Monuments Toolkit

Over the last several years, the intersection of heritage, governance, and how citizens interact with pieces of the past has been present in the public eye. Americans all across the nation are beginning to question the history around them, and many are noticing that the monuments and historic fixtures in their communities are unsolicited reminders of a darker time in our nation’s history. Now more than ever, we are in need of a Monuments Toolkit.

In September 2021, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS-USA) a grant to support the development of the Monuments Toolkit, a website and app aimed at answering questions about monuments of oppression. World Heritage USA now carries out the programs of ICOMOS-USA and oversees the administration of this project.

Upon completion of this project we will have interactive maps, resources pages, decision guides, and all of the other fantastic features at your fingertips. Creating accessible spaces to learn about the past puts society’s best foot forward for safeguarding our future. For now, learn more from our Blog, Podcast, and Webinar series!

Recent Monuments Toolkit Blog Posts

What if Odysseus Had a Monument in America?

Monument of Odysseus near a harbor in Ithaca, Greece
By Noah Price, Monuments Toolkit Just as there are countless statues of Founding Fathers and Confederate generals around the United States, the likeness of Odysseus is also often portrayed in stone. Despite the mythological nature of The Odyssey, the portrayal of Homer’s protagonist as a hero of the Trojan War…

Chicago’s Approach to Monuments: A Model for Change

TIERRA NUESTRA (left) and A Signal of Peace (right). May 3, 2026. Images courtesy of the author.
By Madeline Bonner, Monuments Toolkit Chicago’s lakefront and green spaces were buzzing with activity during a weekend visit to one of my favorite urban landscapes. The first few sunny and relatively warm spring days always pull Chicagoans out of the house in impressive numbers. I returned to two spaces I’d…

Federal Manipulation of the Monuments Landscape

"Albert Pike Statue, Washington DC" by Abraham Sobkowski OFM is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ever since George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, most of the monuments torn off their pedestals have remained toppled. We’ve seen communities around the nation and world come together to create a consensus of how they would like to be represented in their monuments landscapes and…

The Porvenir Massacre: An Examination in Borderlands State-Sanctioned Violence

Historical marker commemorating the Porvenir Massacre of 1918, where the Texas Rangers killed 15 men and boys in the Texas border town. Credit: Texas Historical Commission.
By Gilbert C. Correa, Monuments Toolkit Introduction The Porvenir Massacre, which occurred on January 28, 1918, in Presidio County, Texas, represents a critical, albeit historically suppressed, example of state-sanctioned violence against Mexican-descent residents during the Mexican Revolution. Amidst heightened border tensions and anti-Mexican sentiment in the southwestern United States, a…

Reflecting on the Saving Places Conference

Cover image for Reflecting on the Saving Places Conference blog post
By Madeline Bonner, Monuments Toolkit Reflecting on Saving Places Last week, I attended the Saving Places Conference hosted by Colorado Preservation Inc. (CPI). CPI is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1984 with the goal of preserving and protecting historic places in the state of Colorado. The Saving Places…

Unofficial Monuments Honoring Victims of ICE Agent Violence: Names That Must Be Spoken

Cover Image Credit: Chad Davis, Flickr.
Cover Image Credit: Chad Davis By Madeline Bonner, Monuments Toolkit “Say Their Name.” At a picket outside of an Immigrations and Customs Law Enforcement (ICE) office in Centennial, Colorado, on January 11th, 2026, protestors engaged in a series of call and response chants.  The call: “Say their name.”  The responses:…

Selective History: The Events that Monuments Choose to Remember

Photo of PBS Pinchback by Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
By Noah Price, Monuments Toolkit Lately, I’ve developed a habit of searching the internet for history that happened “on this day” or #OTD. Earlier this month, on December 9, I discovered that it was the anniversary of a major first for Black Americans. On that day in 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback…
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