One’s approach to historical consulting is invariably shaped by the economic and cultural environment in which he or she practices. In Nevada, where I live, there aren’t a lot of obvious avenues for a historical consultant to find regular work. Indeed, throughout the entire state, only a handful of professional historians work outside of academic or cultural institutions or agencies, and even firms practicing in the (relatively) steadier arenas of cultural resource management, NEPA/NHPA compliance documentation, and the like employ primarily archeologists, not historians. Few public history projects transcend organizational boundaries or regularly employ contractors to assist in research or the creation of exhibits, digital projects, and other interpretive work. This makes it challenging for individual historians to secure contracts, much less collaborate on projects employing multiple consultants.
Chronic underfunding of cultural activities is in part to blame, exacerbated by the recent economic downturn, which hit Nevada especially hard. Declining revenue from tourism, long a pillar of the state’s economy, prompted massive state budget cuts in 2009 and 2011 that—along with federal cuts—severely impacted publicly funded museums, educational institutions, and granting agencies, spurring a trickle-down effect that left everyone scrambling. It is no surprise that extended periods of economic duress tend to breed a bunker mentality, as beleaguered institutions struggle to protect their own limited resources. Staff and funding shortages leave even less time to plan and submit grant proposals, seek creative new lines of funding, or envision collaborative projects outside stated mission statements or job descriptions.
The situation sounds dire. But the flip side of living in such a resource-strapped climate is that it rewards initiative and flexibility, key attributes of any successful consultant. Opportunities abound to propose and assemble worthy projects that can pool resources and disparate realms of expertise, creating mutually beneficial projects that individuals, firms, and agencies are unable to execute alone.
I launched my sole proprietorship in the summer of 2013, after working for ten years as contingent faculty at a state university. For the last four of those years, 50% of my position comprised directing an oral history program that had just lost all of its state support. Keeping the program afloat long enough to finish digitizing its nearly 50-year-old collection meant, in essence, running a tiny nonprofit organization inside the university, as I was solely responsible for raising most of the funds to support half of my salary plus all wages for part-time staff and student workers, necessary equipment, and operating expenses, from printer paper to phone lines.
It was a crash course in entrepreneurialism that put me in the position of hiring short-term contractors to accomplish tasks I couldn’t do alone, as well as serving as the contractor for a large oral history project sponsored by a nontraditional funding source, the county’s Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). The series of oral histories conducted for the RTC has grown into a major multi-year project, the 4th Street/Prater Way History Project, which I will be discussing in another NCPH session. While initially concocting that project’s scope of work, I proposed working in tandem with several other ongoing community history initiatives—including the state’s online encyclopedia and the new Reno Historical smart phone app—in order to produce more content for both of those ventures while fulfilling the client’s desire for a digital presence. Taking on that generative role allowed me to identify how the project might not only take advantage of existing platforms but help them to expand. It has also enabled me, as a contractor, to assemble a team of multiple subcontractors with expertise in the larger project’s many components, from website design and oral history transcription to photography.
Experience in project management can allow consulting historians to confidently pitch ideas for multifaceted projects in collaboration with academic or governmental entities, nonprofits, and other groups. Multitasking is the key. As I await the fate of one grant proposal concocted with an institutional partner and another consulting historian, I’m currently in the early stages of planning an NEH grant proposal with another small group of collaborators as we consider which grant-eligible partner(s) to approach with the project.
These experiences lead me to believe that it is not only possible, but preferable, to envision and pursue creative public history projects rather than wait for opportunities to emerge. Many entities are more than happy to help facilitate projects that can fund multiple contractors, if offered assistance in fundraising and management. The benefits are clear: more work, more innovative public projects, and more of the deep satisfaction that comes from seeing one’s own ideas come to fruition.
Back to introductory post about this Working Group.