National Council On public History

Supporting your work in public history for more than 40 years

Join or Renew Online

If your goal is to engage the public in history, then you should be a part of the National Council on Public History. NCPH brings together people, agencies, businesses, and institutions that share your commitment to putting history to work. Click here to Join or Renew your membership today, or check out our Membership Brochure for more information!
(Don’t wish to renew online? Download the Membership Form to mail or fax.)

If you are an Individual, Student, Sustaining, or New Professional member and would like to increase your support of NCPH, please consider joining as a Partner or Patron level member.

Membership Levels

Individual MEMBERSHIPS
  • Individual – $84
  • Sustaining – $150
  • Student – $37
  • New Professional – $47
    Recent graduates or others who have been employed less than 3 years
  • Retired – $59
  • Under-/Unemployed – $37
    For historians who were let go or furloughed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and are still feeling the effects, and for those who are struggling to find positions in the field and continue to labor as volunteers or interns.
  • Public History Adjacent – $37
    For those who aren’t self-described public historians, or don’t practice public history as their primary career, but may work with public historians or have conducted related work. For example, a person who does grassroots work that connects a community with their history could join at this rate.
Institutional and Individual Memberships
  • Patron – $650 (institutions or individuals)
  • Partner – $450 (institutions or individuals)
  • Institutional – $250
    If your organization or institution is interested in accessing NCPH benefits for several staff members but you’re seeking a more affordable option than our higher Partner and Patron levels of support, the new Institutional Membership may be right for you. This level is accompanied by the following benefits:
    • 1 print copy of The Public Historian
    • 3 log-ins for digital access to The Public Historian
    • 1 print copy of Public History News
    • 3 staff members receive the weekly Public History News Update e-blast
    • 3 staff members receive the member rate at the annual meeting
    • 3 staff members receive the member rate for mini-cons and webinars
    • All staff can join the Members’ Forum group on Facebook
INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION

Institutions can subscribe to our journal, The Public Historian, through the University of California Press.

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS

Looking for ways to support a budding public historian? Want to reward a graduating or new student for his/her hard work? Consider giving the gift of an NCPH membership!  Available in the Under-/Unemployed, Public History Adjacent, Student, New Professional, Retired, and Individual categories, a gift membership in NCPH comes with all of the standard benefits as well as a connection to a network of over 1,000 public historians.


Membership Benefits (Individuals, as well as Patrons and Partners)

As a member of NCPH, you will receive:

  • The Public Historian – THE definitive voice of the public history profession, The Public Historian offers the latest scholarship and applications from the field. From original research and case studies to broad substantive and theoretical issues, The Public Historian will keep you informed about the ever-expanding and increasingly international study and practice of public history.
    • Published quarterly at the University of California Press.  Individual (including Patron and Partner) members receive four print issues each year and can search/read all 30-plus years of back issues online.
    • “Top quality peer reviewed articles reflect the diversity of the field, and reflect the special challenges of history in the public domain.”–NCPH Member
    • The Public Historian is THE best journal by far for public historians to explore their field and in which to publish their work.” –NCPH Reader
  • Public History News – a quarterly print and online newsletter providing updates on NCPH activities, news on developments in the field, and timely information on upcoming conferences, fellowships, meetings, and position vacancies.
  • JPASS — In collaboration with JSTOR, NCPH is offering a discounted fee for JPASS, a new JSTOR access plan for individuals. Designed for those without institutional access to the JSTOR archival collections, JPASS is ideal for public historians working outside of the academy. It is also valuable for faculty members at institutions with limited access to JSTOR. JPASS includes unlimited reading and 120 article downloads to more than 1,500 humanities, social science, and science journals—including over 300 history journals—in the JSTOR archival collections.
  • A discounted registration rate for the NCPH Annual Conference – an invaluable opportunity for professional development and networking, bringing together specialists in the field, faculty and students from public history programs, and others interested in public history. Student members who present in a session, participate in the poster session, or are discussants in a working group are eligible to apply for one of five Graduate Student Travel Awards.
        • “I think that NCPH is on the cutting edge of putting together a conference that intellectually engages all the participants…NCPH provides lots of ways for folks to engage with one another at a much deeper level than at most conferences.” –Conference Participant
  • A 15% discount on library and archival products; a 10% discount on furniture, and free shipping on library and archival supply orders over $200 (for orders in the lower 48) from Gaylord. Contact the NCPH office for the code.

NCPH Members Also Benefit From…

  • Leadership Opportunities – members help to shape NCPH and the field by volunteering to serve on boards, committees, and task forces.
  • Collaborative Efforts – including joint meetings with such groups as the National Park Service, the Organization of American Historians, and assorted regional history groups, and participation in National History Day, at local as well as other inter-organizational initiatives.
  • Networking – at conferences; through TwitterFacebook, and History@Work; in numerous standing committees of the organization; as well as through the up-to-date historical consultant list, job postings, other conferences, and more!  Also, you can Search the Membership Directory.

What people are saying about NCPH

“This spring I went for the first time to the National Council on Public History conference…

I have never in my life attended such a varied, vibrant and unpretentious conference gathering. Only about 1/3rd the attendees were academic historians. The rest were state and federal employees, archivists and museum workers, school teachers, impassioned civilians. What brought them together is that they were all doing history, and in many cases very fine history indeed. There was none of this ‘let me look at your name tag and see if you are worth talking to’ nonsense, it was more ‘let me talk to you and find out what cool stuff you are doing.’ I had a great time and was very impressed.

They have a peer-reviewed journal and a newsletter and professional standards and all of that, plus passion and fun.”