Tag Archive
13 May 2026 – Talia Brenner
“What are the clues? Where does the evidence lead?” “It’s a mystery!” If you have worked in public history for long enough, chances are you have at some point described a historical episode or research question as a mystery. While it may be a useful strategy, public historians should thoughtfully consider the implications of a “mystery” framing before using it. Read More
08 January 2026 – Carolyn Barske Crawford
The University of North Alabama’s (UNA) summer study abroad experience in Scotland demonstrates that regional universities can create meaningful international public history experiences for their students. Co-led by public historians from UNA and archaeologists from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the program gives students a rare opportunity to work directly with international heritage institutions, applying classroom skills to research, interpretation, and community engagement. Read More
18 May 2022 – Sarah H. Case
Editors’ Note: We publish the editor’s introduction to the May 2022 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members and to others with subscription access.
As Timothy Snyder, historian of Ukraine, reminds us, the myths, memories, and stories about a nation’s past shape its understanding of the present and the future. Read More
18 November 2020 – James F. Brooks
slavery, Indigenous People, historic preservation, TPH 42.4, archaeology, public history, deindustrialization, Editor's Corner, The Public Historian, campus history
Editors’ note: We publish The Public Historian editor James F. Brooks’s introduction to the November 2020 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members and to others with subscription access. Read More
18 August 2020 – James F. Brooks
Editor’s note: We publish The Public Historian editor James F. Brooks’s introduction to the August 2020 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members and to others with subscription access. Read More
14 May 2020 – James F. Brooks
commemoration, Immigration, public history, heritage tourism, Editor's Corner, race, The Public Historian, TPH 42.2, music
Editor’s note: We publish The Public Historian editor James F. Brooks’s introduction to the May 2020 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online free through June 2020, courtesy of the University of California Press, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
31 March 2020 – Laurie Arnold
Indigenous People, native americans, methods, manhattan, community history, cherokee, sense of place, lenape, public history, 2021 annual meeting, theater
It’s been five years since Hamilton: An American Musical debuted at the Public Theatre in New York, a notable moment for numerous reasons, not least of which was the ensuing (and ongoing) clamor among Americans for tickets to see a musical about history. Read More
10 December 2019 – James F. Brooks
Editor’s note: We publish The Public Historian editor James F. Brooks’s introduction to the November 2019 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members and to others with subscription access. Read More
19 September 2019 – Allison Horrocks 1
public programming, interpretation, authority, National Park Service, shared authority, public history, working group, 2019 annual meeting, historiography, cultural heritage
For the 2019 National Council on Public History Annual Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut, I had the pleasure of coordinating the Interpreting Our Heritage in the 21st Century working group with public historian Nick Sacco. Our goal was to take a fresh look at Freeman Tilden’s foundational text, Interpreting Our Heritage (1957), and to consider whether it required “repair work,” which was the annual meeting’s theme. Read More
14 August 2019 – James F. Brooks
Editor’s note: We publish The Public Historian editor James F. Brooks’s introduction to the August 2019 issue of The Public Historian here. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members and to others with subscription access. Read More