The construction of the pool reflected a national ambition to build something unifying and enduring. The rushed renovation and political fallout of 2026 reveal how much that civic vision has changed.
Articles on Monuments
Displaying 1 - 20 of 21 articles
The reflecting pool builds on a landscaping tradition of organising nature into orderly lines and geometric shapes. Nature did not always play along.
The law is on Trump’s side, in most cases, when his administration names things after him. But citizens still have the right to protest.
While the center’s need for major upgrades is real, the dramatic and disruptive closure of the entire campus isn’t in order, a scholar of arts institutions explains.
President Donald Trump is trying to prescribe the style and content of many federal sites to highlight his own authority and promote a particular view of America.
Indigenous elements can be thoughtfully integrated into modern open spaces to evoke a sense of place and support everyday use.
A ritual and funerary landscape is emerging in northwestern Africa, revealing connections with the Mediterranean, Atlantic and the Saharan regions.
Several libraries in the ancient world blended learning and books with memorials to their sponsors.
The statue stands at street level, embodying an ongoing presence. They are casual, approachable and engaged, as if in conversation with the community.
Like many African leaders of his era, he was shaped by the struggle for resistance against colonial oppression. This was no romantic picnic.
How should opposing armies be commemorated on a battlefield? Gettysburg offers an especially interesting example of today’s debates over Confederate monuments.
Attitudes towards Kwame Nkrumah have shifted from veneration to confrontation and destruction and, finally, to more subtle forms of remembrance.
History is not being destroyed but the way people remember is being changed.
The legacy of the Holocaust stretches beyond a handful of death camps and ghettos. Stumbling Stones hope to help people remember that
The suburban-built environment whitewashes the violence and theft on which Canada is built.
Contending with Canada’s history means acknowledging different versions of the truth. Toppling statues won’t resolve the wrongs of the past — education is an important part of democracy and inclusion.
As the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a pandemic approaches, it might be time to consider how our modern age wants to remember this plague.
US monuments and memorials have overlooked frontline workers and people of color affected by past epidemics. Will we repeat history?
Once stripped of their symbolic power, problem monuments offer what educators call ‘teachable moments,’ helping people assess society’s current values and compare them with what mattered in the past.
Monuments are testaments to how a society wants to remember. Now is the time to ask which monuments can withstand introspection. Artists are opening those conversations – sometimes hilariously.
Top contributors
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Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University
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Visiting Professor of History, University of Reading / Worcester College Oxford, University of Reading
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Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Geography, Oklahoma State University
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Assistant Professor, Sociology, California State University, San Bernardino
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Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
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Professor of Social History, University of Bristol
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Ph.D. Candidate in Human Geography, University of Tennessee
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Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Nottingham
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Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto
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Adjunct Lecturer in History, Algoma University
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Associate professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
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Associate Professor and Director of Arts Management, American University
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Associate Professor of Mass Communication, State University of New York Oswego