This week in History Club, we’ll be exploring the intersections between history and cryptocurrencies.
History Club members know I have a cryptocurrency that I’ll use to support public history. In a blog post I published earlier this week, I wrote about the underlying rationale for my coin (as well as the urgency).
Public history sites—museums, historic homes, archives, state parks—have been under-funded for decades and especially hard-hit during the pandemic. Just in 2020:
Newport, Rhode Island, laid off 69 percent of its staff at its 11 historic homes;
The Minnesota Historical Society laid off 176 employees and furloughed 139 workers;
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum laid off 148 workers and furloughed 51 employees;
The Museum of Jewish Heritage cut more than 40 percent of its staff;
The Science History Institute laid off 14 employees.
Can cryptocurrencies provide alternative revenue sources for public history institutions facing financial uncertainty? Can creator coins enable people to better support the public historians in their communities? Can NFTs and blockchain technologies be used to help preserve our past?
Join us on Clubhouse Thursday night at 10 PM ET. We have an all-star line-up of speakers, including Rahilla Zafar, Jeremiah Owyang, Vajresh Balaji, and Raymond St. Martin (among many). Note that portions of the event will be recorded.
Not yet on Clubhouse? Use this link to bypass the waitlist.
Below: A rendering of a Bitcoin, courtesy USA Today.
See you on Clubhouse, Thursday, May 6 at 10 PM ET.
P.S. - Want to join the conversation on stage during the event? We’ll be giving special priority access to $JASON coin holders.
P.P.S. - Want to suggest a topic, book or speaker for History Club? Go to historyclub.club.