Wisconsin protests to be memorialized in the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian has sent a curator to Madison, Wisconsin, to collect protest signs, interviews, and other artifacts from the demonstrations. Some of the wording in this CNN story about this is a little funny to me, specifically, "A curator is traveling to Madison, Wisconsin," which makes it sound like this is 1865 and he or she just climbed aboard the three-day train from D.C. (Via Matt Novak)

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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mortis

I would imagine the Smithsonian sending Curators by Dirgible, with rather Wild Wild West meets Frankenstein-styled accouterments. ;)

^m^
Anonymous

I heard the curator has a kid enrolled in college here in Madison, which sorta helps explain it. Truth be told, I prefer the “Curators by Dirgible” story. ;)

THIS JUST IN –> Saw on twitter that the Wisco GOP is trying to amend the law about recalling elected officials. Will this nightmare never end?!
awjtawjt

I hope they are also preparing the wax casting molds and dioramas for the “Notorious Recalled Republican Politicians of Wisconsin” exhibit.
phillamb168

Funny you should mention a three-day train ride. I’m pretty sure it’s only a single day faster, 150 years later.
- Deadmeat
  
  Well, we had the opportunity to improve that @phillamb168, but Walker turned down that $810 million from the Feds to build that high-speed rail. =(
  - DoctressJulia
    
    ARGH! That still pisses me off. I would’ve LOVED that train… :C….
    
    Well, I’m going to the Capitol again this Saturday. We are angry. Very angry. Solidarity.
    - Deadmeat
      
      Right on, @DoctressJulia. I’ll be there too. Looking forward to the Tractorcade.
Anonymous

Prepare for the inevitable Sarah Palin commentary. Disgrace, waste of money, blah,blah, blah…
Noodlehead

And, the Republicans and conservatives value education and history so much that I’m sure they will patronize this exhibit quite a bunch.
chgoliz

Perhaps it’s because a truck has to be used for the haulage back to DC?

/killjoy mode

Dirigible sounds much better.
yrogerg

Of course, this is the same Smithsonian that has a Koch-funded climate-change-denial-tastic exhibit on early man, so color me deeply cautious about how they might represent the Wisconson protests.
mmc

“If we don’t collect these things now, they’re lost forever,” said the Smithsonian spokeswoman.

So if the stuff ends up in a demonstrator’s family scrapbook, the Wisconsin State Journal archive, the Wisconsin Historical Society, or the University of Wisconsin, it’s considered “lost forever”!? Do we no longer trust citizens or smaller local institutions to be good stewards of history? I understand the Smithsonian is trying to anticipate its own needs and maintain a legacy, but there’s no need to get all fatalistic.
- emmdeeaych
  
  I do not see that it is A or B. I am quite sure all those things you mention can happen without slowing down the Smithsonian, and that the Smithsonian will get a better display by gathering at the source, rather than picking through family scrapbooks in 100 years. There is enough to go around.
  
  It appears that professional historians see something historic is happening. Not like they have an educated informed opinion, or anything.
RangerGordon

The “is traveling” thing is news-speak for “according to the Smithsonian’s press release, the curator will travel at some future date, relative to the date this story was written.”

This style always bugged me when I was a newspaper copy editor for the same reason it bugs you — the present-continuous verb tense implies the action is taking place right now, as the reader reads the story.

However, it’s justified since a statement that the curator “will travel” implies that the newswriter can predict the future — and, if the press release turns out to be wrong, or if future events prevent the curator’s journey to Madison, then CNN is covered.

I always thought it was better to hedge with something like “is slated to travel” — but that’s not always possible, depending on context.
- chgoliz
  
  Interesting.
  
  Sounds like it might be a relic of print media, back when things had to be typeset and space was precious.
DoctressJulia

You know, the other thing I get from this is that it talks about the protests like they’re over, and history, and past.

Not fucking yet.
Anonymous

Good luck and godspeed on your journey into the wild.
millrick

future Smithsonian tour guide: “… and here, children, are some banners from the struggle to maintain civil discourse in America. Remember, because of the Walker amendment, you’re not allowed to read text in a public institution so just quietly look at them.”
“Not that any of you can read…” she mutters to herself.
- Mister44
  
  PUHLEEZEE. If that scenario were any way near the truth, the exhibit would have been removed and burnt to the ground.
  
  —————
  
  I hear tell the curator will enlist the help of the native savages in navigating though the expansive wilds of Wisconsin and acting as scouts for hostile natives. He is traveling light with only three wagons and a small terrier named Charlie.