Week Ten: Thomas Cauvin, Public History: A Textbook of Practice / Historians as Consultants and Advisors

 Week Ten: Thomas Cauvin, Public History: A Textbook of Practice: Historians as Consultants and Advisors

Overview

    Thomas Cauvin's Public History: A Textbook of Practice serves as a basic guide to understanding methodology, practice, and conversations surrounding the practice. of historical preservation in the modern day. Published in 2016, Cauvin's work represents the changing nature of the professionalization of public history by understanding the active role public history plays in the creation, preservation, and enhancement of public and political identity of national groups. Understanding how historians act as consultants and advisors helps us understand the role in which "radical public history" has in the life of everyday history and community activism on a national stage. 

Shared Inquiry in Representative History

    Chapter 12 titled "Civic Engagement and Social Justice" helps readers understand the ongoing role in which Public Historians are engaging underrepresented communities in activism, political discourse, and the creation of historical sites connected to marginalized histories. Namely, Cauvin includes the representation of women, Black Americans, and members of the LGBTQ+ community to understand how public history has a direct influence on mainstream narrative; Cauvin understands Public History as a crucial step to understanding reimagined narratives. that stray away from biased and unorthodox ideas surrounding indigenous peoples and marginalized groups (Cauvin, 232-233).
    An issue I found in the idea of "shared inquiry" in Cauvin's discussion of marginalized groups was his understanding women in mainstream history. Cauvin understands the importance of women in both public and national history, but ultimately forgets to understand the complexity of intersectionality that identity brings; Cauvin mentions "women's history," but who is to say that all women's history is the same (Cauvin, 237)? Shared Inquiry and Shared Authority is only representative when groups are understood in their intersectional nature. Rather than understanding women's history in a purely biological, gendered sense, how can race, ethnicity, economics, and sexuality create a broader, more inclusive narrative on under represented narratives surrounding women's history? 

Public History and Reconciliation of the Past

    When understanding slavey, Cauvin cites Eric Foner's belief regarding the public's perception to uncomfortable topics and the issues surrounding American Slavery; Foner doesn't address how slavery is discussed, but rather how undiscussed it is when evaluating the lack of representation in American memory (Cauvin, 236). The issues of reconciliation, I would argue, is a greater matter of public perception than active representation. Cauvin cites the importance of the WPA narratives in the creation of a understanding of. children in slavery, but in doing so, undermines the experiences of Blacks and their lives after slavery (Cauvin, 236). Cauvin does note, however, the inclusion of slavery in American memory as a direct influence on relations and roles of Black Americans today, but shifts to a wider understanding on a international level. I agree that an encompassing narrative of slavery on an international level can help us as historians understand the complexity of the system of slavery, but it distracts from the reconciliation of American slavery on a practical, personal level that public history has the ability to tackle.
    More so, reconciliation brings another concept of identity to the table: Mainstream vs. Site-Based history presents a important issue in the practices and publications of public history. Cauvin covers the ideas surrounding site based history, understanding it as a method of shared authority in combatting colonialism and celebrating identity (Cauvin, 233-234). The inclusion of these public history sites and their representative factors, however, is in direct question when included in "mainstream history"; Cauvin briefly covers the ideas of biculturalism and the value diversity brings to collaborative history, but quickly overshadows the idea of active inclusion of public memory into mainstream history. The creation of public history sites are designed to be transformative to public, communal memory whilst targeting a perceptive target. How do public history sites engage the national level (Cauvin, 239)? 

Bibliography

Cauvin, Thomas. Public History : A Textbook of Practice. New York ; Routledge, 2016. Web.

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