Whose Public? Whose History? What Is the Goal of a Public Historian?
The most significant success to date in this specific internship has been the development of new collaborations. Initial efforts to assure an internship in historical Digital Humanities that could further develop my interest and expertise have spawned two very different collaborative endeavors: The Headline News Project at Cuyahoga Community College and a collaborative internship model for the George Mason Digital Public Humanities Certificate program and the Smithsonian Institution and its Affiliate members. Headline News involved faculty, staff, support divisions, student activities and students in exploring a topic over the course of six weeks through a variety of engagement activities and media forms. The focus of this project will be to uncover and highlight the collections of the Smithsonian Division of Science and Medicine and its associate institution the Western Reserve Historical Society, with targeted materials from other local collections. These projects are initiatives in reinforce the immortal words,
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”.
— Helen Keller[1]
The hope is that by integrating the resources from multiple institutions, we will gain a new understanding of women’s impact in the community and role in the development of American health care practices and institutions. These specific projects are the result of new directions in conceptualization of historical research and knowledge production. Roy Rosenzweig initiated this concept with his catalytic essay, “Can History Be Open Sourced” [2] The trajectory of academia is shifting from the professor in the Ivory Tower to the combined efforts of multiple institutions, divisions and services in institutions and multidisciplinary collaboration. This is only possible because of technology, but because of technology we can incorporated more resources and perspectives.
“Collaboration, it turns out, is not a gift from the gods but a skill that requires effort and practice.”
— Douglas B. Reeves[3]
The challenge in both projects is
maintaining communication and momentum. Engaging
in collaborative projects requires adapting and negotiating goals, resources and
priorities. The challenges of
incorporating multiple perspectives, meeting administrative and technical
hurdles in order to create common understanding; is explored in museum practice
& digital humanities literature.[4] Each project is a unique experience because ‘human
experience’ varies so widely and is shaped by time and context. We are meeting the challenge by creating
relationships that focus on our mutual goals.
[1] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/21/together/
[2] “Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past” The Journal of American History Volume 93, Number 1 (June, 2006): 117-46.
[3] Douglas B. Reeves (2012). “Transforming Professional Development into Student Results”, p.50, ASCD. (Douglas B. Reeves. AZQuotes.com, Wind and Fly LTD, 2019. https://www.azquotes.com/author/38276-Douglas_B_Reeves, accessed July 04, 2019.)
[4] Examples include: Gordon, Tammy S. “Community Exhibit: History Identity and Dialogue” Private History in Public Exhibition and the Settings of Everyday life (Lantham: AltMira Press, 2010) p. 33-57. And Grele, Ronald J. “Whose Public? Whose History? What Is the Goal of a Public Historian?” The Public Historian, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter, 1981), pp. 40-48.
