Postcard Cemeteries: Reclaiming Mission History for the California Public

Postcard Cemeteries” serves both as a proposal for improving how we teach history, and as a reminder that it takes time and effort for scholarly knowledge to disseminate to wider audiences. While scholars have re-examined California mission history, Hanson concludes that “most Californians are not ready to have these conversations because they have not conceptualized their relationship with California colonial history.” In the pages that follow, you will find practical recommendations for ways California can use its historical sites and innovative educational practices to move this conversation forward.