Destabilizing the Relationship between Public and History; A Train Towards Self-Discovery of Histori

Canada's Discovery Train in Vancouver, 1978. Don Evans image (http://www.themetrains.com/main.html)

The label 'public history' is not an easy one to define, for it almost seems to resist definition altogether. It's meaning and the terminology itself varies over place and time. Perhaps common to all practices of public history is the concern of engaging the public in their history and fostering historical consciousness. It's the method of going about this which has been much disputed in the field of public history.

A 'history for, about, and by the public' is often the definition public historians will offer of their practice. One such public history project long- forgotten is the Canadian Centennial Discovery Train, which was loaded with artifacts from and organized by the National Museums of Canada. The democratizing goal of this project was aimed at sharing the history of Canada with Canadians.

Projects like these attempt to bridge the gap between professional historians, including academics and museum professionals, and their diverse publics. Instead of building bridges, by focusing on the dissemination of history alone this approach dichotomizes the relationship between the historian - here the active disseminator - and the public - a passive recipient of the historical narrative.

Public History's roots extend far beyond the coining of the professional term in 1975 by US historian Robert Kelley. "From its earliest times, the study of history has been a public act, although different historians at different times have held different publics," (Grele). The local history movement, which began in the late 1900's, took place outside of the academy and was led by amateurs and professionals working and interested in their own local history. Historians today continue to share local historians' goal of engaging the public with their own history.

It needs to be answered, however, what exactly constitutes one's own history? Two dominant definitions prevail in public history. The first, as shown by the Discovery Train, is the history which is told to the public about that public - a process which emphasizes the dissemination of history, bridging the professional historian's account to the public, in order to foster historical consciousness.

The second and more recent definition, acknowledges that the focus is not on the gap between the historian and their public. Public historical process is more like a train which, instead of bringing history to the public, enables them to become their own historian by taking them on a journey through their own personal memories and broader historical narratives in order to understand the past. In this way, the public as historian destabilizes our understanding of historical authority and public history, revealing it to be a more organic form of knowledge. Any attempts to frame or deconstruct the frame of 'public history' are themselves part of public history. This collective approach to history-making is termed a "participatory historical culture." Historical consciousness is neither a destination to be reached, nor a product brought out by train; it is a collaborative and public journey of self-discovery.

References

Lyle Dick, "Public History in Canada: An Introduction," The Public Historian, vol. 31, no. 1 (Feb. 2000): 7-14.

Ronald J. Grele, "Whose Public? Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian?" The Public Historian, vol. 3, no. 1 (Winter 1981): 40-48.

Hilda Kean, "People, Historians, and Public History: Demystifying the Process of History Making," The Public Historian, vol. 32, no. 3 (Aug. 2010): 25-38.

Paul Ashton, "Introduction: Going Public," Public History Review, vol 17 (2010): 1-15.