The inspiration for the painting, US History (forgotten), was to address the gaping holes in basic American history that I had never been taught in school. It started as an oil painting collage with mixed media, but standing by itself, my painting could not fill in these holes, so I built this website to accompany it. My goal is to provide content for learning and research. Archival materials (vintage photos, engravings, documents, posters, etc.) serve as evidence of past events. Powerful first person accounts tell unique family stories. The Resources page lists books for adults and for teaching children; as well as organizations, a glossary and quotes. This website will continue to be a work in progress, as I will continually add new content. So keep checking back.

The US history that continues to be intentionally excluded from many school curriculum has prevented accountability, awareness and compassion that would allow our nation to begin to heal. Standing against racism has always been very close to my heart. As a child, I took to heart the biblical plea to love thy neighbor, and our Declaration of Independence's claim that all men are created equal. To this day I grow more and more exasperated with the disparity between these empty words and what I am actually seeing. If a day ever comes when white Americans would not mind being treated like Black Americans, native Americans, or any Americans that are not white, that is the day we can give up this fight. Until then, those of us shielded by our white privilege have a responsibility to loudly and clearly speak up. 

About the art piece:

US History (forgotten) is a 4x4 foot collage of oil paintings on canvas along with mixed media. (Feathers, leather, jute twine, cotton thread, cotton fabric, rice paper, galvanized wire, cotton bol, sewing pins, safety pins, paperclips, binder clip, paper tag and duct tape. 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)