This August, with funding from the city, HSP hosted the inaugural Public History Summer Academy. 12 students from four area schools, Temple University, Rowan University and La Salle University were selected to join our first cohort. Our students represented a diversity of majors: history, Africology, psychology, political science, communication, and secondary education. They joined us onsite for an intense week of learning about public history, interacting with HSP staff and community partners. The students learned what public history is, how to do it, how to research, and gained hands on experience looking at primary source material.
We visited Rafael Damast from Taller Puertorriqueño to learn about the intersection of art and history, Michael Clemmons from Mother Bethel AME Church to learn about how places of worship preserve their history, and went on the 1838 Black Metropolis tour with co-founder Michiko Quinones to see places of importance to Black history.
In addition, we hosted Kerry Sautner, president and CEO of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site discuss tough history and engaging the public, Dr. Jessica Nelson from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee talk about academic public history and writing for the public, Chris Rogers and Dayona Evans from the Save the Tanner House campaign talk about preservation and the history of Henry O. Tanner, and Sreedevi Sripathy and Danbi Yi from the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) talk about digital history and their First Days project. In these sessions, our students were able to gain practical hands on experience doing and engaging with public history.
One of the outcomes of the week was for the students to create a blog post about what they did and learned. Over the course of the week, we had topics in mind, but as good research should do, the topics and projects evolved to better suit the student’s interests. They dived into the collections to find interesting and undiscovered stories from the archives. The students were able to discover new interests and uses for history in their fields and careers. Ultimately, the students ended up with five themes: cultural identity, housing, education, Black politics and resistance, and City Hall foundation and structure. Check back over the next few months to read their posts!
Overall, the students had a wonderful experience and learned that public history is a more expansive field than they previously thought. One of the big takeaways from our cohort was a greater appreciation for Philadelphia. Many did not realize the city’s rich history and historic buildings and spaces. Many expressed rethinking their career paths and gained an appreciation for history and historical documents, even taking a second to read the blue historical markers. All of our sessions allowed the cohort to experience new ways to do history, tell history, and make history. The students came away with a sense of not only new knowledge, like understanding more about Philadelphia history, but also an appreciation for the work after seeing that it is not just museums and teaching. It was a bittersweet moment to see the students leave on the last day. Their growth over the week was inspiring and we look forward to see what they do in the future.
We are so thankful to Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas and Mark Squilla for their support and advocacy on HSP’s behalf to receive the funding necessary to provide this learning experience for undergraduate students. We are looking forward to cultivating more opportunities and hosting the academy next summer!
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