In the news this week, the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has opened to the public but features quotes that have left some scratching their heads. Then, consider signing up to be part of a Smithsonian Channel discussion about September 11. We also link to an experiment in crowdsourced article reviewing, a collection of pieces on music history, and the interesting origins of state park names. Finally, watch a video of highlights of the most recent National History Day and look back at the vacations of past presidents.

News

• Misquoting Martin Luther King Jr.
  The development of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has had its share of controversies, and now there is a new one. A misquote on the side of the memorial has many upset, including Maya Angelou. Don’t blame the Council of Historians who suggested quotes for the memorial; they offered a more accurate version.
• Participate in Smithsonian Channel’s September 11 Remembrance
  Do you think September 11 was a turning point in American history? Join the conversation.

Insight

• Crowdsourcing Historical Research: An Experiment
  What happens when you place a draft of your history article into Google Docs and ask the Internet to offer responses? Katrina Gulliver is about to find out. She’s turning to crowdsourcing for review and feedback on her article, “Landscape Projections: Australia’s Environment in Historical Film.”
• Music History Roundup
  The Historical Society blog has collected a number of articles on music history, including a Wall Street Journal article on lyricist Jerry Leiber (who wrote some of Elvis’s songs), a New York Times article on pianist Franz Liszt, an MSNBC article on how early humans used music, and more.
• Origins of State Park Names
  Mental_floss, a blog for “knowledge junkies,” has put up part 4 in its series on how state parks got their names; from the odd, to the scary, to the mildly inappropriate, most have pretty good back stories. See also part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Multimedia

• National History Day: Highlights from the 2011 National Contest
  National History Day, a national contest that engages elementary and secondary students in history by having them create papers, performances, exhibits, websites, and documentaries, has offers highlights from its most recent final competition, which 2,000 students participated in, in a video on YouTube.
• Presidential Vacations
  The official White House blog recently posted a sideshow of images of past presidential vacations, including President Taft playing a round of golf, President Roosevelt fishing, and President Grant relaxing at his cottage.

Contributors: Elisabeth Grant and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.