Recent Webinars on Diversity and Equity Topics

Last week, Four Rivers staff attended several outstanding online presentations related to the topics of Diversity and Equity. They were recorded, and are being made available to the public, free of charge. We encourage you to read more about these important programs, and to watch the sessions on YouTube that interest you.

US/ICOMOS Webinar, U.S. Civil Rights Movement Sites and the World Heritage List (July 30, 2020)

The inaugural US/ICOMOS Webinar featured current efforts to preserve, restore, and interpret African American heritage sites associated with the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and the effort to develop a potential serial nomination of U.S. Civil Rights Movement Sites for possible inscription on the World Heritage List.

This online seminar featured Brent Leggs, the executive director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, and Denise Gilmore, formerly with the Trust and now the Acting Executive Director of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and former Director Robert Stanton, the first African American to head the National Park Service.

Recorded Webinar: If you were unable to attend or want to share the webinar with friends and colleagues, a recording is available here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xAQ_0484ak&feature=youtu.be

Dismantling Preservation Unconference, organized by Sarah Marsom (July 28, 2020)

Topics included mental health, unions/salary negotiations, public service loan forgiveness, implicit bias in preservation, preserving the full story, and how to expand who is investing in old buildings, with a goal of dismantling historic preservation and rebuilding it for the benefit of our communities today and tomorrow. The session recordings are uploaded to this YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVqB-ZGr0sVdE7nUc0w0Nnw

We highly recommend the thoughtful session entitled, “Identifying and Tackling Implicit Bias in Preservation” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5VyZ9slJxU

Session blurb: Implicit bias is defined as a bias based on our unconscious feelings, including feelings that contradict our actual beliefs. Implicit biases exist within the preservation movement. This session will be a discussion about how implicit biases affect the work that we do, including how it can impact the projects we take on, professionals we choose to work with and/or hire, and the ways we approach historic interpretations. Panelists will share their experiences with implicit biases, and discuss strategies to mitigate their impacts. Speakers: Jeffrey Harris, Historic Preservation Consultant; Melissa Jest, Coordinator of African American Programs for Georgia State Historic Preservation Office; Sam Collins, National Trust for Historic Preservation Board of Advisers; Frank Vagnone, Founder Twisted Preservation

To connect with one (or all) of the Unconference speakers, visit this page, https://www.sarahmarsom.com/news/2020/7/8/dismantle-preservation-virtual-unconference

Dismantling Racism and Addressing Anti-Blackness in Your Organization (3 webinars in July 2020)

Dr. Kathy Obear is a leading expert in helping to establish socially just environments where everyone feels valued and respected. (Her webinars were recommended in the Bias session mentioned above.) As the founder of The Center for Transformation and Change, Kathy has given speeches, facilitated training sessions, and consulted to top leaders at hundreds of universities, human services organizations, and corporations across the United States and internationally with a goal to increase the passion, competence, and commitment to create inclusive, socially just environments for all members of the organization.

To contact the organizer, Dr. Kathy Ober: [email protected]. To access recordings of all three webinars offered by Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington and Dr. Kathy Obear: www.drkathyobear.com/resources.

If you would like to review the recording of the third webinar  (July 29, 2020), you can find it here:  https://youtu.be/MQPQaJBZ05E