Public History
Public historians present, interpret, and help to preserve history in a variety of venues and diverse formats. Specifically, public historians strive to apply their historical skills, knowledge, and insights in public settings and for public audiences not often associated with history in an academic setting, such as archives, museums, historic sites, public and private agencies and corporations, and non-profit organizations, to name only a few.
Public History Opportunities
At Stephen F. Austin State University students have the opportunity to develop these public history skills in a number of ways. Located southeast of Dallas and northeast of Houston in deep East Texas, Nacogdoches is ripe with many internship opportunities. As the only university in the area with a public history program, students commonly find positions or opportunities to work with museums, archives, and historic sites, as well as to find work on preservation grants and with historical societies, among other things. Our professors are intimately associated with the public history program and students are able to benefit from diverse classes and faculty expertise, ranging from memory, to the material world, to preservation, to commemoration, to cultural resources management, to public policy, to museums, to archives, to collections management, to oral history, to local history, and more. Put differently, our faculty members here at SFA are as diverse as the students they work with and are well qualified and eager to serve.
Public History Training
Stephen F. Austin State University's Public History Program strives to train students as historians - historians who deal with a passionate, engaged, and extremely diverse public audience. We offer broad training for practicing, presenting, and preserving history outside the traditional university or classroom setting. Students are trained in historical methods, with an emphasis on delivering historical scholarship in a variety of forms. Besides the many unique courses offered in the public history program, students are also trained in courses designed to enhance their history skills and knowledge, such as historiography and seminars. Students trained in public history often find jobs in such varying fields as archives and libraries, government agencies, National Parks, historic houses, living history sites, corporate consulting and history, historic preservation, urban planning, cultural resources management, museums, historical societies, documentary editing and film, and journalism. We are listed in the NCPH's Guide to Public History Programs. Here is the one-page pdf description of our program. In our academic program we strive to exceed the best practices as outlined by the National Council on Public History in its 2015 guide to public history education, the Public History Navigator.
Highlighted Jobs/Internships/Opportunities/Conferences
- Here is a timely article reminding us of why to keep your CV up-to-date and think creatively about the job search process: Caroline Klibanoff writes "Getting Set Up for Your Museum Job Search" (Feb. 1, 2019) for the National Emerging Museum Professional Network.
- The Friends of the Texas Historical Commission's Preservation Scholars Program is accepting applications for a $5,000 stipend for an 8-week summer internship with the THC. Applications open January 2 and close March 22.
- The Nantucket Historical Association has two, paid archival processing internships for Summer 2019. There is a stipend of $2,500 for the ten-to-thirteen week internship. Here is the flyer - applications are due February 3, 2019. Please note, the NHA regularly offers the paid opportunities that also include housing each semester so if you can't do it this semester, consider it in the future.
- The 6th Annual SFASU Graduate Research Conference will be Thursday, March 28, 2019. The deadline to submit is February 22, 2018. This is a great opportunity to get some experience presenting your work while highlighting the public history program!!! (And Dr. Beisel is a co-organizer so it is really good if we have a nice showing from History!) Click here to see the video.
- The American Red Cross - North Texas Region is looking for a grant writer, a perfect opportunity for those of you who have completed Non-Profit Management. Former graduate student Erick Roy forwarded this announcement.
- The Texas Historical Commission is looking for qualified persons to help staff and lead programs and preservation at its historic sites in East Texas. In other words, they've put the word out they would like to interview SFASU graduates! http://www.thc.texas.gov/about-us/job-opportunities
- The Hispanic Association of Colleges and University offers a National Internship Program (HNIP) with federal agencies each spring, summer, and fall semesters. The sponsoring agencies include the Library of Congress. These positions are open to all students regardless of ethnicity, race, etc. as long as you have completed your freshman year, have a 3.0 or higher GPA, and are enrolled in a degree seeking program.
- Hello from the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas! We looking for candidates for our 2019 Spring Internship at the Park, and I was hoping you could pass on the attached description to any of your students who may be interested. This will be our 11th cycle to date, and we are looking forward to welcoming a new intern to what has evolved into a thriving and rewarding internship program. Several of our interns have gone on to great jobs across the country and at least two have been hired in full-time, leadership positions at the Park. Currently, our internship is structured as a semester-long internship that can be extended through the summer to better fit in with the academic calendar. Candidates looking for both semester-long and 6-month internships will be considered equally.
- The Smithsonian Gardens is accepting applications for its Summer and Fall Internships with February 1 and May 15 deadlines respectively. This is a great opportunity for students "studying horticulture, landscape architecture, museum studies, or other related fields," as well as an opportunity to work for one of the nation's premier institutions. For more details and how to apply, visit the Smithsonian Gardens' Internship website.
- Connecting to Collections Care Online Community is a fabulous way to learn about a wide range of issues in Collections Management. Much of the C2C Care Community content is available free of charge. The program is funded by the Foundation of the American Institute for the Conservation of Artistic and Historic Works and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
- Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site, Texas Historical Commission, Internships. Option I/Collections: Interns may work on one or more of the following projects: packing and storing artifacts; cataloging and researching the museum collection; taking digital photographs of artifacts; re-housing and cleaning artifacts; data entry of collections records; and organizing site resources. Option II/Interpretation: Interns may work on one or more of the following projects: develop themed tours of historic house; develop engaging programming and events for the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site; develop off-site programming and outreach for schools and other community organizations; and develop multi-sensory tours and/or accessible tours for groups with various abilities. This is an unpaid position. Submit resume, official transcript and the completed Texas Historical Commission internship application, found here: http://www.thc.state.tx.us/about-us/job-openings/internship-program to: Texas Historical Commission Staff Services, Attn: Internship Program P.O. Box 12276 Austin, TX 78711. Deadline is January 1st for spring semester, May 1st for summer semester, and September 1st for fall semester.