Resignification

Omarska Camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina
#241

Omarska Camp in Prijedor

Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Contested Histories Initiative

Omarska Concentration Camp in Prijedor is notorious for being the site of the 1992 PrijedorMassacre during the Bosnian War; it featured prominently in several trials for the perpetrationof international crimes undertaken by the International Criminal Tribunal of the FormerYugoslavia. Since 2004, numerous attempts at commemoration for the victims of the… Read More

Manzanar Memorial with USA flag
#185

Manzanar Historic Site in California

USA

By Contested Histories Initiative

During World War II, the U.S. Government incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans in so-called War Relocation Centres around the country. One of them was the Manzanar Relocation Center, which at its peak, housed around 11,000 detainees. Incarcerated behind barbed wire and guard towers, Japanese American families lost their freedom which… Read More

#354

Squaw Valley in California

USA

By Contested Histories Initiative

The term ‘squaw’ (hereafter sq___) is widely considered an offensive, derogatory, racist and misogynistic word to refer to Native American women. In 2021, following the renaming of the Sq___ Valley ski resort in the unincorporated populated place in Olympic Valley in Placer County, California, to ‘Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort’, a… Read More

Dr Karl Lueger monument in Vienna
#10

Dr Karl Leuger Ring Street in Vienna

Austria

By Contested Histories Initiative

In Vienna, over 160 streets bear the names of controversial historical figures. One of these streets, once called Dr-Karl-Leuger-Ring, was named after a prominent anti-Semitic agitator whose ideology inspired the dogmatic policies of Adolf Hitler. In 2011, an archival report investigated the acts of controversial historical figures with names in… Read More

Harvard University Widener Library
#181

Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery in Cambridge, Massachusetts

USA

By Contested Histories Initiative September, 2022

In the past decade, Harvard University has taken great strides to acknowledge the legacy of slavery on campus. Slavery provided an impetus for the creation of resources at Harvard, and several enslaved Black and Indigenous individuals of former university presidents even resided on campus at specific points. Centuries later, Harvard… Read More

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Roundabout
#121

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Roundabout in Lahore

Pakistan

By Contested Histories Initiative

Commonly known as Fawara Chowk (Fountain Roundabout), the formal name, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk roundabout, has been the source of contestation since 2016. The roundabout is directly adjacent to the former prison where Sikh Marxist-Revolutionary Bhagat Singh was executed in 1931 by the British. Since then, the prison has been… Read More

Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II in Washington DC
#184

WWII Japanese American Memorial in Washington DC

USA

By Contested Histories Initiative

The Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II in Washington, D.C., United States, is a monument to the 112,581 Japanese Americans incarcerated by the U.S. Government during World War II. It also commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. Military. The inscriptions in the memorial received criticism… Read More

Mussert Wall with wooden ramps in Lunteren
#112

Mussert’s Wall in Lunteren

Netherlands

By Contested Histories Initiative

In 1936, the Dutch fascist party NSB constructed a complex in the town of Lunteren called Mussert’s Wall (Muur van Mussert), where they would hold political rallies. After being neglected for decades after World War II, in 2015, a national discussion arose following requests by local and national heritage organisations… Read More

Old Slave Market in Lagos
#130

Old Slave Market in Lagos

Portugal

By Contested Histories Initiative

Hiding in plain sight in Lagos’ central square lies the Antigo Mercado de Escravos, the Old Slave Market, which hosts a unique museum. The building is situated in the square–formerly a beach–where enslaved people would once have been bought and sold, along with other goods such as ivory and Malagueta… Read More

Jan Pieterszoon Coen Hoorn
#235

Jan Pieterszoon Coen Statue in Hoorn

The Netherlands

By Contested Histories Initiative

Nicknamed the ‘Slaughterer of Banda,’ the figure of Jan Pieterszoon Coen has become increasingly contested in recent years. The statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn has been a disputed monument since its unveiling in 1893. The statue has been smeared with red paint and graffiti numerous times in the… Read More