“Inclusive Interpretation” was the subject of a workshop I attended last week at Historic London Town. Opportunities for museums and libraries to become more inclusive as community centers for dialogue about important issues was the central theme. Susie Wilkening, the curator of museum audiences for Reach Advisors and Jack Tchen, the co-founder of the Museum of Chinese American Museum, expertly lead us through discussion about interpreting challenging issues, how to create dialogue based programs to involve visitors, and how America’s changing demographics are affecting museums, during the day. It was a helpful workshop and has provided me with new ideas to use in interpretive programs.
Month: January 2013
Making Sure Fallen Officers from Long Ago are not Forgotten in Delaware and Maryland
Occasionally while doing a study on some subject related to criminal justice history, I’ll find some hint in the old records related to a long forgotten, undocumented fallen police officer. When that happens, I pick up the evidentiary traces and follow the trail back through the old sources, to make sure the officer’s ultimate sacrifice isn’t forgotten in the mist of time.
Over the decades, I have found officers in Wilmington, Clayton, and Crisfield who fell in the line of duty, but were never listed on national, state, or local memorials or remembered in their community. Usually when the tragic occurrence is pointed out and the facts around the incident have been sorted out, an officer or retiree from the department picks it up from there, making sure that the individual’s ultimate sacrifice is honored and recognized by the agency and the community the officer served.
Right now a Wilmington Police Department retiree is working to get Officer Charles Schultz listed on the official record. The patrolman gave his life while serving the citizens of Wilmington more than a century ago. The tragic death in 1891 caused a sensation at the time but once he was lowered into his grave memory faded as generations passed and the lawman was largely forgotten except for headlines in old yellowing newspapers at the Delaware Public Archives.
It’s important not to forget those who gave everything to the communities they served. So it is good to see them finally honored and remembered, as their names are formally added to the department’s roll and etched on the memorials. Now it’s going to happen in Wilmington as this retired patrolman takes on that task of remembering this fallen police officer.