Lecture at the AAS in Worcester, Mass

The American Antiquarian Society has announced a lecture on Uncivil Discourse.  Jim Leach (President of the NEH) and Jill Lepore (historian and author of several works including New York Burning) speaking together should be a *good* discussion.  Highly recommended if you are within easy traveling distance of  Worcester, Mass.

Also highly recommended is Annette Gordon-Reed's book The Hemings of Monticello (also mentioned in the article.) 

What is Public History?

Nicholas Sarantakes provides a very useful answer to the question What is Public History?

Jobs in History

These days a common discussion in any space - virtual or physical - inhabited by graduate students in history is the state of the job market.  Again, as in the 1970s, part of that discussion includes what historians can do other than teach at a four year institution.  Having strayed from the path of tenured professor years ago, I actively look for opportunities outside of academia, and recently, am intrigued by public highlights of such jobs. Here's a spotlight from the Washington Post on the FBI's Official Historian.

AHA - What We're Reading

I am finding the AHA's weekly blog post "What We're Reading" a very useful tool.  A compilation of good articles and resources from across the history spectrum.  When I can, I feature one or two here in more depth.  This week, I recommend scanning the list yourself as there are several very interesting items, from a new children's museum in NYC to a retrospective on Howard Zinn to a request from the National Archive.  Enjoy!
http://blog.historians.org/what-we-are-reading/979/what-were-reading-february-4-2010-edition

An Exercise

An assignment for this week was to pick a famous quote about history from a given list and write a logical argument or defense.  

The historian depends on certain realities and comforts.  Some are ephemeral and physical - the smell of a leather-bound book, the sharp contrast of black gall ink on bleached linen paper.  One is visceral and immutable - the security of an extended intellectual community, the protection of a multiple participant dialogue.  The scholar of the past can depend on one fact - no historian works in a vacuum.  Unlike the tree in the forest, doomed to an eternity of philosophical inquiry made possible by the absence of an audience, the historian by nature of her profession has, at minimum, an inherent audience of peers who first listen and then continue to question.  Historians create a record defined by those who went before and subsequently altered by those who follow.  Philip Guedalla said of our craft, “History repeats itself; historians repeat each other.”  For in our search for the grail of truth, the answer to “what really happened” is discerned by repetition, not only of inquiry, but also of interpretation.  Only by layering observations compiled from different actors and interpreted by varied observers, can we hope to approach the horizon of historical understanding.  

Additional Mission for House Museum

The Decatur House, opened as a museum in the 1960s by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is reported to have a new mission and focus: the history of the White House.  According to the New York Times, the museum will now, "support research related to White House history, store historical documents, offer expanded educational programs for children, and host lectures and other programs that explore the history of the White House and the surrounding area."  The National Center for White House History at Decatur House will be operated by the White House Historical Association.

I have talked before about house museums as products of the political climates within which they are born.  (See Patricia West's Domesticating History: The Political Origins of American's House Museums.)  What drove Decatur's new mission? A political understanding that only part of the story was being shared? A desire to prove that lessons were learned from the discussions and controversies surrounding the revisioning of the Liberty Bell Center?  The intent to share with the public research compiled over the last several decades that represents a shift in how history is viewed and portrayed?

I am interested to see (not only on the museum's web site but also in the NYT) the emphasis on the museum's intention to interpret the lives of all who lived in Decatur House, free and slave.  Is this new or just newly talked about?  The original mission of the Decatur House Museum was to "educate the public about American cultural and social history as it relates to the House, its location, architecture, preservation, and its occupants and their stories,"  according to this document.  However, the museum summary also makes reference to discussions of who lived in the house and how space was used, demonstrating that urban slave life was being discussed at the Decatur as early as 2000.  Perhaps the "new" aspect at the Decatur is simply the public announcement of good history already being presented.

In addition to the links presented above, visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation's page on the Decatur House for more information, including images.

Reviews of West's book can be found here and here.

Historic Bethlehem Event

Looking for a fun evening in late January? The Historic Bethlehem Partnership is hosting a Winterfest and Beer Pairings on Sunday, January 24th from 4-7 p.m. at the Hotel Bethlehem.  Smithsonian Institution speaker Warren Perry will speak on the repeal of Prohibition.