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Records of the Public History Program

Call Number

RG.20.9

Date

1981-2007, inclusive

Creator

New York University. Public History Program

Extent

17.5 Linear Feet in 20 boxes

Language of Materials

Materials are primarily in English.

Abstract

This collection contains the administrative records and semester projects of the Public History Program at New York University. Founded in 1981 by Paul H. Mattingly and Daniel J. Walkowitz, the Public History graduate program at NYU was one of the first of its kind in the nation. For its first several years, it existed as a three-course concentration within the History department. In 1985, an Introduction to Public History course was created, which involved a yearlong collaborative research project that focused each year on a different New York City neighborhood or theme, and which culminated in an all-day workshop presented to both faculty and the public, including residents of the neighborhoods in which research had been conducted. In 2007 the program combined with the Archival Management and Historical Editing Program, creating the Archives and Public History Program.

Historical Note

Created in 1981 by Paul H. Mattingly and Daniel J. Walkowitz, the Public History graduate program at NYU was one of the first of its kind in the nation, and has maintained such prominence through the innovative work of its students, faculty, and alumni. Drawing its inspiration and guidance from the intellectual movement of the same name, the program at NYU was founded upon a fundamental objective to connect the general public with its past. In contrast to academic historians who primarily write for an audience of peers, public historians seek to produce meaningful historic representations for a broader, more popular audience. They are employed in a wide array of environments, ranging from archives to libraries, historical societies to historic sites, and museums to national parks. The alumni of the program have taken positions at highly regarded historic institutions in New York City, including The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Museum of the City of New York, and The New-York Historical Society. They have also proved influential in the establishment of such non-profit organizations as City Lore and the American Social History Project. Their analyses of their public history activities have been published in national periodicals and they have proved active members of the field's professional organization, the National Council on Public History. The great contributions to the field made by alumni have allowed the program to prosper over the years and have led to the recognition it receives today.

Over the course of its existence, the Public History program curriculum has evolved to adapt to changing technologies and student needs. For its initial four years, the Public History program was simply a concentration accompanying the general history M.A., requiring three courses: Local and Community History; History and Public Policy; and Media and History. These courses became the core of the program and have been consistently offered to the present day. In 1985, student demand arose for closer ties between class readings and the practical projects they were responsible for. Consistent demand led to the creation of the Introduction to Public History course. The introductory course was designed to provide a more general view of issues that were more fully developed in the three core classes. During the 1980s, other electives emerged, considering issues such as: material culture, cultural resource management, and historical fiction.

Until 2007, the Introduction to Public History course culminated each year in an all-day workshop that took place at the end of the Spring semester. The workshops were essentially public presentations of students' collaborative research projects. A specific topic, typically a New York City community, was selected for each year's workshop, and all student research centered around this singular topic. The resulting workshop would often be held within that particular neighborhood and would include participation of local scholars and residents. Several workshops established collaborative efforts between the program and historical organizations, including The Museum of the City of New York, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Bread and Roses Historical Collective, and the New York Labor History Project.

Upon his assumption of the directorial position in 2007, Peter J. Wosh made a significant structural change to the introductory course, in response to both student feedback and his own professional experience. He felt that students would be better prepared for the employment arena by becoming immersed in the field during their studies. In place of the comprehensive workshop projects, Public History students would take on intern positions in historic institutions of their choice, completing tasks that correlate with their professional interests. They would produce a final project to formally evaluate their experiences, and would attend biweekly class meetings to discuss their experiences with fellow students.

Beginning in the Fall of 2008, the M.A. program in Public History merged with the M.A. program in Archival Management (also headed by Professor Wosh), to form a dual degree program, through which students would acquire a grounding in both fields. It is commonly expected that most students will be drawn to one one field more than the other. Another recent curricular alteration occurred in response to the rapidly evolving digital field and the quest of historians to keep in tune with new technologies. A Digital Media Specialist was hired in the Fall of 2008 to help integrate digital issues into current courses, particularly the History and New Media course. In addition to the core class on History and New Media, an Advanced Digital History course has been created by Professor Wosh and this specialist, to be introduced in Fall of 2009.

In addition to coursework, the Public History students also participate in monthly mid-day conferences, often referred to in earlier years as 'Public History Forums,' and more recently as 'brown-bag lunches.' During these meetings, students, faculty, and guests gather to socialize and discuss relevant issues to the Public History arena. Typically, a panel of professionals is invited to make presentations and offer advice to current students. Recent panel topics have included employment prospects and digital media initiatives.

Arrangement

The materials in this collection are ordered into six series.

Series

  1. Personal Files
  2. Program Files
  3. Publications
  4. Activities
  5. Reference Material
  6. Multimedia

Scope and Contents

The Records of the Public History program date from the founding of the program in 1981 until 2007. The types of items that comprise the collection are paper-based records such as correspondence, annual reports, student compositions, publications, advertisements, and reference materials. The collection additionally contains a range of audio-visual records, including 35mm slides, analog video cassettes, audio cassettes, Hi-8 video cassettes, VHS cassettes, and DVDs.

The collection has been arranged into six series. All records are arranged chronologically within each series, with the exception of personal files that are arranged alphabetically by surname.

Series I: Personal Files. Contains records pertaining to specific individuals who have associated with the program. The series has been divided into two subseries: those attributed to prospective students, and those relating to individuals who became directly involved with the program.

Subseries A: Prospective Student Files. Contains correspondence, resumes, and other papers relating to individuals who were considering the program amongst their academic prospects.

Subseries B: Student and Faculty Files. Contains records that pertain to accepted students and faculty members. The majority of the files are student-related, with only a few files attributed to faculty. These records include correspondence, resumes, and published work of program alumni.

Series II: Program Files. Series is divided into two subseries: one pertaining to administrative records and one including course records.

Subseries A: Administrative Files. Contains records of the program's original directors, Paul Mattingly and Daniel Walkowitz, as well as those produced by departmental administrative assistants. These records allowed for proper functioning of the program with regard to budgeting, financial assistance, and correspondence with external institutions and individuals.

Subseries B: Course Files. Contains records on the development of the program curriculum. These records include syllabi, correspondence amongst professors and deans, and course evaluations.

Series III: Publications. Contains a collection of the program's official newsletters dating from 1984 to 2002. Records included in this series are published versions of newsletter issues, in addition to article drafts and promotional material involved in the planning process.

Series IV: Activities. This series contains records pertaining to the varied activities of the program. The majority of these records can be attributed to the Public History Workshops, and others to the Public History Forums. A small amount of records covers activities not related to either of these events. The series has been divided into three subseries to reflect the distinctions in these activties.

Subseries A: Contains records pertaining to Public History Workshops dating from 1982 to 2007. Records of these workshops include student compositions, correspondence, promotional material, and reference material.

Subseries B: Contains records from the Public History Forums dating from 1984 to 1988. Records of the forums include correspondence, promotional material, and presentation notes.

Subseries C: Contains records from various activities, including field trips, conferences, and other social events.

Series V: Reference Material. Contains educational material published by external institutions and organizations on various topics, such as: New York City, New York University, the Public History movement, and the archival profession. The subjects covered in these publications are those not specifically covered in the Public History Workshops, either entirely unrelated or more broad in scope.

Series VI: Multimedia. Contains audio and visual based materials dating from 1981 to 2007 that relate both directly and indirectly to the program. Most of these materials are related to Public History Workshops, either as recordings of the events or student work involved in their creation. Other records in this series include historical documentaries and educational radio programs. A second accession was made to the collection which contained only multimedia items, mainly VHS cassette tapes and DVD-R disks. These items are housed in Boxes 15 and 16.

Access Restrictions

Administrative records and unpublished reports of New York University are closed for a period of 20 years from the date of their creation. Access to files spanning multiple years will be opened to researchers based on the date of the most recent materials. Board of Trustees records are closed for 35 years from the date of creation. Materials related to personnel, grievances, job and fellowship searches and applications, and all files that fall under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) are permanently restricted. Additional restrictions may apply to other materials in this collection. For questions regarding specific restrictions, please contact the University Archives.

Use Restrictions

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the creator are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from New York University Archives, (212) 998-2646, university-archives@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Records of the Public History Program; RG 20.9; box number; folder number; New York University Archives, New York University Libraries.

Location of Materials

These records are stored offsite. Please contact the repository for access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred in multiple accessions between 2007-2014.

Series IV separated due to size differences

Due to differences in letter (8 1/2 x 11 in.) vs. legal (8 1/2 x 14 in.) sizes in Series IV, the materials in this series (particularly Public History Workshop related) have been divided amongst Boxes 3-5, and Box 14. The oversized materials are located in Box 14, a manuscript box.

Physical Access

Please note that this collection is stored offsite, and you must contact the repository to schedule access.

Collection processed by

Ashley Jones and Julianna Monjeau. Additional processing by Claire Wolford.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:51:05 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing concerns and guidelines

Upon initial inspection, this collection was only partly organized. Though many of the paper-based records had been placed in file folders with assigned headings, they were not entirely arranged in a logical manner. For example, a group of workshop-related folders may be placed together in Box 1, though there would be another group of workshop-related folders in Box 5. An effort was made to place all folders dealing with the same topic into the same location. There were also numerous file folders assigned similar headings that were later condensed. Many papers within folders were not arranged chronologically, and thus, an effort was made to do so.

Other paper-based records were found in a loose manner with no discernable arrangement. The processor distributed these loose papers into appropriate folders amongst the six series. An additional concern for the paper-based records was that there were many records placed in file folders that did not relate to their content. These misfiled records were subsequently organized amongst the series and placed in appropriate folders.

There were several instances in which an overabundance of the same item were found within a folder, often a promotional flyer or a newsletter issue. The processor removed several duplicates, allotting no more than 4 copies of any item in the collection.

The audio and visual based records, though mostly labeled, were organized in no logical arrangement. The processor verified the contents of each item and then arranged all of these records chronologically. Some of the original labels on the audio and visual records did not indicate dates, and even after inspection, the processor was not able to designate a specific date for each item. In some cases, it was only apparent that the item dated from either the 1980s or the 1990s, and thus, are labeled '1980s undated' and '1990s undated.'

Some audio visual items were removed because no connection could be made between their subjects and the Public History program. The most numerous of these removed items were clips of science fiction films and television shows.

Revisions to this Guide

December 2017: Container list updated by John Zarrillo
July 2018: Container list updated by Kelly Haydon and John Zarrillo to reflect digitized media and access copies
April 2019: Record updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2014 accretion
August 2019: Media formats were corrected by Christine Gennetti

Repository

New York University Archives
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012