Shared authority, by definition, is a collaborative approach that involves sharing power and responsibility with the public. Many times, we see attempts to control the history of the people by people who are ashamed and want to “move past” what happened and leave it in the past rather than learn from it. This by far is not allowing history to be shared but instead is modifying it to make certain parties feel at ease.
Frank Jackson and Jayla Allen in his office at PVAMU
You either hate or love class group projects because they will tank your grade or pull up your grade which you need for said class. Group projects for the most part are random and you may get someone who isn’t pulling their weight or someone taking charge of every aspect of the project. Sometimes by the grace of God, everyone does their part, and you score an A! This is called shared authority. Just like those group projects, historians, scholars, and institutions come together to interpret, or display history.
Benefits of Shared Authority
shared authority have many benefits to historical research, impact on scholarship, and exhibition presentation.
Historical Research:
* Diverse Perspectives
*Oral Histories & Community Input
*Ethical Research Practices
Impact on Scholarship:
*Decentralization of Expertise
*Interdisciplinary Approaches
*Challenging Traditional Narratives
Impact on Exhibition (e.g., Museums, Public History Projects)
*Collaborative Curation
*Engagement & Accessibility
*Ethical Representation:
Why Community Matters?
The community should have an impact on how their history is portrayed, if not the effects could be negative such as mistrust of historians and institutions, false narratives about the community, and distorted truths. In their article, A Shared Inquiry into Shared Inquiry, Katherine Corbett and Dick Miller write of an exhibit that did not have shared authority and the consequence of that. In Meet Me at the Fair: Memory, History, and the 1904 World’s Fair, the Missouri Historical Society aimed to challenge romanticized memories of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. A key focus was the Philippine Village Exhibit, which originally portrayed Filipinos through a colonial, radicalized lens to justify American imperialism. The exhibit highlighted how these portrayals perpetuated harmful stereotypes, such as the myth of Igorot villagers being ‘’dog eaters’’ a narrative rooted in racist propaganda rather than cultural reality.However, the curators faced tensions with the local Filipino-American community. Some community members, particularly those of Visayan descent, found the representation offensive, as it risked reinforcing negative stereotypes.
Geneva Reed-Veal, left, mother of Sandra Bland, embraces her daughter, Shante Needham during a ceremony renaming University Boulevard to Sandra Bland Parkway on Friday, April 15, 2016, in Prairie View Tx. The street was renamed near the location of Bland’s arrest. Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )1
In 2015, Sandra Bland was found in a Waller County Jail cell apparently she hung herself, despite suspicion from the community, following a global outrage. Sandra Bland was an alumni to the town’s prestigious Hbcu, Prairie View A&M University. Bland would be commenced with a marker and a public memorial in her honor, and a street name change to Sandra Bland Parkway. After speaking with Counselman, Malcolm Jackson of Prairie View TX, about the restoration of the Sandra Bland public memorial, I was told that the owner of the plot where the public memorial sits, was not happy about the name change. She and other multi-generational residents of Prairie View felt that other people in the community were more deserving or had a more significant impact on the small town. The mistake was failure to connect with the community, giving them a role, and listening to their opinions on something that represents them.
The next time you have a group presentation remember the benefits and importance of shared authority to successfully depict your group’s subject presentation.
Corbett, Katharine T., and Howard S. Miller. A Shared Inquiry into Shared Inquiry. The Public Historian 28, no. 1 (2006):
This picture shows students sitting in a museum learning about history that was able to get out by shared authority.
What is shared authority?
The process of shared authority is often used throughout public history. The process of shared authority allows historians to collaborate and share their facts to make public history the best it can be. Shared authority not only allows historians to connect with one another but it also allows historians to connect just with the community. This helps both the historian and the citizen because it allows the historian to share history while also getting opinions from the community or maybe even more facts that can benefit the historian’s research.
Why is shared authority important?
Over the years historians have realized that not many institutions have the funds to do history projects fully. So historian Orsello has come to the realization that most museums and historical sites are all collaborative projects that have flourished into spreading communities on different topics of history. A lack of collaboration across sectors hampers every institution’s efforts at effecting social change (Orsello, 121). The shared authority also plays an important role in public history because it gives all historians the opportunity to help better one another. Instead of having someone who is head in charge, it can become a collaborative event that acknowledges everyone’s ideas.
How is the shared authority used?
In today’s world shared authority is used more commonly used than what we probably realize. One example is museums. Museums play a huge part in history but in order for them to get the correct information out to the public you’re going to have to collaborate with other people. As far as an African American museum in order for certain parts of history to be broken down you will have to speak to descendants of ancestors who actually lived through that particular time period. This is also beneficial because it allows people the opportunity to use their voice on topics that people usually brush over.
Shared Authority refers to the practice of distributing decisions making power and the right to interpret information across multiple individuals or groups rather than solely relying on a single person or authority figure. Shared authority is seen as an important step forward for public historians and the process of their work. Shared authority allows historians to create an interactive space with a public audience. [1]
This picture displays a group of students engaging in a real world scenario displaying shared authority . [Photograph Rylo’s Mom , 2025]
Main Body
Shared authority refers to a collaborative approach to historical research and interpretation in which the perspectives of multiple individuals, including scholars, community members, and other resources are acknowledged and integrated into the process. Another approach rather than using the traditional methods where authority relies solely on academic experts or institutions, shared authority emphasizes the inclusion of diverse voices, especially those historically marginalized or excluded from dominant narratives. Here we notice the impact that shared authority can have on historical events and how its discretion is seen as irrelevant in certain situations. In a historical context, shared authority allows for a more in-depth and inclusive understanding of the past. Researchers work alongside community members, historians, activists, and local experts incorporating personal experiences. Within scholarship, shared authority redefines the power dynamics between academic researchers and other knowledge holders. This may involve partnerships with local communities, cultural groups, or grassroots organizations. These partnerships are seen as reciprocal and emphasize mutual respect, with each party contributing their own insights. This approach can lead to new methods and theoretical frameworks, encouraging interdisciplinary work that challenges the dominant narratives typically shaped by institutions of power. The influence of shared authority has prompted many of my colleague peers to add their own knowledge , here are soon of their blog post below .
Shared authority happens when there is a group effort to collaborate on a project. Shared authority typically happens through interviews. Interviews allow for the interviewee to tell their stories to help the interviewer put the pieces together. In the article, A Shared Inquiry into Shared Inquiry, Corbett and Miller state, “Interviewer and interviewee share ownership of oral history because they share agency in its creation (20).”
The
Impact
Shared authority helps historians dive deeper into their research. For example, Katharine Corbett researched photos from a labor strike in 1933. She located a few of the people who were in the photographs and interviewed them. Corbett indicates she searched for the workers in hopes to “put names to some of the faces (15).” Corbett identified some of the workers and allowed them to tell their stories. Ultimately, she brought life back into the photos with the truth and real stories connected to them.
A shared Inquiry
into Shared Inquiry
This article explains in-depth shared inquiry, reflective practice, and shared authority. Her main point about shared authority is getting people’s stories out. However, she explains it’s not simple to have interviews. She notes that some interviewees do not cooperate, and some are dishonest. Despite the negative attributes of shared authority, this does not change the fact that oral history is essential. As mentioned before, she wanted to add oral history to the photos from the labor strike. She revisits this story in the end to emphasize its importance. Kathy states, “…most projects… have too little inquiry or authority during the formative stages… limiting our opportunities to counterpoint our history with our public’s varied pasts (36).” This quote further supports her thoughts about oral history. She is implying that history has many hidden stories. Without these stories, people’s truths are trapped within photos or artifacts.
Corbett, Katharine T., and Howard S. Miller. “A Shared Inquiry into Shared Inquiry.” The Public Historian 28, no. 1 (2006): 15–38. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2006.28.1.15.
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.
![Professional Development on Artifacts [Photograph © May 2015 by Mahatma Chanrani]](https://pvpantherproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_3498.jpeg "The Metropoltan Museum of Art")
![A team of historians collaborating to refine and enhance the integrity of their ongoing project. [Photograph © 2024 unidentified]](https://pvpantherproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_3500.jpeg "National Park Service")