Pedagogy Study Hall: Dresher x CADVC “Preserve the Baltimore Uprising”

This program is sponsored by the Wagner Foundation, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Baltimore County Commission on the Arts and Sciences and the Citizens of Baltimore County, and the Arts+ initiative at UMBC.

About Denise Meringolo

Denise D. Meringolo is Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received her PhD in American Studies from The George Washington University. She currently serves as the President of the National Council on Public History (2024-2026). Her first book Museums, Monuments, and National Parks: Toward a New Genealogy of Public History (University of Massachusetts, 2012) won the 2013 National Council on Public History prize for the best book in the field. Her second book, “Radical Roots: Public History, and a Tradition of Social Justice Activism,” began as a collaborative research project for which she served as primary investigator, research contributor, and collection editor.

The book identifies new historical precedents for core values and practices that define the field, particularly those associated with civic engagement and social justice.

She is also the creator of “Preserve the Baltimore Uprising,” a digital collection project that allows individuals to gather and preserve images, videos, and stories about the protests that erupted after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in April 2015. She received the prestigious Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship for 2018-2019 to activate the collection as a foundation for community-centered, collaborative historical reflection and interpretation. Denise Meringolo teaches courses in community-based public history practice and museums and material culture. She and her students have partnered with a variety of local organizations including Baltimore Heritage and the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Some of their work appears on Explore Baltimore Heritage, an app which allows users to take self-guided walking tours of Baltimore neighborhoods.