Public History: An Introduction, eds. by Barbara J. Howe and Emory L. Kemp (review)

Shorter Book Reviews 133 Barbara J. Howe and Emory L. Kemp, eds. Public History:An Introduction. Malabar Florida: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Co., 1986. vii + 508 pp. Illus. In the inaugural issue of a journal which began publication a decade ago, historian Robert Kelley defined public history: In its simplest meaning, public history refers to the employment of historians and the historical method outside of academia; in government, private corporations, the media, historical societies and museums, even in private practice. Public historians are at work whenever, in their professional capacity, they are part of the public process. An issue needs to be resolved, a policy must be formed, the use of a resource or the direction of an activity must be more effectively planned--and an historian is called upon to bring in the dimension of time: this is Public History.1 Kelley's definition provides a label for a phenomenon occurring across the United States and in other countries partly in response to the lack of academic positions for historians in higher education. In the mid-1970s, history departments at Carnegie-Mellon, the University of South Carolina, the University of California at Santa Barbara and elsewhere introduced programs that offered graduate students theoretical and applied education through lectures, seminars, field work and internships to prepare them to practice their craft beyond the ivy-covered walls of academia. Ten years later, over seventy-five colleges and universities in the United States had similar programs in "applied" or "public" history (mainly at the graduate level), and the number continues to grow. Ironically, public history per se is not a new concept. For generations, historians have filled positions as archivists, librarians, editors, curators, directors of historical agencies and resource managers. The new pedagogical idea contributed by public history was the training of graduate students through history departments for these and other positions. As the number of programs and courses proliferated, instructors faced a real dilemma in selecting reading materials for courses. Public history, frequently multi-disciplinary in its applications, often requires practitioners to master concepts and methodologies of two or more disciplines or subject areas. Fortunately, an abundance of specialized articles and monographs is available, but until publication of this book, there was no comprehensive textbook written by historians about the new field. The editors invited over thirty authors to write original essays, each of which "emphasizes the ways in which a historian's education and perspective on problems relate to his or her work in public history" (3). The first of three parts provides an overview of public history. Part two, "Varieties of Public 134 Shorter Book Re\iews History," presents essays on archives, oral history, editing, academic libraries, historical preservation, industrial archaeology and interpretive media, v.-itha case study of cultural resources management in the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. In part three, "The Practice of Public History," selections focus on the arenas and institutions in which public historians work (e.g.: museums and historical organizations, government and public works, public policy and business) with case studies of the U.S. National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the American Association for State and Local History, the U.S. Air Force history program, a public history firm, as well as others. As with any anthology, especially one using original essays, the articles are of varying degrees of quality and usefulness. As a whole, however, the essays, coupled with the editors' introductory remarks, provide a comprehensive overview of public history. Since most of the essayists were either trained or educated east of the Mississippi River or practice their profession there, the selections do reflect a geographical bias, which somewhat limits the value of the case studies in the West. Also, since public history has an audience beyond the United States, an essay or two on international developments would have added another useful dimension. Nevertheless, the editors overall succeed in their difficult objective; namely, to offer a "comprehensive view of the field and to give insights into opportunities for those contemplating careers" in public history (3). Adding to the book's merit as a reference source is the inclusion of two appendices, a bibliographic essay and a directory of public...