In Quest of the Professional Historian: The Introduction to Public History Course

Author(s): Patricia Mooney Melvin

Source: The Public Historian, Vol. 9, No. 3, The Field of Public History: Planning the
Curriculum (Summer, 1987), pp. 67-79
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the National Council on Public
History
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 In Quest of the Professional
Historian: The Introduction to
Public History Course

PATRICIA MOONEY MELVIN

Patricia Mooney Melvin, head of public history at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock
and faculty member at the NEH-NCPH Summer Institute on Public History, surveys th
growing literature on public history and gives practical suggestions for conceptualizing an
setting up an introductory, semester-length course for graduate students in public history
She critically evaluates articles, books, and reports that will help introduce students to
new professional world rarely found in courses in the standard curriculum. Melvin's sugge
tions can be utilized both as selected readings for students and also as background reading
for faculty approaching public history for the first time; here one can find the main streams
of thought, issues, and questions that have emerged during the past decade.

BYITS VERY NATURE the Introduction to Public History course can be an

unwieldy beast. In designing the course, one is confronted with the desire
to illustrate the wide range of possibilities open to those possessing a history
background and with the danger that such a course can turn into a laundr
list devoid of a strong intellectual context. One way to resolve this dilemm
is to utilize the history of the historical profession in America as a unifying
structure for the course. With this approach, students begin to understan
how the profession has developed over time and how the different areas o
public history fit into the historical profession as a whole. This allows them
to focus their thoughts directly on the issue of the historian as a professiona
rather than on the historian as a teacher, an archivist, a curator, a cultura
resource manager, or a government employee.
A review of the recent guide to public history education in Americ
and a survey of the syllabi included in the National Council on Publi
History's syllabus exchange suggests that most courses that introduce
students to public history are one-semester courses open to both under
graduate and graduate students. The course under examination here is
designed for one semester and is intended for graduate students. Give

1. National Council on Public History, Public Education in America: A Guide (1986)

67

The Public Historian, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer 1987)

? by the Regents of the University of California

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68 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

the length of a semester, the constraints of time necessitate

command more than one week of course time. Not sur
situation limits the depth with which students can explor
topics included in an introductory course. What is essentia
to present the material in such a way as to spark student in
questions that ultimately will engage class members in an
what it can mean to be a professional historian.
Before involving students in a discussion of the history o
profession, it is useful to direct their attention to the stud
general and to the identification of the skills possessed by
students have thought about history or historical skills in a
ion. When pressed in this area, they usually respond with r
ingless generalities about the study of the past and often f
skills employed by historians in this endeavor. Without a
standing of the historian's craft, however, students cannot
an analysis of either the historical profession or the applicab
cal skills in a wide variety of settings.
Obviously, a discussion of the study of history can draw o
sources and can be approached in a variety of ways. It
particularly, where the constraints of time limit the exam
issue at hand. Ideally, students will have the opportunity
that focuses directly on the varying answers to the qu
history?" and introduces them to the different debates wit
cal profession over methodological issues such as the role o
in history and to the different types of historical docume
one-semester introductory course, professors must select
for them, keeping in mind that this topic can occupy no
weeks of class time.2
Two works that provide excellent focal points for an exam
study of history are E. H. Carr's What is History? and H.
History as Art and as Science.3 Although somewhat ou
works can still kindle the imagination of a class. A close r

2. For background information about history and the practice of the h

Norman F. Cantor and Richard I. Schneider, How to Study History (
Illinois: AHM Publishing Corp., 1967); Allan J. Lichtman and Valerie
and the Living Past (Arlington Heights, Illinois: AHM Publishing Co
Barzun and Henry F. Graff, The Modern Researcher, 4th ed. (San Dieg
Jovanovich, 1985); William Moss, "Oral History: An Appreciation," The
40 (October 1977), 429-39; Marc Bloch, The Historian's Craft (New Yo
1953); James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle, After the Fact: T
Detection (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982); David Hackett Fisher, H
Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper and Row, 197
Practice of History (London: Methuen, 1967); G. J. Renier, History: Its
(Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1982); Robin W. Winks, e
Detective: Essays on Evidence (New York: Harper and Row, 1970); and H
Politics of History (Boston: Beacon Press, 1970).
3. E. H. Carr, What is History? (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 19
Hughes, History as Art and as Science (New York: Harper and Row, 196

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 69

and Hughes allows students to grapple with such issues as what is history,
the historian's dialogue between facts and interpretation, and the nature
of historical analysis. Furthermore, Hughes addresses the historian's role
in the analysis of the recent past. Most students seem to believe that
appropriate historical topics must be drawn from the relatively distant
past. Anything beyond the Second World War, in their eyes, falls within
the province of the sociologist or political scientist. Yet, as Hughes asks, if
we do not do contemporary history, who will, and what impact will the
failure to address more contemporary issues have on the historical profes-
sion?4 To take this issue further, what impact will this have on our under-
standing of the present? A look at Carr and Hughes forces students to
examine the study of history in a more systematic fashion and to confront
the issue of the utility of history.
The selections from Carr and Hughes, in conjunction with Robert
Kelley's article, "Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,"5
should enable students to dissect the task of the historian in the writing of
history and detail the various skills that historians possess. What, exactly,
does the historian do? How does he or she confront the basic elements of
historical research? Just what is historical knowledge and the historical
approach? An understanding of such issues is critical if students are to
analyze the work of the historian, appreciate the history of the historical
profession, and formulate a well-founded definition of the professional
historian.
Joan Hoff Wilson's "Is the Historical Profession an 'Endangered Spe-
cies'?"6 provides a basic framework for the discussion of the history of the
historical profession. Once such a framework is established, material on
the history of the profession can be divided into six sections. The first
section, "The Heyday of the Amateur Historian," explores the writing of
puritan history and patrician history.' This leads naturally into the second
section, "The Rise of the Professional Historian." In the discussion of this
topic, students are introduced to the nature of a profession, the rise of the
modern university and the training of professional historians, the forma-
tion and early composition of the American Historical Association (AHA),
and the changing nature of the AHA between 1907 and 1945.8 The third

4. H. Stuart Hughes, "Is Contemporary History Real History?" in H. Stuart Hughes,

History as Art and as Science, 93.
5. Robert Kelley, "Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects," The Public
Historian 1 (Fall 1978), 16-28.
6. Joan Hoff Wilson, "Is the Historical Profession an 'Endangered Species'?" The Public
Historian 2 (Winter 1980), 4-21.
7. See George H. Callcott, History in the United States, 1800-1860: Its Practice and
Purpose (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1970) and David Van Tassel, Record-
ing America's Past: An Interpretation of the Development of Historical Studies in America,
1607-1884 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960).
8. See John Higham, 'The Construction of American History," in The Reconstruction of
American History, by John Higham (London, 1962; reprint ed., Westport, Connecticut:
Greenwood Press, 1980), 9-24; John Higham, History: Professional Scholarship in America

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70 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

section, '"The Post-World War II Academic Boom," examines t

of academia after the Second World War, the impact of this g
definition of the historian, the crisis confronting the profe
1970s, and the issue of the historian's various "publics."9
The final three sections focus on public history. Kelley's ar
lic History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects," G. Wesl
Jr.'s "Editor's Preface," and Leslie H. Fishel, Jr.'s "Public
the Academy,"10 give students the basic context for the
public history and its relationship to the profession of histo
four, "Origins of Public History," traces the roots of to
history movement. Topics under discussion in this section
tension in the AHA between academics and nonacademics,
ment of historians in nonacademic jobs, the job crisis, th
institutions such as the University of California at Santa
Carnegie-Mellon University to the needs of the profession in
and the renewed interest in the utility of history." In the fi
students' attention is directed toward the question, "Wh
History?"12 And finally, the sixth section, "Public Hist

(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983); John Higham, Writin

tory: Essays on Modern Scholarship (Bloomington: Indiana University Pre
Lerner, "The Necessity of History and the Professional Historian," Journ
History 69 (June 1982), 7-20; Arthur Link, "The American Historical As
1984," American Historical Review 90 (February 1985), 1-17; and Michael K
Historian's Vocation and the State of the Discipline in the United States," in T
Us: Contemporary Historical Writing in the United States, Michael Kamm
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1980), 19-46.
9. See Hoff Wilson, "Historical Profession," 4-21; Kathleen Neils Conzen
Neu, "The State of Crisis in the Historical Profession," OAH Newsletter, F
10-13; and David A. Clary, "Trouble is My Business: A Private View of 'Pu
The American Archivist 44 (September 1981), 105-12.
10. Kelley, "Public History," 16-28; G. Wesley Johnson, Jr., "Editor's
Public Historian 1 (Fall 1978), 4-10; and Leslie H. Fishel, Jr., "Public H
Academy," in Barbara J. Howe and Emory L. Kemp, eds., Public History:
(Malabar, Florida: Robert A. Krieger Publishing Co., 1986), 8-19.
11. See Clary, "Trouble"; Robert Kelley, "A Note on Teaching: The Gradua
Public Historical Studies," History Teacher 11 (1978), 227-28; Peter N. Stea
Tarr, "Applied History: A New-Old Departure," History Teacher 14 (Augus
Terence O'Donnell, "Pitfalls Along the Path of Public History," The Pub
(Winter 1982), 65-72; and Arnita Jones, "The National Coordinating Comm
and Possibilities," The Public Historian 1 (Fall 1978), 49-60.
12. See Bruce Fraser, "Developing a Methodology for Public History,"
ports 5 (May/June 1982), 2-5; Howard Green, "A Critique of the Profession
Movement," Radical History Review 25 (1981), 164-71; Ronald J. Grele,
Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian?" The Public Histo
1981), 40-48; Barbara Haber, "Perspective on Public History," OAH Newsle
1984, 10-11; David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty, Nearby History: Exp
Around You (Nashville: AASLH, 1982), 1-13; Daniel J. Walkowitz, "On P
OAH Newsletter, August 1984, 11; and "Introduction," in Susan Porter B
Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig, eds., Presenting the Past: Essays on History
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986).

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 71

ment," suggests a number of employment possibilities for those with

training in history.13
The examination of the history of the historical profession can be con-
cluded with a discussion of Theodore Levitt's article, "Marketing Myo-
pia."14 As Noel Stowe has pointed out in a discussion of the applicability of
history to the practice of business, one of the basic problems facing the
historical profession is definitional. He suggests that we have defined a
product, an activity, a body of knowledge so narrowly as to insure its
premature senescence. 15 Asking students to read Levitt's article and relate
it to the historical profession should prepare them to look beyond a narrow
definition of the profession and to articulate a broader view of the discipline
of history, the profession of history, and the professional historian.
Once this basic scaffolding is in place, it is then useful to focus more
directly on different areas of public history activity, with the emphasis not
only on a potential career option, but also on how the endeavor fits into
the larger picture of the development of the historical profession, and on
the relationship between the career opportunity and the skills of the
historian. For the purposes of this essay, historical societies, archives,
museums, government service, cultural resource management, and busi-
ness will be explored in some depth in order to suggest how this integra-
tion can be accomplished. Other career opportunities for historians, with
appropriate bibliographic guides, will be noted but not developed as fully.
Before discussing any of the other career options, a look at the historian
and historical agencies is in order. Historical agencies represent one of the
earliest arenas for the utilization of historical skills and one of the pioneer
collecting agencies for historical materials. In preparing this section, atten-
tion should be directed toward the development of historical agencies in
America, the uneasy alliance in the AHA between academic historians
and those historians employed by historical agencies or interested in state
and local history, the transformation of the AHA's Conference of State and
Local Historical Societies into the American Association for State and
Local History in 1940, the impact of this split on the historical profession
and on the operation of historical societies, and the prognosis for the
future.16 Appropriate readings on this topic include Clifford Lord's "Intro-

13. See Robert M. Preston, "A Future in History Career Options for the Graduate
Student," Teaching History 8 (Spring 1983), 23-31; Lee Ann Smith, et al., Career Opportu-
nities for Historians (Pullman: Washington State University, Department of History, 1981);
and "Careers for Graduates of History," prepared by the National Center for the Study of
History, 1984. Available from the National Center for the Study of History, Inc., Drawer
730, Germantown, Maryland 20874.
14. Theodore Levitt, "Marketing Myopia," Harvard Business Review 38 (July/August
1960) 45-56.
15. Noel J. Stowe, "The Promises and Challenges for Public History," The Public Histo-
rian 9 (Winter 1987), 47-56.
16. Theodore Blegen, "State Historical Societies and the Public," Minnesota History 9
(June 1928), 123-24; Julian Boyd, "State and Local Historical Societies in the United
States," American Historical Review 40 (October 1934), 10-37; Leslie W. Dunlap, American

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72 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

duction" in Keepers of the Past, Larry Gara's "Lyman Cop

Clifford Lord's "Rueben Gold Thwaites," George Rollie
ning for the Future, AASLH Takes a Look at Its Past,
George's 'The American Association for State and Loc
Public Historian's Home?""17
Following this introduction to historical agencies, the cl
begin its examination of archives and museums. Readings
M.V. Russell's "The Influence of Historians on the Archival
the United States," Edward Weldon's "Archives and the Pr
History," Jacqueline Goggin's "That We Shall Truly Deserv
'Profession': The Training and Education of Archivists,
Fredric Miller's "Archives and Historical Manuscripts,""18
to examine the interaction between historians and archivist
set this examination in the context of the development of
profession, the introductory course should include materia
cal roots of archival activity; archives and nineteenth-centu
Franklin Jameson and the drive for the National Archives;
university archives; the AHA and the transformation of th
ence of Archivists into the Society of American Archivist
drive for professionalism among archivists; and the ef
between historians and archivists over the training of arc
appraisal of historical materials. 19

Historical Societies 1790-1860 (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1974);

"Local Historical Societies in the United States," Canadian Historical Re
1952), 263-67; Henry D. Shapiro, "Whose Public? Public History, Comm
Public Historical Agencies," Network News Exchange, Fall 1981, 7-8; D
James A. Tinsley, "Historical Organizations as Aids to History," in
D. R. McNeil, eds., In Support of Clio: Essays in Memory of Herbert A
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1955); Walter Muir Whitehill, In
Societies: An Inquiry into Their Research and Publication Functions
Future (Boston: Boston Athenaeum, 1967); and Keith Peterson, "The His
cal Societies," in Lee Ann Smith, et al., eds., Career Opportunities for
17. Clifford Lord, Keepers of the Past (Chapel Hill: University of No
1965), 3-15; Larry Gara, "Lyman Copeland Draper," in Clifford Lord,
Past, 40-52; Clifford Lord, "Reuben Gold Thwaites," in Lord, ed., K
George Rollie Adams, "Planning for the Future, AASLH Takes a Look
News, September 1982, 12-18; and Gerald George, 'The American Assoc
Local History: The Public Historian's Home?" in Howe and Kemp, eds.,
Introduction, 251-63.
18. M. V. Russell, 'The Influence of Historians on the Archival Profes
States," The American Archivist 46 (Summer 1983), 277-85; Edward We
the Practice of Public History," The Public Historian 4 (Summer 1982)
Goggin, '"That We Shall Truly Deserve the Title of 'Profession': The Tra
of Archivists, 1930-1960," The American Archivist 47 (Summer 1984),
Miller, "Archives and Historical Manuscripts," in Howe and Kemp, eds.
Introduction, 36-56.
19. See Richard C. Berner, Archival Theory and Practice in the United
cal Analysis (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1983); William F.
Sides of the Desk: The Archivist and the Historian, 1909-1935," The Am
(April 1975), 159-73; Kenneth Duckett, Modern Manuscripts: A Practic
Management, Care and Use (Nashville: AASLH, 1975); Victor Gondo

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 73

An examination of the historian and museums can be approached in a

similar fashion. Background information on the relationship between histo-
rians and museums should focus on the development of the history mu-
seum, the shape and thrust of the museum movement in America, the
basic functions of museums and the historian's role in each, organization
and support of museums, the variety of historical museums, and the
relationship between the museum profession and the historical profes-
sion.20 Appropriate readings for students include James D. Nason's "Cura-
torial Work in the History Museum," selections from Edward Alexander's
Museums in Motion and G. Ellis Burcaw's Introduction to Museum Work,
Steven Lubar's "Public History in a Federal Museum: The Smithsonian's
National Museum of American History," John W. Durel's "The Past: A
Thing to Study, A Place to Go," and Douglas C. Dolan's "The Historian in
the Local Historical Museum."21 As with the discussion of historical agen-
cies and archives, the goal is to provide further information on the back-
ground of the area under review, the relationship of the activity to the

Jameson and the Birth of the National Archives, 1906-1926 (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1981); H. G. Jones, The Records of a Nation: Their Management,
Preservation, and Use (New York: Atheneum, 1969); Donald R. McCoy, "The Crucial
Choice: The Appointment of R.D.W. Connor as Archivist of the United States, The Ameri-
can Archivist 37 (July 1974), 399-414; Donald R. McCoy, The National Archives: America's
Ministry of Documents, 1934-1968 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978);
and Hugh Taylor, "The Discipline of History and the Education of the Archivist," The
American Archivist 40 (October 1977), 395-402. See also the special issue on archives,
"Archives and Public History: Issues, Problems, and Prospects," The Public Historian 8
(Summer 1986).
20. See William T. Alderson and Shirley Payne Low, Interpretation of Historic Sites
(Nashville: AASLH, 1976); Edward P. Alexander, Museum Masters: Their Museums and
Influence (Nashville: AASLH, 1983); Edward P. Alexander, Museums in Motion: An Intro-
duction to the History of Museums (Nashville: AASLH, 1979); American Association of
Museums, Museum Ethics (Washington, D.C.: AAM, 1978); Jay Anderson, Time Machines:
The World of Living History (Nashville: AASLH, 1984); Whitfield Bell and W.M. Whitehill,
A Cabinet of Curiosities: Five Episodes in the Evolution of American Museums (Charlottes-
ville: University of Virginia Press, 1967); G. Ellis Burcaw, Introduction to Museum Work
(Nashville: AASLH, 1975); William Bums, Your Future in Museums (New York: R. Rosen
Press, 1967); American Association of Museums, Museums for a New Century (Washington,
D.C.: AAM, 1984); Carl Guthe, The Management of Small History Museums, 2nd ed.
(Nashville: AASLH, 1964); "History of Museums in the United States," Curator 8 (1965);
Kenneth Hudson, A Social History of Museums: What the Visitor Thought (Atlantic High-
lands: Humanities Press, 1975); Harold P. Langley, "Museums and the Historian," The
Maryland Historian 10 (Spring 1979); 25-28; A. E. Parr, "History and the Historical Mu-
seum," Curator 23 (1981), 255-74; Michael Wallace, "Visiting the Past: History Museums in
the United States," Radical History Review 25 (1981), 63-96; and Alma S. Wittlin, The
Museum: Its History and Its Tasks in Education (London: Routledge and K. Paul, 1949).
21. James D. Nason, "Curatorial Work in the History Museum," in Lee Ann Smith, et
al., eds., Career Opportunities for Historians; Alexander, Museums in Motion, Chapters 1,
13; Burcaw, Introduction, Chapters 3, 4, 19; Steven Lubar, "Public History in a Federal
Museum: The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History," in Howe and Kemp,
eds., Public History: An Introduction, 218-28; John W. Durel, "The Past: A Thing to Study,
A Place to Go," in Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 229-40; and
Douglas C. Dolan, "The Historian in the Local Historical Museum," in Howe and Kemp,
eds., Public History: An Introduction, 241-50.

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74 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

history of the historical profession, and the place for the sk

of the historian in the career option under scrutiny.
Historians active in government service can find themse
in a variety of different areas. Some historians work in arc
ums operated by either federal, state, or local govern
course, in these positions their activities are defined less by
government employees than by the daily round of activiti
bilities dictated by the needs of archives and museums.
ment historians practice their craft in a traditional manner
tional or nonacademic setting. Although historical work
government dates from the Civil War, not until the 1930s
steady stream of historians enter the employ of the govern
for example, on historical record surveys for the Works Pr
tration or for the National Park Service following the pass
Historic Sites Act.22 Other historians became governme
result of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1942 order mandating
departments begin record collection programs. By the end
II, while some historians returned to the academy, others
nent homes in the armed services and a few federal agenci
ments. In these positions historians have carried out resear
histories of government agencies and activities, and provid
reports useful in the conduct of routine government work
Hewlett's "Government History: Writing for the Inside" an
tice of History in the Federal Government," Walter Runde
Sam the Historian: Federal Historical Activities," and W
"Historians in the Department of State" offer students the
explore the world of the government historian.23 Introdu

22. Martin Reuss, "Public History in the Federal Government," in

eds., Public History: An Introduction, 293-309; Stetson Conn, Histo
United States Army, 1892-1945 (Washington, D.C.: Government Prin
Walter Rundell, Jr., "Uncle Sam the Historian: Federal Historical Activi
3 (November 1970), 1-20; and Jamie W. Moore, "History, the Historian
Engineers," The Public Historian 3 (Winter 1981), 64-74.
23. For information on the employment and activities of governm
Richard G. Hewlett, "Government History: Writing for the Inside," in
Harold T. Pinkett, eds., Research in the Administration of Public Policy
Howard University Press, 1975), 7-16; Richard G. Hewlett, "The Practice
Federal Government," The Public Historian 1 (Fall 1980), 29-36; Run
and William Z. Slany, "Historians in the Department of State," Society
American Foreign Relations Newsletter, 1979, 18-21. See also Peter Guz
tive Research: Opportunities for Historians in Applied Research," The
(Spring 1980), 39-42; Anna K. Nelson, "Government Historical Offices an
The American Archivist 41 (October 1978), 405-12; Wayne D. Rasmusse
the Federal Government," in Lee Ann Smith, et al., eds., Career Opport
ans; Paul J. Scheips, "What Is a Federal Historian?" The Public Historia
84-100; David Trask, "The State of Public History in the Washington
Historian 1 (Fall 1978), 7-41; Martin Reuss, "Federal Historians: Ethics a
in the Bureaucracy," The Public Historian 8 (Winter 1986), 13-20; and L
Practice of Public History in State Government," in Howe and Kemp, ed
An Introduction, 324-34. For information on historians and local gover
Lopata, "Red Tape Tips: The Historian in City Hall," in Howe and K

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 75

tion on historians and the armed forces can be gleaned from Pat Harahan
and Jim Davis's "Historians and the Military: Past Experiences and Fu-
ture Expectations," Jamie W. Moore's "History, the Historian, and the
Corps of Engineers," and Thomas P. Ofcansky's "The History of the
United States Air Force History Program."24
Some historians work for government in less clearly defined "historical"
positions. Although historians occasionally have served in the capacity of
policy analysts in the past, since the 1970s more attention has been di-
rected toward the historian and the making of public policy. Articles such
as James McCurley's "The Historian's Role in the Making of Public Pol-
icy," Peter N. Stearns's "History and Policy Analysis: Toward Maturity,"
and Seymour Mandelbaum's "The Past in Service to the Future"25 pro-
vide students with an introduction to the utility of history in policy analy-
sis and the way in which the historian operates in this environment.
Sumner Benson's "The Historian as Foreign Policy Analyst: The Chal-
lenge of the CIA," Edward Berkowitz and Wendy Wolff's "Disability
Insurance and the Limits of American History," and Walter Rundell, Jr.'s
"A Historian's Impact on Federal Policy: W.P. Webb as a Case Study"26
allow the class to explore the historian's role as policy analyst.27

History: An Introduction, 335-46; Roy H. Lopata, "Historians in City Planning: A Personal

View," The Public Historian 1 (Summer 1979), 40-41; and Roy H. Lopata, "Small Cities
Planning from a Historic Perspective: A Case Study of the Municipal Response to Tax-
Exempt Landholdings," The Public Historian 4 (Winter 1982), 53-64.
24. Pat Harahan and Jim Davis, "Historians and the Military: Past Experiences and
Future Expectations," The Public Historian 5 (Summer 1983), 55-64; Moore, "History"; and
Thomas P. Ofcansky, '"The History of the United States Air Force History Program," in
Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 310-23. See also John Greenwood,
"A Military Historian," The Public Historian 2 (Summer 1980), 94-96; Maurice Matloff,
"Government and Public History: The Army," The Public Historian 2 (Spring 1980), 43-51.
25. James McCurley, "The Historian's Role in the Making of Public Policy," Social
Science History 3 (Winter 1979), 202-207; Peter N. Steams, "History and Policy Analysis:
Toward Maturity," The Public Historian 4 (Summer 1982), 5-29; and Seymour Mandel-
baum, '"The Past in Service to the Future," Journal of Social History 11 (Winter 1977), 193-
205.

26. Sumner Benson, "The Historian as Foreign Policy Analyst: The Challenge of the
CIA," The Public Historian 3 (Winter 1981), 15-25; Edward Berkowitz and Wendy Wolff,
"Disability Insurance and the Limits of American History," The Public Historian 8 (Spring
1986), 65-82; and Walter Rundell, Jr., "A Historian's Impact on Federal Policy: W.P. Webb
as a Case Study," Prologue 15 (Winter 1983), 215-28.
27. For further information see Don Page, "History and Foreign Policy: The Roles and
Constraints of a Public Historian in the Public Service," The Public Historian 6 (Spring
1984), 21-36; Edward Berkowitz, "History, Public Policy and Reality," Journal of Social
History 18 (Fall 1984), 79-89; Steven J. Diner, "Writing History for Urban Policy Makers,"
AHA Perspectives, November 1982, 11-14; John Hope Franklin, 'The Historian and Public
Policy," History Teacher 11 (May 1978), 377-91; Otis L. Graham, "Historians and the World
of (Off-Campus) Power," The Public Historian 1 (Winter 1979), 34-40; Ernest May, "Les-
sons" of the Past: The Use and Misuse of History in American Foreign Policy (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1973); Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest May, Thinking in Time: The
Uses of History for Decision Makers (New York: Free Press, 1986); David Trask, "A Reflec-
tion on Historians and Policymakers," History Teacher 11 (February 1978), 219-27; David
B. Mock, "History in the Public Arena," in Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An
Introduction, 401-13; and Edward Berkowitz, "History and Public Policy," in Howe and
Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 414-25.

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76 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

Historians also have been active in cultural resource

(CRM). Some work as government employees for agenc
National Park Service, while others are employed in th
or contract to work for government projects and program
for historians in the area of cultural resource managemen
development; instead, as Michael C. Scardaville points out
important analysis of the historian's role in the developmen
preservation movement," participation of historians
waxed and waned. A look at the history of the preserv
provides students with the background necessary to analy
tion between the historical profession and the preservation
examine the larger world of CRM, and to isolate the skills o
useful in this career option. Appropriate background r
Scardaville's article, Elizabeth A. Lyon's "Cultural and E
Resource Management: The Role of History in Historic
and J. Meredith Neil's "Is There a Historian in the Hou
Case of Historic Preservation. "30
Historians who have become part of the business world, li

28. Heather Huyck and Dwight Pitcaithley, "National Park Service: H

pretation, Management, and Cultural Resource Management," in Ho
Public History: An Introduction, 375-99; Horace M. Albright, Origin
Service Administration of Historic Sites (Philadelphia: Eastern Nationa
ment Association, 1971); Verne E. Chatelain, 'The National Park Ser
Deal," OAH Newsletter, February 1985, pp. 11-13; Verne E. Chatelain
the National Park Service," OAH Newsletter, November 1984, pp. 2
Jr., 'The Park Service as Curator," National Parks and Conservation
1979, pp. 10-15; Mary Maruca, "Preserving the Past for the Future: Th
in the National Park Service," OAH Newsletter, May 1983, pp. 27-29; an
and Charles W. Porter, 'The National Park Service Program of Conserva
Structures of National Significance," Mississippi Valley Historical Rev
25-48.
29. Michael C. Scardaville, 'The Role of the Historical Profession in the Development
of the Preservation Movement," Institute News, March 1986, pp. 5-9. See also Barbara J.
Howe, 'The Historian in Historic Preservation: An Introduction," in Howe and Kemp,
eds., Public History: An Introduction, 111-29 and Barbara J. Howe, "Historic Preserva-
tion: An Interdisciplinary Field," in Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduc-
tion, 158-73.
30. Scardaville, "Role"; Elizabeth A. Lyon, "Cultural and Environmental Resource Man-
agement: The Role of History in Historic Preservation," The Public Historian 4 (Fall 1982),
68-86; and J. Meredith Neil, "Is There a Historian in the House? The Curious Case of
Historic Preservation," The Public Historian 2 (Winter 1980), 30-38. See also Janet G.
Brashler, "Managing the Past in a Natural Resource Management Agency," in Howe and
Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 145-57; David A. Clary, "Historic Preserva-
tion and Environmental Protection: The Role of the Historian," The Public Historian 1 (Fall
1978), 61-75; Leonard Crook, "Alternative Occupations for the Environmental Historian,"
Environmental History Newsletter, December 1975, pp. 12-13; Donald H. Ewalt, Jr. and
Gary R. Kremer, "The Historian as Preservationist: A Missouri Case Study," The Public
Historian 3 (Fall 1981), 5-22; Ronald W. Johnson, "The Historian and Cultural Resource
Management," The Public Historian 3 (Spring 1981), 43-51; Theodore J. Karamanski, "His-
tory as an Empowering Force in Cultural Resource Management," The Public Historian 2
(Spring 1980), 71-76; and Steve Livengood, "Employment Opportunities for Historians in
Historic Preservation," AHA Newsletter, October 1976, pp. 10-11.

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 77

historians, occupy both more familiar and nontraditional positions. Some

historians work in business archives-an exotic setting, perhaps, in the
eyes of some of their colleagues, but performing tasks familiar to historians.
Other historians prepare corporate histories generally intended for use as
diagnostic tools or for public consumption. And still another group ofhistori-
ans concentrates on the analysis of issues such as marketing trends. If
employed by a firm as a historian, a single individual may, in fact, perform
all three functions. George David Smith and Laurence E. Steadman's
article, "Present Value of Corporate History," gives students an excellent
introduction to the utility of history in business.31 The Public Historian's
special issue on business provides background information on the corporate
historian, writing business history, and the application of historians' skills
in a business setting.32
Other possible areas of concentration include historians and the law,33
historians and editing or publishing,?4 historians and the media,35 and

31. George David Smith and Laurence E. Steadman, "Present Value of Corporate His-
tory," Harvard Business Review 59 (November-December 1981), 164-73.
32. Special Issue "Business and History," The Public Historian 3 (Summer 1981). See
also Thomas Laichas, "Business and Public History: The Insurance Industry," The Public
Historian 2 (Spring 1980), 52-54; Daniel J. Walkowitz, "Corporate History, or Giving
History the Business," in Benson, Brier, and Rosenzweig, eds., Presenting the Past: Essays
on History and the Public, 225-36; Carl Ryant, '"The Public Historian and Business History:
A Question of Ethics," The Public Historian 8 (Winter 1986), 31-38; James Reed, "Business
and Public History: Management Consulting," The Public Historian 2 (Spring 1980), 60-64;
Charles Dellheim, "Business in Time: The Historian and Corporate Culture," The Public
Historian 8 (Spring 1986), 9-22; Allen Kaufman and Gordon Walker, "The Strategy-History
Connection: The Case of Exxon," The Public Historian 8 (Spring 1986), 23-39; and Philip F.
Mooney, The Practice of History in Corporate America, Business Archives in the United
States," in Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 427-39.
33. See Paul Soifer, '"The Litigation Historian: Objectivity, Responsibility, and Sources,"
The Public Historian 5 (Spring 1983), 47-62; Carl M. Becker, "Professor for the Plaintiff:
Classroom to Courtroom," The Public Historian 4 (Summer 1982), 69-77; Leland R. John-
son, "Public Historian for the Defendant," The Public Historian 5 (Summer 1983), 5-76; S.
Charles Bolton, "The Historian as Expert Witness: Creationism in Arkansas," The Public
Historian 4 (Summer 1982), 59-68; and J. Morgan Kousser, "Are Expert Witnesses Whores?
Reflections on Objectivity in Scholarship and Expert Witnessing," The Public Historian 6
(Winter 1984), 5-19.
34. See Ross W. Beales, Jr., "Documentary Editing: A Bibliography," Maryland Histo-
rian 10 (1979), 27-87; Frank G. Burke, '"The Historian as Editor: Progress and Problems,"
The Public Historian 4 (Spring 1982), 5-19; Leslie W. Dunlap and Fred Shelley, eds., The
Publication of American Historical Manuscripts (Iowa City, 1976); Haskell Monroe, "Some
Thoughts for an Aspiring Historical Editor," The American Archivist 32 (1969), 147-59;
James P. Roscow, "Common Ground: Crossing Over Between History and Publishing," The
Public Historian 4 (Spring 1982), 29-34; Brent Tarter, "Editing Public Records," in Howe
and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 70-83; Barbara Oberg, "Historic Editing:
Correspondence," in Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 84-94; and
Scott L. Bills, "Historians in Publishing: A Career as an Editor," in Howe and Kemp, eds.,
Public History: An Introduction, 95-104.
35. See Norman Silber, 'That's Show Biz? Consulting Historians and Television Docu-
mentaries," OAH Newsletter, February 1986, pp. 7-8; Sonya Michel, "Feminism, Film, and
Public History," in Benson, Brier, and Rosenzweig, eds., Presenting the Past: Essays on
History and the Public, 292-304; and Eric Breithart, '"The Painted Mirror: Historical Recre-
ation from the Panorama to the Docudrama," in Benson, Brier, and Rosenzweig, eds.,
Presenting the Past: Essays on History and the Public, 105-17.

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78 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN

historians and community history projects. m As is the case

career areas under review, presentations should include inf
the history of the interaction between historians and the
tion, the relationship between the historical profession an
ans active in areas outside academe, historical skills useful
areas, and an analysis of the current situation. The guid
should be each area's connection to the larger history o
profession, consideration of how this relationship has chan
and the way in which historians can use their training in
execution of projects in the various areas under consideratio
A variety of exercises can help students deepen their und
the practice of history in a number of different settings as
their investigatory, analytical, and expository skills. W
examining the role of historians in historical societies, arch
government agencies, cultural resource management, and b
dents can present material about these career opportunitie
views with professionals in the areas under review. Suc
hances class discussion by providing real life situations for
other exercise-article reports-enables students to provi
on areas not covered in class. In addition, this project of
chance to give formal class presentations. In so doing, it
analytical and organizational skills of class members.37
career report allows students to investigate a specific caree
lyze the relationship between the area and history, assess t

36. See Linda Shopes, "Oral History and Community Involvemen

Neighborhood History Project," in Benson, Brier, and Rosenzweig, P
Essays on History and the Public, 249-63; Jeremy Brecher, "A Report
from Below: The Brass Workers History Project," in Benson, Brier, an
Presenting the Past: Essays on History and the Public, 267-77; James R
in People's History: The Massachusetts History Workshop," in Benson,
zweig, eds., Presenting the Past: Essays on History and the Public, 339-5
Little, "Celebrating 300 Years in a City of Neighborhoods: Philadelphia
Howe and Kemp, eds., Public History: An Introduction, 265-76; and
"Folklife Festivals: History as Entertainment and Education," in How
Public History: An Introduction, 277-91.
37. Ethics: Larry Tise, "Jacques Cousteau, the U.S.S. Monitor, and the
Practice of Public History," The Public Historian 5 (Winter 1983), 31-4
nell, "Pitfalls Along the Path of Public History," The Public Historian 4
72; Wayne D. Rasmussen, "Some Notes on Research and the Public Hist
Historian 1 (Spring 1979), 68-71; "Letters to the Editor," The Public His
5-6; "Letters to the Editor," The Public Historian 5 (Winter 1983), 5-8; a
Ethics, The Public Historian 8 (Winter 1986). The Historian as Consulta
Cobb, "Necessity Was the Mother: The Institute for Research in His
Historian 2 (Spring 1980), 77-85; Paula Gillett, "History in a New Key,"
rian 2 (Spring 1980), 86-90; Darlene Roth, 'The Mechanics of a Hist
Public Historian 1 (Spring 1979), 26-40; Ernest C. Swiger, Jr., "Histori
Consulting," The Public Historian 3 (Summer 1981), 101-103; L. L. Flyn
Paying and Calling the Tune," in Scholars as Contractors (Washington,
and Ruth Ann Overbeck, "History as a Business," in Howe and Kemp, e
An Introduction, 440-52.

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 IN QUEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN * 79

sary to perform adequately on the job, and address the issues in the field
of concern to historians as historians rather than as archivists, curators,
government servants, and so forth.
For far too long students have viewed historians as teachers and have
assumed that these academics play a relatively marginal role in society.
The Introduction to Public History course presents an excellent arena to
challenge this view. By integrating career opportunities for historians into
the larger history of the historical profession, we should enable students
to understand that the professional historian is a person with certain
qualifications who can put his or her knowledge and skills to use in the
world in a variety of settings.

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