April 15, 2026

Realizing the Power of History Mini-Con: Speakers Announced!

“Realizing the Power of History: Past, Present, and Future Strategies” will take place on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at George Washington University in Washington, DC. During this event, NCPH will bring together a diverse group of current practitioners—museum professionals, historic site interpreters, public history educators, and others engaged in historical inquiry and knowledge creation—to identify and name the challenges impacting the future of our field. We are particularly interested in naming specific threats to history practices that engage communities and illuminate power.

We want to bring together those who teach history and those who do history with and for the public to share ideas and discuss approaches for bringing their work and their historical knowledge to bear against concerning political trends. What are successful historical strategies for putting history to work to refute misunderstanding and misinformation about the country’s past? How have institutions that practice history for the public served the public, especially its most vulnerable communities? What does this work look like today? What might it look like in the future? What are the specific, new threats we must prepare ourselves to face? What will be required of us?

In the morning we’ll use an “un-conference” format to create breakout sessions based on relevant issues in the field, and share quick case studies about effective strategies to use public history as a tool in service of advocacy or justice.

NCPH President Denise Meringolo’s presidential roundtable will bring her in conversation with three excellent DC-area public historians. Patty Arteaga (Smithsonian Institution), Dan Kerr (American University), and Elon Cook Lee (National Trust for Historic Preservation) will help Denise see her NCPH presidency out by tackling issues raised in the morning’s breakout sessions and articulating strategies for unifying and amplifying public history efforts to hold our hard-won ground for inclusive and community-driven public history practice.

Learn more about the event and register for the full mini-con at https://ncph.org/conference/realizing-the-power-of-history/.