Resources That Inspired and Influenced Us
From Marisol Asselta Castro:
For a resource recommendation, I would highly recommend the two-season YouTube series Ask a Slave created by Azie Dungey about her experiences as a Black American historic interpreter.
From Pamela Blair-Bruce:
I use these two texts in my undergraduate interpretation class. The students LOVE them and find them to be very helpful in their interpretive work:
- Buchholz, Jim, Brenda Lackey, Michael Gross, and Ron Zimmerman. The Interpreter’s Guidebook: Techniques for Programs and Presentations. 4th edition. Stevens Point: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Foundation Press, Inc, 2015.
- Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007.
From Christina Cid:
- The Museum at Warm Springs in Warm Springs, Oregon is one of my favorite museums. The Museum’s mission is to preserve the culture, history and traditions of the three tribes (the Wasq’u, Warm Springs, and Paiute) which comprise The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
- When I visit Warm Springs, I am sure to stop by Tananáwit, a nonprofit dedicated to the community of artists from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. Tananáwit aims to provide educational and economic opportunities by empowering its people and building knowledge and understanding of traditional and contemporary Native art of the Columbia River plateau. Tananáwit sells a range of artworks, from paintings and photography to jewelry and beadwork
From Theresa Coble:
Meinig, Donald W., editor. The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
- Meinig’s “The Beholding Eye” essay (pp. 10-21 in the hyperlinked PDF) was especially meaningful to me because of how Meinig explored “multiple points of view.”
Larsen, David L., editor. Meaningful Interpretation: How to Connect Hearts and Minds to Places, Objects, and Other Resources. Fort Washington: Eastern National, 2003.
- This text defined an era! Like Freeman Tilden’s Interpreting Our Heritage, it remains relevant and worth incorporating into one’s interpretive repertoire.
From Luetta Jean Coonrod:
Woman's Work in the Civil War: a Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience by L.P. Brockett, M.D. and Mrs. Mary C. Vaughn, published in 1867.
From Maddie Drury:
- Alexis Nikole or @BlackForager on Instagram – She is a wonderful inspiration for ethically and creatively exploring what natural lands, plants, and botanicals have to offer. She's a bubbly inspiration to us all to explore what is possible. She ends most every video with "happy snacking, don't die!"
- Everyday Leadership, a TED Talk by Drew Dudley - Drew explains how small acts of kindness and generosity that aren't memorable for us just may be a single, influential moment for others. As an educator and interpreter, I think about this every single day.
- Nature Walk Studio - An incredible Michigan-based store owned by a Michigan husband and wife. Their products support small businesses and local artists and is loaded with eccentric apparel, home goods, and other items that inspire me to think about nature in creative and new ways, even while inside my eastside Detroit apartment off of Vernor Highway.
From Carol Fitzsimmons:
Patty Krawec's book Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future (Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2022) has been influential in my research—and in my growth as a human being.
From Rachel Galan:
- Jacob, Michelle M. Yakama Rising: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Activism, and Healing. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2014.
- I also credit Brené Brown's two podcasts with Father Richard Rohr for inspiring my thoughts about paradox.
From Lauren Toho-Murrow Haupt:
For me, it's the words and work of the late Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask (Hawai'i). Her speech from 1993 is incredibly powerful.
From Maggie Leysath:
King, Farina. The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2018.
From Julia Pinnix:
Perhaps the first book I could connect to my career would be Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (New York: Harper Perennial, 1974). That book engaged me in observing nature like no other I had read up to that time. And the idea of turning one's observations into stories to share with others came from my reading of it as well. The way she connected watching wildlife in her local stream with larger ideas and stories and connections opened my mind to how wonderfully and deeply connected our living world truly is.
It's not an easily quoted book, because her writing wraps intimately back on and within and around itself; and the stories are not shaped by Twitter-limits but last whole paragraphs, whole chapters, some threads of thought extending through the entire book. But here is a snippet:
"I didn't know, I never have known, what spirit it is that descends into my lungs and flaps near my heart like an eagle rising. I named it full-of-wonder, highest good, voices."
From Angelina Stancampiano:
In grade school I remember discovering Mary Oliver—POETRY that was ACCESSIBLE. It was so beautiful and also all about nature. So much dichotomy!
I felt so seen reading her poetry—there was someone else who thought geese were beautiful. When I later learned that I didn’t discover Mary Oliver, I was glad to know she was already beloved.
To this day, reading some of Mary Oliver's poetry outside serves as a kind of meditation and reminds me why I do the work that I do.
From Sandy Tolzda:
The resources that inspired and taught me more than anything else were the training courses provided to me at no cost, while I was an interpreter at California State Parks. I attended several courses between 2016 and 2023 at the beautiful William P. Mott Center in Pacific Grove, California.
Although we learned much relevant information in the class sessions, we learned even more and fed our spirits on the wonderful and varied field trips. One of the field trips included a day at Año Nuevo State Park, located in San Mateo County, south of San Francisco, where we were respectfully close to the gargantuan male elephant seals and awe inspired by the rookery where mommas and seal pups lounged in the sun on the beach.
On another outing, we kayaked in Whalers Cove at Point Lobos State Reserve, in Monterey County, California. We enjoyed the fresh sea air and viewed sea otters and whales nearby, both of whom had been brought to near extinction by humans.
Another off-campus destination was Monterey Bay Aquarium, situated in the west end of Cannery Row in the city of Monterey. The biodiversity featured and the stunning exhibits were breath-taking.
I may have never visited the aquarium, nor enjoyed the life-changing experiences described, had it not been for the courses offered to me.
From Verónica Vega:
I will share a "listening practice" I learned from Nanci Luna Jiménez that has had the deepest impact on my work.
On her Instagram and website, she has many resources and workshops.
After taking this training 4 years ago, I still have a biweekly listening practice with my listening partner. By being listened to and by practicing listening, we heal, and we become more receptive and creative, which is so important in interpretation and community outreach work.
From Molly Wilmoth:
The resource I’d like to include is Intentional Practice for Museums: A Guide for Maximizing Impact by Randi Korn (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018). I appreciate the activities that guide a deep look at audiences and consider the intended impact.
Korn's book helps me communicate my approach to colleagues and is an excellent jumping off point for program planning. While I do see pitfalls in that community-centered programming needs to start with the desires and needs coming directly from the community, I believe this tool can be adapted for such a use. I had the opportunity to learn from Randi through the American Association for State and Local History’s course Strengthening Your Organization’s Impact.
