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First Week at HCA and Learning More About Delaware History

Hours: 12.5

For my first week with Delaware’s Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA), I primarily had to be in processed and was introduced to many of the members of the organization. For this reason, I will not be working on my research this week, but what I can speak about is the abundance of information and history in which I have learned from viewing the Diversity in Delaware History Webinar Series. This webinar is a project in which the staff of the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA) and HCA worked together to create recordings which illustrate to the public the narratives of America’s history which are often omitted from its more mainstream and or widely accepted narratives. For instance, the topics which are discussed throughout the webinar include subjects such as Native American history, American chattel slavery, Indigenous relocation and the genocide committed by White Americans upon them, and many other topics pertinent to this nation’s turbulent and often unnerving history.

The segment of the webinar series which involved the Native Americans of Delaware was extremely educational to me. Having thought that I had learned a lot about the Lenape people of Delaware, I was again proven wrong as I watched the episode of the webinar titled “Diversity in Delaware, Session 1: Native American History.” Within this episode, members of the Lenape spoke to the people in attendance about their knowledge of their tribe, and they also debunked many myths that are presented in movies and common misinformation which stood in place in America due to hegemonic practices and acceptance of assimilation. For example, a discussion about the common myth that only Native American men hunted arose, and the variety of ways that Native women both contributed to hunting as well as politics, medicine, and caretaking was attended to. Again, I learned more within this video than I had ever come across in my years of both living in Delaware and being a historian. I know that HCA and DSEA intend to make more informative recordings such as these, and I really look forward to viewing more of them as I know that they are a great source of information for both scholars and people simply interested in history.

What I really appreciated about sitting in on these webinars was not only the valuable and insightful history discussed throughout the recordings, but in the beginning of each portion, a very profound and vital message was verbalized: “we can not let our comfort level deter what we hear and do not hear.” I was so very grateful that this was one of the first messages in the beginning of these series, because with this message, the organization serves to mitigate friction within a group of people discussing history while also acknowledging that they will firmly stand with telling history as truthful as possible-no matter how harsh. So to reiterate that though I am not yet researching, I am learning that with my site in particular, the movement to acknowledge all portions of history is in practice, and that is something that is positive in terms of public history practices. Though many sites and historical institutions have a ways to go in terms of practicing truthful historical education, I believe that HCA is off to a great start in ensuring diverse narratives are heard. I am happy to be part of an organization that stands its ground in terms of speaking about the often untold and uncomfortable history of America, and I look forward to continuing this practice myself when I start to dive deeper in depth with my research.

If you are interested and have the time here is the link to the webinar series: https://www.dsea.org/content/diversity-delaware-history


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