Public What?

I have the following conversation often since I moved to Chicago:

Inquisitor asks “What do you do?”
I reply “I’m in graduate school.”
Slightly interested inquisitor then asks “Oh! For what?”
I respond with a smile and anticipating the end of the conversation “History.”
Inquisitor then yawns and politely asks “Oh, what type? Are you going to be a teacher?”
And then I reply “No, it’s public history…”
Blank stare. And then, with a whisper “And what is that?”

So for those of you not sure what I am doing at Loyola University Chicago here is a little description. I wrote the next two paragraphs for an introduction to public history paper assignment. Hope it clears up the air about what I am actually doing in Chicago...

"As a new and upcoming field, many people are unaware of what public history is and how, if at all, it is different from the history they learned growing up. As a new field its definition is being refined and cannot be narrowed to one brief sentence. Public history is the presentation and interpretation of history for a specific audience, and it is grounded in practice, experience and concrete examples. One could even consider a public historian a mediator between the public and history. But public history can also bridge the gap between professional history and popular history, because it is rooted in culture and society outside of the academic lecture. The field brings a balance to the specialization of history and gives generalized history context using an interdisciplinary approach. One must keep in mind that public history is not one size fits all, and it is important to recognize the need to adapt when dealing with history, the public and various components. Because of this public historians weigh the ethical issues of history differently from traditional historians in their research.

The Public History Resource Center (PHRC) considers these elements and many more in its definition of public history. The contributing scholars of PHRC define public history as history which can be seen, heard, read and interpreted by a popular audience by expanding on the methods of academic historians and emphasizing non-traditional evidence. It is the belief that history belongs to the public and that history matters in the day to day lives of people. It is the presentation of historical knowledge to a general audience which can take many forms: museum presentations, television documentaries, historic preservation projects, collections and recording projects. Public history also provides employment for historians outside of academia through practically applied methods and the retranslation of traditional historical knowledge. Also included is the responsibility of public historians to consider the ethical and efficient management of a group’s heritage and history."

There ya have it, folks. With my semester almost wrapped up, I have gotten the chance to dip my toe into a few projects: oral histories, transcriptions (yuck!), historical tours and reading and writing lots and lots. I am also getting some practical use at a historical society north of the city. Ok, enough procrastinating, I am off to work on a final project. [Insert comment on how lame I am here.]

xo
Am