Writing and Rewriting Local History in the Davis Square Subway Station

Graffiti in the Davis Square T station raises questions about versions of history in the station's public art as Christina Hodge notes:

"A timeline of city history is part of the décor of my home subway station, Davis Square on the Red Line in Somerville, Massachusetts. The station was completed in 1984, and most of its interior dates from that time."

***
We learn that the first notable event of local history was perpetrated by a glacier; the BC date and focus on land making bring a biblical flavor to this commencement. Then, nothing, until the Pilgrims arrived, launching relevant human history. The 19th- and 20th-century events relate more specifically to Somerville's commercial and commuting developments. This timeline ends in 1984 with the Red Line extension into the Davis Square."

"A concerned citizen had taken a black marker and changed local history. The title became "White Time Line." A conversational entry was added between the glacier and the Pilgrims: "Um, Native Americans, wholly mammoths made an appearance." A helpful editor emphatically corrected the spelling here to "WOOLY" (though I like "wholly mammoths" as a neologism for the irreducible nature of a certain iconic mega fauna). Someone else wrote "El Salvador #1" at about the same time, but this opinion was stricken and is not directly relevant to this discussion.

Of course: where were the Native Americans? More specifically, the Pawtucket and Massachusett people, within whose homelands Somerville is located. The easy equation of indigenous peoples with an extinct animal undermines the force of the critique, though perhaps its glibness is meant as sarcasm. At least someone recognized something vital was missing from this timeline and did something about it. Who he or she is, and what specific knowledge or experience was offended, we cannot know. For a while, however, the author reinserted Native Americans into our list of important Somerville moments.

This writing was not graffiti art, sensu the Graffiti Archaeology Project or Banksy. It reminded me of a contested Wikipedia entry—flagged as biased content by an outraged user, edited for accuracy and inclusiveness. Another member came along and edited for spelling, rather than content. What these writings do have in common with other graffiti, however, is their quasi-illicit nature. However public the walls of the MBTA, they are not intended as a public forum. The Davis errata were expunged a few weeks after they appeared. Faint, vestigial scratches of even earlier graffiti name tags are visible on the panel in a raking light, however, making the spot a palimpsest for the foreseeable future." (Image:  Christina Hodge)