Building Blocks

By almost any measure, 2020, just past the halfway mark as I write, has been an extraordinary year. As with 1945 and 1968, mention of 2020 will likely conjure a distinct and powerful set of associations (and material culture) for people long into the future (Figure 1). Various features of this issue—a series of museum curators' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, statements on racial justice and Confederate monument removal from SAH leaders and affiliate and preservation group members, a letter to the editor regarding monument removal—respond to these charged and ongoing circumstances.¹ History is always in the making, but its making is more evident at...