Jones - Public History Now and Then

8/12/2019 Jones - Public History Now and Then

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Perspectives

P u b l i c i s t o x y o w n d T h e nARNITA. JONES

MYNTRODUCTIONOPUBLICISTORYegan n 1977as apartof myworkwith heNational oordinatingommitteeor hePromotionf History,consortiumhathadrecently een organized y theAmerican istoricalAssociationAHA),heOrganizationf American istoriansOAH), ndseveral therhistoricalroups.tspurposewas o findwaysof addressingwhathad turnedout to be a decade-longycle of overproductionndunderemploymentf historyoctorates hich ad ome obe known s hejobrisis. y1977 hecrisis addeepenedo suchadegree hat t seemedto havebecomea permanentondition f the historicalrofession,rod-ding ven he mostoptimisticraduateacultieso cutback nenrollmentsorat east o issuewarningslongwith etters f acceptanceo newdoctoralstudents. utsuchmeasuresailed o do more hanmoderatelyeduce heflow of freshrecruitsntodoctoral tudies,with the consequencehatstudentsnd aculty likewere urningmoreandmoreoward rofessional

ARNITA.JONESs the executive irector f the AmericanHistorical ssociation. heservedasthe chief executive fficer or the Organizationf AmericanHistoriansor11 years,beginningn 1988.A founder nd former hairof the NationalCouncil nPublicHistory, he has also servedon the boardsof the Society or History n theFederalGovernment,he NationalHumanities lliance, he Federation f StateHu-manitiesCouncils, ndNationalHistoryDay.Jonesreceivedherundergraduatedu-cationat VanderbiltUniversity ndcompletedher doctorate n modernEuropeanhistory t EmoryUniversity. eforeassuming er presentposition he servedas se-niorhistorianwiththe consultingirmof HistoryAssociatesn Washington,s direc-torofplanning ndassessmenttudiesorthe National ndowmentorthe Humanities,andat the AmericanHistoricalAssociation s director or the NationalCoordinatingCommittee or the Promotion f History.She has also servedas a consultant nprofessionalndprogram evelopmentora number f foundationsndhigher duca-tion nstitutions. hehas ongbeeninterestedn publichistory nd ts relationshipothedevelopmentf the historical rofession ndhasspoken ndwrittenwidelyon thesubject.Her most recentwork,Corporate Archives and History, was publishedbyRobertE. Krieger ublishing ompanyn 1994.

21The Public Historian, Vol.21, No. 3 (Summer 999)(C) 999bythe Regents f the Universityf Californiandthe National ouncil n PublicHistory


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22 * THEPUBLICHISTORIANassociationso findways f opening p additionalvenues femploymentfornewlyminted istoryoctorates.

MackThompson, xecutivedirectorof the AHA, and RichardKirkendall,xecutiveecretaryf theOAH, ook hisproblemeriously,persuadingheir olleaguesn severalthernationalnd egionalroupsojoin ogethern aneffort o dosomethingowardsddressinghe vexingproblemf findingmoreobs orhistorians.utbeyondhesegood nten-tions herewas, soonrealized,ittlebywayof aconcrete lan.Thompson, irkendall,ndothershadbegun o organizeommitteesinvolvingistorianshohad andedatisfactoryobsna numberfnonaca-demic reas,ncludingusiness swellas federal,tate,and ocalgovern-ment.Armed ith hisnformationnd few oldersfnewspaperlippingsand orrespondencemong xecutivefficers ftheparticipatingrganiza-tions nthisnewconsortium,beganhortly ftermyappointmentakingphone alls ocommitteehairs,agerly xpressing ydeterminationoworkhard, eryhard, nthisproblem.Oneor twochairsesigned n thespot.Others egan o rememberonflictingommitmentsr to developconcernshat hiseffortwasnot ikelyo be verypromisingfter ll. t soonbecame lear hatthisloosecoalition alled he NationalCoordinatingCommitteeor hePromotionfHistory asanuneasy llianceetweennumber f historiansho hadgood ntentions utlittle deaof howtoaddressheproblem,ndothersrom rchives, useums,istoricalociet-ies, andelsewhere hohad ordecades eltignored r shunnedy theiracademicolleaguesntheAHA ndOAH.One of the lastcommittee hairs calledwasRobertKelleyat theUniversityfCalifornia,anta arbara,howasdevelopingnewgraduateprogramn somethingalledpublic istory.nviewof thereception hadbeenreceiving,wasnotsurprisedhathe didnot mmediatelyeturnmyphone all.Oneevening,sI walkedhefewblocksrom thandA streetsto thebusstop n front f theLibraryf Congress,was eelingmore hana ittledisheartened,owhen arrivedome ndearnedhat omeoneromCaliforniaadbeencalling, erykeenon reachingme, I wassurprisedodiscovertwasKelley. uchwas heurgency f themessagehat calledback hat vening.Hoursater,when putdown hetelephone,realizedhadhadwhat canonlydescribe s aprofessionalonversionxperience.We alkedboutBob's wnworkn itigationesearch,heappliedesearchexperiencesewasdevisingorhisstudents,hesuccessheywerehavingnworking ith lientswhoneededhistoricalnalysisin short, isvision fwhat tcouldmean o beaprofessionalistorian.Asother rogramsnpublic ndapplied istoIyeganodevelop,Kelleycontinuedo be animportantoicebecause e insisted nthinkingn atoughwayabout heconnectionhathas alwaysxisted, vertly r not,betweenhepresentationf historical aterialnd he endclient or hatwork,whether he clientmightbe a governmentontractingfficer,privateaw irm, publicecture udience, r aclassroomfstudents.He


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PUBLICHISTORY OWAND THEN * 23

challenged articularlyhe notion hatacknowledginghedemands f aclientpreventedhehistorianromdoing irst-rateork, rguingvigorouslythatgraduaterogramsn publichistoryhouldofferno less rigorouscurriculumhan thers,withnowateringown f researchraining.nfact,hepersuaded anyhat uch nvestigationsightakehistoriansntoplaceswhere heywouldnototherwiseo, oftendemanding ore ophisticatedstrategiesndanalysis,nd sometimesielding nexpectednsights ndbenefits.It has been twentyyearssincethe depthsof that earlieracademicdepressionhich ncouragedhedevelopmentfmany ublic ndappliedhistory rogramsroundhe country,ndnowwehave ome ullcircle oanothercademicepression,hisoneexacerbatedyconcurrenthortfallsin manyectors f publichistorymploymentswell.What aschanged?Letus comparehe nstitutionsf public istoryhenandnow.Firstwehave o recognizehat, sa matterf practice,ublic istory asnotnew n1977.As earlyas 1916, he Departmentf Agricultureadestablishedhistory ffice;manyhistoriansadgoneto work or theWorksProgressAdministrationn the 1930s, onductingnationalistoricalecordsurveyandwritingocaland tatehistories, hile tillothersookpositions ith heNational arkServicewhichhadbeengiven esponsibilityor he nation'shistoric itesin 1933.During he SecondWorldWar,manyhistoriansservedas intelligencenalystsorthe Officeof Strategicervices,whileothers ioneeredeworalhistoryechniquessapart fthearmed ervices'effortso documenthewar.lMost fthe arge ublictatehistoricalocietiesftheMidwestadbeenfoundednthe atenineteenthrearly wentiethentury.Historicalociet-ies andmuseums ereestablishednstitutions,ndmany ftheprofession-alsworkingnthemhad ound home ntheAmericanssociationorStateandLocalHistoiy, rganizedn1940byAHAmembers hobelievedheirinterestsouldbe better erved utside hatargelycademicrganization.Workn cultural esourcemanagementoth in and outof the federalgovernmentrewwiththe creation f the NationalTrust or HistoricPreservationn 1949and he NationalHistoric reservationctof 1966,which rovidedoranAdvisoIyouncil nHistoric reservationo coordi-natestate, ocal,and federal fforts.Partly s a result,manynewlocalhistoricalocietiesandsmallmuseumswere establishedn the ensuingdecades.2

1. Edwin C. Bearss, TheNational ParkServiceand its HistoryProgram:186S198AnOverview, ThePublicHistorian (Spring 987): 10-14; MartinReuss, PublicHistoryin theFederal Government, n BarbaraJ.Howe and EmoryL. Kemp, PublicHistoryMalabar,Fla.:Robert E. KriegerPublishing Co., 1986), 294-96.2. Michael C. Scardaville, LookingBackwardToward the Future: An Assessment of thePublic History Movement, ThePublicHistorian , no. 4 (Fall 1987): 37-39; Beth Grosvenor,Federal Programsin Historic Preservation, in Howe and Kemp, PublicHistory,136 42;Ormond H. Loomis, coordinator,CulturalConservation: heProtectionfCulturalHentagein the Unitesl tates Washington:Libraryof Congress, 1983).


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24 * THEPUBLICHISTORIANHistoriansadalsobeenactive dvocatesor hecreation f aNationalArchives, hich inally ecame realityn 1934.Like heircolleaguesn

historicalocieties ndfederal gencies,many rchivistsadsubstantialtrainingnhistory nd, indinghemselvesargelyn theperipheryn theAHA ndOAH, rganizedhe SocietyorAmericanrchivistsn1936.Bythe1970s,heNationalrchivesad rownubstantially,oth oaccommo-date heexpansionfthefederalovernmenturingndafter hewarandalso oencompassnewnetworkfPresidentialibrarieshichunctionshistoricites andmuseums s wellas archives. rofessionallyanagedarchives erebeingdevelopedn stateand ocalgovernmentswell ascorporationsndnonprofitrganizations.y1977,hearchivalommunitywaswellestablishedrofessionally,itha growingetworkfnationalndregional ssociations,stablishedtandardsf practice, ndincreasingconfidencebout hevalue f theirwork nd kills.3Academicrogramshat elatedothevariousreas f public istoryn1977endedobevery eworhighlypecialized-focusednarchival orkor museum raining,nd not necessarilydministeredhrough istorydepartments.few ndividualsadbegun oventure ut nto heworld fconsulting,nd woor hree argerompanieserebeginningotake hape.Buttherewasno place,no umbrellanderwhichhistoriansngagednapplied,lient-orientedesearchould hareheir xperiencesnddiscusscommonroblemsndneeds.Andherewere ewopportunitieso discusshow hese fforts idordidnot itwithinhegraduateurriculumnhistorydepartmentsr how a younger enerationould earn o usehistoricalanalysissan mportantool or olving roblemsutside igherducationinstitutions.Much as hangedver he ast wentyyearsn herelationshipsetweenpublic istory ndagrowingumberf institutions.henumberf highereducationnstitutionsffering ublic istoryoursesrprogramsasgrownsince1977,thoughnot all thathavebeenlaunched avesurvived rflourished. ot onlydo publichistoriansowhave heirownorganiza-tions theNationalouncilnPublicHistoryndheSocietyorHistoxyntheFederalGovernment-theyavecarved utforthemselves largerplacewithinheolder ssociations.TheOAH, orexample, as hadsince 1981a Committeen PublicHistory,assponsoredublic istoIyessions tannualmeetings,ndhasheld everalointmeetings ithNCPH ndSHFG.t offers major ward,theRichard eopold rize, orwork elatedofederalovernmentistoxyandhassponsoredseries fpublicationsnvarious ublic istoryareersectorsuchashistoricalditing ndbusiness.

3. Donald R. McCoy, The NationalArchitsesChapel Hill: The University of NorthCarolinaPress, 1978), esp. 92-104 on the development of the archivialprofession;David R.Smith, AnHistorical Look at BusinessArchives, n Arnita A. Jones and Philip L. Cantelon,Corporste rchi?:esndHistoryMalabar,Fla.:Robert E. KriegerPublishingCo., 1993), 127-33.


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PUBLICHISTORY OWAND THEN * 25It wasclear nworking ithpublic istoriansome wenty ears go hatone of theircentral oncernswas the degree o which heirworkwas

overlookedr gnored y hemajorcholarlyublicationsf theprofession.Thathas argely hanged ow, or nthemid-1980s,nder he eadershipfeditorDavidThelen,heJournalof AmericanHistoryand oon hereafterotherpublicationsegan o include ritical ppraisalsf thework f histo-rians n museum xhibits, ocumentaryditions, olicy tudies, ilms,andothermedia.In 1995, he OAH nd he National ark ervice igned memorandumof agreement hichprovides mechanismorconnectingheparks' eedsforbothprofessionalevelopmentndhistoricalesearch ith he experi-ence and scholarly xpertise f academic nd otherhistorians ho aremembers f the OAH.So farunder hisbasic ompacthe OAHhasbeeninvolvedn a number f reviews f exhibits nd nterpretive aterialstAntietam ational ark,LittleBig Horn,andotherpark ites,as well asconferencestseveral thers,ncluding disonNational ark, enecaFalls,and he Booker . Washingtonirthplace. hewillingnessf NPShistori-ans o seek hiskindof helpand he enthusiasmf academic istoriansorparticipatingn,andalso earningrom, uchactivitiesasbeenparticularlygratifyingo thispublichistorian.But the conversationmongdifferent indsof historiansngaged npublic istoryworks notso richandvigorouss t might e. Oneofthefirstacademicessions n publichistorywasheld n November f 1978at theSouthern istorical ssociation eetingn St.Louis.There, n anoptimis-tic review f the current tatusandfutureprospects f the field,RobertKelley autioned sthat as profession e donotownhistory. 4y hishemeanthat hose esponsibleormaking ecisions bouthepreservationfinstitutional emory rthe managementf culturalesourcesmight aluehistory, ut heydonotnecessarilylacea highpremiumnthecredentialsof professionallyrained istorians. hisobservationemains s accuratetodayas it wastwenty earsago,but the experience f the two decadesbetween owand henalso uggests corollary:ublic istoriansonotownpublichistory.With he notable xception f The Public HistorianandperhapsTheJournal of Policy History,contemporaryiscussion f the field amonghistoriansngeneral efersargelyopublic rogrammingnhistory,pecifi-cally he part-timeonsulting orkof academic istorians ho ecture opublic udiences r serveas advisorsn filmsandmuseum xhibits. ressmosthistoriansoday or a definition f publichistory ndyouaremuchmore ikely o be givenas an example he workof Barbara ields,whoadvisedKenBurns n his filmhistory f the CivilWar, hancultural ndenvironmentalmpact tudieswrittenunder ontractor the U. S. Army

4. Robert Kelley, Public History: The Current Situation, OAHNewsletter (January,1979), supplement.


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26 * THEPUBLICHISTORIANCorps f Engineers; ore pt o hearaboutEricFoner's ork nA HouseDzvidedfor heChicagoHistoricalocietyhan nstitutionalistories rit-ten for he Departmentf Energy rAT&T.Indeed,muchof the mainstreamingn the partof historians'rofes-sional rganizationselatesopublic rogrammingnhistory not o litiga-tion esearchor aw irms, ot ocorporateistories,ot o federalontractresearch.ilms ndmuseumxhibitsrereviewedn he Journal of Ameri-can History and heAmerican Histor?calReviewand lsewhere, utrarelyin line for critical ppraisals the gray iterature roduced y publichistorians headministrativeeports,heoralhistoryollections,hesitehistories,he privatelyrinted ut oftenpublicly istributednniversaryhistoriesf corporationsndgovernmentgencies.Several evelopmentsave ed to historians'ocuson public rogram-ming atherhan ntheproductsf client-drivenesearchver he ast wodecades.Onereasons that hepublic ppetite asgrown normouslyorhistorical aterialn the formof films, elevision roductions,hatauqua,battlereenactments,ivinghistory arms,or exhibitsn museums ndhistoricalocieties t he ocal, ational,nd egionalevels.Theres simplymuchmoregoingon in theseareas han n the applied esearchector,thoughhathasgrown ubstantiallyn recent ears swell.Asnotedabove, henumber f historicalocieties ndmuseums hichcanprovide enues orpublicprogrammingn history as ncreased ra-matically.ohas hefundingor uchactivities. heNational ndowmentforthe Humanities asgeneratedmong he profusionf GreatSocietyprogramsnthe1960s,npart o fosterpublicppreciationfthedisciplinesrepresentednder he rubric f the humanities. ithin few years,Congressreated complementaryetworkf statehumanitiesrogramsexpresslyor hispurpose, nd heybecame source eadilyapped ythemany ew ocal nd ommunitynstitutionsager or arger udiences. ndbecause overnmentunding asusually ccompaniedy matchingundsrequirements,ew donors or these kindsof activities avealso beenlocated.Changesn higher ducationnstitutionsavealsohadan impact,fsomewhatndirect, n publicprogrammingn history.n the lastdecadeparticularly7olleges nduniversitiesave aced ncreasinginancialon-straintss theyhavebegun downsizingndreorientationf missionhatwillbe far-reachingeforet is done inshort,hesamekind f rationaliza-tionprocess hatcharacterizedther ectors f the economyn the mid-1980s. orAmericanistorians,articularly,ublic rogrammingasmorefrequentlyrovidedsource ffundingor mall esearchrojects,upportfor graduatetudents, nd smallbut not insignificantupplementsostagnatingalaries not o mention isibilityorhistoIy epartmentsn theeyesof state egislatorsndboards f visitors. thers, nd hear hisagainandagain n myworkwithhistoriansdvising n National arkService


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PUBLICHISTORY OWANDTHEN * 27

activities,remotivatedythe sheer oy of reaching largeandseriousaudience,nelement ftensadlyackingntheirrolesasteachersntheirhome nstitutions.Finally,ublic istoryrogrammingas ound congenialompanionnthenownot-so-newocial istory,neof thekey ntellectualevelopmentsofAmericanistoryver helastseveral ecades.AsJoyceAppleby, ynnHunt, ndMargaretacob oint ut nTelling1e TruthaboutHistory, hefocuson socialhistotywasrelatedn part o post-WorldWarII demo-graphichanges ithinheprofessionhichweredriven y heGIBillandtheneedsof arapidlyxpandingigher ducationalector f theeconomyinthe 1950sand1960s.Asthe gentlemancholarwasreplaced yawiderrepresentationf societyn termsof classand gender,manyhistoriansbegan oaskdifferent uestionsnd oseekoutnewkinds fdocumenta-tion, ofocusonthe ocalandparticular,n familyndprivateifeaswellasthepowerlessnd heinstitutionsndstrategiesywhich heysurvived.5The ruits f new ocial istoryesearchften ound congenialomenthelocalhistoricalocietyor in otherkindsof programmingora localorspecific udience anoralhistoryrogramna Washington,C. housingproject,orexample,ra filmontheHomesteadtrike,r herestorationfaNational ark itecommemoratinghehomesofthewomennvolvedncreatingheDeclarationfWomen's ights 50years go.With he enormousrowth f thepublicprogrammingideof publichistorynd hecontinuing,elativelyowprofile fthosewithinhehistori-calprofession hodo applied esearchora rangeof publicandprivateclients,tseemsair oasknowwhos apublic istorian?spublic istoryheprovince f the moonlightingrofessor orkingn a filmwiththestatehumanitiesouncilor the civilservantwritingan agencyhistoryor acorporateonsultantoing itigationesearch?Myownview s thatthedefinitionhould nddoes nclude llofthesehistorians. oreover,wouldarguehat heyshould e in conversationitheachothermore han heycurrentlyre.Despitehecontinuingrowthfpublic rogrammingnhistory,tis notuncommonow orhistoriansoexpressoncernorwhats describedsachillingffectontheirwork wingo several ighly ublicizedontroversiesin recentyears.Aftera major ational ebaten 1992aboutwhetherheColumbus uincentenaryhouldbecelebratedroma multiculturaler-spective, n unprecedentedublicoutcry verscholars ndcurators't-tempts o explorehedecisionmakingrocesseadingo thefirstuse ofatomicweaponiytHiroshima,ndanequallynflamed ebate bouthenational istoxy tandards,ew historiansodayquestionhe contestednature f their urf.Historians orkingnpublicprogrammingowno

5. JoyceAppleby, Lynn Hunt, and MargaretJacob,Telling he Truth boutHistory NewYork:W. W. Norton & Company, 1994), 146 51.


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Jones - Public History Now and Then

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