Beginning in spring 2013, the Public History Commons will list new books, exhibits, websites, and other projects as they come to our attention. Please email us or leave a comment below to let us know about new work in the field.
Beginning in spring 2013, the Public History Commons will list new books, exhibits, websites, and other projects as they come to our attention. Please email us or leave a comment below to let us know about new work in the field.
Newly published:
Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations (NYU Press, 2013).
From 1944 to 1946, as the world pivoted from the Second World War to an unsteady peace, Americans in more than two hundred cities and towns mobilized to offer their hometowns as the future Capital of the World — the site for the United Nations headquarters. The booster campaigns often built on earlier tourism promotions, and many of the self-appointed competitors pointed to their inspirational histories, particularly associations with the American Revolution. Portions of the work were presented at the NCPH conference in Providence in 2009, and I have posted a list of the world capital hopefuls and additional content and teaching tips on the book blog, http://capital-of-the-world.com.
Graduate students at Rutgers-Camden created a Public History Year in Review web site featuring a selection of projects in the Philadelphia region during 2012. The site also features additions from students and faculty at Villanova and West Chester Universities:
http://phyearbook.wordpress.com/
from H-Memory listserv:
From: Gérard Bouchard ([email protected])
Dear colleagues,
Please, allow me to announce a collection of essays that I have edited and
has just been released by Routledge.
The title is: National myths. Constructed Past and Contested Present.
The book offers an overview of the state of national myths in a sample of a
dozen nations across the world, including USA, Russia, China, Japan and
India. It also provides insights into the social and political
underpinnings of national myths. The collaborators have been selected among
the best specialists in the academia.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415631129/
Origins, published by the OSU History Department, recently published its new issue with the lead article “Viewpoint Iran: The Past and Present of the U.S.-Iran Standoff” by Annie Tracy Samuel. You can find it http://origins.osu.edu/
Article description from the editors: Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the taking of American hostages that year, Americans have tended to see the Iranian regime as dangerous, reckless and irrational. Recent concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and anti-Israel declarations have only underscored the sense many Americans have that Iran is a “rogue” nation, part of an “axis of evil.” There is another side to this story. This month historian Annie Tracy Samuel looks at American-Iranian relations from the Iranian point of view, and adds some complexity to the simplified story often told.
http://origins.osu.edu/
Hilda Kean and Paul Martin would like announce their edited volume The Public History Reader, published by Routledge. The volume is an international collection featuring nineteen extracts from e.g. Guatemala, Trinidad, China, South Africa, Finland, Britain, USA, New Zealand, Australia. These are grouped in three sections with a general introduction and three section introductions by the editors. The three sections look at who is making history; materials and approaches to making history; intangible and tangible presentations of the past. The Reader is based on Raphael Samuel’s premise that history is a social form of knowledge. Further, we discuss the fluidity of the past, the past in the present and different means of engagement with the past that people have on an everyday level and how the extracts demonstrate all of the above.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415520416/
New release!
Recognizing Heritage: The Politics of Multiculturalism in New Mexico
Thomas H. Guthrie
University of Nebraska Press, 2013
Explores the social, political, and historical context of public efforts to interpret and preserve Native American and Hispanic heritage in northern New Mexico, including a national heritage area, a history and anthropology museum, an Indian art market, a “tricultural” commemorative plaza, and a mountain village targeted by historic preservationists. I argue that dominant forms of multiculturalism challenge colonial hierarchies on the surface but reinforce them at a deeper level. I critique the politics of recognition and suggest steps toward a more just multiculturalism that fundamentally challenges colonial inequalities.
http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Recognizing-Heritage,675788.aspx
Community of Gardens is a digital project that aims to preserve America’s vernacular garden heritage. Community of Gardens is a digital archive hosted by Smithsonian Gardens, in partnership with our Archives of American Gardens. It is a participatory archive that enriches and adds diversity to the history of gardening in the United States and encourages engagement with gardens on a local, community level. The website uses a multimedia platform that supports images, text, audio, and video. Visitors can add their own story to the digital archive, or explore personal stories of gardens from around the country.
To contribute a story to the digital archive visit the “Share a Story” page on the Community of Gardens website to sign up for an account. Once you have set up your account you may then add a written story and photographs. If you’d like to add video or audio files to your story email them to [email protected]. You will hear from a Smithsonian Gardens education staff member within a few days, and your story will be posted on the website usually within 3-5 business days.
You can learn more about the project here: https://smithsoniangardens.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/growing-a-digital-garden-archive/