Cuban-Americans seek to institutionalize, streamline, their past

02 September 2014 – Michael Bustamante

On July 17, Miami-Dade County Commissioners—several Cuban-Americans among them—approved a controversial plan to construct a Cuban Exile History Museum (CEHM) alongside Biscayne Bay. Few would deny the importance of the Cuban community to Miami’s rise from sleepy getaway to sprawling “gateway to the Americas.” Read More

NCPH and international public history

06 August 2014 – Nicholas Sacco 1

Public historians attending a National Council on Public History (NCPH) Annual Meeting during the organization’s first thirty years of existence (1979-2009) rarely benefited from opportunities to learn about or discuss public history practices beyond the borders of the United States or Canada. Read More

Internationalizing public history

30 July 2014 – Jean-Pierre Morin 1

In recent years, there has been a sort of awakening within public history. This awakening has been very noticeable during the annual meeting of the National Council on Public History, especially during the past four years. Where the attendance has traditionally been comprised of American practitioners and scholars (and a fair sprinkling of Canadians), the number of non-North American participants has been steadily growing. Read More

What we can learn from our Australian colleagues

20 December 2013 – Morgen Young 3

I have long admired the Australia Council of Professional Historians Associations (ACPHA). It promotes the profession of history and the work of its members by keeping consultants’ registers, offering employment services, and maintaining a scale of fees. I have often wondered if some of these benefits could be replicated in the United States by NCPH. Read More

In search of La Belle Vie: The Good Life. A filmmaker’s take on the Guantánamo Bay experience.

30 October 2013 – Rachelle Salinave

Editor’s Note: This piece continues a series of posts related to the Guantánamo Public Memory Project, a collaboration of public history programs across the country to raise awareness of the long history of the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) and foster dialogue on its future.   Read More

Race, politics, and property: Two cases of gentrification (Part 2)

28 October 2013 – Ted Baumann 2

Continued from Part 1

Shortly after it was established in 2005, the Muizenberg Municipal Improvement District (MID) Board went to work to eliminate the refugee/renter population.  This was obviously not how things were described, but the intention was unmistakable.  Moreover, MID insiders were quite prepared to admit this to residents – as long as they were white and middle class – on the assumption that those qualities guaranteed agreement with the board’s course of action.  Read More

Race, politics, and property: Two cases of gentrification (Part 1)

21 October 2013 – Ted Baumann 7

I moved to Decatur, Georgia, six years ago, after 25 years living in a small neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa, called Muizenberg.  David Rotenstein’s recent blog posts  about his experience in Decatur – which led to his abandoning the suburb – struck me as an interesting opportunity to compare and contrast the politics of gentrification in the two places. Read More

The meeting of two Marxists on the 40th anniversary of the Chilean coup

11 September 2013 – Zachary McKiernan

I do not know how many of the learned people who follow this forum know that 40 years ago today the United States government—and to point political fingers at political figures: President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and CIA Director Richard Helms—actively and illegally supported a bloody military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government in Chile.   Read More

The Guantánamo Public Memory Project travelling exhibit and national dialogue

15 July 2013 – Kevin Murphy

Editor’s Note: This piece continues a series of posts related to the Guantánamo Public Memory Project, a collaboration of public history programs across the country to raise awareness of the long history of the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay and foster dialogue on its future.   Read More

Project Showcase: "Frederick Douglass in Britain"

08 July 2013 – editors 3

Frederick Douglass is one of the most famous African Americans in the United States, but few have heard of him in Britain. This demands redress, as in 1845 Douglass travelled to the British Isles for nearly two years, lecturing over three hundred times in cities across the country. Read More