The Center for Digital and Public Humanities and Kansas City Monuments Coalition (KCMC) hosted Dr. James Grossman for a series of events this September. Dr. Grossman met with KCMC project parters for a public workshop at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center and subsequently spoke to a public audience at the Kansas City Public Library (KCPL). This was the third event in KCMC’s lecture series following Dr. Stephen Aron’s lecture last fall and Dr. Thavolia Glymph’s lecture in April. Dr. Grossman’s public lecture, “Why History Matters,” will be available to watch online on the Kansas City Public Library’s YouTube channel.
Dr. Grossman is a well-respected, lifelong historian with many publications, projects, and consultations. He is the author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. Land of Hope won both the Gustavus Myers Center Outstanding Book Award and the Illinois State Historical Society: Russell P. Strange Memorial Book of the Year Award. A Chance to Make Good won awards from New York Public Library and the National Council for the Social Studies. Notably, he also served as the previous Executive Director of the American Historical Association (AHA) from 2010 to 2025. The AHA is a professional association of historians that provide leadership in history, foster collaboration between international voices, and promote community-engaging historical work, among other initiatives. They organize regional conferences, workshops and lectures, publish and review literature on American history and best practices, award grants to support research, advocate for history and historians in the legal sphere, and more. The AHA is made up of over 10,000 members and is a leading force in the profession.
Dr. Grossman’s extensive experience in the field made him an ideal speaker for KCMC’s community partners, as he has navigated shifting public sentiments and contested interpretations of our nation’s past. During the September 8th workshop, Dr. Grossman introduced himself and discussed his role in the AHA and its greater role in both the humanities and in communities. Dr. Grossman spoke about the function of monuments in the community, as statements of value, and their role in shaping the future. After a short presentation, he initiated dialogue from KCMC partners about addressing difficult histories and their representations in the Kansas City area.
Dr. Grossman’s September 9th public conversation entitled “Why History Matters” concerned the role of the historian during times of political unrest, history as a community-building force, and the high-stakes repercussions of historical misrepresentation. He participated in an informed and engaging dialogue with Dr. David Trowbridge. The conversation first covered the state of the field and what it means to interact with patriotic education, then diverged into an audience-based discussion.
For information about KCMC’s upcoming events, check out the Calendar.
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