Scholarship and Partnerships: The State of History in the National Parks
A forum co-sponsored by the National Park Service, Northeast Region; the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden; the Rutgers-Camden Department of History; and the Rutgers-Camden Career Center.
Rutgers-Camden Campus Center
Wednesday, November 6, 1:30-5 p.m.
(Career program for students preceding, 12:20-1 p.m.)
How is the presentation of history changing in our national parks? How do all of us – visitors, park professionals, scholars, and students – work together to shape a complex yet accessible understanding of the nation’s history?
In 2011, a report titled “Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Parks” issued a call to action. Produced through a collaboration of the Organization of American Historians and the National Park Service, the report highlighted the best of historical practice in the national parks but also called for the parks to “recommit to history as one of its core purposes and invest in building a top-flight program of historical research and interpretation that will foster consistently effective and integrated historic preservation and robust, place-based visitor engagement with history.” In this spirit, the goal of this forum is to build awareness and collaboration for the future of history in the national parks. By focusing on one case study of change through scholarship and partnership – Valley Forge National Historical Park – we will gain a deeper appreciation for history as a pillar of civic life.
Speakers and discussion facilitators will include:
Lu Ann Jones, Staff Historian at the National Park Service Parks History Program
Barbara Pollarine, Chief, Interpretation, Education, and Partnerships, Northeast Region, National Park Service; former Assistant Superintendent, Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Wayne Bodle, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, author of The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers at War (Penn State Press, 2004).
Marty Blatt, Boston National Historical Park and a past president of the National Council on Public History, co-editor of Hope & Glory: Essays on the Legacy of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment (University of Massachusetts Press, 2009).
Renee Albertoli, Independence National Historical Park
Charlene Mires, Rutgers-Camden, author of Independence Hall in American Memory (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002)
Seth Bruggeman, Temple University, author of Here, George Washington Was Born: Memory, Material Culture, and the Public History of a National Monument (University of Georgia Press, 2008) and editor of Born in the U.S.A.: Birth, Commemoration, and American Public Memory (University of Massachusetts Press, 2012) will provide closing comments, History as a Pillar of Civic Life.
This program is open to the public. Advance registration is requested for planning and for notifications in case of program changes. To Register Click Here.
Links to related reading and other materials will be made available here:
http://march.rutgers.edu/nps-conference/