National Council on Public History adopts statement of shared values
17 July 2024 – Priya Chhaya
Author’s Note: This post was written in consultation with members of the NCPH Governance Committee.
In April 2024, the Board of the National Council on Public History formally adopted a statement of shared values for the organization. This statement of Shared Values and Ethical Commitments of Public Historians articulates a set of values amongst members of the National Council on Public History. These values are the foundation of public historians’ approach to their work both as representatives of our organization and as individual practitioners in the field. These values are also aspirational, guiding our organization’s mission and vision for the future.
But how did we get here?
In 2019, NCPH established the Governance Committee to review and assess the organization’s bylaws and policies (some of which had not been reviewed or revised in over a decade), committee structures, and committee responsibilities, while also playing an advisory role, such as making recommendations about best practices for governance.
One of the first tasks assigned to the committee in 2019 was to analyze and discuss the 2007 Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Over twelve years old at the time of tasking, this review was designed to assess the Code and determine what updates were needed to reflect the current state of the field.
As part of that process the Committee:
- Conducted a survey of professional codes of comparable organizations. We then analyzed each organization’s code and identified language and examples for consideration in our revision process.
- Held a discussion with NCPH committee chairs.
- Solicited feedback from broad membership via a History@Work blog post, and other venues, including the NCPH 2021 virtual annual meeting.
These sessions resulted in substantive feedback. Based on that feedback the Governance Committee pivoted, realizing that the organization needed two separate policies—a values statement and a separate code of professional conduct—governing documents that would work in tandem with the work of the Board-led Subcommittee on Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and the Committee on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility. The shift from revising the existing code to creating a new values statement reflected the Governance Committee’s intent to affirm the values public historians hold across NCPH.
The resulting Shared Values and Ethical Commitments of Public Historians consist of seven statements that underscore not only how public historians should approach the process of doing public history, but also how to engage with the various communities that we serve—those that we are a part of, and also those that we are collaborating and co-creating with.
So what’s next? With the adoption of the 2024 Shared Values Statement, the Governance Committee will now turn to the second half of this task: reviewing and revising the Code of Professional Conduct to reflect these values both as members of the National Council on Public History and as public history practitioners.
Finally, it is important to recognize that the development of a values statement is not an easy task. The author would like to recognize the immense amount of volunteer labor and time that went into the development of this statement, labor that was not limited to the present iteration of the Governance, GDSH, and IDEA committees. It is an effort that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, continued through the uncertainty of lockdown, and finalized as we face a future where these principles are more necessary than ever. We are grateful to share them with you as a formal part of NCPH governing documents for years to come.
~Priya Chhaya is the past chair of the NCPH Governance Committee and just completed her three-year term as a member of the NCPH Board.