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.

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 the Monuments Toolkit Project.

Upon completion of this project we will have interactive maps, resources pages, decision guides, blogs, podcasts, 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.

Recent Toolkit Blog Posts

VENUE CHANGE: Monuments Summer: Cabrillo National Monument

UPDATE: There has been a venue change for our event, Monuments Summer: Cabrillo National Monument. The event has been moved from The Junípero Serra Museum to the San Diego History Center at Balboa Park, 1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA. The event includes a panel conversation from 1 p.m. –…

Monuments Summer 2023

A Season of Dialogue World Heritage USA is proud to present a new, bi-coastal panel event series titled Monuments Summer: A Season of Dialogue featuring national public figures and scholars as they examine the racial and cultural dynamics of public monuments. The panels will explore these topics in the contexts…

A Monument to the Departed and Detained

A Monument to the Departed and Detained By Maestro Gilbert C. Correa, Monuments Toolkit Project Over the course of these past sixteen months, the Monuments Toolkit team has been analyzing, documenting and categorizing an array of monuments. One type is “Monuments of Reconciliation.” Monuments of reconciliation are monuments that recognize…

Controversial Monuments Around the World

By Miles Ezeilo Public statues are often created around the world to memorialize major historical persons, events, and ideas. The work of World Heritage USA and the Monuments Toolkit aims to shed light on these amazing pieces of culture found all around us.  Not all monuments, however, are widely recognized,…

Controversial Monuments on Retrial (Collaboration)

Celebrate World Heritage Day with “Controversial Monuments on Retrial,” a free webinar about new approaches to addressing monuments of oppression. In collaboration with The Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH International), and the staff of Memento Park in Budapest, Hungary, our panelists will analyze unique solutions applied to…

February Webinar – Representation: the Crux of Public Space

Representation: the Crux of Public Space
Join the Monuments Toolkit team on 28 February 2023 at 2 pm EDT for “Representation: the Crux of Public Space,” a free webinar that will highlight the work and methods of artists and designers who utilize public space as a canvas or installation site. Although identity and representation have grown…

Black History Month: 3 Monuments That Foreground Resiliency and Resistance

For nearly four centuries African-Americans have fostered resistance in the form of education, art, music, culture, philosophy and social justice. It is in our celebration and remembrance of these racial and social justice accomplishments that has solidified Black History Month as one of the pillars of the Black community’s fight…

Redefining Public Space during the Russia-Ukraine War

After the world stopped for two years during the pandemic, Russia began their invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. Since that fateful day, the two nations have been locked in combat: affecting all corners of the world and claiming the lives of many. The Ukrainian capital city, Kyiv, was…
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