grele - whose public

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Whose Public? Whose History? What Is the Goal of a Public Historian?Author(s): Ronald J. GreleSource: The Public Historian, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter, 1981), pp. 40-48Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3377160

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s s u e s n d A n a l y s i s

W h o s e P u b l i c W h o s eHistory W h a t s t h o a l

o P u b l i c Historian?RONALD. GRELE

r1HE USEOF he possessive asem this title is not an accident.Neithers the particular se of the terms public nd 'Eistory.Thesewordsare here because havethe uncomfortableeelingthatmanypeoplewhouse hem hesedayshavenotquite houghtoutwhat heymean.AndI amquite ure hat hosewhousethemarenot at all comfortable ith theiruse in the possessive. hepresentitle,I think, llowsus to raise he issueof turfbut also omovebeyond urf o the complenty f the questionsaised y thepublichistorymovement-questionshat go to the heartof theusesof historyn the culture nd fieprocesses y whichhistoricalconsciousnesss formed ndexpressed.Theproponentsf public istory avemounted sustained ndimportantritique f the ways n whichAmencan istonans ave

Sections f this paperresulted romconversations ith HowardGreenof theNew JerseyHistorical ommission.alsobenefitedrom he commentaryf RobertKelleywhenthe paperwas delivered t the annualmeetingof the Organi7.ationfAmeAcanHistorians.MichaelFrisch,John Bo, Wesley Jobnson, acquelynHall, and Dale Trelevenalso providedmany nsiglitS into ie oomplex atureofpublichistory y ieir closereading f the originale2rt.40

e 1981 by the Regenb of ie Univeraty of California0272 3433/sl/010040+0st0o.so


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WHOSEPUBLIC?WHOSEHISTORY?* 41defined hemselves s professionals,f thework heydonof thewaysin whichtheyorganize rofessionally,nd of the uses towhich heyhaveputtheirprofessionalrganizations.espite hefactthat heorips ofthemovementmayhavebeenquitehumble-the thought hat maybe istcfiriansouldbe usefulin policyformulation-ublichistory nd hosewhospeakor t havebegunto articulate muchbroader ttackuponcurrentmodesof his-toricalwork.Theyhaverebelled t thenotionhathistoricalrain-ingandhistorical ork houldbe limitedotheteaching fhistoryattheuniversityevel thetrainingffuture istorians,r thepub-lication f researchesultsdirectedolely o otheracademic is-tonans.Using hejobcrisisasa startig point, heyhaveaccusedtheprofessionf ignoringhe possibilityf opportunitiesutside-of he academy ndofmonopolizinghe ideologxcalormulationof the roleof thehistorian y accenting narrow isionof thehistoriansresearcherr lniversityrofessor.Theseare mportantssuesbutthedebatesoverpublichistoryhavenotbeen takenseriously noughor have been definednmuch oonarrow framework,o thatthese ssueshavenot re-ceived heattentionheydeselve.This s thecasefortworeasons.First, hoseof uswhocurrently ork n thefieldhavenotclearlydefinedwhat t iswe do,whywedoit andwhy t isanalternativeto other onnsof historicalffortSecond,hedebateshavetakenplace n a historicalacuum.Tolinkandthenframeheseissues,we mustdefinewhatwemeanby


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42 * THE:PUBLICHISTORIANothershavecalled he'troad generallyducatedsy public,'>yand arge he literatemiddleclass.Theworkof suchhistorians,generally arrativen foIm,hasusually fferedhebook-readingand-buyingpublicdramas f widesweepandbroadnterpreta-tion,up-beatpageantswhichtracea majorheme n Amerlcanculture ndpoint o the nevitableuccess ftheUnitedStates sa nation.Thegreat picsof theso-calledMiddle eriodn Amer-icanhistory(182s1880) comeimmediatelyo mind,as doesRoots.

Asthehistoricalrofessionmergednthelatenineteenth ndearly wentiethenturies,hedefimtion f the histonan'sublicbecameomewhatarrower.ncreasinglyntil oday'snsis,thedominant rofessionalisionbecamehat of a publicof peers.Producingmonographsf analytic ophisticationndmethodo-logical legance never mallerndmoremanageableopicsn aneffort o emulate


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WHOSEPUBLIG?WHOSEHISTORY?* 43bds, to preservationists.iiout theprotectionftheuniversityand without e ethic of academicreedom, hesehistorianshaverelatedotheirpublic na quitedifferentmannerhanhavetheiracademiceers.Priorotheemergencefpublichistory,t wasthelocalhistoxymovementwhichofferedhe mostthoroughgoinglternativeothe historicalworkdonein the academy.Partially rganizedopreserveherecord f thepastwithin hevaultsofprivatehistor-icalsocieties, epresentativesf thelocalhistorymovement rad-uallyexpandedheireffortsnwriting ndpresentingocalhistory,andbythe1960shadbuilta surprisinglyargenetwork f histor-icalworkersnevery tateoftheunion.Neverquiterecognizedsequalby the academy,hesetensof thousandsf workers-bothprofessionalndpaid,andamateur Ildunpaid-havebecomebyfarthe largestpurelyhistorical ublicn the UnitedStates.In addition, incethe SecondWorldWar,or theFirstWorldWar f oneconsidershe Inquiry adeby a groupof intellec-tuals oadviseWoodrowWilson ntheTreaty f Versailles,omehistorians ave, rom imeto time,workedoror advisedvaxiousgovernmentalrprivate gencies,husdealingwithyet another,albeitmorerestricted,ublic. n suchroles heyhavetestifiedncourtand administeredgenciesor workedas consultantsorthosewhodo.Otherraditionalublicsorthehistorianwould ncludegrade-schoolor secondarytudents, eaders f popularournalswhichpresent he workof journalist-historians,ndthe audience orhistoricalovelsor ictionalized edia-madeistory.Tobesure, hesecategoriesannot eandhavenotbeenrigidlydefined.Giftedamateursaveoftenmadesubstantialontribu-tionsto historicalesearch.omehistoriansuchas AllanNevins,orRichardMcConnickn NewJersey,or JohnCaugheyn Cal-ifornia, avemovedwitheasefromonepublic o another.Others,like ThomasC. Cochran, penttheirearlyyearsfar fromtheacademy.naddition,rom he firstdaysof the professionomeofthegiants fthefieldhavespokenoa variety f publicsnanat-tempt o raise heconsciousnessf thecitizenry tlargeandmakehistory elevantosocial oncern.Charles eardwroteat times orhis colleagues.He alsoco-authoredne of the most importantgrade-schoolextsin American istory,andwith his wife pro-


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44 s THE PUBLICHISTORIANducedenormouslyopularand influential arratives.He alsoworkeddirectlywith groupssuchas the NationalMunicipalLeague or a varietyof reforms.Otherhistorians aveinvolvedthemselveseeply nancillaryields:HerbertBoltonn librarian-ship, ndJ.Franklinamesonnarchivesmanagement.Beard's ames most mportantor ourpurposes ere, or f hewaseasily dentified s acommittedistorian,he attack ponhimandhiswork Ilthe late1940s nd1950swascrucialo the devel-opment f amuchmore efined efinition f theprofessionalis-torian-the cademiccholar-whichame odonate thefieldatthattie; thedefinitiorshich hepublichistorymovement owsovigorouslyejects, ut, ronically,otfroma Beardianerspec-tive.Nis rejection f sucha narrow efinitions,however, otnew.Throughouthese astthreeor fourdecadesothershavepointedoutthelimitationsf the emerging efinitionf theprofessionalhistorian.eaders f thestateand ocalhistorymovement,t leastsincethe 1940s,havecomplainedbouttheirtreatment t thehandsofacademicistoriansnd heirassociations,shavehigh-school eachersndgiftedamateurs.Itisespeciallymportanto note n thiscontextheattack f the1960supon heacademically-definedrofessionalistorian. o agenerationormented y the issuesof racism,war,sexism, ndclassbias, he new rofessionalismeemed ohave ittle o offer.Having coured he professionlean of Beard,ParringtonndTumer, he consensuschool ouldoffer nlyallabstractedeu-tralitywhichwassometimesevealed o be complicitywith theagencies esponsibleorthe publicmalaise f thatdecade,or ajob-onentedynicism. ut the callof thesixties orprofessorsoprofess omething ndto makehistory elevantwas alsonot amomentaryoncern. t too was partof a long-standingebatewhichcontinuesn many ormsoday,especially syounger is-toriansmove ntocommunityrojects, ringing newset of con-cernso localhistory ndanewurgencyoefforts f localagencies.Allof thisbackgroundsnecessaryf we are ounderstandullywhat s now ermed public istory. t is notde novo. t is movingintofields ongoccupiedby practicingon-academicistorians.It isdebatingssueswithina long radition fdebate. t is deeplvembedded ithin seriesofongoing endenciesn theprofession.


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46 * TE: PUBLICH3TOSAsocialght thatconferred ponoIlea specialmissionn thecu bture.Throughouthebitter rgumentsft:hat ecade, othwithinthe EladicalHistoryCaucus ndon the floorof e generalmeetings fmosthistoricalssociations hether hetopicwastheproperesponseo VietNamorCiYu nts orequal mploy-ment, veryonessumedhat heinterpretationf thepastwasmore han


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WHOSEKBUC? E HISTORY? 47of careers:workingorthosewhoruleanddoniinate:henstru-nentsof SOCiM power. t is oneg to sayis U U wemeanby publichistory, ndanotherosaythissswhatpublichistorymeans.The definition f '


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48 * THEPUBLICHISTORIANevents.Sometimess merelymeans elpingobringothefronttheirlfounation,nderstanding,ndconsciousnesshat s alreadythere.Moreoften t meansa muchmorepamstaldngrocess fconfrontiIlg oldintexpretations,emovingayerupon ayerofide-Ologyndobfuscation,ndcountenngheeffects f spectacular-izedmedia-madenstant istory.This s notto suggest hatoncea correct iew of the past isreached,hroughheaidofbenevolent,nti-corporatistublichis-torians, istoly mmediatelyecomes weaponnthearsenal fthosewhostxuggleorsocialchange; positionheEnglishHts-toryWorkshopournalometimesomescloseto embracing.utit doesmean hat ocalorcommunityistory rojectsanplayanzmportantole nmoving eople oa clearerenseofthepossibili-ties of socialchangeandsocialactionand theirrolesin suchchange.Byits name,publichistorympliesa major edefinitionf theroleofthehistorian.tproes us asociet:ynwhichabroad ub-lic participatesn theconstructionf its ownhistory.Thenameconjurespimages f anewgroup fhistorical orkersntexpret-ingthepastof heretoforegnored lasses f people. t seems oanswerhequestion fwhosepublic?whosehistory? itha dem-ocratic eclarationf afaith nmembersfthepublicat large obecome heirownhistonansxldoadvanceheirknowledgefthemselves.f thepublichistorymovementivesup toits name,thoseof uswhoworknthefieldwillrecognizellies nthestrupgletomake istoncalonsciousnessrealitynAmericanife.If itdefinestselfmorenarrowly,sit hastexldedo doso far, t pre-sentsuswithveryrealproblems.Thepublichistorymovements still in itsinfancy ndhasbe-fore t thepossibility f mog in manydifFerentirections.f,however,tsspokesmenontinueo ignore hehistoncal ircum-stances fitsbirth, nd hetraditionsponwhich t candraw,hehistory f itshistory,,ndtheefforts f thosealreadynthefield,itwillo$eruslittle hat heacademyoesnotoffer, nd,atworst,divert urenergiesntohucksterismor hestatusquo.

grele - whose public

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