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Preserving grief: what to do with spontaneous memorials | Cynthia Sanford | TEDxUNLV

1,130 views · Published 2 October 2018 · 14:51 · Indexed 30 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2018 · Nonprofits & Activism

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Cynthia Sanford has been the registrar at the Clark County Museum in Nevada since 2013. In the six month following the 1 October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, she has been processing -- and preserving --  thousands of items left at memorials for the victims. During this process she learned a lot about preserving grief, but perhaps learned even more about herself. What happens to the memorial items that accumulate after a mass shooting or celebrity death? Cynthia Sanford discusses the curating process after the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas in 2017.

Working as registrar at the Clark County Museum since 2013, Cynthiaz literally processed thousands of items left at memorials for the 1 October shooting in Las Vegas. Prior to 2013, she worked as a registrar and collections manager at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Cynthia has a master’s degree in anthropology with a certificate in museum studies, and has been working in museums for approximately 20 years. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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