Sharing the history of Northwest women on Wikipedia
The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington, is a Smithsonian Affiliate — which made their staff eligible to participate in one of Wiki Education’s recent Wiki Scholars courses, themed around the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative. Northwest Museum Curator of History Freya Liggett signed right up. “I’d never considered becoming a Wikipedia … Continued
Expanding Opal Lee’s Wikipedia article
Opal Lee is known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” A civil rights activist and community leader in Fort Worth, Texas, she had campaigned for decades to see Juneteenth become a national holiday. And, until earlier this year, she didn’t have a Wikipedia biography. She does now, in part thanks to Erica Schumann, a member of … Continued
Adding NC women’s history to Wikipedia
Jan Davidson, a museum historian for the Cape Fear Museum in New Hanover County, North Carolina, had thought about editing Wikipedia articles, but she’d never actually clicked the edit button. The Cape Fear Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate. As part of the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative, these Affiliates were invited to participate in a … Continued
Telling communities’ stories on Wikipedia
As the chief public engagement officer for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Doug Roberts often refers to and uses content from Wikipedia in his work. So, he says, he recognized that there is a need for Wikipedia to better represent women and other underrepresented groups. When the opportunity presented itself for Doug … Continued
Why museum professionals should learn to edit Wikipedia
The Schingoethe Center of Aurora University in Illinois has an extensive collection featuring the art of Apsáalooke artist Wendy Red Star. So it was only natural that when Schingoethe Center collections curator Laura Santoyo took one of Wiki Education’s Wiki Scholars courses on how to edit Wikipedia, she would expand Red Star’s biography. The course … Continued
Empowering diverse stories of cultural heritage
Tony Pankuch works as an archivist for the Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron in Ohio, where part of their work involves increasing the representation of diverse voices from the institution’s collections in their programming, exhibitions, and social media. So when Tony saw an opportunity … Continued
Bringing U.S. women’s history to the public
Sarah Emma Edmonds was a veteran of the 2nd Michigan Infantry during the American Civil War — in which she served as a man named Frank Thompson. Or did she? Until earlier this year, Wikipedia’s article on her had a warning banner indicating the article contained disputed information. That made the article on Edmonds ripe … Continued
Centering diversity in stories of Mississippi’s history
As an exhibits content specialist for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jessica O’Connor’s job is to help center diverse voices in the stories they tell. So when she heard about the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative (AWHI) Wiki Scholars course for Smithsonian Affiliates, focused on improving Wikipedia biographies of notable American women in … Continued
Amplifying Iowan women’s accomplishments through Wikipedia
This spring, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative (AWHI) hosted a series of Wiki Scholars courses with Wiki Education, focused on training Smithsonian Affiliates in how to create biographies of American women relevant to their local communities and collections. One such Smithsonian Affiliate is Grinnell College in Iowa; public librarian Monique Shore often collaborates with … Continued