1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions — Symposium

The 2023 Edgar P. Richardson Symposium convenes over 40 scholars and artists around the landmark exhibition “1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions,” the Smithsonian’s first exhibition on U.S. imperialism and the pivotal conflicts of 1898.

The year 1898 was a flashpoint –for the lands involved, for residents of the United States– and for the course of modern history. The symposium convenes over 40 scholars and artists from the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawai‘i, Cuba, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States for two days of panels, roundtables and gallery talks, and a keynote address by 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winner Ada Ferrer.

The keynote address will take place Friday, September 8 at 5 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A and public reception.

Hailed as “the best and most engaging work the National Portrait Gallery has done in a decade,” the exhibition examines the War of 1898 (the Spanish-Cuban-American-Filipino War), the Joint Congressional Resolution to annex Hawaii, and the Philippine-American War. Drawing on portraiture and visual culture, the symposium will provide a panoramic perspective on these conflicts and shine a light on the public debates surrounding them.

History of 1898 Round Table

• On September 8, from 11 am to 12:05 pm.
• Moderator: Jorge Duany, Director of the Cuban Research Institute and Professor of Anthropology, Florida International University. With Ambeth Ocampo, Professor of History, Ateneo University; Anne Hattori, Professor of Pacific history, University of Guam; Silvia Alvarez Curbelo, Professor of Communications, University of Puerto Rico; and Adam Jansen, State Archivist of Hawaii.

Art History and 1898 

•  On September 8, from 1:15 pm to 2:45 pm.
• With Edward J. Sullivan, Professor of Art History, New York University, Kate Clarke Lemay, Historian, National Portrait Gallery; Libia González, Professor of Humanities, University of Puerto Rico; Patrick Flores, Professor of Art Studies, University of the Philippines; and Shana Klein, Associate Professor of Art History, Kent State University.

Gender and 1898

• On September 8, from 3 pm to 4:30 pm.
• Moderator: Kristin Hoganson, Professor of History, University of Illinois. With Tessa Marie Ong Winkelmann, Associate Professor of History, University of Nevada; Laura Prieto, Professor and Alumni Chair in Public Humanities, Simmons University; Christine Taitano Delisle, Associate professor of American Indian studies, University of Minnesota; and Laura Wexler, Professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Yale University.

Keynote address and Q&A

• On September 8, from 5 pm to 6:30 pm.
• Ada Ferrer, Professor of History and Latin American and Caribbean History, New York University

 Military History and 1898

• On September 9, from 10:30 am to 12 pm.
• Moderator: David Silbey, Associate Professor and Director of Teaching and Learning Cornell in Washington, Cornell University . With John Lawrence Tone, Professor of history, Georgia Institute of Technology; José Bolívar Fresneda, Historian; Katharine Bjork, Professor of History, Hamline University; and Jason Smith, Professor of History, Southern Connecticut State University.

Spanish Influence Across the US Imperial Archipelago

• On September 9, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm.
• Moderator: Carlos Madrid, Director of Micronesia Area Research Center, University of Guam. With Betsey Boone, Professor of the History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Alberta; Luis Sazatornil Ruiz, Professor of History, Universidad de Cantabria ; and Florentino Rodao, Professor of International Relations and Global History, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Artists Round Table 

• On September 9, from 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm. 
• Moderator: Taína Caragol, Curator of paintings & sculpture and Latino art & history, National Portrait Gallery. With José Manuel Mesías, artist, Havana, Cuba; Pablo Delano, Charles A. Dana Professor of Fine Arts, Trinity College; and Mark Hamasaki, Professor, Windward Community College at University of Hawaii.

1898 Now: Visual Culture & Diaspora

• On September 9, from 4:30 pm to 6 pm.
• Moderator: Rick Baldoz, Associate Professor of American Studies, Brown University. With Taína Caragol, Curator of paintings & sculpture and Latino art & history, National Portrait Gallery; Laura Katzman, Associate Professor of Art History, James Madison University; Alvita Akiboh, Assistant Professor of History, Yale University; and Alice Christophe, Curator for Oceania, British Museum.