Public History

In an earlier post, I defined history as not just a study of or presentation of the past, but a search for the truth of the political, economical, and social contexts of the past. “Public History”, therefore, is a search for the truth of the political, economical, and social contexts of the past in a public forum. In addition to search for the truth, historians have to be accurate in their assessment and interpretation of the past. Thus, good public history should try to illustrate all sides of a historical event or issue. The Smithsonian Institute is a good example of public history. It embodies the principles of academia by validating its research with accurate sources and presents its findings to the public in a factual, yet easily understood manner. These characteristics make the Smithsonian Institute one of the best examples of public history.

Because history originates in events, policies, and records that are public, public input is a necessity. However, it may not always be practical for THE (author’s emphasis for clarity) public to provide input into history. Input from the general public may be best in conveying oral or local histories; however, their contributions must still be validated by professional historians to ensure the accuracy of the truth in the final presentation.

In reality, the real world makes it difficult to achieve ideal public history. Two historians researching the same event or issue can, and likely will, come to two completely different conclusions. Each historical researcher has his or her own opinion and interpretation. Additionally, in the United States society is driven by financial profit. History generates little financial profits. Government priorities and responsibilities limit the availability of public funding. Public history must then turn to private funding. Private funds can influence the research or the interpretation of the researcher’s findings.

According to many scholars, academia falls outside of the scope of public history. This writer disagrees. Academia functions within the context of the public. Many professional historians employed in the field of academia are also public employees. Their work is carried out as a result of public funding and public resources. Even those employed in private academic settings contribute to public history. The public forum is the research findings they have compiled. Academic historians may be intent on producing history for others academic historians, but their findings will eventually become public. As Joseph Skeen, a student at West Virginia University, noted in his History 412 blog discussion, public history would not exist without the research of academia.

If public history is the search for truth of the political, economical, and social contexts of the past in a public forum, then is public history not an alias for history? This is the idea behind Ronald J. Grele’s statement, “From its earliest times, the study of history has been a public act…” (1) Since most history originates with public events, issues, and records and finishes with a presentation to the public in some manner, most history is public history. And if most history is public history, then what is “private history”. W. Andrew Achenbaum noted that even corporate historians practice public history. This writer disagrees. Not all records or proceedings of a corporation are public, nor were they ever intended to be public. This is true even if the corporation is publicly traded or a publicly owned entity. Corporations act on behalf of their owners and shareholders as a private entity. Corporate historians, therefore, are not necessarily practicing public history. They practice public history only if their research leads them to publish their findings publicly. The same holds true for individuals and family. Birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates are all public records. These personal and private events took place under the public eye, with public knowledge and public approval. But diaries and personal letters are private. These records then become private histories of the individual or family. Unless the individual or family is a public official or in the public spotlight, these personal histories based on diaries, letters and other private records should remain private.

1. Grele, Ronald J. “Whose Public? Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian?” The Public Historian Vol. 3, No. 4 (1981) p.41.