29 August 2016 – James F. Brooks
Editor’s note: We publish TPH editor James Brooks’s introduction to the August 2016 issue of The Public Historian. This digital version of the piece differs slightly from the print edition. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members. Read More
23 August 2016 – Alexandra Lord
A year ago, on a hot, sweltering Indiana day, the search committee for the next executive director for the National Council on Public History met in person for the first time. The task we faced, led by chair Bill Bryans, seemed monumental: to not only find a new executive director who respects and understands the complex history of NCPH, but one who also recognizes that the organization is undergoing tremendous change and growth, and who will become a collaborative colleague within the history department at the Indiana University (IU) School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), NCPH’s host university. Read More
23 August 2016 – editors
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site recently launched Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration, the first major museum exhibit to tackle this civil rights issue.* Prisons Today asks open-ended questions and encourages dialogue among visitors about America’s past and present prison systems. Read More
17 August 2016 – editors
From around the field this week: Aug 20 workshop on enhancing online access to oral histories, conference on representing perpetrators of violence, public history and/as labor and rural history, public history working group in New York City launches new conference. Read More
09 August 2016 – David Rotenstein 2
On July 4, about 60 people attended a party thrown by Washington, DC activists trying to save a historic water filtration plant. The event was held in a row house in the city’s gentrifying Bloomingdale neighborhood, which I wrote about in a recent History@Work post. Read More
03 August 2016 – editors
From around the field this week: Understanding places and approaches to the past at two U.K. conferences; audiovisual heritage in Washington, D.C.; new issue of Museum & Society on reimagining collections for diverse audiences Read More
02 August 2016 – editors
June 17, 2016 marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church, also known as Mother Emanuel, in Charleston, South Carolina. A new online exhibition published by the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative (LDHI), “A Tribute to the Mother Emanuel Church,” documents the outpouring of emotion and grief for the victims, survivors, and their families. Read More
26 July 2016 – Hillel Arnold and Laura Miller 6
The staff of the Rockefeller Archive Center recently organized a reading group that meets once a month to discuss a set of readings related to archival and historical practice. The RAC is a repository of historical materials and a research center dedicated to the study of philanthropy and civil society. Read More
21 July 2016 – Vera Parham
As most of us in the field of archival studies know, defining the archival profession is like trying to hit a moving target. The form and meaning of the profession have changed steadily and dramatically, as have the challenges and educational preparation. Read More
19 July 2016 – Cathy Stanton 5
When I studied public historians within a large U.S. national park for my dissertation research 12 years ago, I was left with some questions that I’ve been pondering ever since and that have kept coming to the surface in various ways in more recent years. Read More