The Public Historian

The Public Historian
Title	The Public Historian
Discipline	History
Language	English
Publisher	University of California, Santa Barbara
Country	United States
Frequency	Quarterly
Issn	0272-3433

The Public Historian is a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on applied history, preservation, and the practice of historical work outside traditional academic settings. It addresses intersections between National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, American Historical Association, and National Council on Public History professionals, policymakers, and communities. Contributions often engage with case studies involving Monticello, Gettysburg National Military Park, Ellis Island, Alcatraz Island, and Independence National Historical Park.

Definition and Scope

The journal defines public history in relation to museums, archives, preservation, and interpretation as practiced by practitioners at institutions like American Alliance of Museums, Historic New England, Preservation Virginia, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Historic England. Articles examine projects connected to sites such as Plymouth Rock, Fort Sumter, Alamo (mission), Ford's Theatre, and Harvard University archives while addressing policy frameworks from National Historic Preservation Act (1966), Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, and programs like Save America's Treasures. Contributors analyze collaborations involving Smithsonian American Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the City of New York, and Vermont Historical Society.

History and Development

Founded amid debates about professionalization, the journal emerged alongside organizations including National Council on Public History and initiatives at University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Middle Tennessee State University, George Mason University, and University of South Carolina. Historical antecedents include projects tied to Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Historic Sites Act of 1935, and preservation movements involving Jane Jacobs, Frederick Law Olmsted, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Margaret Mead. Over time it has contextualized work related to Civil Rights Movement, Women's Suffrage, Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, and Emancipation Proclamation within public-facing scholarship.

Roles and Practices

The journal spotlights practitioners working as curators, conservators, oral historians, and exhibit designers at organizations like British Museum, National Gallery of Art, Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Smithsonian Institution. It covers practices including interpretation at Gettysburg National Military Park, archaeological stewardship at Jamestown Settlement, and community archives projects with partners such as Abolitionist Hall, Tuskegee Institute, Rosa Parks Museum, Anacostia Community Museum, and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Case studies often reference collaborations with National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Institute of Museum and Library Services, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Methodologies and Ethics

Methodological discussions engage sources and methods used by practitioners at Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Vatican Secret Archives and consider ethical frameworks influenced by debates involving Iroquois Confederacy, Navajo Nation, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Anthropology, and repatriation cases like Kennewick Man and Elgin Marbles. Authors address standards set by American Alliance of Museums, Society of American Archivists, International Council on Archives, ICOMOS, and legal contexts including Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and Freedom of Information Act.

Institutions and Employment

Employment pathways discussed include positions at universities such as Rutgers University, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, New York University, and University of Michigan as well as roles within National Park Service, State Historic Preservation Offices, local historical societies, corporate archives at Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Smithsonian Institution Archives, and nonprofit organizations like Historic New England. The journal examines labor issues raised by unions such as American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and funding patterns involving National Endowment for the Humanities grants, philanthropy from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and policies linked to National Science Foundation.

Public Engagement and Education

Public-facing scholarship in the journal intersects with outreach at Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, National Constitution Center, Tenement Museum, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources, and National History Day. Articles discuss digital initiatives connected to Europeana, Digital Public Library of America, Wikipedia, YouTube, and platforms developed by Harvard Library and Stanford Libraries as well as school partnerships with Common Core State Standards Initiative, National Council for the Social Studies, and community programs aligned with AmeriCorps.

Criticism and Debates

The journal publishes critiques involving contested narratives at sites like Mount Rushmore, Confederate Memorial Hall, Stonewall Inn, Château de Versailles, and debates about representation tied to figures such as Christopher Columbus, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, and institutions like British Museum and Louvre. Scholars engage with controversies concerning decolonization, restitution, authenticity, and memory connected to cases including Benin Bronzes, Repatriation of Māori artifacts, African Burial Ground National Monument, and policy disputes involving UNESCO and International Criminal Court-related heritage discussions.

Category:History journals