Monumental Denial

The InfoGraphics Lab is creating a new atlas, Monumental Denial: An Atlas of U.S. Cultural Memory and White Innocence, that explores how the United States systemizes and embeds cultural narratives of white supremacy and colonialization through its more than 2,400 U.S National Historic Landmarks. The Atlas is a collaborative effort with Professor Laura Pulido from the UO Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies.

Pulido’s research, which included data coding and analysis, revealed that both the site nomination materials and the on-site messaging of more than 90% of National Historic Landmarks do not acknowledge the racially-based events, people, and processes that are key to understanding the importance of the sites in the context of U.S. history. The atlas will contain maps, data graphics, photographs, images of historical artifacts, and extended, topical essays that explain and reveal how these memorialized sites deny and reinforce the foundational white supremacy that shape our nation’s collective cultural memory. Monumental Denial will be a compelling, data-rich, and beautiful publication that will be of interest to both scholarly and popular audiences alike.