HIST 5388: Public History - East Texas History

From book summary: "Offers not only discussion of practical matters, but also a deeper reflection on local, public history, what it means, and why it is done."

From book summary: "Using a global, non-Western model, Jeremy Black examines the employment of history by the state, the media, the national collective memory and others and considers its fundamental significance in how we understand the past."

Investigates path-breaking public history practices at a time when the traditional expertise of museums seems challenged. Offers concrete examples and models for institutions of all sizes and budgets. Sample chapter title: "Thought piece: Participatory design and the future of museums" by Nina Simon.

Introduces debates in public history as it places people--such as practitioners, bloggers, archivists, local historians, curators or those working in education--at the heart of history-making. Explores public history as an everyday practice rather than simply as an academic discipline: the idea that historical knowledge is discovered and accrued from everyday encounters people have with their environments and the continuing dialogue that the present has with the past.

Contested Histories in Public Space brings multiple perspectives to bear on historical narratives presented to the public in museums, monuments, texts, and festivals around the world. Contributors delve into representations of contested histories at such "sites" as a British Library exhibition on the East India Company, a Rio de Janeiro shantytown known as "the cradle of samba," the Ellis Island immigration museum, and high-school history textbooks in Ecuador.

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum's attempt to mount an exhibit featuring the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, broke down in a firestorm of controversy. Harwit's beautifully written and extensively documented book tells what really happened, from the initial decision to restore Enola Gay, through the breakdown of cooperation.