01 June 2012 – Eleanor Mahoney 3
This fall, I began my second stint in graduate school. After earning a M.A. in Public History in 2007 and working for the federal government and a nonprofit organization for four years, I am now back in a university setting, enrolled in an American History PhD program. Read More
28 May 2012 – Jay Martin 7
During the 2012 Annual Meeting of the NCPH in Milwaukee, I had the opportunity to talk with fellow public history educators about issues related to labor. It became clear to me that there are widely divergent expectations placed on public history faculty by their home institutions. Read More
25 May 2012 – Anne Parsons
Nearly thirty years ago, a small collective of twenty- and thirty-something LGBT activists in Chicago founded the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. Active in the Gay Liberation movement and other social protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s, these grassroots historians collected LGBT materials and reclaimed the past as part of the production of a proud political identity. Read More
23 May 2012 – Zachary McKiernan
archives, museums, government, human rights, international, politics, Letters from Chile, advocacy, public engagement, memory
Since my September arrival in Chile, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights has become a common ground for my historical work, with handfuls of visits to its Center of Documentation for conversations and conferences, and the permanent exhibit. Although not a physical or recovered site connected to human rights violations, it sits squarely in the memory landscape of Chile, a barely-born institution that has made waves since its 2010 inauguration under then-President Michele Bachalet. Read More
21 May 2012 – Jeanine Mazak-Kahne
Our public history program works to help students develop an understanding of the role that history can play in fostering a sense of community identity. We also train students to practice as responsible and ethical professionals. Service-learning opportunities provide the core pedagogical method for both these goals. Read More
16 May 2012 – Michael Mizell-Nelson 3
politics, digital media, preservation, projects, advocacy, digital history, memory, environment, government
The Southern landscape and many other parts of the United States remain pockmarked with state historical markers that demand reinterpretation or removal. One state historical marker noting the failure of New Orleans’ 17th Street Canal in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina demonstrates that Louisiana has landed on the right side of this history. Read More
11 May 2012 – Kate Preissler 4
In the two years that I have worked in my current position as Western Region Engagement Manager with The Trustees of Reservations, I get asked one question more than any other: “What is an Engagement Manager?”
Although I have a short response–“I oversee any point of contact between our properties and the public”–the frequency with which I encounter the question motivates me again and again to contemplate the work of “engagement” and what it really means to “manage” it at our sites. Read More
09 May 2012 – Aaron Cowan 8
“The one thing I’ve learned from this experience about public history is that I don’t want anything to do with it.”
Charlotte–a talented, enthusiastic graduate student in our History department–made this statement as she was reflecting on her first foray into the realm of public history. Read More
07 May 2012 – Morgen Young
It was another great Consultants’ Reception at the annual NCPH Annual Meeting. Dozens of consulting historians and those interested in consulting gathered to network, discuss projects, and recap the conference.
Consultants’ Committee chair Hugh Davidson addressed the crowd and updated everyone on the work of the committee in the last year. Read More
07 May 2012 – Adina Langer 1
These intriguing images, previewed in last week’s “In Search of a Label” post, depict a public artwork by Sheila Klein called “City Yard,” commissioned as part of the development of the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee in the 1990s. Read More