About What Remains
What Remains is a project-based business that grew out of an interest in World's fairs and was established January 6, 2016. Currently, the main focus of the company is historical research, content development, and publication of historical material. I also opperate under the ficticious name: Footprint.
Our Approach
I pick a topic, like World's Fairs, and dive in. Head first. Although I had already done some reading and conducted some interviews; I was lucky to be able to follow my desire to delve more deeply into Worlds' fairs when I retired from teaching in public schools for 30 years in 2014. My husband wanted to travel and so we did. It was the first time I had left the Americas. We traveled to cities that had hosted Expositions (like Johannesburg, Tokyo, and Atlanta) and looked for signs of an ephemeral event that were mostly erased by time. While traveling my husband would ask, “So, are we going to go look for more stuff that isn’t there today?” To which I would answer, “Yes, yes we are.” It became our standard joke. I took photographs and notes about what we saw and what we didn't see. I conducted researched in local libraries and historical societies. (The National Library of Scotland and the San Diego History Center are two of my favorites.) I learned a lot.
Our Story
What started as researching World's Fairs, developing business plans and content for others morphed into developing content and business plans for myself and becoming a free lance writer. Although no longer "stuck" in just researching World's Fairs, non fiction is what interests me. Today I'm involved in two vodcasts, have three books partially finished (the histories of Bridgeville, Howardsville, and Celtic Mythology), submit short writing pieces to various publications, and support non profits through producing newsletters and editing bylaws. The good news is that I'm not bored!
About Virginia Howard Mullan
This is what AI has to say about me (and I toned it down a bit!): Virginia Howard Mullan is an American Author and Historian. Virginia is an enthusiastic writer, teacher, and public speaker who has made a significant contribution to various fields. She has written for anthologies, magazines, newsletters, and books, and has received several awards for her literary and teaching excellence. She has been inspiring and mentoring young minds for over 31 years as a public school teacher. In 2023, she collaborated with GL (Griffin Loch) to create the script and creative content for "What Remains: The People and Places of California's Expositions." In the same year, she delivered lectures on "California World's Fairs" in San Diego and Long Beach. Howard Mullan's works have been published in various magazines, such as the North Coast Journal, The Sun, The University of London School of Advanced Study, and The High Desert Museum, among others. She was honored by Delta Kappa Gamma Epsilon Pi, Humboldt County of Education, Wells Fargo, the California Association for Gifted Children, and the Kiwanis Club of Fortuna, CA for her exceptional skills in working with children and youth. In 2006, she presented her thesis on exploring the Progressive Movement through the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, to the Faculty of Humboldt State University for an MA in American History. She is a world traveler and amateur archaeologist. Currently she co-hosts two vodcasts about deriving meaning through communication.