public history

A group of students with shovels stand with a NPS officer
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The Impact of Shared Authority on Public History

Professional Development on Artifacts [Photograph © May 2015 by Mahatma Chanrani]

The Metropoltan Museum of Art

Professional Development on Artifacts [Photograph © May 2015 by Mahatma Chanrani]

Shared authority has significantly impacted historical research, scholarship, and exhibition because it involves a different angle from the past. That shared authority allows these areas to grow because it includes multiple voices, perspectives, and sources. With historical research, instead of the historians or experts declaring what history is essential to speak about, they include other people’s opinions and voices that have lived the experiences. With scholarships, shared authority allows experts and regular people to come together and make ideas and assumptions based on the project they might be working on. This enables community involvement and engagement. Initially, it helps the project grow and run smoothly. Lastly, exhibition and shared authority reshape how history might be preserved. With museums and galleries, letting communities help tell their stories and express themselves more makes it more meaningful, complete, and relatable.

The article “Public History as Reflective Practice” discusses how, in 2003, the president challenged public historians to explore projects that had remained untouched since 1979. On page 11, there is a discussion about shared authority and how it helps the project the historian has been working on for years. Without different experts coming together and sharing their different perspectives and views, the project would’ve been more challenging to accomplish.¹

1Rebecca Conrad, Public History as Reflective Practice (2002), 11.

 

Aspiring scholars examine and collaborate on the analysis of the artifact.[British Museum Photograph © 2017 unidentified]

Ramesses II statue

Aspiring scholars examine and collaborate on the analysis of the artifact.[British Museum Photograph © 2017 unidentified]
A team of historians collaborating to refine and enhance the integrity of their ongoing project. [Photograph © 2024 unidentified]

National Park Service

A team of historians collaborating to refine and enhance the integrity of their ongoing project. [Photograph © 2024 unidentified]

Two neighboring houses one a blue suburban house with a white picket fence next to A white modern house with Iron metal bars topped with spikes
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Is Public History Necessary?

Public History?

In today’s changing society, the significance of public history has never been more necessary. This field connects communities with their pasts, creating a shared historical understanding of the community involved. Lucy Maynard Salmon’s article “History in a Backyard” exemplifies this civic engagement by showcasing how everyday life can illuminate broader historical narratives. Salmon says, “Now it seems a very simple, commonplace thing to have a fence, or not to have a fence… If a fence is built, it means presumably that the property owners place a high value on privacy and seclusion,… If the fence is surmounted by a row of spikes, it indicates not simply an aversion to certain undesirable company but a positive fear of disagreeable visitors and dangerous intruders.” (Salmon 77) Salmon argued that daily life materials should be examined as historical documents, aligning with our current focus on practical public history. Most people know public history within the context of statues and informational plaques erected to inform the masses. Although a plaque and statue represent Salmon’s methodology, she emphasizes analyzing everyday artifacts for historical meaning and reflects public history’s principle of practice. By simply studying the overlooked, she highlighted that history is present in our everyday lives, waiting to be discovered. This approach positively impacts marginalized communities, validating their contributions to the larger narrative and ultimately empowering communities to reclaim their narratives. 

-January 27th, 2025

Two neighboring houses one a blue suburban house with a white picket fence next to A white modern house with Iron metal bars topped with spikes
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A headshot picture of American History Lucy Maynard Salmon
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What is Public History?

 

Tour guide Malcom Walls explains to visitors why the Old Camberbatch Historic District is not really so boring. [Photograph © 2023 unidentified]

Exploring Public History

Tour guide Malcom Walls explains to visitors why the Old Camberbatch Historic District is not really so boring. [Photograph © 2023 unidentified]

Lucy Salmon is a pioneer in American education. Her exploration of her life helped answer fundamental questions about the nature of education. She pushed boundaries for women’s rights and even minorities. Her influence on public history has shifted the focus on how she goes about her work. Salmon has studied under many highly regarded historians, and one of her notable works that I loved reading was “History in a Backyard.” Lucy starts the article by expressing deep frustration because she and her family couldn’t visit Europe that summer. She wanted to see all of Europe’s museums and artifacts, but as the story continued, she had a significant shift of perspective. As Lucy steps into her backyard, she questions and observes how she can study history in her backyard. Salmon describes her backyard as a treasure with architectural opportunities in the story.¹ Examining and breaking down her fence, trees, flowers, and hedges, and correlating all the symbolic meanings to them. On page 80, one of the symbolic meanings she breaks down is the cherry tree, which means lacking the motion connection the author might feel.² And that brings me to public history and how it is used. I believe public history fosters a deep understanding of how historians shape or present the future, making the past relevant in everyday life. I think that’s what Lucy is trying to show us through the stories. No matter where you go or what you see, it all could be a part of the historical background.

  1. Lucy Maynard Salmon, History in a Backyard (1912), 76.

  2. Ibid., 80.

How does Lucy Maynard Salmon align with Public History?

A headshot picture of American Historian Lucy Maynard Salmon

Lucy Maynard Salmon

A headshot of American Historian Lucy Maynard Salmon from her 1912 article “History in a Backyard,”

This Cherry tree is what Lucy Maynard discusses in her story ” History in a Back Yard.” I wanted to give a visual of what a cherry tree looks like and how the tree grasped her attention.

A Cherry tree in a back yard.

Cherry Tree

Student standing on sidewalk near water feature outside of campus student center.
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History Now: The Necessity of Public Historians in the Decision Making Process

Student standing on sidewalk near water feature outside of campus student center.

Amanda Elmore, History Student & Author of Post

Amanda Elmore, posing on the sidewalk in front of a water feature near Willie A. Tempton Memorial Student Center at Prairie View A&M University. Photographed by Autumn Bishop. August 29th, 2024.

 

Robert Kelley in his work “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” states that “history has been thought…to produce things which are interesting”…[and] “essential…but which are not immediately useful.” History’s usefulness has seemingly always been atop the list of intense debate subjects. Groundbreaking historian of the Progressive Era, Lucy Salmon, “believed that in order to be relevant history must speak to the present.” Like Salmon did in her era, Kelley “embraces history in a pluralistic sense” as all-encompassing. In this brief article he goes on to argue against this all-too-common notion of history’s nonutility by highlighting the necessity of the historical perspective, the practical value of public history, and further details how he assisted in pioneering breakthroughs in the field of public history by establishing a graduate program at the university which he was employed. 

 

In his essay he defines public history shortly as “the employment of historians and the historical method outside of academia.” The author stands strongly in asserting that history is not not limited to political and military affairs but “it is essential in every kind of immediate, practical situation.” He follows this by presenting examples of instances where a public historian’s expertise can be utilized in the decision making process and noting situations where academic historians have been employed as public historians. For example, historians could be sought out as hires for the Department of Agriculture and uniquely assist in providing an evidence-based historical narrative to give context for future decisions and possibly developing fairer policy. The next section of the essay follows Kelley’s personal linkings with Richard Hwelett and Wayne Rasmussen in the actual implementation of historical offices in various organizations, talks about the responsibilities of public historians in practice, and the variety of positions available to historians trained in public history. After that, Kelley illustrates the development of his public history graduate program, the kind of mindset required for the field, the ethical challenges involved in the practice, mission-oriented research, and other skills and specifics to finish the rigorous curriculum and course examinations.


In total, Kelley’s article suggests that while endlessly strenuous, “public history [is] an enterprise” well worth it. Further, the experiments that he oversaw and witnessed prove that its implementation will be rewarding and ultimately “far preferable to going on as it were before.”

 

Sources:

Kelley, Robert. “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects.” The Public Historian 1, no. 1 (1978): 16–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3377666. 


Haeussler Bohan, Chara. “Introduction: Lucy Maynard Salmon, 1853-1927.” Introduction. In Go to the Sources: Lucy Maynard Salmon 1853-1927 and Teaching of History, 1–8. Peter Lang, 2004.

Oral-History
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What Is Public History?

Public History is a field of history that involves engaging with the general public and making historical facts/knowledge accessible to their audience. Public History involves the practice of history in public settings, such as archives, historical sites, and community organizations. Public Historians work to present historical events/narratives in ways that can speak to a diverse audience.

Historians have a special way of looking at human interractions and has an intentional way of explaining/disecting them. A person may ask a question as to how or why people evolve overtime. In Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects Robert Kelley mentions public history being “eesemtial in every kind of immediate, practical situation” (Kelley 1978). it is not just random historical moments when people said or did something, it is historical events or entire movements that (can or) has changed a person’s way of life. In Public History, a historian will answer questions posed by other people. Serving as a consultant, a professional, or a member of the staff.

Oral-History

What Is An Effect of Public History?

 

The local effect of Public History can be the preserving and sharing of unique stories and experiences of a community in order to inform or even prevent an event from repeating itself. Public History can also bring cultural acceptance and wareness by helping people to further or better understand their heritage and their contributions within those diverse groups. Pereserving collective memories in way of oral history can engage society and encourage active participation and investments into keeping their collective history alive. For example Black History Month can be an effect of Public History as African Americans aim to make their history accesssible and relevant to the public. It was established to recognize and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to history, which consistantly stays overlooked or marginalized in mainstream historical narratives.

 
 
 
Kelley, Robert. 1978. “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects.” Source 1, no. 1: 16–28. https://eclass.uowm.gr/modules/document/file.php/ELED278/Kelley%20public%20history%201978%20PH.pdf.

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Whose Public? Whose History? Exploring the Goals of Public Historians

What is Public History?

 

Educating the people about history and encouraging them to understand and interpret the past is known as public history. Grele, Ronald J., in his seminal work “Whose Public? Whose records? Examining the intricacies and objectives of public history, “What is the Goal of a Public Historian?” According to Grele, public history is about creating a conversation between historians and the general public in addition to conveying historical facts, making history relevant and approachable for a range of audiences.

Connecting Theory to Practice 

 

Numerous places, including museums, archives, historic sites, and neighborhood associations, employ public historians. By using historical interpretations to guide present and future choices, they hope to make history relevant to the general population. Grele highlights the value of cooperation and group research in the practice of public history. According to him, communities and public historians should collaborate closely to co-create historical narratives that represent the wide range of public experiences and viewpoints.

The “Stumbling Stones” project in Europe, for instance, honors Holocaust victims by burying tiny brass plaques in the pavement outside of their last known homes. This initiative is a perfect example of Grele’s idea of public history as a cooperative endeavor that encourages everyone to consider the past and its consequences for

Numerous places, including museums, archives, historic sites, and neighborhood associations, employ public historians. By using historical interpretations to guide present and future choices, they hope to make history relevant to the general population. Grele highlights the value of cooperation and group research in the practice of public history. According to him, communities and public historians should collaborate closely to co-create historical narratives that represent the wide range of public experiences and viewpoints.

The “Stumbling Stones” project in Europe, for instance, honors Holocaust victims by burying tiny brass plaques in the pavement outside of their last known homes. This initiative is a perfect example of Grele’s idea of public history as a cooperative endeavor that encourages everyone to consider the past and its consequences for

Numerous places, including museums, archives, historic sites, and neighborhood associations, employ public historians. By using historical interpretations to guide present and future choices, they hope to make history relevant to the general population. Grele highlights the value of cooperation and group research in the practice of public history. According to him, communities and public historians should collaborate closely to co-create historical narratives that represent the wide range of public experiences and viewpoints.

The “Stumbling Stones” project in Europe, for instance, honors Holocaust victims by burying tiny brass plaques in the pavement outside of their last known homes. This initiative is a perfect example of Grele’s idea of public history as a cooperative endeavor that encourages everyone to consider the past and its consequences for

Numerous places, including museums, archives, historic sites, and neighborhood associations, employ public historians. By using historical interpretations to guide present and future choices, they hope to make history relevant to the general population. Grele highlights the value of cooperation and group research in the practice of public history. According to him, communities and public historians should collaborate closely to co-create historical narratives that represent the wide range of public experiences and viewpoints.

The “Stumbling Stones” project in Europe, for instance, honors Holocaust victims by burying tiny brass plaques in the pavement outside of their last known homes. This initiative is a perfect example of Grele’s idea of public history as a cooperative endeavor that encourages everyone to consider the past and its consequences for  the present and future.

Curated Media

 

![Black Lives Matter Mural](https://example.com/blm-mural.jpg)

*Alt Text: A large Black Lives Matter mural painted on a street in Washington D.C.*

*Caption: The Black Lives Matter mural in Washington D.C., created to honor the movement for racial justice. (Photo by John Smith, June 2020, Washington D.C.)*


 

Conclusion

 

Public history bridges the gap between past and present, making history a dynamic and essential part of public life. By engaging diverse audiences and addressing contemporary issues, public historians ensure that history remains relevant and impactful. Whether through exhibitions, community projects, or digital media, public historians play a vital role in shaping our understanding of the past and its influence on the present and future.

 

Curated Media –

The Black Lives Matter mural can be seen at https://example.com/blm-mural.jpg.

A big mural depicting Black Lives Matter is painted on a street in Washington, D.C.

 

Grele, Ronald J. “Whose Public? Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian?” *The Public Historian* 3, no. 1 (Winter 1981): 40-48.

 

An older, white man sitting in his office
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what is public history

What Is Public History & My Thoughts on the Article.

The article, Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects by Robert Kelly, discusses what the field of Public History is, its prospects, and about a program of Public History that the author teaches to graduate and doctoral students. Upon completing the reading, it swayed me into seeing the importance of a public historian and the possible increase in the field as more public historians are needed in different spaces. 

Public history according to the article is, “In its simplest meaning, Public History refers to the employment of historians and the historical method outside of academia”[1]. A self-explanatory definition, but there is more to the field and how important it could be. Public historians will be working in those corporations, government offices, or communities to aid them in making better decisions for themselves.

 One thing I found most interesting about the article was the section about the Public Historical Studies Program. I like how the program allows them to work together and gain the skills they need through experience. They also come out of the program with a body of work that certifies their skills, and that is very attractive to future employers. The fact that the students after the program then all went off to do different things, but still using the skills from the field is something I like to see. 

Public history is the use of skills in the field of history applied to whatever context the historian works in. The professor of this course provided a good example of himself. He came to PV and started working in the cemetery. He had to speak to descendants of those buried, the heads of the university, and other collaborators to do the cemetery justice.

[1] Kelly, Robert. “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects.” The Public Historian 1, no.1 (1978): 16

A picture taken of Robert Kelly, found on the website of the National Council of Public History

A picture of Robert Kelly

A picture taken of Robert Kelly, found on the website of the National Council of Public History
An old, brown colored map with a magnifying glass on top
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Public History in all its glory…

Public History: “Its origins, Natures, and Prospects”

Robert Kelly

 

What do we mean by public history? 

heading-stroke

Public history is the employment of historians and outside the field such as the government,private corporations, media, historical societies, meseums , and private practice. They, as well as public historians find an issue in society, create a policy and program to fix such issue in the public. 

The words "Public History" in black against a white background
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Mapping the world

Mapping the world

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A lady sitting in the street where there are public issues

A lady sitting in the street where there are public issues

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How does Public History Work?

 

header-wavy

The article emphasizes the importance of historical context in analyzing contemporary issues. It argues that history is not merely an academic discipline but has practical applications in various sectors, including local governments, corporations, and public policy. Historically, the field of history has been predominantly academic, often perceived as irrelevant to immediate societal needs. However, the author emphasizes that historical analysis is essential for informed decision-making in governance and corporate strategies. The article highlights examples where historical insights clarified complex issues, suggesting a need for historians to be actively involved in public and practical contexts. The collaboration between historians and public agencies or corporations can enhance understanding and improve policy-making processes. Training programs in Public History are essential for equipping students with skills necessary for practical applications of historical research. The article reflects on a graduate program that integrates rigorous academic training with real-world internships, emphasizing teamwork, community-centered research, and adaptability to non-academic environments. In conclusion, the text advocates for a broader recognition of the value of historians in various sectors, highlighting the need for historians who are not just researchers but also effective communicators and problem solvers. The successful integration of historical methods into decision-making processes can contribute to more informed and humane policies in society. 

Girl standing infront of seneca rock reading about a homestead on the property
Photo taken by Lynn Richmond of the ACHP

A white U inside a red paint splash
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My History is Untold

Public History

Overview-Robert Kelly 

Robert-“PublicHistorrefers to the employment of historians and the historical method outside of academia: in the historical societies government, private corporations, media, and museums, even in private practice” 

The Relevance

Backstory of public history

Public history plays are playing a big role in our society. Like Robert was saying people who practice public history uncover so much more than what a textbook could bring. Doing the hard labor and going forth with a handful of questions ready to learn that’s more of what we need. Were so used to sheltered information. Public history allows us to broaden our knowledge outside what is provided to us. For example, events in time that have been overlooked by these historians who practice public history will uncover the secrets/information people were missing. I feel as if public history is the missing piece in some history we learn because the information isn’t broad, it is just enough to get your feet wet. 

According to Robert Kelly, public history isn’t just “formal schooling” history, it has more to do with the research put in and lies with the history behind the research. Public History and Academic History have always been around, but we tend to focus more on the academic side of history. Robert Kelly says that with academic history there’s only one way to learn and seek your information. Public History is the complete opposite. The historians acquire questions from others and provide them to anyone who wants the information. Robert Kelly says “He or she serves as a consultant, a professional, a member of the staff. “He’s saying that these historians are for the people and are committed to finding their research. Public history wasn’t fully recognized according to Robert Kelly, academic historians get the light, but public historians aren’t widely recognized for their practices. Later in 1975 Robert and his colleagues decided to train small groups and teach them the ways of Public and not academic history. And over time gradually they could expand and branch out to more of the public. Throughout time with these small groups, a lot of planning and work has been put in. They were beginning to start forming private companies to do environmental impact studies. The program is to get students and faculty to do community-centered research “Public History is an experiment with many risks. “There is a big growth in public history before it wasn’t valued, wasn’t understood. Now people can gather and learn about public history, and they can freely partake in the practices themselves. 

Refrences 

Kelly,Robert. “Public History:Its origins,Nature and prospects.”16-28.

The words "Public History" in black against a white background
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Public History

Robert Kelley’s “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects.”

“Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,”

“Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” argues that public history is more than just communicating historical knowledge to the general public.It involves actively engaging with the public, addressing contemporary social issues, and collaborating with diverse communities.

The words "Public History" in black against a white background

Who is the “public”?

Kelley moves beyond the simplistic notion of a single, homogenous “public.” He argues that public history must acknowledge and address the diverse interests, backgrounds, and needs of different audiences. This necessitates a nuanced understanding of the “public” that considers factors such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and accessibility needs.

 

What is public history?

Public history is the practice of sharing history with the broader public in accessible and engaging ways.It goes beyond traditional academic research and focuses on making historical knowledge relevant and meaningful to diverse audiences.

According to Robert Kelley’s “Public History: It’s Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” “public history” refers to the practice of using historical methods and expertise outside of traditional academic settings.

Kelley, public history is essentially a vibrant and diverse discipline that aims to close the knowledge gap between the general public and academics, make history applicable to modern society, and develop more knowledgeable and involved citizens.

Robert Kelley, “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” The Public Historian 1:1 (Autumn, 1978), 16-28.

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