Graduate Colloquium Series: Christina Lake (HIST) 2/11/20
“If You (Re)Build It, They Will Come: Creating and Remembering Fred Harvey’s Invention of Authentic Native American Experience in the Southwest” Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 4-5 p.m. Location: 311 Glasscock Building Christina Lake PhD candidate, Department of History | 2019-2020 Glasscock Graduate Research Fellow Abstract: This paper examines the conspicuous absence of Native women in […]
“If You (Re)Build It, They Will Come: Creating and Remembering Fred Harvey’s Invention of Authentic Native American Experience in the Southwest”
Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 4-5 p.m.
Location: 311 Glasscock Building
Christina Lake
PhD candidate, Department of History | 2019-2020 Glasscock Graduate Research Fellow
Abstract:
This paper examines the conspicuous absence of Native women in modern memorialization of the Fred Harvey Company (FHC) legacy. The FHC was founded by entrepreneur Fred Harvey in 1875 and promoted luxury travel in the Southwest while simultaneously crafting an image of the region palatable to tourists from the urban Eastern U.S. Christina will focus on Maria Martinez, a San Ildefonso Pueblo potter who worked for the Harvey Company and traveled on the world’s fairs circuit and Elle of Ganado, a Navajo weaver, both of whom are credited with being the “face” for Native art through the enterprise. She also highlights the conflict of the Anglo-centric notions of Native anti-modernity and how that was reflected in federal Indian policy, concepts of authenticity, and tourism practices. Ultimately, Christina will examine the history of this practice through current preservation work, the subsequent community revitalization, and the public history movement regarding its legacy and memory.
The Graduate Colloquium offers graduate students an opportunity to discuss a work-in-progress with faculty and graduate students from different disciplines. By long-standing practice, colloquium presenters provide a draft of their current research, which is made available to members of the Glasscock Center listserv. Each colloquium begins with the presenter’s short (10-15 minute) exposition of the project, after which the floor is open for comments and queries. The format is by design informal, conversational, and interdisciplinary.
The paper is available to members of the Center’s listserv, or by contacting the Glasscock Center by phone at (979) 845-8328 or by e-mail at glasscock@tamu.edu.
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