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Erin L. Thompson

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Book
Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of Americas Public Monuments
Erin L. Thompson
2022
Painting of horsemen in the Caucus mountains.

The Reckless Creation of Whiteness

How an erroneous 18th-century story about the “Caucasian race” led to a centuries of prejudice and misapprehension.
by Erin L. Thompson via The Nation
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on January 29, 2025
Scaffolding around the statue of President Theodore Roosevelt at the American Museum of Natural History as it is prepared for removal on December 2, 2021 in New York City

A New York Museum's House of Bones

The American Museum of Natural History holds 12,000 bodies — but they don’t want you to know whose.
by Erin L. Thompson via Hyperallergic on October 15, 2023
A hand-colored 1892 print of the Battle of Fort Pillow, which shows Confederate soldiers massacreing Black soldiers and civilians with knives and bayonets.

At Fort Pillow, Confederates Massacred Black Soldiers After They Surrendered

Targeted even when unarmed, around 70 percent of the Black Union troops who fought in the 1864 battle died as a result of the clash.
by Erin L. Thompson via Smithsonian Magazine on April 10, 2023
A crane removes the Robert E. Lee statue from Monument Avenue in Richmond, 2021.

The Question of the Offensive Monument

A new book asks what we lose by simply removing monuments.
by Erin L. Thompson via The Nation
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on December 5, 2022
Protesters led by Bad River Anishinaabe activist Mike Forcia toppled this statue of Christopher Columbus on June 10, 2020.

Meet the Indigenous Activist Who Toppled Minnesota's Christopher Columbus Statue

The unauthorized removal of the monument took place during the racial justice protests of summer 2020.
by Erin L. Thompson via Smithsonian Magazine on February 3, 2022
A black girl walking up to a building with a ghost-lit confederate monument in front of it.

The South’s Monuments Will Rise Again

The Confederate monuments did fall. But not permanently.
by Erin L. Thompson via Washington Post
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on March 5, 2021
Monument depicting Hannah Duston

Why Just 'Adding Context' to Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history.
by Erin L. Thompson via Smithsonian Magazine on December 18, 2020
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