(Image: CHS)
The huge stone remains blank.
Saturday, a panel at the Seattle Asian Art Museum will discuss the offensive plaque removed from Volunteer Park and the history of the wars that inspired it six decades ago in a community discussion brought together by the Volunteer Park Trust, UW’s Southeast Asia Center and the Center for Global Studies.
Volunteering for Empire: The Wars of 1898 and Seattle’s Volunteer Park
Saturday, May 7th 3:00 to 4:30 PM
Seattle Asian Art Museum and online
CHS reported on the sudden removal of the plaque last August. The large stone monument has stood in Volunteer Park since the 1950s when it was placed to honor the soldiers of the Spanish-American War but came under new scrutiny amid increased concern over anti-Asian hate during the pandemic.
The stone still stands near the museum but the bronze plate and its jingoistic 30 words of historically inaccurate memorial to the war’s volunteer soldiers is long gone.
Seattle Parks said it removed the plaque in consultation with community groups and the Volunteer Park Trust said it was planning a wider community discussion including an option of “adding-to, rather than removing” the plaque to provide “an opportunity to understand the social/cultural history of the park and the park system” and was hoping to form a coalition of groups to represent the city’s communities.
(Image: CHS)
Saturday’s discussion will include UW Department of History professors Vicente Rafael and Ileana Rodriguez-Silva will discuss the wars in a panel moderated by Professor Christoph Giebel of the Jackson School of International Studies. The discussion is expected to “examine the intersections of race, colonialism and national identity” in addition to the tensions around the plaque and is being co-hosted by the Capitol Hill Historical Society, El Centro de la Raza, Filipino American National Historical Society, Friends of the Conservatory, and the Wing Luke Museum.
Organizers say the program will discuss issues related to the history of the Spanish-American War, its aftermath, and how subsequent generations viewed the conflict. It will also examine broader questions related to racism, U.S. foreign policy, and the consequences of American wars.
You can register here to attend the event at SAAM in Volunteer Park or watch a stream of the session on the Volunteer Park Trust’s Facebook page.
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