25 March 2016 – editors 1
A personal perspective on the Flint water crisis
My thoughts on the Flint water crisis stem from a personal perspective, as well as my academic interests in deindustrialization, African American history, and heritage tourism. When I was two years old, my dad was offered a job as a reference librarian at the University of Michigan-Flint. Read More
23 March 2016 – David Dean
The Public Historian, performance, music, theater, TPH 38.1, "Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton" responses
Public historians have spent a good deal of time looking at how history is performed in museums and living history sites, in reenactments, and on film and television. Theatre, opera, and musicals have received far less attention, and one reason for this might be that these forms of representation are often thought of as elitist.[1] Read More
22 March 2016 – editors
From around the field this week: Public history boot camps in Camden, New Jersey; Iraq conference on heritage in conflict zones; oral history research grants; almost-all-expenses-paid opportunity to attend summer Yale Public History Institute Read More
22 March 2016 – Kerri Young
"Chasing the Frontiers of Digital Technology" responses, public engagement, community history, digital history, The Public Historian, TPH 38.1, digital divide, audience assessment
As a public historian working on the collaborative digital platform Historypin, I second Andrew Hurley’s assertion, in his article “Chasing the Frontiers of Digital Technology: Public History Meets the Digital Divide,” that introducing more traditional methods of engagement can, and most often is required to, enhance the efficacy of the digital tools within a public history project. Read More
21 March 2016 – editors
Jennifer Stevens, PhD, is principal, SHRA/Stevens Historical Research Associates. Jennifer attended University of California-Davis for graduate school and now resides in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and two children. She founded SHRA in 2004 and is a graduate affiliate faculty member in the History Department at Boise State University, where she periodically teaches courses in Environmental and Urban History. Read More
18 March 2016 – Donald Ritchie
Whenever a public historian asks me whether it’s worth the time and effort to run for office in a historical association, or to serve on a committee, I strongly recommend giving it a try. Over the nearly forty years I spent at the Senate Historical Office, I calculate that I spent almost half of that time also serving in one elected office or another in various historical associations and beyond that on any number of standing or ad hoc committees.
17 March 2016 – Susan Ferentinos
I decided to become a professional historian in a campground in Ohio in the summer of 1994. I was spending the day lounging at my campsite, reading About Time: Exploring the Gay Past, by Martin Duberman, when his essay “’Writhing Bedfellows’ in Antebellum South Carolina: Historical Interpretation and the Politics of Evidence” got me so fired up that I decided it was time to go out and do what I could to bring the past to the people. Read More
16 March 2016 – David Benac
This year’s conference promises to be one of the best in recent memory. The public history offerings in Baltimore are world class and offer plenty of temptations to draw us away from the conference. Consultants and attendees interested in consulting should find this year’s partnership with the Society for History in the Federal Government a particular draw. Read More
15 March 2016 – Arnita Jones 1
Recently, I received the announcement of the Founders Award that the National Council on Public History will present later this week to me and to Philip Cantelon, my colleague of many years, various associations and initiatives. Reading the citation for the award brought back many treasured memories of the early days of public history, especially memories of individual historians who were mentors and co-workers and who became invaluable friends. Read More
15 March 2016 – William Stoutamire
How can historic house museums remain relevant and engaging in the 21st century? That is the question before the nearly 15,000 such institutions currently operating in the United States. Much ink has been spilt debating the future of the house-museum model, from the pages of The Washington Post to The Boston Globe, even on this blog. Read More