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
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.
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
The American narrative, like any cultural narrative, consists of stories that structure and assign meaning to the nation’s origin, history, and existence. In theory, this narrative can link Americans who have experienced genocide, slavery, and white privilege. But for people descended from enslaved peoples, this narrative has instead been used to conceal the inconvenient truths of systemic historic and current racial injustice and inequality. Read More
Lyra Monteiro is certainly right, when she notes in her review of Hamilton: An American Musical, that mainstream American culture has a lamentable tendency to embrace and retell certain stories about American history, including that of the founders, with greater frequency and enthusiasm than the many other stories that require more difficult reckonings with the past. Read More
Editor’s note: We publish TPH editor James Brooks’s introduction to the February 2016 issue of The Public Historian. The entire issue is available online to National Council on Public History members. Responses to Andrew Hurley’s essay and Lyra Monteiro’s review will be published on History@Work in the coming weeks.Read More
Editor’s note: This post continues a series commemorating the anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act by examining a past article published in The Public Historian, describing its significance and relating it to contemporary conversations in historic preservation.
Editor’s note: This post continues a series commemorating the anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act by examining a past article published in The Public Historian, describing its significance and relating it to contemporary conversations in historic preservation.
The saga of the Locust Grove Cemetery, an African American burial ground in the small borough of Shippensburg, is one that is repeated across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Read More
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