Capstone Session: Relationships, Generations and Considerations of Power

Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to hear the summary comments presented by my colleagues at the conference capstone session. However, I arrived in time to listen as the speakers and audience members engaged in a conversation about the relationships through which public history is constantly reinvented. Hearing that made me feel less conspicuous; I had missed the more formal commentary because I was having breakfast with my colleague, Benjamin Filene.

Benjamin and I both accepted jobs heading public history programs in the fall of 2006. Both of us came to academia after some time as practitioners of public history. And, we have both integrated a hands-on, partner driven approach to public history education in all of our courses. We have made a habit of touching base at the NCPH Annual Meeting, and I value the opportunity to think through the challenges and pleasures of public history education with him.

I have similar relationships with a host of other colleagues across the country. Having opportunities to connect with them and discuss the issues that arise from our common commitment to collaborative and engaged forms of scholarship enables me to re-invent my courses. Taken as a whole, these relationships are the foundation from which we participate in the constant evolution of our field.

Given this, I was struck by two things about the conversation in the capstone session.

Spurred in part by comments made on Friday morning by James Brewer Stewart, there was much talk about how the “new generation” of public historians will transform the field. Stewart had drawn our attention to the culturally and historically specific perspective that today’s students bring to politics and to history. Undoubtedly, this generation thinks globally, interacts technologically and re-imagines regularly the location and content of their work. During the capstone session, many picked up on his perspective, arguing that the “older generation” had laid the foundations of public history, and today’s young professionals will remake it.

I don't dispute the fact that today's students and new professionals bring fresh perspectives to the practice of public history, not to mention a new web of relationships that will most definitely enable our field to continue its evolution. However, the suggestion that this is a unique generational change might be misleading.

Vivian Rose put the pieces together. Her comments on the centrality of relationships in our work help explain why the field has always been fluid. Public history happens at the intersection of a series of complex personal and professional conversations that challenge distinctions between experts and audiences, curators and professors, “us” and “them,” older and younger.

In addition, Modupe Labode reminded me that, more important than observing the ways in which new scholars will undoubtedly re-imagine the field, we must be mindful of the play of power underneath even the most mutually beneficial relationships. Often power is made invisible by collaborative work and engaged professionalism. None of the relationships that compose public history are removed from considerations of power and authority, and some are more fraught than others.

I suspect it will become increasingly crucial to address questions of power. At this year’s annual meeting, discussion about the impact of the current dire economy on our profession was somewhat muted. However, problems of economic disparity are becoming increasingly evident. Some of us remain in relatively safe jobs while many of our colleagues and collaborators face layoffs, budget reductions and unstable, piecemeal employment. As these issues become more pressing, differential power relationships will become more evident, and we will all need to rethink our role in the web of personal and professional relationships that compose our field.

Art and Remembering Slavery

Providence and this conference offer visitors many opportunities to reflect on slavery. A project by Roger Williams University Brown Professor Julian Bonder and his partner Kristof Wodiczko will remember the French city Nantes as the major slave-trading port with a giant-earthworks cut: the physical wound of slavery, filled with the waters of the Middle Passage. Bonder's design students presented an array of thoughtful public space macquettes, including African face masks with hidden mirrors that offer a reflection of the user's complicity.

A poster stand by the New-York Historical Society detailing "Run for Your Life Underground Railroad projects, demonstrated the kind of national networking that invites the public to learn more about fugitive slaves and the impact of the early African American public sphere. Given the NCPH's conference themes this year, the community of contacts was especially important on this topic.

This landscape of human rights was amplified with the screening of the film Scarred Justice, the Orangeburg Massacre -- a moving documentary about the tragic shooting and wounding of students at South Carolina State in 1968. Filmmaker Judy Richardson noted how documents from Freedom of Information Act requests could provide evidence for the never-conducted investigation that today's citizens demand.

While leafing a local magazine, I discovered that Providence runs an "I Buy Art" project to encourage businesses to sell original artwork, and engage the public in the vibrant art-making activity in the city. If it weren't Sunday am at Plenary Time, I would run out and shop for an original right now!

Showcasing Digital Projects

Public history is happening on the web. In Friday's Digital Projects Showcase, we saw 10 presentations about web projects in various stages of development. The session was unfortunately in a small, narrow room where sounds of revelry penetrated from the reception outside, and many of the projects were presented with screenshots rather than live. A better presentation might be as a digital poster session where interested parties could explore the projects hands-on and ask questions directly. This could also help the developers evaluate usability for historians and researchers. For now, I've linked to all the projects so you can explore on your own.

CHNM's Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

Mass Memories Roadshow from UMass Boston, "a state-wide digital humanities project that documents Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories," through community scanning events, and their Mass history social network (on Ning).

Annapolis GIS, which provides access to locational data around urban archaeology in Annapolis.

PhilaPlace, about Philadelphia neighborhoods and communities, launches in September. It uses Collective Access as a backend.

Venerable community collections project Maine Memory Net has been facilitating some innovative collaborations.

Lehigh Digital Library's Beyond Steel. Want to know who lived in a particular house, what plant they worked for, if they owned or boarded? Beyond Steel can tell you.

The Knowledge Cube, still in the planning stages, from Clarkson.

Virtual tours of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, still under development.

(I regret to say that I missed the last two presentations, and can only find a link to one of them. Sorry, civil war mappers from WVU!)

Mapping Memories of Fox Point maps oral histories of Fox Point, Providence, and creates "memory maps" for each person's experience of the place.

Traces of the Trade

The final session I attended today was a showing of the documentary Traces of the Trade, made by Katrina Brown. What an amazing film to show at a public history conference! Brown, who found out that her ancestors had been some of the major slave traders in the U.S., gathered some of her family members for a trip from Rhode Island to Ghana to Cuba, to trace the triangular trade. Particularly important was the way in which Brown demonstrated the economic basis of slavery. Abhorrent, evil, unspeakable, slavery 'made sense' in economic terms in that past time and could be connected to businesses ranging from distilling rum to textile manufacturing. For public historians what might have been the most striking moments were those at museums in Rhode Island and Ghana. In the former, Brown's ancestor's mansion had become a house museum which refused to let her film inside because she was raising the issue of slavery. As one of her relatives said, it's not like the town will change its sign to say "Welcome to Bristol, the Slave Trading Capital of the U.S." Conversely, in Ghana, the group tours the slave forts where captured slaves were held in cramped, dark, infested surroundings until they could be shipped to the Caribbean. The history of slavery is not only remembered there, but also dealt with, as show in a healing ceremony that the group, somewhat uncomfortably attends.

Traces of the Trade: http://www.tracesofthetrade.org/

Awards luncheon

Among the prizewinners honored at this year's awards luncheon were (top to bottom, standing with NCPH Vice President Marty Blatt), Meghan Bishop (Tryon Palace) and Santi Thompson (Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina), co-winners of the New Professional Travel Awards; the "Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth" team and New Mexico state historian Estevan Rael-Gálvez (for the New Mexico Digital History Project), and Hannah Howard and Kristen Foster from University of North Carolina Charlotte, co-winners of the Student Project Award.



Other award winners were Cary Carson (the G. Wesley Johnson Award for the most outstanding article published in The Public Historian in the past year), Manon Perry and James W. Steely for excellence in consulting, and Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh (the NCPH Book Award for Massacre at Camp Grant: Forgetting and Remembering Apache History).

The awards luncheon was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Noel Stowe, a founding member and past president of NCPH.

Young Professionals Reflect on the Value of Public History Education

This afternoon, I had the privilege of eavesdropping on five young professionals who led a roundtable discussion designed to help current graduate students make the most of their public history education. Teresa Sherwood, curator of the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Park; Erin Rose, curator of education for the Fort Casper Museum and Historic Site; Jennifer Lemak, Historian of African American History at the Albany State Museum; J.R. Fennell, Director of the Lexington County Museum; and Alex Bethe, Historian at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command addressed a series of questions about how their graduate education had prepared them for work in the public sector.

The session was lively and informative, and the students in attendance clearly enjoyed the opportunity to gather advice and impressions from recent graduates. As one of several public history educators in attendance, I found the session enjoyable, instructive and gratifying. The panelists confirmed that the structure and requirements of our graduate programs are largely effective in preparing students for work in the public sector, and they provided insight into the kinds of courses we should consider for the future.

There were several points on which all the panelists agreed. First, classroom and real world projects that provide students with real-world experience are most effective for preparing students for work. Second, and closely related, graduate internships allowed the panelists to apply skills they had learned and practiced in the classroom in a variety of site and project specific circumstances. All the panelists agreed that even the most mundane internship work –such as accessioning artifacts or moving collections—had provided them with marketable skills and experiences. Third, the panelists confirmed that traditional graduate history coursework is directly applicable to the work of public historians. Interestingly, panelists particularly pointed to historiography classes. While most admitted that such courses were the least enjoyable in their studies, they agreed that the value of historiography coursework became more evident over time. The ability to recognize the evolution of historical scholarship has proven to be a necessary skill, enabling young professionals to understand how and why site interpretation had changed over time. Further, all the panelists agreed that basic skills in historical research, writing and analysis are as indispensable to public historians as they are to historians who work in universities and other research institutions.

Two topics attracted a bit more diversity of opinion.

Each of the panelists had a slightly different opinion about the best approach to a capstone project. Two students had completed traditional capstone projects –a Master’s Thesis and a dissertation. These young professionals argued that producing a more traditional final product had provided them with the opportunity to demonstrate their specialized expertise as historians. Other members of the panel produced non-traditional capstone projects. They argued that the ability to create a historical product geared for public consumption had enabled them to develop a portfolio of marketable products. In either case, panelists agreed that following a complex project through from research to completion had been a crucial educational experience.

Panelists also offered different observations about the best approach to graduate school. Some panelists felt strongly that a direct path from undergraduate through graduate school was most productive. They argued that delaying school would ultimately have prevented them from pursing a graduate degree in the first place. Others thought, in retrospect, that a few years in the work force would have enabled them to focus their professional development more clearly, understand the applicability of course work more fully, and select their program more thoughtfully.

Finally, panelists made some suggestions about courses they felt were lacking in graduate study. In particular, students observed a need for courses that provide training in a variety of museum software programs and new media development. They also suggested that a course in preservation law and state specific cultural policies would have helped prepare them to understand the legal jargon and contexts that structures their day-to-day work. During the course of this discussion, it became clear that current and incoming graduate students are thinking critically and carefully about the necessity of pursing graduate degrees. Some discussion from educators in the audience indicated that PhDs are becoming increasingly necessary for administrators and curators, particularly in middle sized and large institutions, and an increasing number of public history graduate students are strongly considering more advanced study.

The never-ending question

The "Whither the Field?" session sponsored by the NCPH's 30th anniversary committee turned into a free-ranging discussion about the necessity to define public history and its standards in way that was, well, definitive and able to be communicated clearly to academics, employers, and the public at large.  At the end of the session, Jann Warren-Findlay from Arizona State University pointed out, somewhat bemusedly, that she had been hearing essentially the same discussion over the whole history of the organization, which suggested that on some level, this is likely always to remain an open question that reflects the multi-facetedness and adaptability of public history.  (See the NCPH website for an organizational stab at addressing the question--and there's room to add definitions there, if you feel inspired to contribute yours.)

One point that struck me in the discussion was that while nailing down a definition probably isn't going to happen, the field and the NCPH do have histories, and we might do a better job of communicating those, as a way of passing along our own institutional culture (and dilemmas!).  Some of that is on the NCPH website, too--click here for more on our own history.

Work

"I'm a secretary, but I probably make more money than most of you." The woman who said this, who left the room before I could get to talk to her, encapsulated a central point of the working group she had attended, "Public History as Work." Organized by Cathy Stanton and Amy Tyson, this group's purpose was to analyze public history as work and public historians as laborers contending with insecure working conditions that may be more like adjunct professors, contract workers, or fast food workers, than traditional white collar professions that require similar amounts of education. Yet the woman quoted above offered her observation as someone working towards becoming a public historian, even though this may be an example of downward mobility for her, at least in terms of economics. What our lively discussion demonstrated in part was the ways in which work and class in this postindustrial economy cannot be understood without thinking in cultural terms. Are public historians compensated in prestige? Does our cultural capital lead to social capital that may result in a more secure life than, say, a secretary? And, an issue that was raised again and again, what kinds of authority do public historians have among academic historians, the public and historical institutions in the knowledge economy?

Public History Educators: Bearing Witness as an Ethical Imperative

At this morning’s breakfast for public history educators, I was reminded again of the imperative of bearing witness. The annual breakfast meeting serves as an information gathering session for members of the NCPH Curriculum and Training Committee. This morning, listening to the questions raised by our colleagues who teach public history in colleges and universities across the country, there was ample reason for optimism about the future of public history. There was also a clearly articulated urgency regarding our role as advocates; participants agreed that we must speak for both the value of history and the needs of our students and colleagues during dire economic times.

On the positive side of the equation, the number of public history programs, concentrations and courses continues to expand. A significant number of people at the breakfast identified themselves as either coordinating new programs or working to extend public history course offerings and degree opportunities in their home institutions. Further, the expansion of public history is fostering a transformation in history education and scholarship more generally. Public history educators are engaged scholars, working to develop or improve partnerships with museums, archives, historical societies, secondary schools and other institutions. Such partnerships are mutually beneficial. They provide practical experiences for our students, and they help public history institutions document their value to the community at large. Public history educators are striving to assess and implement best practices for managing partnerships, running programs, and fostering scholarship. As part of this effort, we are deeply engaged in efforts to transform university culture around issues of promotion and tenure, and this effort is contributing to the evolution of more engaged forms of scholarship, teaching and service throughout the discipline of history.

However, breakfast participants also identified a number of serious ethical issues amplified by the national economic crisis. Because graduate programs tend to be counter-cyclical in relationship to the economy, the number of applicants to public history and history programs is expanding. Many incoming students are traditional students trying to delay entry into the job market, but many others are non-traditional students looking to make a career change when their jobs have been lost or threatened. University administrators, facing their own budgetary crises, are pressuring departments to increase their enrollments in order to ensure a steady stream of tuition revenue. At the same time, they are cutting the budgets that keep programs viable. At many universities, graduate assistantships and sponsored internships have been dramatically reduced. Some departments are forced to offer fewer courses in order to cut the cost of hiring professional adjuncts to teach crucial, skill-based courses.

The ethical issues we face have broad ramifications. Public history institutions are laying off curators, educators and archivists, forcing public history educators to consider their role in undermining job security for both our colleagues and our students. Our students –working in the context of courses or as interns—are a source of free labor, fulfilling responsibilities formerly held by colleagues who have lost their jobs. Upon graduation, new professionals are competing for jobs against more experienced colleagues as well as students. Many remain unemployed or under-employed for long periods of time, leaving them not only without a reliable income, but often without access to health insurance and other necessary benefits.

As public history educators, then, it seems clear that our engagement in these issues must expand to meet the needs or our students and colleagues. From our comparatively secure positions, we can identify funding opportunities that will come from stimulus monies distributed to the states. Patrick Moore from the University of West Florida urged public history educators to develop projects now that will provide opportunities for both our students and our unemployed colleagues to earn income from federally funded initiatives. Equally important, Briann Greenfield from Central Connecticut State University observed that public history educators must take our role as advocates for museums, historic sites and higher education even more seriously than we already do, making sure that politicians and funding agencies are well aware of the value of our work.

As educators and intellectuals actively promoting more engaged forms of intellectual inquiry and teaching, we have a responsibility to bear witness both to the plight of our colleagues and to the public value of history.

Never-Ending CIvil War: Bearing the Standard

Rangers, academics, graduate students, site interpreters, educators, archivists and humanities officials packed a session of the Civil War Sesquicentennial Working Group. Participants groped towards some new understandings of how public historians will be interpreting the 150th of the Civil War. Most comments were prefaced with a "I am not a military historian but..." So, the events this time will operate under a civilian banner. Moderator C. Vann West summarized saying "it will be a story about the Struggle and Definition of Freedom and Citizenship."

Bruce Bustard of the National Archives noted how the 100th anniversary exhibition did not even feature the Emancipation Proclamation. Matt Warshauer of Central Connecticut State correspondingly remarked that the Civil War Cenntennial in Connecticut did not mention slavery, colored troops or the Freedmen's Bureau. Comments demonstrated that precisely those themes will be front and center in 2011, making contexts and freedom struggles prominent in ways that suggest linkages to the American genealogy of civil rights.

In the absence of a central national coordinating body, state-level interpretations promise to offer multiple perspectives. For example, the National Archives will start its "war" with the Christiana, Pennsylvania "riot" over an 1851 incident of resistance to slave-owners seeking recapture of fugitives in the North. However, the National Park service has a comprehensive website in the works for January 2010.

Jim Steele of Fort Fisher in North Carolina noted how state level control of historic sites means that the local politics powerfuly influence context. Ashley Whitehead of West Virginia University suggested that by talking about the history of changing historical perspectives, site interpreters can alert visitors that monuments reflecting older views about the culture of Reconciliation offer occasions to speak of how society shifts its memories. Lorraine McConaghy of the Seattle Museum of History and Industry plans to surprise people with stories of how settlers brought the Civil War with them to the Washington Territory. Incidents included fugitives slaves, active Knights of the Golden Circle and the official closing of a dozen pacifist or Copperhead newspapers.

Speaking about a two version exhibition about Lee and Grant at the Virginia Historical, and then Grant and Lee at the New-York Historical Society, Kathleen Hulser underlined the way in which similar objects can suggest different storylines and allow visitors multiple entry points through audio tours, Vodcasts, public programs and web content, to use material culture as catalyst for individual historical interests. The open pathway approach is also user-friendly for a new generation of visitors with their own set of questions.

Session participants suggested that the group plan a special issue of the Public Historian, and meet again at subsequent NCPH conferences to continue the valuable dialogue.

Priya Chhaya and Leah Suhrstedt from the Center for Preservation Leadership at the National Trust for Historic Preservation are both at the NCPH conference, and have posted this entry about it on the National Trust's blog, "Preservation Nation."

Curator's tour of site-specific artwork

Today at 9:00, a chance to talk with the curators of the art installation at the Nightingale-Brown House, 357 Benefit Street (a 15 minute walk from the hotel). Why at art show for the NCPH? Two artists mined the collections and history of the 1792 building to comment on the history in an interesting and profound way - not the way a historian would, but in a way that opens up new ways to look at historic houses, archives, and history more generally. More here.

Also at the house: Emancipated Memories, paintings by Cora Marshall based on advertisements for slaves, and runaway slave announcements

Thinking more about material culture

As a young professional and graduate student, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about using objects as evidence. I was delighted to attend a conference where I had the opportunity to listen to seven professionals discuss these very same issues.

In round table session The Objects of History Patricia West, James Gardner and Cynthia Koch presented practical and philosophical approaches that sprang from their own work experiences. West discussed work in her own site, Martin Van Buren National Historic Site as well as other historic house museums. Gardner discussed the reopening of the National Museum of American History particularly the use of large iconic objects reinterpreted for new generations. Finally, Koch of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum explored ways objects, multimedia and images within the museum can better portray the experiences FDR in the White House as well as how he used his library office upon leaving office.

Gardner’s exploration of considerations for the Star Spangled Banner impressed me greatly. This priceless icon of American history is not only well preserved but also uniquely accessible for generations to come in a specially designed laboratory exhibit case. The exhibit itself is elegant and spare.

West offered suggestions to challenge us to “re-see” our own sites.
• Rethink to see what is not obvious (someone who is ill would always be in bed – don’t make the bed)
• Honor other points of view (servants, slavery, others who interact with a house)
• Reframe what you see, many changes are the problematic addition of
unthinking display mode. (Koch would certainly second this rule! As well as others I believe).
• Finally, focus on slightly less information but greater evocative impact. In essence regift what the site already has to use them in new ways to connect with the past.

Discussion ranged from the practical to the philosophical as well. Ending with a meditation on the power of objects to bring to mind the past in ways two-dimensional evidence cannot. This is one power of public history.

For when the rain stops

More bookish advice on places to go, things to see, when the rain stops and you want to get out of the hotel ...

Check out the

Providence Athenaeummore info »
It's wonderful private library, but open to the public. A 10-15 minute walk from the hotel, at 251 Benefit St, Providence, RI‎ - (401) 421-6970‎

John Hay Library‎ - more info »

20 Prospect St, Providence, RI‎ - (401) 863-2146‎

Brown's Special Collections library. Open Sunday 1-5.

Bearing Witness: Revisiting Public History as Service

At last year’s annual meeting of the National Council on Public History, the organizing theme that resonated across sessions was service. Who is it that we serve and how can we best serve them. This morning, keynote speaker James Brewer Stewart, suggested one possible answer: by bearing witness.

Stewart spent most of his career as a traditional historian, trained to be suspicious about scholarship that might distort our understanding of history by “making the past about the present.” However, over the course of his career, he came to recognize, in the words of William Faulker, that the past isn't dead, it isn't even past. Culture radiates outward, from past to present, and history can provide valuable insights about how best to address complex social problems.

Stewart's focus is the global slave trade. He observed that the contemporary problem of slavery might be solved, in part, by a re-configuration of historical memory. In early 19th century America, slavery was a crucial public issue. Respectable gentlemen counted slaves among their assets. Politicians, the press, and the clergy debated the morality of slavery, and well-meaning individuals posed numerous partial and gradual solutions to the moral dilemmas that the institution illuminated. Abolitionists, unwilling to accept the slow pace of change, demanded the impossible: immediate and total freedom for all enslaved people. Today, slavery –illegal and indefensible—has been driven underground. It is nearly invisible to average Americans and absent from political discourse.

Popular histories of slavery have been dominated in recent years, by a focus on the success of abolition. The Underground Railroad provides a vehicle through which the story of slavery has become palatable because it emphasizes individual courage and leadership and downplays the extent to which slavery dominated American political and economic life. Stewart challenged his more traditional minded colleagues to engage actively in the transformation of this popular narrative, in order to embrace a more useful the past. Nineteenth century abolitionists were audacious and relentless in their demand for an end to slavery. They provided platforms from which former slaves could speak for themselves, attracting empathy and leading the charge toward freedom. Historians might play a similar role, documenting and amplifying the voices of individuals whose lives have been directly affected by the contemporary slave trade.

Of course, Stewart was preaching to the choir.

In a variety of sessions that followed his talk this morning, public historians described their work in empowering a variety of collaborators to engage in the business of history. Public historians from inside and outside of the academy are amplifying the voices of indigenous peoples across Canada, farmers in the southern Maryland, and residents of Mill Towns in New England, allowing them to define the questions worth studying and the resources worth protecting.

Public historians are indeed in a unique position to hear and echo the needs of diverse publics, and we have a clear understanding that our work serves a larger political purpose. Our collaborative form of scholarly inquiry allows us to bear witness to pressing social issues, and our work helps lend legitimacy to the voices of vulnerable or under served communities.

The positive sides of presentism

Jim Stewart from Macalester College, this morning's keynote speaker, echoed Jill Lepore and others I've heard at the conference who have spoken about how public history and public historians tend to question the historical rule of thumb about not allowing present-day agendas and allegiances to inform how historians understand or interpret the past. Speaking on "Abolishing Slavery in Lincoln's Time and Ours: The Legacies of American Slavery and the Challenges of Human Trafficking," Stewart made a case for using historical knowledge to inform what he sees as a contemporary anti-slavery movement that is still just in the process of coalescing into a broad public project, within which the "millenial generation"--those born around the turn of the 21st century--are already among the most active. Stewart raised good questions about intellectual and social responsibilities, the nature of broad coalitions of social movements, and the importance of media in reaching and engaging particular audiences in a wired and global society.

Those interested in pursuing the ideas and issues raised in Stewart's talk may be interested in an upcoming conference, "Bearing Witness: Ending Slavery," an international forum to be held in Newport, Rhode Island in October 2009, and organized by Connecticut's Beecher House Center and the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation in Hull, UK. More information will be forthcoming on the websites of those two institutions closer to the October 15-18 date.

Commemoration

I love rubbing elbows with folks with fresh ideas and who read different books 'cause there are wonderful gems / truths that can now be appropriated for your own use.  Mark Kristmanson, the Director of Public Programming for the National Capital Commission in Ottawa, Canada used a great quote in his talk that needs to be shared from the French Historian / activist Marc Bloc.  Bloc said that "People tend to represent their times more than their parents".

In looking at whether to do a commemorative event, it bears keeping a keen awareness as to just who your audience may be.  In thinking about why a visitor center is needed for the Vietnam War Memorial, just think how much war a twenty year old has seen on TV: Gulf War #1, Kosovo, the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Afghanistan, the War in Iraq & Afganistan again.  Their sensitivies towards war is far different than those of us confronted with Vietnam and television has made it much more immediate, thus, perhaps more numbing.  So the "why a Visitor Center for the Vietnam War" may well reflect the need for it to be interpreted for the audience is a very different one.  These young people may be whom Marc Bloch was thinking about for they are far more representative of their times than their parents.

A thought,

Chuck Arning

The children will lead us

I just attended a fascinating session on "Historical Truths and Reconciliation: The Interpretation of African American and Enslaved Peoples." The participants debated and complicated traditional assumptions about how to address slavery and race within a public setting--whether that setting is a classroom, a historic site, or a museum. Many in the audience reminded us that children are often very receptive to discussing the legacy of slavery and segregation in American history--in a way that older generations (who are perhaps more painfully connected to this history) may not be.

In turn, their discussion reminded me of James Stewart's excellent keynote address, in which he positioned the millennial generation as the torchbearers of the 19th century abolitionist movement. As I listened, however, I thought of the American history survey course I teach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I am continually surprised by the number of papers I receive that say something to the effect of, "now that Obama is president, this proves that equality has been achieved." Or, "We shouldn't dwell on these problems because I'm not responsible for what happened in the past." This--despite my constant classroom emphasis on the fact that the struggle for civil rights has not yet ended!

I agree that children and the millennial generation may indeed prove to be surprisingly receptive activists who will transform history classrooms and public history sites with their reinterpretations of slavery, segregation, and race. Yet I am perplexed as to how to address the almost willful refusal or apathy many (but,of course, not all!) of my college students have with regard to these subjects. As I prepare to teach American history and public history in the mountains of North Carolina in the fall, how can I help as many college students as possible make the transition from indifference to engaged activism? And is this my responsibility as a public historian?

Networking

Day 1. NCPH is a big enough conference that you could conceivably attend but not meet or talk with anyone new. It would be pretty hard though, especially with so much emphasis being put on networking. Yesterday, I attended a session on social networking and public history where Denise Meringolo and Melissa Bingmann became 21st century Emily Posts offering words of advice on the etiquette of facebook, linkedin and conference schmoozing to an audience of extremely interested graduate students (many of whom were on their way to speed networking afterwards).
Later in the afternoon, I saw a different example of networking in action. The Community Retrospective, 1968 Riots panel had representatives from Newark, NJ and Baltimore, MD, who had been involved in extensive community projects commemorating the 1967 and 1968 civil unrests in those cities. Each project was successful because of the number of stakeholders who became involved, the multidisciplinary approach, which included exhibits, conferences, theater, film and art, among others, and the impassioned direction of community leaders who marshalled their social networks in support.
Perhaps, most impressive to me, the network formed between and by the leaders of these projects. While Newark and Baltimore are very different cities, they share similar histories of the disenfranchisement of African Americans, bounded white ethnic neighborhoods, and federal disinvestment in the postwar period. What a powerful story to tell together--the story of urban unrest in a region, not only an isolated city. All history is local, but it is by sharing resources, knowledge, expertise and stories that it becomes powerful.

Our Speed Networking Experiment

This afternoon, twenty-five professional public historians graciously participated in an experimental session designed to help integrate graduate students and young professionals more fully into the conference: speed networking. Loosely modeled on “speed dating,” the session enabled fifty conference newcomers, rotating in pairs, to spend fifteen minute intervals with public historians from a variety of specialty fields. As one of a team of organizers, I think I can accurately say we were nervous about how the session would work, logistically as well as philosophically.

All early indications are that we need not have worried.

Prior to the speed networking session, Melissa Bingmann and I led an informal conversation about social networking. Last minute technical difficulties prevented us from demonstrating the social networking sites facebook and linkedin. However, based on our use of both sites for our own professional networking, we provided students with both formal and informal advice about how to build effective professional relationships. We confessed to the mistakes we had made in our own efforts to make and manage networks. Perhaps most importantly, we encouraged students to recognize networking as a long term process –one that includes the creation and nurturing of relationships not only with professionals in positions of power, but also with fellow graduate students and entry level peers.

Students and new professionals entered into the speed networking session well prepared to engage in conversations about their own work and interests. We encouraged them to recognize the session as an opportunity to break the ice, not a job fair. While it is not yet possible to measure the long term impact of the speed networking session, by all immediate evidence, the event was a great success. Graduate students reported feeling more comfortable after having been instructed in protocol. The imposition of a time limit and rotation schedule lent just enough structure to the networking process. Both students and professionals reported meeting people with whom they intended to remain in contact after the conference, and everyone said the event was both informative and fun.

Jill Lepore on what to do with "more history than we can handle"

So I'm not the only one who's been feeling that the proliferation of "historic" this and that over the past year or so ultimately devalues the whole idea of "the historic." Opening keynote speaker Jill Lepore, keying on a New York times article that talked about an "unprecedented pileup of historic news," bemoaned the lack of depth or analysis in most of the discussions of historic candidacies, elections, meltdowns, and what have you, and pointed out that the current feeling of "cuspiness"--being on the edge of momentous change--is, in fact, hardly new. Referencing the Studs Turkel model of oral history and clips from the New York Times "New Hard Times," which invites readers to videotape and upload their own families' stories about the last Great Depression, Lepore argued that such projects, driven by shorter and shorter news cycles, are deeply at odds with the historian's responsibility to make careful, in-depth analyses about the past. In an age where everyone is increasingly his or her own historian, Lepore made a case for the unique role of the historian in showing how the past relates to the present.

There is much to be said for this argument, and much to question about plug-and-play approaches to collecting and disseminating stories about the past. But Lepore, in taking academic historians to task for failing to connect their work to wider publics, seemed strangely unaware of the existence and efforts of large numbers of her colleagues--public and oral historians, among others, many of them based in or associated with the academy--who have been working for decades to do precisely that. Academic historians are public history's most reliable "other," but the dichotomy between them is a false one in many ways, and it would have been nice to hear this highly articulate and public-minded historian say more about the many high-quality projects that are connecting past with present in the public realm. Her lament about the "vacuum of historical authority" in public discourse also sidestepped debates about the various levels of authority about different kinds of knowledge about the past--something that thoughtful practitioners of public history have had to concede they don't, after all, have a monopoly on.

Lepore's talk did get me thinking about all the appeals I've gotten lately to "share my story" with activist groups who want to use it to help sway policy-makers their way. "Has the stimulus impacted you personally?" a recent MoveOn email asked me. "Or have you heard any stories about how it is impacting your town? ...Can you help today by sharing your stimulus success story?" I guess it's cheaper than sharing my hard-earned dollars, as I was doing during the campaign season--but it does raise questions about how much currency stories do have when they're gathered and "shared" so easily and widely. I guess I'm agreeing with Lepore's basic argument here--it was just odd to hear her making her case to a room full of the very people who are working hardest to do the things she's saying are not being done!

MTSU gathering in Providence

Current and former Middle Tennessee State University students and partners are gathering at the Trinity Brewhouse this Friday at 6:30pm. Organizer and host is Dr. Van West of the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU. Trinity Brewhouse is supposed to be the best microbrewery in Rhode Island, so be sure to check out their website for information on their award winning beers and their fantastic menu!

Good News, Bad News

Bedbugregistry.com reports that "There are no bedbug encounters on record" for the Hotel Biltmore.

They will not be setting the river on fire during our stay.

The Cape Verdean Museum is reopening tomorrow (bus directions).

Former mayor Buddy Cianci is out of jail and has a radio show.

And Google maps shows a number of interesting watering holes near the conference hotel. Can anyone comment on the quality of these establishments?


View Larger Map

Bookstores

I know it's old-fashioned, but visiting bookstores in a new city is a great pleasure. Especially used bookstores. There's a fine one close by the conference hotel:

Cellar Stories Book Store‎ - more info »

111 Mathewson St, Providence, RI‎ - (401) 521-2665‎
There's also a first-rate scholarly bookstore:

Symposium Books‎ - more info »

240 Westminster St, Providence, RI‎ - (401) 273-7900‎
A 25-minute or so hike through the Brown campus will take you to the Brown University Bookstore, newly renovated. An excellent selection, and a great coffee shop!

Things to do!

There's a lot going on in Providence! The city's Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism tries to keep track of things - check out their calendar here.

Looking Back to Louisville

In an hour or so, I’ll be on a train heading to Providence for my second NCPH conference. Last year, I arrived in Louisville not knowing what to expect. Even though I’d been to lots of academic conferences, the public history field was something of an unknown quantity to me. I’d never formally studied public history even though I’d been working in it off and on for years and had a deep passion for it. So there I was, getting off the shuttle bus at the conference hotel, nervous, but also excited at the prospect of meeting hundreds of people with those same interests. Which I did, from documentary filmmakers to graduate students. Intellectually, I felt like I’d come home.

After finishing a Ph.D. in American Studies, I decided for a variety of reasons not to pursue an academic career, instead working in museums and historic sites. Today, I try to combine both realms. My ‘real job’ is as the Associate Director of the non-profit New Jersey Council for the Humanities, but I also research, publish and teach part-time. NCPH mirrors this bridging, which was demonstrated to me at the Public History and Civic Life working group I was on. Our conversation ranged from theoretical questions about what ‘civic life’ means to thoughtful consideration of concrete issues about how public history organizations can support civic life. One example: Kathleen Hulser from the New York Historical Society discussed how they had integrated civic engagement into their Slavery in New York exhibit by recording attendees’ comments in a video booth and uploading them to youtube. I’m still struck at the brilliance of this idea, which shows one of the strengths of public historians—the ability to bring big ideas into the real world. Looking back at Louisville makes me all the more excited for my arrival in Providence.

Conversations on Public History in North America & the U.K.

As the organizer of last year's international public history conference convened by the Institute of Historical Research and the University and National Museums of Liverpool, to which distinguished NCPH veterans made such crucial contributions, and as a new member of the Editorial Board of TPH, I’m much looking forward to my first NCPH conference. I’ve spent the past three months consulting among public historians, professional organizations, ‘heritage’ bodies, and funding agencies in the UK about the state of public history in the British Isles in general, and Anglo-American dialogue and collaboration in particular.  At Providence, I’ll be discussing related issues with NCPH officers and members.  I’m experimenting with this blog in the hope that I might hear from anyone with past or current experience of Anglo-American collaborations in public history, or ideas for potential future exchanges or cooperation. I can be reached at hhoock@liv.ac.uk  and also hope to meet colleagues and graduate students who'd like to share experiences and ideas. 

Providence in the Evening

I thought I'd repost the recommendations of places to go out/eat in downtown Providence.  One of the graduate student committees compiled this list for first-time attendees and graduate students, but the section on where to eat, I think, works for everyone.  

What is there to do in the evening?  

Some evenings have scheduled events.  Definitely plan to attend the graduate student reception.  Most conference events end by around 9 pm, though, so you have plenty of time to get out and explore the city.  Several legendary Providence bars and clubs are located downtown, in very easy walking distance from the conference hotel.  Additionally there are often arts-related events (gallery nights, exhibit openings) in Providence.  Ask the hotel concierge or check out the local Providence alternative weekly to see what is happening: http://thephoenix.com/Providence.

This is hardly and exhaustive list:

The Wild Colonial: a casual tavern regularly rated one of the city's best; located in one of Providence's 18th century buildings.  250 South Water Street

Lupo's: Live music (check the website: http://www.lupos.com/).  79 Washington Street

Local 121: a beautifully restored restaurant and bar; conversation with the locals encouraged! (Try the Rhode Island style clam chowder; different than Boston style!)  121 Washington Street

The Red Fez: cheap, hip restaurant and bar (try the macaroni and cheese).  49 Peck Street

You can read the entire list of FAQs here.  

Are you going carbon-free to Providence?

Carbon offsets are by no means a long-term solution to the many problems caused by our dependence on fossil fuels, but they can be a good way to help underwrite the construction of a cleaner, greener infrastructure. If you're traveling from outside the region to Providence for the conference, consider investing a little more in your travel and offsetting its carbon footprint!

Not all carbon offset programs are created equal. For an assessment of some good ones, have a look at the Tufts Climate Initiative's run-down. I use Native Energy, and generally pay about $14 for travel within the same half of the country.

Networking Public History Style

I just returned from the OAH meeting in Seattle. Overall, it was excellent. I went to some phenomenal sessions and bought way too many books at the end of conference exhibit sale (all going into the dissertation). The one major disappointment was with the networking. I had big plans for connecting with folks who were doing public history in the region and in talking to other historians in my research fields. I am mostly uncomfortable in new social situations (but try to suck it up and make the best of it) and OAH isn't as focused on being graduate student friendly as NCPH is. So, the result was that I was not as successful as I had hoped and ended up coming away frustrated. By and large, the feeling I got was that I really needed to publish more before I would be willingly included in discussions. There's a different spirit at OAH than at NCPH.

Go figure that public historians are easier going and better at creating environments for social interchange.

One of the many things that NCPH has going for it is that their graduate student social event is in the evening, rather than at 7:30am. The evening event provides a great kick-off to connecting with other graduate students and getting that bonding/plugging-in going into full gear. If you're a graduate student and not signed up for this, find out if there is still a chance to get one of those free tickets to this event!

The snack breaks in between sessions are also a great time for continuing discussions from sessions and stopping to talk to people whose names you've only seen on the covers of your books. And the way that NCPH handles student poster sessions offers an excellent time for interaction among diverse professional audiences. I suspect that the speed networking event will provide much of this as well.

But what I like most about NCPH is the culture of the meeting. At NCPH people tend to be interested in talking to up-and-coming professionals, introducing them to other professionals with similar work or research interests, and exploring what others are doing regardless of academic or publication pedigree. There is generally less of a feel of power heirarchies or pretension that you might find at other academic conferences. All in all, NCPH manages to provide a setting for individuals to discuss (in both structured and unstructured ways) public history regardless of how much they have published or how far along they are in their career or education.

Perhaps its graduate friendly environment is why it has so many graduate student members and growing graduate student participation. Regardless, I think that it speaks well for training and professionalism in the public history field. I also think that it will have an impact on long term professional development.

We'll see what stories come out of networking at this year's conference.

Weather forecasts

The long-term forecasts for the weekend of the conference are in, and they look... pretty good. Highs of 50 or so, lows in the high 30s. Chance of showers - hard to know yet what that means. But bring an umbrella.

Ready to go?

A Po-Boy Dressed, with a Side of Local History: Documenting local history in post-Katrina New Orleans. (poster session)

Have you proofread it? Yes? Well proof it again, twenty more times. Getting ready for the poster session has been a hectic adventure. Trying to figure out the best way to present history to the public is what we do-- and it is often difficult. But with the poster session, we are trying to find the best way to present public history to scholars. Do we emphasize local history, or do we present more on digitization? What is the most alluring?

I'm trapped in a maze of file formatting, on-line downloads, and e-mail attachments. When everything is digital it allows for more attractive options, but it can sure make things more complicated. I'm wondering now if we should have just gone with construction paper and a glue stick. I've done my fair share of social studies fair projects, and I'm certain I haven't lost my skills with a hot glue gun and markers.

However we do it, we really are looking forward to sharing our experiences, excitement, and challenges with everyone at the conference. Using festival to explore local history is fun, and broadens public exposure to public history. At festival, we are allowed to be silly, campy, and maybe even weird. We can reach many people who may not step foot in a museum-- but will attend every festival in the city. In creating this poster, it has been a challenge to capture the undiluted essence of New Orleans, and translate our experiences so anyone, in any city, can become part of a local history festival. I sincerely hope we meet our goal.

I consider public historians to be artists of history, and I look forward to meeting fellow creatives!

Providence Here We Come!

As Cathy said on a previous blog, NCPH's upcoming meeting in Providence will be the largest gathering of public historians ever. Anywhere. Anytime. Period. 525 public history professionals and students will be heading to Providence for what promises to be another awesome NCPH meeting. I'm very excited to see the names of so many first-time attendees, and hope they will all enjoy the conference as much as I do every year, participate in the sessions and activities, and maybe add their voice to our conference blog as well. I'll get to meet some of the new folks at the Speed Networking session set up by our program committee, arranging fast-moving face to face dialogue between veteran - I've learned never to say "old" - public historians and those new to the field. I hope these mini informational interviews will give participants an inkling of the great variety of roles filled by public historians. The conference will have great sessions, fabulous tours in and around Providence, fascinating plenary speakers, and probably more than a little fun, including the NCPH endowment fundraiser, always the best party in town. My favorite part of this year's conference is that there will be no presidential address in 2009, which is a really good thing because I won't have to give it! Better get working on that for next year - meanwhile, see you in Providence!
Marianne Babal, NCPH President

It's a record...

With a week to go before the conference starts, we've already broken our own record for registration numbers. Our highest attendance ever at an NCPH conference was 476 people, at Santa Fe two years ago, and we now have more than 520 registered for the Providence event.

While these are big numbers for NCPH, you may find yourself thinking, "This is still quite a small conference, compared with some of the mega-events staged by academic and professional organizations." And this is the beauty of the NCPH conference - it attracts many people from within the field of public history, but it offers a very human-scale conference-going experience, with lots of opportunity for connecting with like-minded colleagues, students, and practitioners. Speaking for myself, I'm really looking forward to another wonderful gathering!

New Bill to Boost History Education, Reignite Culture Wars

[Greetings fellow public historians! I am cross-posting this from my blog because I think it is relevant to our field. --Larry]

Senators Robert Byrd, Edward Kennedy and Lamar Alexander have introduced a bill titled "Restoring American History and Civics to Classroom Prominence." Alexander (pictured here) described the bill in his floor speech, saying it "will help to put the teaching of American history and civics back in its rightful place, in our classrooms, so our children can grow up learning what it means to be an American. The legislation which we have introduced would expand summer academies for outstanding teachers, authorize new teacher programs, require States to set standards for the teaching and learning of U.S. history, and create new opportunities to compare the tests that students take on U.S. history."

Alexander's office also issued a press release which boiled the legislation down to bullet points, stating that the legislation would:

• Authorize 100 summer academies for outstanding students and teachers of U.S. History and align those academies with locations in the national park system, such as the John Adams House or Independence Hall
• Double authorization for funding “Teaching American History” programs in local school districts, which today involve 20,000 students as a part of No Child Left Behind
• Require states to develop and implement standards for student assessments in U.S. History, although there would be no federal accountability requirement as there is for reading and mathematics
• Allow states to compare history and civics test scores of 8th- and 12th-grade students by establishing a 10-state pilot program that would expand the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)

The most exciting parts of the bill are the first two items. One hundred summer academies is a lot! Tying them to the National Park Service is an interesting idea, and a tribute the NPS lobbyists, who deserve a big raise. Summer academies or institutes have been among the most successful parts of many, many Teaching American History projects, and the model is also used by the NEH and Gilder-Lehrman Institute. If one goes to the NPS History pages, and begins exploring the many historic National Monuments, historic trails, and National Heritage Areas (and when were those created, anyway? I had not heard of them) you can see the many possibilities for these institutes. I am already thinking of the NPS historic sites in my region, and the possibilities of summer institutes.

The second item, doubling the funding for the TAH program, is wonderful news. The Teaching American History program is designed to improve the teaching of American history in the schools by bringing together teachers, historians, and enough resources (by which I mean funding) for them to do some interesting collaborations. I have been deeply involved in the TAH program from the beginning, writing grant proposals, teaching the teachers, and most recently as an evaluator and consultant.

I really dislike the third item. I can see the goal here, making states develop history standards will help to ensure that history is taught and valued in the public schools. But who writes the standards? I see these standards becoming a political football and reigniting the culture wars of the 80s and 90s on the state level. Remember the disastrous reception to the 1994 National History Standards? This was a top-down attempt by an idealistic but politically naive history profession to impose a new set of historically sound standards on the nation's schools. Denounced (unfairly, but predictably) by Rush Limbaugh and Lynne Cheney as being politically correct, they were condemned by the U.S. Senate, 99 to 1. Lets pick that scab, shall we?

The last item, using NAEP to roll out a pilot project for standardized testing in history, also runs the risk of politicization. The great dilemma here is that in the era of NCLB high-stakes testing, that which is not tested does not get taught. And that which does get tested is "taught to the test"--stifling the teacher creativity that is one of the great strengths of our system.

Overall this bill is great news. Thank you, Senators!

Historians: Let's get out in front of this. Go to the NPS site and see what historic site matches your specialty and pick up the phone. But then make contact with your university School of Education (I know, I know) and find out how to get involved in the drafting of those state standards. This kind of bureaucratic work is time consuming and unrewarding. But not nearly so time consuming and unrewarding as teaching your survey classes in ten years if you do nothing and your class is full of young people who were taught all sorts of incorrect historical mischief in the public schools!

Art+History opening at the John Nicholas Brown Center

If you get to Providence a day early, you're invited to the opening of Art+History at the JNBC:

Art+History is an exhibition and community programming series about the processes of interpreting history. The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage has commissioned Carla Herrera-Prats and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman to make new artworks influenced by the physical and historical parameters of the Nightingale-Brown House. Built in 1792 and boasting gardens designed by the Olmstead landscape design firm, it was home to five generations of the Brown family and now houses the JNBC. Art+History is a catalyst for conversation about how historical narrative is crafted and a different model for engaging audiences in historical sites and museums through contemporary artwork. The exhibition is curated by students in the master's in public humanities program, Meg Rotzel and Rosie Branson Gill.

Learn more about Art+History at the expanded project site

April 1 – October 2, 2009

Opening Reception

Tuesday, March 31

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Outside Lies the Magical City

When I tell friends from other walks in life that I am going to a conference their usual response is, "Oh, right a 'conference.' So what are you going to do with your paid vacation?" It is hard for them to understand that for us, these conferences really are the main attraction. You get to see your favorite books walking around in person! (for more on how much I love history conferences, see my earlier post) In short, history conferences (particularly public history conferences) are not like those "conferences" we see in the news linked to outrageous misuse of tax dollars. NCPH is not a boondoggle: we work, and learn, and yes, there is the obligatory partying...oh, I mean networking!

But having said that, I do think that it is important to take some time to get to know the city that is hosting the conference. The surrounding city is part of the context and flavor of each conference and I believe that it is important to experience that aspect as part of a comprehensive conference experience. I always find at least one block of sessions where nothing truly grips me as being compelling, and I use that time to go do some exploration. While I do often have some landmarks set aside that I want to visit, I often like to just meander over a city on foot to see what I happen to discover.

In part, I think this comes from my survey training at the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU, but I know that it is also heavily influenced by me reading John Stilgoe's Outside Lies Magic early in my Public History classwork. What it comes down to is that I think one of the best ways to experience a place is on foot. You get that visceral experience of the landscape/streetscape that you can only acheive by hoofing it.

I end up gathering interesting examples of architecture, signage (I'm a signage fanatic), public programming, public planning, etc., and you get a real feel for the people in those spaces. I also have a habit of getting photos of myself interacting with public art/landmarks. That makes for good fun on facebook when I post the photos (the best one is me posing at the wrong end of the Bull on Wallstreet when I was in Manhatten for OAH...good times).

Even those who do not have the same penchant for mischief that I have will get a lot out of exploring the conference city. Go to the sessions that NCPH has to offer and interact with those walking books (or walking exhibits or public programming), but also make time to discover Providence while you're there. Get that authentic experience!

#ncph2009 - That's twitter-speak for the conference

Looking forward to talking about conference while it's underway - even if you're not there? Follow the conference on twitter, or join in: we're using the hashtag #ncph2009.

Steve

Scallops, drinks, fundraising. Oh my! (Follow the brick-lined road to the wonderful city of Tazza)

Too many Wizard of Oz references?

This year’s Endowment Fundraiser has moved locations. Originally scheduled for the Providence Children’s Museum, it is now being held a mere two blocks from the conference hotel (Biltmore) at the chic Tazza Café. Built in 1898, the Alice Building in Providence, is home to lofts, art galleries, bookstore as well as Tazza Café. A local downtown hotspot, Tazza offers live music, art for sale, eclectic cuisine, and local flare in its historic surroundings. Tickets are still available for purchase at the registration table on the 17th floor of the Biltmore. Student tickets are $45; Individual tickets are $75. Meet us in the hotel lobby at 6:45 pm to walk to Tazza (linking arms while singing and skipping is not required). Of course you are welcome to come to 250 Westminister Ave anytime between 7:00 and 9:00pm (don't forget your ticket).

Your contribution is greatly appreciated and helps NCPH continue to offer awards and new programming.

Please join us.

After some fits and starts, the Working Groups' case statements are now posted on the NCPH website. Participants were selected for each group when they answered the call issued last October. As a warm up for the discussion, they have written 2-3 page statements about their particular interest or approach to the group's topic. Statements are posted for the benefit of the group and for anyone else who is simply curious. You are welcome to sit in on the working group conversations during the conference. This year they cover a wide range of material, from public history labor issues, to historic preservation, racial diversity, the civic value of history, and new digital media, to commemorating the Civil War and preparing to teach public history.

Dine-Arounds

This year, the Program Committee & Local Arrangements Committee have really tried to emphasize social networking. In addition to "speed networking" and the consultants reception (instead of a breakfast), we are also going to try dine-arounds. The purpose of dine-arounds is to provide a venue for conference participants to meet others with similar interests.
The following Dine-Arounds will be offered during the NCPH Annual Meeting, Saturday evening, April 4th. If any interest you, please sign-up at the registration table. Most can accommodate 10-12 people. Please feel free to join any that interest you, even if you are not directly affiliated with the topic, group, or theme. Of course, graduate students are invited to attend any dine-around. In fact all of them should have the phrase "and anyone interested in working. . ."

1. "Arizona State University Alumni, Students, and friends of Noel Stowe." Restaurant: Blue Elephant.
2. "National Collaborative for Women's History Sites." Restaurant: Union Station Brewery.
3. "History Education in the Public Sector" Restaurant: Cafe Paragon.
4. "Junior and mid-career faculty." Restaurant: Kabob & Curry.
5. "National Park Service staff, consultants, and anyone interested in working for the NPS." Restaurant: TBA

If you have an idea for a Dine-Around that you would like to host, please contact me at mbingman@iupui.edu. Its best if you have a local contact to co-host, but we may be able to help you out.

Confessions of a Conference Junkie

While I think that my reasons for going to conferences will to some extent remain the same, the primary reason that I love going to conferences as a graduate student is that I find them inspiring. I honestly come away from conferences positively high off of ideas. And that is what has made me a conference addict. I love the thrill of new ideas, of sharing ideas with other people working on similar projects, and really just expanding my intellectual horizons. Of course, one of the biggest thrills is learning about possibilities for projects that I had never thought of before or new ways of looking at a topic.

Going hand-in-hand with this is my need to ask questions. I'm generally not afraid to ask questions (or make a fool out of myself) and use conferences as an opportunity to ask experts and colleagues about research questions that are weighing on my mind. I've never been big on being star struck, but it does tickle my geeky soul to be able to talk directly to the historians who have written the books that I dearly love and have shaped my path as a historian. Writing up my questions of an author's work in a book review helps me to frame my interpretation of that person's book, but asking for feedback directly is so much more gratifying.

Yes, this does sometimes backfire. I've gotten a little over excited about grilling two different prominent southern historians (and I'm hoping that they forget both my name and face), but one of those instances resulted in me being asked to write an exhibit review for the JAH (word of advice, don't quote someone's book at him in the middle of a session...that's a little too sycophantic). Also, those occasions have made for great stories afterward (and what historian doesn't love a good story?). So my advice is don't be afraid to put yourself out there and take the opportunity to engage other scholars, ask questions, and explore new horizons.

It is also kind of amusing to be able to say in a seminar discussion after a conference, "Well, when I was talking to Cathy Stanton last week about this very topic, she said..." For historians who are already well established in the field, these kinds of conversations are normal. For grad students...well, I just think that it is cool.

The Underground Railroad and Public History

Run for Your Life: The Underground Railroad and Public History

James Brewer Stewart, this year's NCPH conference keynote speaker, has written powerfully about the abolitionists, an early contribution to a key topic that has changed dramatically. When his book, "Holy Warriors" appeared in 1976, historians tended to interpret anti-slavery activism as part of a wide range of ante-bellum utopian, social reform movements. These days the focus has shifted from white religious abolitionists to an emphasis on the black public sphere, decoding slave narratives, and the network of African American helpers who made the Underground Railroad a path to freedom. Documenting the historical evolution of appeals to "Let My People Go" to the direct action imperatives of "Let's flee slavery now!" is an important part of public history work on this popular topic.

Historian David Blight has edited a superb collection of articles dealing with conflicts of heritage and history, called "Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory" and James and Lois Horton have collected state-of-the-art essays in "Slavery and Public History." On the web see sources from the National Park Services site The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom http://www.cr.nps.gov/ugrr/. The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Abolition and Resistance has in-depth resources at www.yale.edu/glc/

Check out podcasts, tours, museum objects and library documents from the Run for Your Life projects on the New-York Historical Society website. www.nyhistory.org (or directly https://www.nyhistory.org/web/default.php?section=whats_new&page=society_detail&id=43)
--Kathleen Hulser, public historian, New-York Historical Society

An introduction

Hello, NCPH community. I am the chair of the NCPH graduate student committee. This has been a great opportunity to learn more about how the organization operates, to develop relationships with John, Melissa, and the other Indianapolis folks, and to meet some really fantastic students around the country. We've been working on several projects for the annual meeting, including expanding the mentoring program, developing a speed-networking opportunity for new professionals, and an FAQ list (from a graduate student's perspective) about the NCPH meeting. I will also be guest blogging from time to time here before and during the meeting.

Over the course of the next month, I'll be posting items from the FAQ list that we developed. The whole document has been uploaded into Scribd and will also be excerpted in the March NCPH newsletter.

NCPH Conference FAQs

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs national council on ncph

I graduated from Indiana University in 2004 with a B.A. in History, a certificate in Jewish Studies, and a minor in East Asian Languages and Cultures. With all of these incredibly practical degrees in hand and a spirit of idealism in my heart, I joined Teach For America and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. For three years I taught different versions of U.S. history—standard, ESL, inclusion, AP, IB History of the Americas—and AVID at West Charlotte High School. These various experiences, professional and personal, got me thinking about how individuals and communities think about the past, where they encounter “history,” and the challenges of making these processes accessible and meaningful. I moved to Providence, Rhode Island in 2007 to enroll in Brown University’s masters of public humanities program. While my interests have often shot off in all directions, the core of my academic study has been how to craft enriching educational programs and experiences that deliver humanities, especially history, scholarship and make it relevant for diverse audiences.

Twittering the meeting

An interesting article on how we might deepen the conversation at the meeting: http://pistachioconsulting.com/twitter-presentations/

Steve (@lubar)

Integrating Graduate Students

NCPH decided to create a graduate student ad hoc committee for the upcoming annual conference in the hopes that this committee would generate ideas and programming that would pique graduate student interest. Thanks to survey data, NCPH staff have noted the changing demographics of membership and attendence at conferences. While roughly a quarter of NCPH membership are graduate students, those graduate students were roughly thirty percent of attendees at the 2008 annual meeting in Louisville. With such a large (and statistically significant) population as part of the professional constituentcy, the powers-that-be decided to give graduate students more of a voice.

I am thrilled to be involved in that effort and anyone who knows me is familiar with how eager I am to share my opinion, ask questions, or dig in and get my hands dirty. While there will be guest bloggers of various backgrounds posting here, you will see myself and a few other graduate students talking about why we go to conferences, how NCPH informs our professional development, and also some of the nitty-gritty questions many of us had when we first came to a professional conference.

My recent research into the history of tourism (and the fact that I'm rewatching episodes of Mad Men) is moving me to think about this as serving a burgeoning market segment. In terms of the academic and professional community, though, this experiment will hopefully provide another layer of perspective and that can provide us all with the opportunity to slow down and think about where the future of the field is headed from another angle. I'm always in favor of a more complex discussion.

Calling all bloggers (even if you aren't quite sure what that means!)

This year, the NCPH conference blog will be open to anyone who wishes to post reports, impressions, rebuttals, or other responses to what's going on at the conference. We'd like to hear from a wide range of voices, so if you'd like to share your thoughts or questions with others in the public history realm (at or beyond the conference itself), you're invited to participate.

To join in, you just need to let us know that you're interested, and we'll add you as an author so that you're able to post directly to the blog. Any NCPH member or conference attendee can join. Email the blog editor, Cathy Stanton, at cstanton@tiac.net to be added to the list.

Not entirely sure what blogging is all about? That's okay - this is a good chance to find out! A blog (from the term "web log") is a form of instant online publishing that people use in a wide variety of ways. Some blogs have a single author (for example, Dan Cohen's Digital History blog (see his April 2006 discussion about reasons to blog). Others have many contributors - the group blog Cliopatria, hosted on the History News Network, is an example. In general, blogging is a fast form of publishing (although there's also an emerging slow blogging movement), somewhere in between the immediacy of text messaging and the, well, stately pace of academic journal production.

At last year's NCPH conference, we had a small team of bloggers reporting and reflecting on various aspects of the conference. This year, we're opening up the floor. Please let us know if you're interested in joining in. The only requirements are that you contact us before the April 1 conference start date, so we can add you to our list, and that you commit to posting at least once during the conference itself.

WELCOME to the blog site for the 2009 National Council on Public History conference, which will be held in Providence, Rhode Island between April 1 and 5. Stay tuned for much more coming soon to this space...