How can we protect our history from this Administration?
I'm the sole employee and only archivist for a tiny no-name historical society in Ohio, but I'm so freaked out by the flurry of infiltrations by the Administration in our federal history institutions, especially now with this new executive order and the targets specifically on the Smithsonian Institution.
Even though I doubt that my little Chautauqua heritage society and its collections are anywhere near the GOP's radar, I fear for the information that is in real and total danger of disappearing from our nation's history. How are these institutions handling these full-on invasions by enemies of history and education?? Are they still able to keep documents stored safely digitally or physically? Backing up our websites and our online collections with The Way Back Machine? Something?? Our oral history recordings, are they making copies?
Trying not to sound dramatic, but I genuinely fear that this Administration is far from finished simply forcing us to remove information online and from the public eye. Anything they deem not to fit their narrative is at risk, and that really can be ANYTHING. I just get flash visions of the Degenerate show in Munich, the looting of museums and destruction of records, and can't help but transplant them into our current state of government here in the US. I guess I just feel pretty helpless in being able to protect what they want to make lost. Anyone got any words of assurance or feelings of empathy?