On Thursday night, I went to listen to The Distinguished Visiting Humanities Lecturer, Jon Grinspan, talk about his job as a curator for the Smithsonian. Mr. Grinspan talked about how the small things we do, and the artifacts we choose to preserve, affect how generations of people will view us. This is a scary and an exhilarating thought. The future is something that tends to make people uncomfortable to think about. It is something that holds so much uncertainty, it’s difficult not to fret over how we will be perceived. Mr. Grinspan said that we, as a species, like to think that we are on the cutting edge of science, that life now is the best it has been. What we choose to put in museums and to preserve is a symbol of this. Being a curator gives him the opportunity to not only put in what makes the 21st century look impressive, but to show our humanity.

Mr. Grinspan showed us examples of relics from protests and riots. These are some of the most in depth looks at the state of our world today. Mr. Grinspan’s job allows him to make sure that important parts of our history are not lost forever. A lot of  the examples he showed us were not entirely happy or “sophisticated” things. Most of his  examples were actually from very dark times in our history.  If we chose to omit them, and only show the highlights reel of our lives, then it wouldn’t really be our history at all. 

Ancient cultures didn’t have as much control as we do now. Lots of artifacts and important achievements have been lost, and that is seriously disappointing. However, what we are able to find and piece together is so meaningful because it is untouched. Unlike our carefully chosen bits of history, these are complete chance discoveries. Because of this, we are able to get a mostly unbiased history. To be frank, I think it is impossible to get an entirely unbiased interpretation of the past, history is written by the victors after all. However, I do think that because these ancient civilizations did not have the luxury to pick and choose what becomes a historical artifact, it means we are at least a little closer to having an accurate depiction of their histories. 

What Mr. Grinspan does by including every beautiful and every unflattering moment in our history, is honestly very noble. How can we truly understand the past if it is  hushed up by historians and curators of bygone days? That’s why the job of curator is so pivotal to how the future understands and perceives us.