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
- The Heritage Society in Houston is looking for an intern in summer 2018 - this would be primarily archival work but also with videography and digitization. The hours would be completed between 8:3 and 5:00 Monday through Friday. Please contact Dr. Beisel for more information.
- McFaddin-Ward House - There is a 2018 Summer Internship Opportunity - here is the flyer. This is a really great opportunity and so please give it a try.
- $$$$ Friends of Historic Nacogdoches, Inc. is happy to announce that its transcription project of cemetery ramblings is coming to a successful close. Undergraduate and graduate students at SFASU, including several history majors, have been paid a total of almost $1,200 for transcribing these wanderings of Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends of Historic Nacogdoches, Inc. is now funding the transcription process of over fifty oral history interviews conducted by retired SFASU History Professor, Bobby H. Johnson. These interviews focus on topics such as the New London School Explosion, polio, the East Texas Oil Boom, Agriculture, SFASU, the Great Depression and more. Contact Dr. Beisel at pbeisel@sfasu.edu for more information.
- The Decorative Arts Trust is accepting applications for its 2018 Summer Research Grants for MA or PhD students - $500 to $1,000. Deadline to apply is April 30, 2018 see website for the application form.
- Museum Intern opening at Taylor County History Center - early decision date (priority to those who have applied by now) February 16, 2018; application deadline March 2, 2018. The purpose of this internship is to "research, catalogue, and preserve artifacts from West Texas Frontier" using Past Perfect, develop exhibits, conduct oral history interviews, greet guests, etc. Email cover letter, resume, and three references to Heather Reed, Executive Director or see the website.
- ALHFAM has fellowship opportunities to attend is annual conference: full registration ($400 value) and $300 towards travel or lodging. The application deadline is March 15th. This is a really vibrant and fun organization which combines interpretation, curation, historic research, and preservation.
- Work at one of Texas's most cherished sites - The Alamo! The Visitor Services staff watch over our historic structures, enforce rules, and answer questions about the history of the site as well as general questions for our visitors. This position is part time with the potential of moving up to a full time tour guide position. The Living History Director oversees the LH staff, researches and creates new programming, and plans special events. They're asking for 7 years of experience in a museum setting. There are internship available and one of the local universities opens its dorms to students from other schools for a low price. Many thanks to M.A. graduate Misty Hurley for sharing this!!!
-
Viva Las Vegas! The National Council on Public History will be hosting its annual meeting in Las Vegas, April 18-21, 2018. The program is available here.
- The George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond Texas is looking for candidates for its 2018 Spring internship. We'd love to send a student to Richmond, Texas to take part in this semester-long or 6-month long opportunity. The dates have been adjusted from previous years to better fit within the academic calendar! Here is the internship announcement.
- The H. E. Butt Family Foundation is searching for an archivist to work at its headquarters in Kerrville. We received this announcement in late November 2017, the position will remain open until filled.
- Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas is hosting a "Teaching History in the 21st Century Conference" on February 16 and 17, 2018. It is co-sponsored by the AHA and its audience are K-12 teachers as well as college and university professors. Here is their flyer.
- Vernacular Architecture Forum is accepting paper submissions for its 37th Annual Conference in Alexandria, VA May 2-5, 2018.
- 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.
- There are dozens of types of virtual internships, Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) available through 30+ federal agencies posted through USAJOBS.gov. The Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration has opportunities to work as e-historians in its History Program. This is an annual program whose applications cycle usually closes in early August. Consider it for next year. It is a great opportunity to gain research and interpretive experience with a federal agency. *** One of our undergraduates, Justin Oakley, has been accepted to work on the Normandy project!!!! ***
- 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. .
- NEDCC (Northeast Document Conservation Center) has an extensive list of webinar training sessions in early 2018: Fundamentals of Audiovisual Preservation, Preservation 101, Writing a Disaster Plan. To learn more visit their website. These are excellent opportunities for those interested in all aspects of collections management - archival and artifactual.
- Mission Dolores State Historic Site is accepting applications for Summer and Fall 2018 Internships. You may received graduate credit for this work through HIS583 - Practicum in Public History or as an Internship in Public History for undergraduates.
- 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.