Committee on Public History

Victoria A. Harden, Chair

The Public History committee met on 27 April, 2001 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Those attending were: Victoria Harden, Chair; Janelle Warren-Findley, outgoing Board liaison; Spencer Crew, committee member; Heather Huyck, committee member; David Kyvig, visitor; Paula Hamilton, Australian visitor; Marty Blatt, visitor; Lee Formwalt, OAH; John Dichtl, OAH; and Susan Ferentinos, OAH.

A copy of the agenda is attached.

Two personnel issues related to the committee were discussed: (1) New Board liaison to the committee. If someone else has not already been appointed, committee members would like to request that Page Miller be strongly considered for this appointment. (2) In 2000, no new member of the committee was apparently appointed, thus two new members need to be appointed for terms beginning January 2002 to bring the committee up to its normal size of 4 members plus a Board liaison. Committee members noted that two people, Marty Blatt and Jo Blatti, had expressed interest in joining the committee. discussed at length a number of issues related to funding for public and academic history. In each case, the consensus was that historians need to support Bruce Craig and learn how to lobby their respective members of Congress more effectively. The committee recommended that the Program Committee for 2002 in Washington, DC, work with Heather Huyck to set up a 3-hour workshop on the nuts and bolts of individual lobbying to be held on Thursday morning before sessions begin. The committee further suggested that Lee Formwalt consult with Bruce Craig to identify OAH members who could meet with their members of Congress during the OAH meeting (and after they have been trained on Thursday morning) and to set up those meetings in advance. The OAH Board should guide members as to particular issues that should be addressed most strongly.

The committee discussed the status of historical museum exhibits, especially those at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and those of the National Park Service. Members Heather Huyck and Spencer Crew described pressures from large donors and other interest groups to tell historical stories according to their desires. Drs. Huyck and Crew also agreed that it would help their personal efforts significantly if the OAH made it clear to the Smithsonian and the NPS that it expected to play a role in ensuring historical accuracy of major exhibits. It was suggested that the Board contact Hannah Gray, the former president of the University of Chicago, and /or Walter Massey of Morehouse University, for advice on how best to assert this authority to the governing bodies of the Smithsonian and the NPS. The goal should be to place carefully selected OAH members on the planning committees of any major historical exhibit to argue for historical integrity in exhibits.

Dr. Huyck also noted that with respect to the Jamestown 400 observance in 2007, a federal oversight commission had recently been authorized. She suggested that the OAH board recommend to both the Secretary of the Interior and to Senator John Warner the names of candidates to fill the five individual appointments to this commission. She noted that other professional groups would also be recommending candidates and that the OAH should press strongly to ensure that as many as possible of these positions are filled by historians.

Dr. Huyck noted that a national collaboration on Women's History sites is being formed. Interested individuals should contact her for more information.

Victoria Harden reported that the Executive Board of the National Council on Public History had approved at its meeting on 19 April 2001 the creation of a task force for setting guidelines for public history programs. Former NCPH president Michael Devine will lead the task force and hopes to have a draft plan ready for discussion by the fall NCPH board meeting. These guidelines would describe what a public history program with one faculty member might be expected to teach and what a full department of public history might be expected to cover. In addition, they would explain to historical organizations at all levels why they should hire individuals trained in history rather than just history buffs to run historical endeavors. The goals of this task force are twofold-first, to provide university history programs with a tool to ensure that resources within the university remain adequate (department chairs can argue, "Our professional societies require this level of faculty, funding, etc."), and second, to support the professionalization of public history by placement of trained graduates in positions throughout the country. The NCPH anticipates that it will submit the guidelines to the OAH and the AHA for discussion and, it is hoped, approval after they have been developed.

John Dial described an instance that reflects a nationwide problem of how to identify trained historians to evaluate, conserve, and write about historical materials (documents, material culture artifacts, buildings, photos) that are uncovered by interested local people. The committee discussed the problem and agreed that two possibilities exist, depending on the resources available. First, graduate students under the supervision of their mentors could take on the projects as a part of their masters or dissertation projects. Second, professional historians could be hired to undertake the project if money is available. The committee believed that the OAH could assist this effort by adding a web page to its website listing links to various other sources that people can contact for advice. This would inclued the NCPH's online list of historical consultants, the NEH and NHS programs, and individual historians who wish to be involved with their students when new finds are located in their geographic areas.

Finally, the members of the public history committee wish to commend the joint OAH and NCPH program committee for their efforts to plan the 2002 joint meeting so that both academic and professional issues are addressed. The committee recommends to the OAH board that a new goal be set for the next joint OAH-NCPH meeting-that as many sessions as possible have both academic and professional historians participating and addressing substantive issues from their unique perspectives. This will take the organization a step beyond discussion of public history practices to permitting those practices to be integrated in the presentation of substantive historical issues.

		Report to OAH Executive Board from Public History Committee 28 April 2001
Home		Victoria A. Harden, Chair The Public History committee met on 27 April, 2001 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Those attending were: Victoria Harden, Chair; Janelle Warren-Findley, outgoing Board liaison; Spencer Crew, committee member; Heather Huyck, committee member; David Kyvig, visitor; Paula Hamilton, Australian visitor; Marty Blatt, visitor; Lee Formwalt, OAH; John Dichtl, OAH; and Susan Ferentinos, OAH. A copy of the agenda is attached. Two personnel issues related to the committee were discussed: (1) New Board liaison to the committee. If someone else has not already been appointed, committee members would like to request that Page Miller be strongly considered for this appointment. (2) In 2000, no new member of the committee was apparently appointed, thus two new members need to be appointed for terms beginning January 2002 to bring the committee up to its normal size of 4 members plus a Board liaison. Committee members noted that two people, Marty Blatt and Jo Blatti, had expressed interest in joining the committee. discussed at length a number of issues related to funding for public and academic history. In each case, the consensus was that historians need to support Bruce Craig and learn how to lobby their respective members of Congress more effectively. The committee recommended that the Program Committee for 2002 in Washington, DC, work with Heather Huyck to set up a 3-hour workshop on the nuts and bolts of individual lobbying to be held on Thursday morning before sessions begin. The committee further suggested that Lee Formwalt consult with Bruce Craig to identify OAH members who could meet with their members of Congress during the OAH meeting (and after they have been trained on Thursday morning) and to set up those meetings in advance. The OAH Board should guide members as to particular issues that should be addressed most strongly. The committee discussed the status of historical museum exhibits, especially those at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and those of the National Park Service. Members Heather Huyck and Spencer Crew described pressures from large donors and other interest groups to tell historical stories according to their desires. Drs. Huyck and Crew also agreed that it would help their personal efforts significantly if the OAH made it clear to the Smithsonian and the NPS that it expected to play a role in ensuring historical accuracy of major exhibits. It was suggested that the Board contact Hannah Gray, the former president of the University of Chicago, and /or Walter Massey of Morehouse University, for advice on how best to assert this authority to the governing bodies of the Smithsonian and the NPS. The goal should be to place carefully selected OAH members on the planning committees of any major historical exhibit to argue for historical integrity in exhibits. Dr. Huyck also noted that with respect to the Jamestown 400 observance in 2007, a federal oversight commission had recently been authorized. She suggested that the OAH board recommend to both the Secretary of the Interior and to Senator John Warner the names of candidates to fill the five individual appointments to this commission. She noted that other professional groups would also be recommending candidates and that the OAH should press strongly to ensure that as many as possible of these positions are filled by historians. Dr. Huyck noted that a national collaboration on Women's History sites is being formed. Interested individuals should contact her for more information. Victoria Harden reported that the Executive Board of the National Council on Public History had approved at its meeting on 19 April 2001 the creation of a task force for setting guidelines for public history programs. Former NCPH president Michael Devine will lead the task force and hopes to have a draft plan ready for discussion by the fall NCPH board meeting. These guidelines would describe what a public history program with one faculty member might be expected to teach and what a full department of public history might be expected to cover. In addition, they would explain to historical organizations at all levels why they should hire individuals trained in history rather than just history buffs to run historical endeavors. The goals of this task force are twofold-first, to provide university history programs with a tool to ensure that resources within the university remain adequate (department chairs can argue, "Our professional societies require this level of faculty, funding, etc."), and second, to support the professionalization of public history by placement of trained graduates in positions throughout the country. The NCPH anticipates that it will submit the guidelines to the OAH and the AHA for discussion and, it is hoped, approval after they have been developed. John Dial described an instance that reflects a nationwide problem of how to identify trained historians to evaluate, conserve, and write about historical materials (documents, material culture artifacts, buildings, photos) that are uncovered by interested local people. The committee discussed the problem and agreed that two possibilities exist, depending on the resources available. First, graduate students under the supervision of their mentors could take on the projects as a part of their masters or dissertation projects. Second, professional historians could be hired to undertake the project if money is available. The committee believed that the OAH could assist this effort by adding a web page to its website listing links to various other sources that people can contact for advice. This would inclued the NCPH's online list of historical consultants, the NEH and NHS programs, and individual historians who wish to be involved with their students when new finds are located in their geographic areas. Finally, the members of the public history committee wish to commend the joint OAH and NCPH program committee for their efforts to plan the 2002 joint meeting so that both academic and professional issues are addressed. The committee recommends to the OAH board that a new goal be set for the next joint OAH-NCPH meeting-that as many sessions as possible have both academic and professional historians participating and addressing substantive issues from their unique perspectives. This will take the organization a step beyond discussion of public history practices to permitting those practices to be integrated in the presentation of substantive historical issues.