By tradition, every Representative Town Meeting session opens with an invocation.
The invited speaker — sometimes a clergyperson, more often not — makes a few remarks about the RTM, democracy, the town, whatever.
They fall somewhere on the scale from uplifting to innocuous. An invocation to a group like the RTM traditionally takes “the form of a prayer, a recitation of an inspirational message or a quiet time of guided contemplation,” a web search says.
Tuesday night’s invocation was hardly innocuous.
Ramin Ganeshram — executive director of the Westport Museum for History & Culture — began the Zoom meeting by noting that her building, Town Hall and the entire town sit on tribal lands of the Paugussett people.
Recognizing that this RTM meeting would discuss funding for a new Long Lots Elementary School, she expressed pride that Westport dedicates resources to a “world-class school system.”
Screenshot of Ramin Ganeshram, from Tuesday’s RTM meeting.
Citing the need for collaboration and “truth in history,” Ganeshram described attacks by “conservatives and liberals” on local committees and institutions during the recent school debate, whether “based on facts or not.”
The Westport Museum for History & Culture is also “no stranger to civil discourse,” she said.
Seven years ago, Ganeshram explained, the board decided to “evolve from aggrandizing the genteel past of Westport’s founding fathers,” to “exhibits and programs that uplift erased narratives.”
The “reward” was “public harassment that ranges from thinly veiled racism and libel on the local gossip blog, to attempts to leverage town agencies to close the museum, or change its management.”
However, Ganeshram said, those efforts were “fruitless,” because the museum is a private institution.
“We are not vulnerable to the tools of the anti-equity playbook: persistent FOIA requests, interruptions of public meetings, or a right to be disruptive on premises,” she said.
The Museum will remain “trustworthy” specifically because it is not beholden to public money. “We can objectively act where town institutions cannot.”
While “parents try to shut down BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and other people of color) social studies classes, or lobby to remove LGBTQ books,” the director said that museum exhibits highlight events like past unfair housing practices.
“A feel-good-only approach to history is not accurate history,” Ganeshram said. “It is not the job of people in the present to seek absolution for deeds of the past.”
Returning to the theme of the RTM meeting — an appropriation for a new school — Ganeshram said that Generation Z “is “not afraid to call out white privilege, antisemitism, misogyny, bias or genocide. They refuse forgiveness for enslaving town fathers because ‘that’s just the way things were.’
“We must be able to act without fear of scapegoating or attack,” she concluded, and urged RTM members to view the Westport Museum as “flag bearers for truth in history.”
“You can’t just ‘like’ the idea of the museum. You have to support it.”
Jimmy Izzo was one of several RTM members taken aback by Ganeshram’s comments.
Yesterday morning, the District 3 representative told “06880”: “I went to bed last night a bit confused by Ramin’s invocation. At first I was a bit angry, that one would use the forum, not inspire but to bash our community.
“I woke up this morning feeling a bit sorry for her. My family on both sides came to the United States with nothing. Like many immigrants, they worked for everything they have.
“My grandfather on my father’s side worked 2 jobs, raised 13 kids. At 14 when he landed in the United States, he worked the railroad for $1 a day. No unions. No vacation pay. Ten hours a day, 6 days a week.
“To him, this was all about ‘opportunity.’ Last night’s invocation could have been about ‘opportunity’ for Ramin and her privately funded museum.
Jimmy Izzo
“History is not always pretty. But it is not all bad either. We can take both the ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ and grow from it. History in a lot of ways is like our democracy: a constant work in progress.
“The founding families of Westport provided my immigrant family the opportunity to provide for their families. The Leeses, Nashes, Gaults, Sherwoods, Bedfords and others all employed Irish, Polish, Italian and other immigrants.
“To bypass the history of our founding families, donors, and people who care deeply about our community and charity, in my opinion is not a good path to take when ‘adding’ a deeper dive of Westport history.
“I love the First Amendment right of free speech. Last night, with a big RTM audience, a great opportunity to utilize ‘free speech’ to include community was missed.
“There is room for all history in our community: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We should embrace all sides, learn, and grow as a community.
“Being positive at the podium with an open mind of filling up the glass is never a bad thing.”
I asked Ganeshram for a comment, and to explain why she thought it was important to say what she did.
Westport Museum board chair Greg Porretta responded: “On behalf of the board and staff at Westport Museum, thank you for bringing to light the inquiries from our public officials about the RTM invocation delivered by our Executive Director on February 13. We believe it reaffirms the need for our mission to reveal facts of history and encourage inclusion of all those who have gone before — particularly marginalized communities and especially in public forums where they have been historically barred.”
(Click here to view Ramin Ganeshram’s RTM invocation. It begins at 2:16.)
I know we’ve discussed this before, but what bothers me about the Westport Museum for History and Culture is that it’s owned by someone and has no connection with the town. So that means everything donated becomes the property of the owner(s). The owner or owners of this private company are sitting on a gold mine because people mistakenly thought their “gift” (like my aunt’s 1932 Bedford Junior High Diploma ) was being donated to the town. We need a town-owned Westport Historical Museum owned by the town! I certainly hope that now, people who give items, are notified in writing that their gift or donation has nothing to do with the town.
Typical, dispiriting, disparaging, fashionable fiddle faddle from the director of the Westport Museum of Presentism and Racial Grievance. For the record, I don’t regret getting the secret taxpayer funding stripped from this broken and divisive organization a few years ago. That cabal of insufferable, self-important culture warriors bores me to death. They can pay their own way.
The Westport Museum for History & Culture responds, with this clarification:
“In actual fact, the town was renting space in the museum’s archives. This was a transaction for renting linear square feet. It was not ‘funding.’ Once the town determined that Connecticut state law no longer required storage of historic archives, the town then decided it did not need to rent space to store these records.
“However, as these archives had historic research value the town gifted them to the Museum in support of its ongoing work. At no time has the Westport Museum (or previously the Westport Historical Society) received any town ‘funding.’ Review of public records will show this.”
Right. That was the cover story. But the truth, as many of us knew very well, is that the “storage fee” (for old voter registration forms that the town had copies of and were just going to be thrown out) was actually something else. There was a reason why the line item was buried deep in the First Selectman’s budget of all places and not in say, the Town Clerk’s Office or the Registrar of Voters (who, by the way, knew exactly nothing about the existence of these “records”). The true purpose of the phony “fee” was to quietly help the Historical Society with some debts it had incurred back in the day. I could add additional details here but I’m not going to. Suffice to say, it wasn’t exactly a huge secret at the outset, but I guess so much time went by that it became one – perhaps even to some at the Historical Society itself.
So there you have it: history unerased.
Is there a listing of these “gifts” should town want to examine them? Perhaps they should be digitized so that such public information is available to the public.
As public admonishments go, this one certainly stands out. Whatever the Museum had hoped to achieve with its invocation, I should think it didn’t include anything like what happened. Clearly, something needs to change as the newly formulated organization seems to lurch from one ugly controversy to another. To that end, I hope that it will possibly consider trading its clanking condescension for some quiet soul searching.
I had very different reasons for disliking some of Ramin Ganeshram’s remarks at the RTM. In fact, I wrote to her the following morning. I did not intend to share this letter publicly, but Jimmy Izzo has given me inspiration to do so.
Feb. 14, 2024
Ms. Ganeshram
I found your remarks, the “invocation” at the RTM Special Meeting last evening, out of place and in some cases offensive.
As an award-winning journalist with a Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia, it was highly disappointing to hear someone with your credentials speak with disdain about FOIA requests, and impune citizen involvement in municipal government — this, from a fellow former journalist and lifelong advocate for Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. It was no less disappointing coming from an official dedicated to presenting “truth in history” to our town.
Museums may be regarded as highly trustworthy … and that is because they are generally not politically motivated. Your remarks were highly political on a contentious issue into which you have no insight. The many objections to the Long Lots project were NEVER about having a “world class” trophy school. It was never about investing in our school system, albeit at the hefty price tag of $100M. There is negligible opposition to a new school.
It was about good governance, transparency and committee overreach — not by the Westport Schools — but by the town executive and her self-appointed committee. They hijacked town land unrelated to the school for Parks and Rec athletic fields under the cover of this school project. Sure its town land. But paving over green space, a community garden, a native preserve and a neighborhood buffer is not the right thing to do. The school can be built without these consequences.
The objections, which you infer were uncivil discourse, were about the use of non-school property, the destruction of open space, the violation of property owners’ right to a promised land use. It was about not being inclusive with stakeholders. It was about lying to stakeholders.
The objections were never about building a school. Apparently you have fallen victim to some of the blog posts that mischaracterized what was really happening (and in fact libeled me [with criminal accusations] in the process). You will also recall from your training that public figures — including our elected officials — are subject to fair comment. I refer you to people like Gillray and those who followed who took to task their oppressors.
I do not know who you consulted before writing these insinuations into your remarks. I sure hope the tainted version of history, as was told last night by sycophant after sycophant, is not the history that will be told at your museum. If you ever want to know what really happened, just reach out.
If truth in history is your mantra, please start with the truth of today.
TONI SIMONETTI
Jimmy’s comments are (in my opinion) on the mark. Westport is lucky to have his continuing contributions.
I like what she had to say. History is not all patriotic, nice, pretty, and beautiful. Much of history is rather offensive, which is why we learn from it to do BETTER. Some history is inspiring like people who saved slaves, Jews, and other minorities. People who invented things are rather inspiring. I learned new things when I went to the museum.
I am not sure why we have to keep hearing about the personal credentials of certain people in this town. What does that have to do with anything?
I don’t think the concern is with her views (even though some will disagree with them), but the venue in which she chose to share them.
Ms. Ganeshram was supposed to be delivering an invocation, but instead she delivered a screed. What should have been a thirty-seconds of “let’s all reflect on our better instincts while considering our agenda for the evening,” or something similarly innocuous, she did the complete opposite.
I consider myself pretty far to the left, politically, but that was totally cringe. Which is why I find the need to speak up, so that this isn’t made out to be tribal. Some people might say, “Jimmy and others don’t like what she said because they’re conservative.” Well that’s not it at all – it is not the first time this person has found a way to alienate people of all political stripes.
That she seems to want to believe it is all about racism or sexism or any other -ism you can cite is both wrong and offensive. It is a cheap attempt to say, “if people disagree with me they are bad people,” absolving herself of the need to deal with people appropriately. It is socially tone-deaf.
As Jed Clampett would say, “What in tarnation?”
Invocation (noun): “a request or appeal for help from someone, especially a god, as part of a ceremony.” Here’s a nice link to non-religious meeting invocations. Short. To the point. Broad guidance applicable to everyone, not promoting a personal agenda. Not divisive.
https://strengthinprayer.com/non-religious-invocations-for-meetings/
Since when is an RTM invocation the place for a local organization to present its platform?
And what is her concern with FOIA requests? They perform a public service and discourage bad actors from ignoring the public by making decisions in the shadows.
Bizarre.
Ms. Ganeshram’s appearance at the RTM answered some questions but raised many, many more. I’m sure she’ll fill in the blanks when she feels like it.
I used to love the old Historical Society.
You’re not alone which is probably why they got rid of it.
History is a lie agreed upon, and she has her favorite lies.
If an invocation is meant to uplift and unify a group, this one seemed a bit off target. And unfocused — what was her main point? The museum, the school, the definition of truth, social-political attitudes, generational attributes….? I’ve sat through ten years of RTM invocations. An invocation should be “short and sweet” and not about one or a list of issues before the town. This seemed more like a speech, but again, to what point?
“…the local gossip blog…” Can someone provide a link? Sounds interesting!
https://06880danwoog.com/2024/02/15/rtm-invocation-museum-directors-strong-words/
once again, Jimmy Izzo has hit the nail on the head and would agree with him 100 percent.. with exception of me not feeling sorry for Ms. Ganeshram
Jimmy Izzo (Happy Birthday) could not be more on point.
An invocation is suppose to invoke and empower a need or highlight thoughtfulness, a positive remark, as Mr. Chris Grimm detailed in his definition…there was none of that.
A missed point was interest could be that it’s black history month, and what the museum is doing to honor and educate the community about the history of African-American influence in town…none of that.
This was just a straight up roast of misery and guilt. Reminds me of the question called at our recent “State of the Town,” regarding so much anger, vitriol, hatred etc…and Lee Goldstein answered with such a positive remark that a couple of people do not represent all and that while as a society we are not perfect, a few people do not represent all as being such that.
In this case, the vitriol in this “invocation” where turning a negative into a positive, highlighting new or past events, stating while history is ugly it is also not and is a lesson to not repeat, like selling out Sheffer’s name to a donor, covering up the riverbed columns with slap mortar, turning the bedroom that was a learning piece for field trips into an office—unfortunately proves the unnecessary entitlement displayed by attitude.
There were so many things that were random and off topic, it was just a straight up attack.
The attitude displayed “You can’t just ‘like’ the idea of the museum. You have to support it,” a now private institution with a changed name to receive grants that does what THEY want and not highlight ALL of history in our town in a rotating fashion each month.
I collect Westport relics, not sell, replace or throw out, and I am creating my own historical approach to education at the schools, in town, so that it is on display, and hope people will grow to love Westport like I did.
I learned from Morley Boyd, Betsy Pollak, Dorothy Curran, the Englebardt/Reigler Family, VFW, American Legion, Kathy Ross, Miggs Burroughs, Dan Woog, Einsel, Schinella, Newman, Izzo, Romano, Burke, Arciola, Meier, Kerrigan, Guinta families and more, REAL primary history.
If it’s true that what is donated becomes their property and cannot be given back to the family, that’s disappointing.
That’s turning a negative into a positive. Take notes. Missed out on a lot of opportunities especially Tuesday night to change the narrative.
There are only a few things that invoke a negative response from me and anyone who follows my comments know it is the waste of 100 million dollars + on Long Lots, and this so- called Westport Museum! I wouldn’t donate Eric William Buchroeder’s toe nails to this place! My advice is stay clear of the place and Westport, open one owned by the town! I hate to be so negative, but…….that’s how I feel.
I want my toenails back, JACK!!!
You can keep the rest.
Wow. As a former resident of Westport, with more than three decades in town and deep and active involvement in any number of causes and controversies, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this.
I am currently working to earn a Master of Arts degree in History. My 50-odd MA and Ph.D. classmates are late millennials or early “Gen Z” men and women passionate about history. They are very widely read, very engaged, and full of opinions. Many are pursuing intriguing lines of study that are relatively new in the field, and that have been neglected in earlier historiography. Many come to their studies with a particular point of view that is not particularly complimentary toward some of the history and historiography they are studying.
But not one of them would have delivered a harangue as ungracious as that delivered by Ms. Ganeshram. All of us recognise the complexity of history, and strive to examine and understand multiple perspectives.
In four or so minutes Ms. Ganeshram managed to name-check nearly every shibboleth in the grievance studies playbook: “LGBTQ,” “BIPOC,” “white privilege,” “bias,” “genocide,” “queer,” and more. She’s free to do that, of course, but her choice of forum for such a lecture was, let’s say, “interesting.” She could have called on Westporters to pull together and hash out differences in a civil manner. She could have called upon people to recognise the complexity of history and to give opposing viewpoints the benefit of courtesy and serious consideration. Instead, she chose to deliberately and gratuitously insult her audience, her donors, historians in general, indeed everyone who does not subscribe entirely to her brand of grievance chic.
The kind of history propounded by Ms. Ganeshram and, under her leadership, by the entity formerly known as the Westport Historical Society, is every bit as selective, every bit as biased, every bit as agenda-driven and tendentious as the historiography she decries. I’m not the most biblically inclined guy, but I find it hard not to recall Matthew 7:3-5.
As someone who is probably directionally inclined towards what Ms Ganeshram is saying, her tactics could not be more ineffective and baffling. Were the settlers of this town perfect, no! None of us are. Is it ok to talk about that? Sure! It’s actually great we do so. Does getting up in front of the RTM at the invocation and telling them that anyone over the age of 25 (intimating everyone in the room) is a racist misogynist going to help your organization? Nope.
Tell all the stories of the founding families of Westport. That those family that Mr Izzo references built, donated, hired, developed and also sometimes oppressed and enslaved will give that picture so we can grow for the future.
I want to second the comments made by my eloquent RTM colleagues Jimmy Izzo in the article above and Andrew Colabella here in the comments, as well as others. Sadly, Tuesday’s invocation was the wrong time, the wrong place and absolutely the wrong tone. And not actually an invocation at all.
I learned from all of your comments. I now understand where you all are coming from. It makes sense. I do stand corrected. I did not realize how these meetings begin and what she said did not belong in that capacity. Thank you all for explaining!
I want to compliment Jimmy and Andrew and the others for your thoughtful responses to Ramin’s diatribe at the RTM.
I find it interesting that a woman who claims to want balance in the representation of Westport’s history, does everything she can do to exclude the positive aspects of Westport’s past, because they may not always involve indigenous peoples.
By betraying a promise and changing the name of the Sheffer Room, she did her part to erase a positive aspect of Westport’s culture that didn’t support her agenda of ignoring or denying the many significant contributions of Westports proud settlers.
It seems apparent that she doesn’t want positive portrayals of our citizens and our town to betray her cynical and toxic view of Westport.
If you would like to hear an appropriate and meaningful invocation, listen to former Board of Finance Jim Foster’s remarks to the RTM at our February 6.
(I’m all thumbs today!) If you would like to hear an appropriate and meaningful invocation, listen to former Board of Finance Jim Foster’s remarks to the RTM at our February 6 meeting.
Dick Lowenstein RTM District 5
EVERY single Invocation since my start in 2017 has been empowering, insightful, enlightening, envoke deep thought and to be positive…
This was the first invocation ever that did NONE of that. A politicized broken record of diatribe and guilt.
Worked at WHS after I got out college, have a lot I could say about the place and people (and how I’ve moved to greener pastures since). Mind you my family also lived in Westport since 1908 so I was really excited at first.
Kate’s grandfather, born in 1927 or 1928, was my first cousin. Actually my grandfather came to Westport in 1903. She has a lot of inside information about the WHS. She worked there and knew everyone.
For an historical perspective on the real basis of the Director’s viewpoint, may I recommend, as a white-haired historian, this VIB by another white-haired historian which has been in print since 1976: Francis Jennings, The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism and the Cant of Conquest.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/360743
An academic review (make the right click & you get most of the review) is at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/203250.
From a PNW perspective, the Confederated Tribes of Oregon are LLLOOONNGG past being indignant. Through determination, organization & lobbying (a nod to Saul Alinsky), they are building beyond casinos; dams are falling, The Grande Ronde are transforming a good chunk of downtown Oregon City (15-20 year capital development plan being implemented now). Exercising POWER is more important than exercising inchoate feelings.
Useful as an INVOCATION for most occassions is this prayer from the Wabanaki peoples of Northeast Maine:
I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers and sisters, butto be able to fight my greatst enemy – myself. Make me every ready to cometo you with clean hands and straight eyes so when my life fades, as a fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
Also, way to go Toni!! What Jennings and my late friend Kenneth M. Morrison kick-started in the early 1970s has spread to most other USA areas of historical inquiry. When I check-in on my field and those of Ken & college GF Sandra McGee (ground-breaking & definitive work on Jewish women in Argentinian culture & politics), I am amazed at the breadth, depth & technical skills of what these young ‘uns are producing. {My very small contribution back the was to do archival research in support of the landmark Maine Indians Lands Claim Case. Google it.}
Any RTM member who reads this, feel free to use the Wabanaki Prayer at another meeting.
Best, RMG Staples 1966
Ooops! I meant to say “WAY TO GO” to Iain Bruce.
It is NEVER too late to LEARN, no matter what age you are at now. Yeah, Bed El, Bed Jr & Staples!!
Just a minor point to set the record straight. The Registrars of Voters indeed did NOT know about the records in question. We were told they belonged to our office by the Town Clerk. Upon examination it was clear that they belonged to the Town Clerk. Lovely leather bound books that clearly stated on the front in gold that they belonged to the “Town Clerk”. There were no registration cards or other Registrars of Voters records involved.