Working Groups
WHAT’S AN ANNUAL MEETING “WORKING GROUP”?
NCPH working groups are seminar-like conversations of 8-12 people before and during the annual conference that explore, in-depth, a subject of shared concern. Working groups have a purpose they are working toward, a problem they are actively trying to solve. The working group proposal must articulate this as well as an end product(s) that the group seeks to create.
WHAT MAKES A WORKING GROUP UNIQUE?
Two things. When a group convenes at the annual meeting, the conversation has already begun. Participants are invested in the outcome. Facilitators have had time to refine their questions and perhaps refocus on the issues. Second, facilitators lead their group in developing an end product, such as an article, a list of resources, an exhibit, a manifesto, a white paper, or a new collaborative project.
HOW CAN I JOIN A WORKING GROUP?
The 2025 Call for Working Group Discussants is now closed. Please check out case statements from our 2025 groups below (coming soon)!
2025 Working Groups
Exploring Best Practices in Public Lands History
Meeting Thursday, March 27, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Case Statements: https://ncph.org/phc/exploring-best-practices-in-public-lands-history/
Public historians know that public lands managers must consider history when making decisions about public lands, but sometimes history is left out. This working group has three goals: to find ways to advocate for public history in public lands management; develop a best practices list for public historians; and develop a bibliography of model scholarship. Participants will join in solidarity to share experiences in working with public lands managers, conducting research, and writing and/or contributing to management documents. The facilitators of this working group invite everyone passionate about this field and at different phases in their careers to join us in solidarity to share their perspectives on public lands history. We invite experienced practitioners, land managers, academics, those working for governments, history consultants, and interested grad students to join the conversation.
Facilitators: Alexandra Mosquin, Parks Canada
Gregory Smoak, University of Utah
Joan Zenzen, Independent Public Historian
Discussants: Isabella Bartels, Public and Environmental History Center
Jennifer Betsworth, Adirondack Architectural Heritage
Rachel Boyle, Omnia History
Melissa Coles, University of Notre Dame
John Flynn, University of Utah
Leah Glaser, Central Connecticut State University
Rocio Gomez, University of California, Riverside
Jackie Gonzales, Mirandola Research, LLC
Meg Stanley, Parks Canada
William Stoutamire, University of Nebraska at Kearney
Doing Queer History in a Hostile Political Climate
Meeting Thursday, March 27, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Case Statements: coming soon!
This working group is dedicated to sharing and developing strategies of resilience for doing queer history in a hostile political climate. We are interested in creating a reference database of previous advocacy goals related to preserving queer history and interpreting queer history, and successful and failed strategies for achieving these goals. This in-person meeting of the working group will serve as a safe space for productive discussion about the trauma that members of our community are currently facing and how this should impact the programming and mission statement of organizations devoted to preserving queer history. What role do sites for preserving and sharing queer history have in today’s society in the context of the current hostile political climate? What does solidarity look like when practicing queer public history? And how do we make it sustainable?
Facilitators: Caroline Dugan, Stonewall National Museum, Archives, and Library
Marissa Petrou, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Discussants: Elliot Archer, University of Missouri – St. Louis
Danielle Bennett, CUNY Graduate Center
Josh Burford, Invisible Histories
Susan Ferentinos, Consultant
Araceli Hernandez, Nebraska State Historical Society
Lindsay Mulcahy, Los Angeles Conservancy
Ricardo Santhiago, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil
Maigen Sullivan, Invisible Histories
Anne Valk, CUNY Graduate Center
AAPI Public History: Outcomes from the Past Year, Exploring International Opportunities
Meeting Thursday, March 27, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Case Statements: https://ncph.org/phc/aapi-public-history-opportunities-and-partnerships-to-grow-the-field/
This working group extends the work of the 2024 AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) public history working group and broadens the scope to exploring Asian histories and perspectives through international and transnational lenses. The initial discussants will share their expertise, projects and past successes, approaches, and ideas in the fields of museums, historic sites, academia, public history instruction, community partnerships, digital history, and cultural tourism. With honor to our host city of Montréal, the working group’s second year will dig into questions of international histories of the Asian diaspora and Asian Canadian public history.
Facilitators: Marian Carpenter, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Priya Chhaya, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Andre Kobayashi Deckrow, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Kristen Hayashi, Japanese American National Museum
Eric Hung, Music of Asian America Research Center
Selena Moon, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Lily Anne Tamai, California State University Channel Islands
Michael Yee, San Diego Miramar College and San Diego Chinese Historical Museum
Discussants: Rob Buscher, University of Pennsylvania
Brian Joe, Toronto Ward Museum
Melissa Lee, Chinese Canadian Museum
Mia Owens, 1882 Foundation
Jordan Stanger-Ross, University of Victoria
Public Historians, Empathetic People: Building Humane Leadership and Work Cultures
Meeting Friday, March 28, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
Case Statements: https://ncph.org/phc/public-historians-empathetic-people-building-humane-leadership-and-work-cultures/
This working group, whose facilitators are drawn from the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH’s) 2024 History Leadership Institute cohort, will discuss the evolution of leadership skills and training in the public history field and how social movements, DEAI, and trauma-informed practices have shaped this revolution. Focusing on democratizing work cultures and empowering leaders at all levels, this group will imagine a more humane and inclusive future for our field that fosters sustainability and diversity. Perspectives from all types of sites will offer case studies on humane leadership at work, bringing our mission and values into action internally, and the possibilities of a nuanced and humanistic leadership paradigm.
Facilitators: Aja Bain, American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
Ann Bennett, Howard County Historical Society
Janna Bennett, Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County
Araceli Hernandez, Nebraska State Historical Society
Maria Quintero, JFK Presidential Library and Museum
Discussants: Kristen Baldwin Deathridge, Appalachian State University
Vincent Barraza, Xavier University of Louisiana
Kara Knight, Minnesota Historical Society
Jackie Peterson, Empathetic Museum
Deana Thomas, University of Kentucky
Creating a Peer-Review Clearinghouse for Public Historians
Meeting Friday, March 28, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Case Statements: Kept private to allow for frank discussion about potentially sensitive personnel matters or other issues.
This working group aims to develop a sustainable clearinghouse to facilitate peer review for publicly engaged scholarship. Regardless of institutional setting, public historians have a need for peer review. Such assessments may range from those that provide critical feedback during a formative phase of work to evaluation and documentation of a completed project or body of work. Building on discussions begun on NCPH’s Public History Educators’ Listserv and continued at the 2024 conference, this group will bring together participants from within and outside academia to create a system for securing and providing the peer review so essential to public history practice and career advancement.
Facilitators: Clarissa Ceglio, Greenhouse Studios, University of Connecticut
Kathleen Powers Conti, Florida State University
Elizabeth Fraterrigo, Loyola University Chicago
Michelle Hamilton, Western University Canada
Discussants: Julia Brock, University of Alabama
Michael Brown, Rochester Institute of Technology
Kenneth Cohen, Smithsonian Institution
Caroline Emmons, Hampden-Sydney College
Abigail Gautreau, Grand Valley State University
Stephanie Gray, Duquesne University
Rachel Gross, University of Colorado Denver
Cynthia Heider, University of Pennsylvania
Na Li, National University of Singapore
Allison Marsh, University of South Carolina
Tracy Neumann, Historic New England
Stella Ress, University of Southern Indiana
Paul Ringel, High Point University
Who is Missing in Public History Workspaces? Developing BIPOC Career Pathways
Meeting Friday, March 28, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Case Statements: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16FIGSk7Lhu2tveMAaSYprmD2BbktQ3yA
There are many barriers to recruiting and retaining a truly diverse workforce in our field, and addressing issues of equity in professional development requires a robust and multi-institutional approach. With this working group we hope to continue expanding the circle of collaborators to build a network of professionals working on this issue across the country and at different levels of education and professional development. We also intend to begin exploring the possibilities of a joint major funding ask, which would allow us to truly develop a systematic approach to this pervasive issue.
Facilitators: Jessica Ellison, National Council on History Education
lara kelland, University of Missouri – St. Louis
Mack Williams, III, Sumner High School Living Arts and Museum Studies Pathway
Discussants: Rochelle Caruthers, Missouri Historical Society
Lois Conley, The Griot Museum
Ruth Curry, Northwestern University, Center for Civic Engagement
Acoma Gaither, History Colorado
Cheryl Jimenez Frei, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
Yolanda Leyva, Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso
Christella Maldonado, University of California, Riverside
Kevin Murphy, University of Minnesota
Melina Olivas, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Ramya Swayamprakash, Grand Valley State University
Lindsey Wieck, St. Mary’s University
Solid Succession: Considering Succession Planning and Institutional DNA at Historic Organizations
Meeting Friday, March 28, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Case Statements: coming soon!
Many historic sites, museums, or organizations were founded as a labor of love by one passionate person who believed in the potential for preserving and interpreting a particular place, story, or moment in time. This working group aims to explore issues around institutional DNA, succession planning, and how site founders influence the long-term mission and vision of an organization. What happens when the next generation of leaders takes over? In the process of professionalization and institutionalization, what is gained and what is lost?
Facilitators: Meghan Gelardi Holmes, Gibson House Museum and Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Marla Miller, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Discussants: Richard Anderson, Moravian University
Rosalind Beiler, University of Central Florida
JJ Compton, Oklahoma State University, Edmon Low Library
Mette Flynt, Oklahoma State University
Doria Hughes, Rosemarie Beck Foundation
Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, Indiana University Indianapolis
Sharon Leon, Digital Scholar
Aaron Miller, Abbe Museum
Tracy Neumann, Historic New England
Sara Patton Zarrelli, Museum Insights
Decolonial Approaches to America 250
Meeting Saturday, March 29, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Case Statements: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Y1Gomct5Pzzla0uEj9RcsP6Jv4puw6nb?usp=sharing
Additional case statements available at the discretion of the author. Please contact the working group organizer, Rebecca Amato with any requests.
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, a document that announced to the world that thirteen British colonies in North America had formed into a unified, sovereign nation. Preparations are underway to commemorate and celebrate “America 250,” and public history and humanities organizations are already developing guidelines for approaching the event. This working group plans to develop alternative guidelines that center a discourse of postcoloniality and imagine new solidarities for the nation’s future. Postcolonial framing allows us to highlight historical and regional specificity; different concepts and uneven experiences of independence, freedom, and liberation; and new visions of nationhood that are inclusive, imaginative, reparative, and grounded in honesty.
Facilitator: Rebecca Amato, Illinois Humanities
Discussants: Ada Cheng, Dominican University
Evan Faulkenbury, University of South Carolina
Joanna Hejl, Friends of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Mila Kaut, Northwestern University
Laura Macaluso, Independent Scholar & Writer
Myriah Martin, Empire State University
Jonathan Mercantini, Kean University
Frank G. Pérez, University of Texas at El Paso
Craig Stutman, Delaware Valley University
George Tsz-Kwan Lam, Nevada Humanities
Heather Wilson, Massachusetts Historical Society