Introduction To Public History

History lapses from millions and millions of years ago. With all these different events that have taken place, historical figures, and artifacts, how do we expose these things to our publics? Public history is not clearly defined, but in the textbook, Introduction to Public History, the early founder of an early graduate program in public history, Robert Kelly, defined it as, “The employment of historians and the historical method outside of academia”(Lyons, pg.1-2). I believe it is ways that history is applied to real-world issues through the considerations of public audiences, shared authority, collaboration, and reflective practice. This practice is focused on the general audiences rather than academia, it is about what a diverse group

In Introduction to Public History says, “All forms of history begin in the same place: with solid historical research based on a rigorous examination of available sources...rely on the systematic and critical examination of sources within their historical contexts to reveal stories of the past...we assign meaning to the past, taking a wide range of materials and using them to form a coherent argument about the meaning and significance of past events. These practices make up the historical method”(Lyons, pg.2). Although, there are certain distinctions that make public history stray away from traditional histories such as audience, collaboration, and reflective practice. These distinctions are what make the field of public history stand out since anything can be labeled as public history but to a certain

They collaborate with both in order to see how they best serve both of them. This form of history doesn’t necessarily appeal or want the special insight from historians, rather it wants the communities insight, engagement, and answer the concerns the public raises. In the textbook, Introduction to Public History, it says, “Collaboration with the stakeholders whose history is being told is one of the defining features of public history work” (Lyons, 3). This entails there needs to be communication with outside sources to gather such information with professionals in other areas of expertise. Traditional academic historians usually work alone rather than a team, but with public history, it’s essential to collaborate and that is one of the defining characteristics of public