The Public Historian Review
The Public Historian, Volume 36, Issue 4, published November 2014, is structured around the theme of new media in public history. The issue features articles that draw parallels between historical initiatives from the 1930s and contemporary projects, all of which used forms of new media.
In, “A Paradigm of Resilience: The Pros and Cons of Using the FSA Photographic Collection in Public History Interpretations of the Great Depression,” historian Meighen Katz, examines how photography was used during the Great Depression to personify recipients of government aid, and how museums using the images can face challenges telling the complete narrative of the Great Depression due to the small cross-section of the public the photograph collection represents. The photographs of the Farm Security Administration Collection are unique in that they play the same interpretive role now as they did when they were created: for viewers to encounter the human impact of the crisis. Museums can utilize these images to engage visitors in complex discussions about poverty without sensationalizing the suffering the people depicted went through. However, public historians must take caution as these images are powerful and can overshadow other narratives of the era, leading to a limited understanding of the diverse experiences of the American public during the Great Depression.
Taken in March 1936 for the Farm Security Administration, "Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California." is the most well-known image of the Migrant Mother series by photographer Dorothea Lange. Photo: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)
Public historian Michelle Caswell's “Seeing Yourself in History: Community Archives and the Fight Against Symbolic Annihilation” discusses how the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) uses a freely accessible online digital archive to connect the South Asian American communities with their history. Applying the concept of "symbolic annihilation" to historical archives, the author finds that repositories in the United States were ignoring or overlooking documented South Asian American history. This spurred the author and a colleague to create an independent nonprofit whose mission is to document and preserve these narratives. Unique from most archives, the SAADA runs on a post-custodial model. Records are borrowed, digitized, archivally described, and linked to the online database, and then the physical materials are returned to the source from which they were borrowed. With this model, SAADA has no physical space and is publicly available to anyone with an internet connection. This approach reflects the dispersed nature of South Asian communities across the United States, allowing local communities to keep access to their histories.
In “Stakeholders as Subjects: the Role of Historians in the Development of Australia's Find & Connect Web Resource,” author Shurlee Swain discusses an online resource for Care Leavers, children who were separated from their families and spent time in institutionalized care. The article details the methodology of the project and the collaborative model of using stakeholders as co-researches. Stakeholder involvement was crucial in providing a broader view of the narrative, as different groups, including the Care Leavers and former care providers, had varying experiences, bridging gaps in archival records. While this project serves as a vital resource for Care Leavers or their families researching their past, agencies hope the project will continue to facilitate healing and be used to shape future child welfare policy.
The Museum on Main Street exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America offers small towns a chance to examine their own paths and highlight the changes that have affected their growth over the past century. Photo: Museum on Main Street
The final two articles in Report from the Field feature the Museum on Main Street (MoMS) project, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and local history organizations. In “Public History in Small-Town America: Twenty Years of Museum on Main Street,” Robbie Davis examines lessons learned in the first twenty years of the project. One of the main lessons the Smithsonian learned from the MoMS project is that while small museums and libraries may lack the resources of larger institutions, they do have a wealth of talent, incredible collections, and a passion for American history. From the beginning, the project has taken feedback from stakeholders, and as a result, the Museum on Main Street has changed and adapted the design of its exhibitions to support the needs of the small organizations for which it is intended.
In “Creating Teaching Opportunities and Building Capacity Through the Museum on Main Street Program,” author Ann E. McCleary endorses the benefits of the Museum on Main Street project to public history educators and their college programs. McCleary gives first-hand accounts of how students in graduate programs have gained valuable fieldwork experience through their participation in the project.
As a collection, the articles in this issue of The Public Historian allow the reader to see a diverse range of projects within the field utilizing new media, offering arguments for and against its use and the challenges and triumphs encountered along the way.