, AUA archives, History Committee minutes, and notes by the AUA museum curators. Original newspaper archives were obtained as cited from digital resources. Secondary publications regarding the founding of the AUA History Club, the History of Urology Forum, its creators, and the award itself were obtained from the AUA Archives or from on-line resources as indicated. Results The annual History Forum at the American Urologic Association national meeting has been held annually since 1975, modelled after the smaller history meetings moderated by Earl Nation and Frank Bicknell since 1965. The development of an award for the top history paper was proposed at the 2005 meeting and formally approved by the AUA Board of Directors in 2006. During this time the AUA Museum had collected numerous ACMI Brown-Buerger cystoscopes from urologists who were switching to fiberoptic instruments. The Retrospectroscope Award, later named after 1977 AUA President Earl Nation, thus came into existence whereby the winning History Forum presenter would be given one of the donated cystoscopes and a small honorarium. The first Retrospectoscope winner was Shamim Baker for her 2005 paper on the Tuskegee experiment. The prize has been awarded annually for the past 19 years, eventually coming under AUA sponsorship in 2014. Conclusions The History of Urology Club at the AUA began in 1965 but an award for the best presentation has only been awarded since 2006. The AUA website lists prior award winners. The History of Urology Forum has significantly increased in popularity from the original 5 presentations in 1965 to 21 podium presentations in 2022 with 14 posters, a keynote “Bicknell Oration”, and a Medical Ethics Debate. As competition for the AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award has increased, contenders must submit a completed manuscript in addition to their presentation.

Postępowanie z aktami historycznymi w Związku Harcerstwa Polskiego na przykładzie zbioru Komisji Historycznej Hufca ZHP Poznań-Wilda im. Jana Kasprowicza

The article investigates the registry and archival processes employed in the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. The article analyses registry and archival rules of conduct of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, as well as the functions and character of its Historical Commissions, with particular emphasis on the activity of the Historical Commission operating at the Jan Kasprowicz Poznań-Wilda District of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. Presenting the contents of the fond and the promotional activities undertaken by the Historical Commission warrants the thesis that the Commission is a specific type of social archive in the registry and archival structure of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, whose main task is curating grade A historical memorabilia.

Activity of Father Władysław Chotkowski (1843–1926) in the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences

Władysław Chotkowski (1843–1926), a Catholic priest and patriotic activist, lectured on Church history at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. The excellent preacher who addressed national and social issues from the pulpit, he delivered eulogies at the funerals of eminent Poles and notable Kraków figures. The article presents the relationship of Władysław Chotkowski with the Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1883, he was elected a member of the Historical Commission, and in 1901 appointed to the Commission for the History of Polish Literature. Since 1907, he was a corresponding member of the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the Academy of Arts and Sciences. As a researcher of the Church history in Galicia, he participated in the meetings of the faculty, during which he presented the results of his research and scientific work that were published by the Academy of Arts and Sciences as dissertations and monographic works. The text, based on archival materials from the resources of the Archive of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU), fills the knowledge gap in the research on the scientific activity of prelate Władysław Chotkowski in the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Казаки-эмигранты в Чехословакии в 1921–1939 годах

Introduction. The purpose of this study is to analyze key aspects of the lives and details of Cossack emigrants in the Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR). Methods and materials. Within the research process, the author relied mainly on the following methods: narrative, historical-genetic, comparative-historical, and the method of analogies. The sources used were regulatory legal acts and office documents of the government and several ministries of the Czechoslovak Republic, speeches by individual representatives of the Czechoslovak ruling circles, documents of various organizations and societies, orders and decrees of army atamans, periodical press materials, and sources of private origin. Analysis. Most Cossacks moved to Czechoslovakia from Turkey and Greece, where they ended up after the evacuation from Crimea. The organization of the Cossacks’ move to Czechoslovakia was carried out mainly by public associations and societies. The first part of the Cossacks arrived in Czechoslovakia in June 1921. By the beginning of 1922, about 3,000 Cossacks were stationed on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The Cossacks received great support as part of the campaign to help Russian refugees. Within Czechoslovakia, the Cossacks formed public associations in the form of villages and khutors, as well as workers’ artels, in order to obtain and perform various jobs. Most Cossacks living in Czechoslovakia were involved in agriculture. Atamans of Cossack troops tried in every possible way to counteract the assimilation of Cossacks. Many Cossacks, after getting an education, were trying to leave Czechoslovakia for other states, mainly for France. Results. A comparative analysis showed that the Cossacks generally adapted more easily to the conditions of life in the position of an emigrant than most representatives of other parts of the Russian emigration. At the same time, the problem of assimilation among the Cossacks was sometimes quite acute and required the adoption of effective measures by their leaders. One of these measures was the popularization among the Cossacks of facts from their historical past and the preservation of historical memory. Not least, it was contributed by the Cossack historical commissions and archives.

Communications History: The Members are the History

Every day, history is being made in our communications field by ComSoc members and others. Some is incremental, while other is monumental. To recognize past accomplishments and to set the stage for future advancements, ComSoc has established the Communications History standing committee. In this President's Page, I am pleased to introduce Dr. Doug Zuckerman, the ComSoc Communications History Committee Chair, to share with us the standing committee's activities.

HF01-01 THE 50-YEAR EVOLUTION OF THE WILLIAM P. DIDUSCH CENTER FOR UROLOGIC HISTORY

You have accessJournal of UrologyCME1 Apr 2023HF01-01 THE 50-YEAR EVOLUTION OF THE WILLIAM P. DIDUSCH CENTER FOR UROLOGIC HISTORY Sutchin R. Patel and Ronald Rabinowitz Sutchin R. PatelSutchin R. Patel More articles by this author and Ronald RabinowitzRonald Rabinowitz More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003243.01AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The William P. Didusch Museum is a resource and repository of artifacts, texts and knowledge that encompasses the history of urology. METHODS: We reviewed the literature and personal accounts surrounding the founding of the museum. We had discussions with previous historians, curators and staff of the museum in regards to the changes to the museum over time. RESULTS: William P. Didusch was a world-renowned medical artist who studied under Max Brödel and was the staff artist for the Brady Urological Institute when it was first established under Hugh H. Young. The William P. Didusch Museum was founded in 1971 and comprised of the collection of Didusch’s drawings and Dr. Young’s instruments, which were housed at the AUA headquarters. When the museum was opened in 1972, Didusch served as its first curator. At the time of Didusch’s death, the AUA had purchased a new building and began extensive restructuring and renovation. Dr. Herbert Brendler and then Dr. William W. Scott served as the next curators focusing on cataloguing all of the items housed in the museum prior to it being reopened in 1989. Dr. Rainer Engel took over as curator of the museum in 1993 and supervised extensive renovations to the exhibit area with new display cabinets and updated story lighting and story boards. In 2003 the museum was moved to the new AUA Headquarters in Linthicum, MD. The new headquarters was designed to incorporate urologic history into the building, from cabinets to house educational exhibits, stairwells containing urologic history panels and meeting rooms with urologic history items. Under Dr. Engel, the central exhibit on the history of the cystoscope was finalized and the annual history exhibits flourished. With industry sponsorship and growth of the exhibit hall, the exhibits took on a life of their own! Dr. Michael Moran, the last of the full-time curators, brought his interest of historical texts and extensive publications to the museum. The museum is now governed by a history committee and has an annual exhibit curator. The museum continues to evolve and includes a dynamic website with a virtual museum tour and links to the past history exhibits. A quarterly newsletter, "The Scope of Urology," is in its 2nd year helping to further disseminate interesting history articles. CONCLUSIONS: The William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History has a rich heritage. It continues to evolve in pursuit of its mission to preserve, document and present the history of urology and to educate and engage the medical community and public in order to better understand its impact on today’s healthcare environment and provide insight into the future. Source of Funding: None © 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 209Issue Supplement 4April 2023Page: e256 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Sutchin R. Patel More articles by this author Ronald Rabinowitz More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

Historic Homes of Bastrop, Texas by Robbie Moore Sanders

Reviewed by: Historic Homes of Bastrop, Texas by Robbie Moore Sanders Kenneth Hafertepe Historic Homes of Bastrop, Texas. By Robbie Moore Sanders, with Sandra Chipley. Photographs by Marker Winslett. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2022. Pp. 240. Notes, index.) The rich architectural heritage of Bastrop, one of the oldest towns in Texas, has long been acknowledged. In the 1930s, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) made measured drawings, took photographs and collected historic data about several of the earliest houses. Moreover, Texas Historical Commission historical markers are abundant. In spite of [End Page 608] this early recognition, there has never been a book dedicated to the buildings of Bastrop. This book seeks to rectify this, covering these early houses but also the charming houses large and small of the Victorian era, colonial revival houses, and bungalows and foursquares of the early twentieth century. This is a very attractive volume. The contemporary photographs are uniformly good, well framed and well lit, allowing the rich variety of Bastrop houses to be showcased. Modern photography is supplemented by a selection of historic photos, both of houses and the people who lived in them, a few photos of related structures, and a few floor plans from HABS. The text, however, is not as ambitious as recent studies of such Texas towns as Waxahachie, Glen Rose, and Waco. The book lacks an introduction and simply begins with a discussion of the first house. An introduction is critical here to orient the reader, if briefly, to the general history of Bastrop and to give some sense of the evolution of the town's houses. This is all the more crucial given that the book is organized by street, which is helpful for anyone attempting a windshield survey of the town, but results in a patchwork quilt of eras and styles. Essentially this book is a composite of existing knowledge rather than an attempt at a new interpretation. The county tax assessor records are occasionally used to good advantage, as are early local newspapers, but most of the house entries are based on notes for historic homes tours, recent newspaper articles, or historical markers. Indeed, sometimes historical markers are quoted in their entirety. (Historical markers may be cast in bronze but they are not writ in stone.) Moreover, the entries are so focused on the individual properties that there is no attempt to show how they fit in with the rest of Bastrop houses, much less other Texan or American examples. The reliance on secondary sources leads to the repetition of a great deal of speculation. In the preface the authors acknowledge that many stories included are "unverifiable" but that they are part of the traditions associated with a house. However, no attempt is made to separate family stories which are verifiable from those that are not. Perhaps the most important primary sources in a book like this are the houses themselves. They must be interrogated to see how they evolved over time and who did what and when. The authors use architectural terminology that is sometimes vague or not in common usage, such as "national style," "farmhouse style" or "pinwheel" floorplan. At times it seems that the term "dogtrot" is used to describe an enclosed central passage rather than a roofed-over open space between rooms. The book also exhibits an antiquarian tendency to date a house by its earliest rooms, even if a few early rooms are later overshadowed by a substantial two-story Victorian addition. The point here is not that early rooms [End Page 609] should not be recognized, but that dating should be nuanced enough to acknowledge later additions that fundamentally change a house. Still, this is a handsome volume, and one may hope that it will stimulate more original research into the architectural heritage of Bastrop. [End Page 610] Kenneth Hafertepe Baylor University Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association

The History of DeWitt County (1899) by C. H. Waltersdorf, Publisher and Editor of the Lavaca County News

The History of DeWitt County (1899) by C. H. Waltersdorf, Publisher and Editor of the Lavaca County News Translated by James C. Kearney (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution C. H. Waltersdorf's Geschichte von DeWitt County (1899). Courtesy of DeWitt County Historical Museum. [End Page 518] As the 175th anniversary of DeWitt County approached in 2020, members of the DeWitt County Historical Commission began preparing for a grand celebration commensurate with the county's rich history. One of the commission members, Beverly Bruns of Yorktown, discovered C. H. Waltersdorf's history among her family papers. It is the only known extant copy of his published study, which he wrote in German and published in 1899. Beyond the fact that Waltersdorf had briefly published a German language newspaper in neighboring Lavaca County, the Lavaca County Nachrichten, almost nothing was known about him. Both he and his history, it would seem, had slipped into oblivion. However, Peggy Ledbetter, president of the commission, quickly recognized the value of the forgotten narrative and agreed that a translation would be a valuable addition to the planned celebration. Mary Brindley, another commission member, approached me about doing the translation. After a quick perusal of the scans, which were all legible, I agreed to undertake the project. In addition to the translation itself, I was able to put together a short biography of Waltersdorf and to provide extensive endnotes to his narrative. Carl Herman Waltersdorf was born in Germany in 1872 and died in Cuero, Texas, in 1937.1 He lived an extraordinary, restless life marked by [End Page 519] many abrupt twists and turns. In 1889, at the age of seventeen, he came to the United States with a brother to join his parents, who had emigrated to Texas twelve years previously. Upon arriving in Texas, his father had purchased a small farm near Runge, just across the DeWitt County line in neighboring Karnes County, where he set up a homestead in an area with a strong and growing German presence. The town of Runge, in fact, had coalesced around a mercantile store and post office established by business associates of Henry Runge (1816–73), a successful and farsighted Texas German businessman.2 When Waltersdorf arrived in Texas, not only was he reunited with his parents, whom he had not seen in twelve years, but he also met for the first time his new brothers and sisters, who had been born in Texas. One can only imagine the story behind this unusual arrangement. Once settled, the teenager soon found employment as a typesetter with the Deutsche Rundschau, a German language newspaper published in Cuero, where he learned the newspaper trade at an early age. At the age of twenty, he married the daughter of a German American family in Cuero by the name of Ziehahn; they were a family of some means, apparently, because they helped him establish his own German language newspaper, the Lavaca County Nachrichten, in neighboring Hallettsville in 1895.3 An episode from the period suggests that he might have offended some readers on occasion: Editor Waltersdorf of the Nachrichten and Dr. Schiersman of Shiner had a little difficulty here at the post office last Saturday during which the editor knocked the doctor down. We have not been able to get fully into the merits of the affair, but what we have learned would go to show that Mr. Waltersdorf had considerable provocation for what he did. Mr. Waltersdorf went immediately before Mayor Eschenburg and paid his fine. Scrapping is rather an expensive luxury for newspaper men to be indulging in.4 In 1899, Waltersdorf penned his History of DeWitt County, which he advertised in his newspaper and sold as a supplement for twenty-five cents. According to the Hallettsville Herald, he also traveled around the county to give talks and promote his history.5 For reasons that are unclear, Waltersdorf apparently became disenchanted with the newspaper business after a scant five years. In May 1900, he sold the paper to his younger brother, Richard (Dick) Waltersdorf, who had worked for him as a typesetter and under whose stewardship the paper continued for many...

HF01-09 REFURBISHING A RUSTY CYSTOSCOPE INTO THE RETROSPECTROSCOPE AWARD

You have accessJournal of UrologyCME1 Apr 2023HF01-09 REFURBISHING A RUSTY CYSTOSCOPE INTO THE RETROSPECTROSCOPE AWARD Thomas Osinski and Ronald Rabinowitz Thomas OsinskiThomas Osinski More articles by this author and Ronald RabinowitzRonald Rabinowitz More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003243.09AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award is presented annually to the winner of the previous year’s History of Urology Forum’s best presentation and paper, decided by the voting members of the AUA History Committee. The history of this prestigious award is not widely known. METHODS: We reviewed contemporaneous documents and the book “Urology. A View Through the Retrospectroscope” by John R. Herman, regarding the creation of the AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award to document the background and history of this award. RESULTS: At the 1965 AUA annual meeting, Frank Bicknell organized and moderated with Elmer Belt 5 presentations at the initial meeting of the History of Urology Club, which became the Forum on the History of Urology in 1975. At the 2005 meeting, Shamim Baker gave a stunning presentation on the Tuskegee experiment to the History Forum, which renewed the desire by the AUA History Committee to give a prize to the best history presentation at the annual History of Urology Forum. At this same time, many urologists were donating their old Brown-Buerger cystoscopes (often referred to as the original ‘workhorse’ of urology) to the Didusch Museum, as they transitioned to fiberoptics. In 2006, the AUA Board of Directors approved the presenting of a History award and ACMI, the company that produced the Brown-Buerger Cystoscope, agreed to be the sponsor. A proposed name ‘The Rusty Cystoscope Award’ was deemed ‘too tarnished’, and the name came from John Herman’s 1973 history book ‘A View Through the Retrospectroscope’. Gyrus-ACMI reprinted the book and presented the book with a boxed and refurbished Brown-Buerger cystoscope to Baker at the 2006 meeting, as the winner of ‘The Retrospectroscope Award’. In 2008 the award was renamed ‘The AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award’ to honor former AUA President Earl Nation (1910-2008), a founder of the American Osler Society (an organization dedicated to medical history), and the 2002 Ramon Guiteras winner for his contributions to the art and science of urology. In 2014 the AUA assumed funding for all awards. CONCLUSIONS: While the History of Urology Club has been around since 1965, an award for the best presentation has only been awarded since 2006. The AUA website lists prior award winners. The History of Urology Forum has significantly increased in popularity from the original 5 presentations in 1965 to 21 podium presentations and 14 posters in 2022. As competition for the ‘AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award’ has increased, contenders must submit a completed manuscript in addition to their presentation. Source of Funding: None © 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 209Issue Supplement 4April 2023Page: e258 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Thomas Osinski More articles by this author Ronald Rabinowitz More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

Perspectives for North Macedonia’s EU Integration after the French EU Framework Solution in 2022

This paper discusses the influence of Bulgarian–North Macedonian bilateral relations on the perspectives of North Macedonia’s EU integration after the adoption of the EU-North Macedonia negotiation framework in July 2022, advanced by the French EU Presidency. The main focus is on two of the most salient and sensitive elements of these relations – the incorporation of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia’s constitution and the role of the Joint Historical Commission in adjusting and synchronising the historical perspectives of the two societies. Progress in both issues would be extremely beneficial for North Macedonia’s prospects. Any retreat from or erosion of the French EU framework solution would mean a return to the stalled situation before 2022, which would be hardly beneficial either for North Macedonia or for the wider Southeast European region.

Critical Race Theory: Counter-Storytelling the Case of ‘Old Frank’ and the Daniel Family Cemetery

The Texas Historical Commission (“THC”), a legislatively enacted agency of the State of Texas, has erected and disseminated nearly 17,000 historical markers across the state’s vast 268,596 square miles and 254 counties with one express purpose: “To protect and preserve the state’s historic and prehistoric resources for the use, education, enjoyment, and economic benefit of present and future generations.” Unfortunately, the histories of both the United States and Texas are under siege. Politically charged and fear driven constituents have fully devoted their collective time, energy, and financial resources to destroying the perceived new boogeyman, Critical Race Theory (“CRT”). Since January 2021, all but six states have considered legislation concerning CRT in public schools. Currently, eighteen states, including Texas, have passed legislation banning CRT to eradicate altogether or offer a redacted historicity. Despite their intent, the THC, through its application and review processes, actively participates in erecting memorials that obscure aspects of Texas history, especially those pertaining to race and racism. Conversely, CRT advocates, through one of its key tenets of counter-storytelling, aim to reveal all history. The specific case of “Old Frank” illuminates the intersectionality between CRT, the State of Texas, and Southern Methodist University’s histories. Located two blocks north of the campus in University Park, Texas, “Old Frank,” a family slave, inaugurated The Daniel Family Cemetery in 1850 and has been buried there with other “unknown” slaves in unmarked graves for nearly two centuries. “Old Frank’s” untold or “undertold” story both illuminate CRT’s necessity and stymies the THC’s ability to fulfill its motto of “Real Places Telling Real Stories.”

Паломничество в Святую Землю и российская провинция на рубеже XIX–ХХ вв.: источниковедческий потенциал Пензенских епархиальных ведомостей

Using the example of diocesan periodicals and historical tradition of creating monuments of travel literature, the article examines the phenomenon of the Russian cultural Renaissance in its regional dimension. The burst of public interest to the value-based foundations of the Russian culture of the turn of the 20th century is explained by the processes of emancipation and growing social instability. In these conditions, the democratization of pilgrimage practices as reference forms of spiritual perfection becomes an organizing idea of socio-cultural uplift. The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze materials of the journal “Penza Diocesan Gazette,” devoted to the problems of organizing pilgrimage trips to holy places. The source base of the research has been formed using thematic index of articles developed at the Theological Seminary and the Church Historical Committee of the Penza diocese. After summarizing the data, it has been determined that pilgrimage sections were present in the diocesan periodicals from the moment of its appearance (in the 1860s). However, the Palestinian themes became regular with the activities of local departments of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (in the 1890s). At that time, the diocesan gazette became a media embodiment of the IOPS and an active means of religious and ethical education of the population. In this context, the materials are reviewed, covering the process of the Penza branch of the IOPS organizing and holding annual readings on the Holy Land, as well as perception of this information by the participants. Despite high frequency of “Palestinian” publications, pilgrim epistolaries were isolated occurrences on the pages of the Penza Diocesan Gazette. Thus, the work of the priest Peter Arkhangelsky “On the pilgrimage of the clergy to the holy places of the East,” published in the Penza Diocesan Gazette in 1898, acquires special significance. The reader is presented with a unique experience of reconstructing everyday practices of the Orthodox travelers to Palestine from the Penza gubernia at the turn of the 20th century. Genre features and event-related content reveal mechanisms of introducing national organizing idea to back-countrymen, their involvement in the process of returning to historical and cultural origins of Orthodox Christianity. Among main hindrances to the development of pilgrimage activities of the local clergy, Arkhangelsky names scarcity of material support and intensity of service, which did not permit long absences.

Sharing Women's History in Communications

As the IEEE ComSoc History Committee celebrates the 70th Anniversary of the Communications Society, we reflect on the significant contributions of members to the technology of our world today, and look to the vision of a transformative, resilient, and sustainable future. With the new diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives, the History Committee, along with Women in Communications Engineering (WICE), will bring focus to women who, despite various efforts, remain underrepresented in the field of communications engineering, and among the entire IEEE membership. Even among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics, communications engineering is behind in the representation of women. The new initiative will promote understanding of D&I and recognition of women through a variety of activities that will be covered in upcoming articles.

Tarih-i Osmânî/Türk Tarih Encümeni Mecmuası’nda Osmanlı ve Avrupa Tarihlerine Yöneltilen Eleştiriler

Cumhuriyet’in laboratuvarı olarak kabul edilen II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi, Türk tarihçiliği açısından klasik, popüler, akademik ve kurumsal tarih çalışmalarının birlikte yürütüldüğü bir geçiş dönemini temsil eder. Bu dönem, tarih, tarihin faydası ve vazifesi, usulleri, tarih eğitimi, ilmi ve millî tarih konusunda kavrayışın derinleşmeye başladığı ve bilimsel tarihçiliğin kurumsallaştığı bir dönem olması açısından önemlidir. Bu dönemde kurulan ve 1931 yılına kadar çalışmalarına devam eden Tarih-i Osmânî/Türk Tarih Encümeni bilimsel tarih çalışmalarına önemli katkılar sunmuştur. Encümen’in Türk tarihinin ilk bilimsel tarih dergisi olarak nitelendirilen mecmuası, dönemin tarih anlayışını ve zamanla meydana gelen gelişmeleri yansıtmaktadır. Elbette bu geçiş döneminde Mecmua’nın bütün yazarlarının aynı tarih telakkisine sahip olduğu iddia edilemez. Ancak özellikle tarih konusunda dünyadaki gelişmeleri takip edebilen bazı Mecmua yazarlarının Osmanlı ve Avrupa tarihlerine yönelttikleri eleştiriler, bilimsel tarih çalışmalarının önemsendiğini ve tarih telakkisinin gelişmekte olduğunu göstermektedir. Mecmua’da Osmanlı tarihlerine usul, üslup ve muhteva yönünden eleştiriler yöneltilmiştir. Üslup ile ilgili eleştirilerde, İran ve Bizans edebiyatının etkisiyle tarih yazımında ortaya çıkan ve uzun süre etkisini devam ettiren ağdalı ve mübalağalı dil kullanımının tarihin halk için üretilmeye başladığı II. Meşrutiyet şartlarında ihtiyacı karşılamadığı vurgulanmıştır. Usul ile ilgili eleştiriler, eksik ve yanlış bilgi verme, tenkit usullerini uygulamama, gereksiz tafsilata girme ve bazı konularda padişaha yaranmak için hakikati saptırma vb. konularda yoğunlaşmıştır. Muhtevaya yönelik eleştiriler, Osmanlı tarihlerinin daha çok siyasi ve askerî konulara yer verip içtimai, iktisadi, ticari ve kültürel konuları ihmal ettikleri yönünde olmuştur. Avrupa tarihlerine yönelik eleştirilerde ise eksik, yanlış ve uydurma haberlere yer verip garazkâr ve taraflı yaklaşım sergilemeleri ön plana çıkmaktadır. Mecmua’nın Osmanlı dönemi makalelerinde daha çok Osmanlı ve Avrupa tarihlerinin eksik ve yanlışlarla dolu olduğu vurgulanırken, Cumhuriyet dönemi makalelerinde usul hatalarıyla ilgili tespitler daha çok ön plana çıkmaktadır. Bu durum, Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e tarih telakkisinin geliştiğini ve derinleştiğini göstermektedir.

The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning by Ben Raines

Reviewed by: The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning by Ben Raines Marsha Hamilton The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning. By Ben Raines. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022. 304 pp. $27.99. ISBN 978–1-9821–3604–8. The story of the Clotilda, the last known ship engaged in the illegal slave trade to bring kidnapped Africans to the United States, has long been part of the lore of the Mobile region. Not only did Timothy Meaher, the ship’s owner and instigator of the voyage, and William Foster, the captain, write about their involvement, there were newspaper articles published throughout the country and several court cases. In addition, local writers, such as Emma Langdon Roche and Mary McNeil Scott Fenollosa, and scholars, such as Booker T. Washington and Zora Neale Hurston, met and spoke with the Clotilda survivors and their descendants. Yet over the decades, many people questioned the story. In 2018, the author Ben Raines and a team from the University of Southern Mississippi, discovered the wreck of the Clotilda. When the identity of the ship was confirmed in 2019, it generated enormous interest, not just in Alabama. Articles and news stories have appeared in Smithsonian magazine (2019), National Geographic (2021), the New York Times (2021), and on National Public Radio (2022), among others. In addition, the Africatown descendants’ community is [End Page 345] the subject of an award-winning documentary, Descendant, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The discovery has also spurred Mobile County, the City of Mobile, the Alabama Historical Commission, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and many other groups and institutions to work with the Clotilda Descendants Association and the Africatown Advisory Council to construct the Africatown Heritage House which will host exhibits and programs to tell the story of the Clotilda; the people who were captured, transported across the Atlantic, and enslaved; Africatown, the community they created after emancipation; and their descendants. The Last Slave Ship is Raines’s contribution to the outpouring of literature about the ship and voyage, the captives, and their descendants. The first two chapters focus on Meaher, Foster, the origins of the voyage, and the ship’s arrival in Ouidah, Dahomey (now Benin). The next three chapters discuss Dahomey, Foster’s negotiations with the kingdom’s leaders, the attack on one village (the home of Cudjo Lewis, although many of the captives came from other towns and regions), Foster’s selection of his “cargo” in the barracoon, and the voyage back to Alabama. Chapters six and seven focus on the enslavement of the Africans, the tactics employed by Meaher and his co-conspirators to hide the origins of the newly enslaved workers, and their lives in slavery. Chapters eight and nine chronicle the establishment and history of Africatown and chapters ten and eleven focus on the discovery of the Clotilda and the effect that had on the descendants, Africatown, and the larger national and international community. The final two chapters recount the author’s trip to Benin and the meeting between one of Foster’s descendants and the Africatown community. The book is a good introduction to the story of the Clotilda, the captives, and their descendants. It is a popular history, written for a general audience. The first seven chapters recount a familiar story to those who have read other works on the Clotilda and Africatown, such as Sylviane Diouf’s Dreams of Africa in Alabama (Oxford, UK, 2007), Natalie Robertson’s The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Making of Africa-Town, [End Page 346] USA (Westport, CT, 2008), or Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon (New York, NY, 2018). Raines has done his own research, however, and references the contemporary newspaper accounts as well as Foster’s manuscript (in the Mobile Public Library) as well as other document collections at Spring Hill College, the University of South Alabama, and the National Archives in Atlanta. The most original contribution of the book comes in the final five chapters and the coda. Here, Raines focuses on the growth, development, and decline of Africatown...