Syllabus—Public History

fall 2023 @ suny brockport.

Jefferson Davis Memorial, Monument Avenue, Charlottesville, Virginia, with Vindicatrix statue and Black Lives Matter graffiti, 2020. Fannie Barrier Williams, Brockport resident and Black antiracist, feminist activist, ca. 1880.

What are we up to?

This synchronous, undergraduate/graduate, online/in-person course introduces students to public history: how it connects specialized scholarship to different audiences; how it asks all participants to share historical authority across multiple perspectives; how it raises questions of contested memory, heritage, and tradition; how history manifests in monuments, museums, performances, and displays and spaces found in everyday life; how it involves diverse forms of research, writing, communication, and interaction; how it intersects with other professions, such as journalism, marketing, education, government, business, the law; how history relates to state policy; the role of digital technologies in the public uses of history; and even the very history of public history itself.

In the first half of the semester, students read about public history itself in order to discuss and analyze the field. In the second half of the semester, we turn to a case study by exploring public history approaches to the story of Fannie Barrier Williams, the first African American woman to graduate from the Brockport Normal School (SUNY Brockport’s precursor). She went on to work as a feminist, anti-racist activist in Progressive Era Chicago. Students will become historical experts on Williams through reading and discussion. Then they will collaborate with students in social work, graphic design, and illustration on two projects: a printable timeline exhibit of Williams’ life and times for use as a “pop-up” exhibit; and a well-developed proposal for a public history project based on one essay written by Fannie Barrier Williams that we will read in class (proposals can take many forms, including exhibitions, performances, collaborations, teaching units, websites, your imagination is the limit; they will be posted on the Fannie Barrier Williams Project website).

Things you are expected to do this term

• Do the readings
  • Articles and essays on Brightspace
  • Selected Fannie Barrier Williams essays in The New Woman of Color: The Collected Writings of Fannie Barrier Williams, 1893–1918, ed. Mary Jo Deegan (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2002)
• Come to class prepared and ready to participate with a constructive spirit
• Complete assignments, with special focus on our case study collaborative and proposal projects
• Learn the basics of digital project management tools ranging: Zoom, Teams, Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, etc.), Slideshow software (Powerpoint, etc.), Slack, Doodle Polls, WordPress, Omeka, etc.
• Collaborate with other students in different programs as practice for public history’s cross-professional work
• Cite evidence and sources effectively using Chicago Manual of Style
• Develop your own historical expertise and capacity to work on historical topics with diverse partners in diverse settings

Required Books

• Fannie Barrier Williams, The New Woman of Color: The Collected Writings of Fannie Barrier Williams, 1893–1918, ed. Mary Jo Deegan (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2002)
  • Available at Brockport Bookstore
• Recommended: Wanda A. Hendricks, Fannie Barrier Williams: Crossing the Borders of Region and Race (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2013)
• Additional documents
  • PDFs or hyperlinks on Brightspace

Schedule

The instructor may adjust the schedule as needed during the term, but he will give clear instructions about any changes.

Week 01 — Putting the History in Public History

Meetings:

• M 08/28 Introduction: What Is Public History, Anyway?
  • Read for today:
    • Cherston Lyon et al., “Introducing Public History,” Introduction to Public History: Interpreting the Past, Engaging Audiences (NY: Roman & Littlefield, 2017), 1-14

• W 08/30 The History of Public History
  • Read for today:
    • Robert Kelley, “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” The Public Historian 1, 1 (Autumn, 1978), 16-28
    • Denise D. Meringolo, “A New Kind of Technician: In Search of the Culture of Public History,” in Museums, Monuments, and National Parks: Toward a New Genealogy of Public History (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2011), xiii-xxxiv
    • HST 512: Malgorzata J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, “Hippies Living History,” The Public Historian 41, 4 (November 2019), 36-55

Week 02 — Putting the Public in Public History

Meetings:

• M 09/04 Labor Day, NO CLASS MEETING
• W 09/06 Public History For Whom, By Whom?
  • Read for today:
    • Benjamin Filene, “Passionate Histories: ‘Outsider’ History-Makers and What They Teach Us,” The Public Historian 34, 1 (2012): 11–33Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, “The Presence of the Past: Patterns of Popular Historymaking,” in The Presence of the Past (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2000), 15-36Cathy Stanton, “Hardball History: On the Edge of Politics, Advocacy, and Activism,” History@Work: A Public History Commons, National Council on Public History, 25 March 2015
    • HST 512: Elizabeth Belanger, “Radical Futures: Teaching Public History as Social Justice,” in Radical Roots: Public History and a Tradition of Social Justice Activism, ed. Denise D. Meringolo (Amherst: Amherst College Press, 2021), 295-324

Week 03 — Museums, Monuments, Memory, and the Contested Meanings of Public History

DUE M 09/11 ASSIGNMENT 01: Student info 5%

Meetings:

• M 09/11 Case Study: The Battle over the Enola Gay—Commemoration vs. History
  • Read for today:
    • Paul Boyer, “Whose History Is It Anyway? Memory, Politics, and Historical Scholarship,” in History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past, eds. Edward Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996), 115-139
    • HST 512: Edward Linenthal, “Anatomy of a Controversy,” in History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past, eds. Edward Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996), 9-62

• W 09/13 Case Study: Confederate Monuments
  • Read for today:
    • Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels, “Deliberate Heritage: Difference and Disagreement After Charlottesville.” The Public Historian 41, 1 (February 1, 2019): 121–32
    • Brian Murphy and Katie Owens-Murphy, “Public History in the Age of Insurrection Confronting White Rage in Red States,” The Public Historian 44, 3 (August 2022): 139–63
    • Pick a piece from “Historians on the Confederate Monument Debate,” read and share with class
    • HST 512: Dell Upton, “Why Do Contemporary Monuments Talk So Much?,” in Commemoration in America: Essays on Monuments, Memorialization, and Memory, eds. David Gobel and Daves Rossell (University of Virginia Press, 2013), 11-31
    • HST 512: Sanford Levinson, “Afterword,” Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies (Durham: Duke University Press, 1998/2018), 125-195
    • HST 512: Evan Faulkenbury, “‘A Problem of Visibility’: Remembering and Forgetting the Civil War in Cortland, New York,” The Public Historian 41, 4 (November 2019): 83–99

Week 04 — Museums, Monuments, Memory, and the Contested Meanings of Public History

Meetings:

• M 09/18 Museums, Historical Houses, and Other Sites of Memory and History
  • Read for today:
    • Mike Wallace, “Visiting the Past: History Museums in the United States,” Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory (Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 1996), 4-27
    • Bonnie Hurd Smith, “Women’s Voices: Reinterpreting Historic House Museums,” in Her Past Around Us: Interpreting Sites for Women’s History (Malabar, Fla: Krieger Pub Co, 2003), 87-101
    • Harriet Senie, “Commemorating 9/11: From the Tribute in Light to Reflecting Absence,” Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11 (NY: Oxford University Press, 2016), 122-168
    • HST 512: Steven D. Lubar, “Introduction: Explore,” Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017), 1-10

• W 09/20 Museums, Historical Houses, and Other Sites of Memory
  • Read for today:
    • Lara Kelland, “Unintentional Public Historians: Collective Memory and Identity Production in the American Indian and LGBTQ Liberation Movements,” in Radical Roots, 503-523
    • Jay Anderson, “Living History: Simulating Everyday Life in Living Museums,” American Quarterly 34, 3 (1982): 290-306
    • Patricia Herrera, “Reckoning with America’s Racial Past, Present, and Future in Hamilton,” in Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America’s Past, eds. Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018), 260-276
    • Joseph M. Adelman, “Who Tells Your Story: Hamilton as a People’s History,” Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America’s Past, eds. Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018), 277-296
    • HST 512: Patricia West, “‘The Bricks of Compromise Settle into Place’: Booker T. Washington’s Birthplace and the Civil Rights Movement,” Domesticating History: The Political Origins of America’s House Museums (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999), 129-157

Week 05 — Digital Public History and Fannie Barrier Williams Project

Meetings:

• M 09/25 Enter Digital Public History
  • Read for today:
    • Rebecca S. Wingo, Jason A. Heppler, and Paul Schadewald, “Introduction,” in Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy, eds. Rebecca S. Wingo, Jason A. Heppler, and Paul Schadewald (Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati Press, 2020)
    • Pick one essay from Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy, eds. Rebecca S. Wingo, Jason A. Heppler, and Paul Schadewald (Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati Press, 2020) to read and share with class
    • Andrew Hurley, “Chasing the Frontiers of Digital Technology: Public History Meets the Digital Divide,” The Public Historian 38, 1 (February 2016): 69–88
    • Freedom’s Ring: King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech website (The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University in collaboration with Beacon Press’s King Legacy Series)
    • HST 512: David Hochfelder, “Meeting Our Audiences Where They Are in the Digital Age,” National Council on Public History (blog), 30 March 2016
    • HST 512: Lara Kelland, “Digital Community Engagement across the Divides,” National Council on Public History (blog), 20 April 2016

• W 09/27 Fannie Barrier Williams Project
  • Read for today:
    • Mary Jo Deegan, “Fannie Barrier Williams and Her Life as a New Woamn of Color in Chicago, 1893-1918,” in The New Woman of Color: The Collected Writings of Fannie Barrier Williams, 1893–1918, ed. Mary Jo Deegan (DeKalb, Ill: Northern Illinois University Press, 2002),xii-lx
    • Wanda Hendricks, “Introduction,” “North of Slavery: Brockport,” and “Completely Surrounded By Screens,” in Fannie Barrier Williams: Crossing the Borders of Region and Race (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013), 1-49
    • HST 512: Pero Gaglo Dagbovie, “Reflections on Black Public History Past, Present, Future,” in Radical Roots, 525-540

Week 06 — Fannie Barrier Williams Project: Developing Expertise

Meetings:

• M 10/02 Fannie Barrier Williams
  • Read for today:
    • FBW, “A Northern Negros Autobiography,” “The Intellectual Progress of Colored Women of the United States since the Emancipation Proclamation,” “Club Movement among Negro Women,” “Do We Need Another Name?” in The New Woman of Color, 5-46, 84-86

• W 10/04 Fannie Barrier Williams
  • Read for today:
    • FBW, “The Problem of Employment for Negro Women,” “The Colored Girl,” “Colored Women of Chicago,” “Industrial Education—Will It Solve the Negro Problem?,” in The New Woman of Color, 52-57, 63-69, 78-83

Week 07 — Fannie Barrier Williams Project: Developing Expertise

DUE M 10/09 ASSIGNMENT 02: Public History History@Work Analytic Essay 10%

Meetings:

• M 10/09 Fannie Barrier Williams
  • Read for today:
    • Fannie Barrier Williams, “The Need of Social Settlement Work for the City Negro,” “The Frederick Douglass Centre: A Question of Social Betterment and Not of Social Equality,” “Social Bonds in the ‘Black Belt’ of Chicago: Negro Organizations and the New Spirit Pervading,” “The Frederick Douglass Center[: The institutional Foundation],” “A New Method of Dealing with the Race Problem,” in The New Woman of Color, 107-132

• W 10/11 NO CLASS MEETING Continue Fannie Barrier Williams Reading
  • Read for today:
    • Fannie Barrier Williams, “Refining Influence of Art,” “An Extension of the Conference Spirit,” “In Memory of Philip D. Armour,” “Eulogy of Susan B. Anthony,” 100-106, 92-95, 135-137

DUE F 10/13 Attendance and Participation (Midterm) = 10%

Week 08 — Fannie Barrier Williams: Developing Expertise

Meetings:

• M 10/16 NO CLASS MEETING — Fall Break
• W 10/18 NO CLASS MEETING FBW Proposal Development Research Time — Visit Drake Memorial Library this week to discuss what secondary scholarly sources you want to identify and read in relation to your idea for your FBW Project Proposal. These sources might be topical about FBW and her historical context or they might be about an area of public history that you want to use for the project (museum display, digital website, etc.).

Week 09 — Fannie Barrier Williams Proposal Workshops

DUE M 10/23 ASSIGNMENT 03: FBW Essay Close Reading Analysis and Project Proposal Question/Abstract 20%

Meetings:

• M 10/23 FBW Proposal Workshop

• W 10/25 FBW Proposal Workshop

Week 10 — Fannie Barrier Williams Timeline Project Development

DUE M 10/30 ASSIGNMENT 03 Part 02: FBW Timeline Content Draft—Biography, Historical Context, Reading “Event” and Assets (Historical Drawings, Photos, Essays) 10%

Meetings:

• M 10/30 What is a Timeline? How do we develop one for FBW?
  • Read for today:
    • Steven D. Lubar, “Timelines in Exhibitions,” Curator: The Museum Journal 56, 2 (2013): 169–88
    • TBA

• W 11/01 Timelines
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

Week 11 — Fannie Barrier Williams Timeline Workshops

Meetings:

• M 11/06 Timeline Workshops
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

• W 11/08 Timeline Workshops
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

Week 12 — Fannie Barrier Williams Final Project Workshops

DUE M 11/13 ASSIGNMENT 05: FBW Project Timeline Revision 10% and Proposal Draft 10% (Total 20%)

Meetings:

• M 11/13 Final Project Workshops
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

• W 11/15 Final Project Workshops
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

Week 13 — Thanksgiving Break

NO MEETINGS:

• M 11/20, W 11/22, F 11/24 Thanksgiving break, NO CLASS MEETING

Week 14 — Fannie Barrier Williams Timeline/Proposal Presentations

Meetings:

• M 11/27 FBW Presentations

• W 11/29 FBW Presentations

Week 15 — Conclusions and Reflections

Meetings:

• M 12/04 Public History Revisited
  • Read for today:
    • Cherston Lyon et al., “Introducing Public History,” Introduction to Public History: Interpreting the Past, Engaging Audiences (NY: Roman & Littlefield, 2017), 1-14

• W 12/06 Reflections and Conclusions
  • Read for today:
    • TBA

DUE F 12/08 Attendance and Participation (Since Midterm) = 10%

Final

DUE M 12/18 ASSIGNMENT 06: Final Project Proposal Written and Digital Materials. 25%

Assignments Overview

• DUE M 09/11 ASSIGNMENT 01: Student info 5%
• DUE M 10/09 ASSIGNMENT 02: Public History History@Work Analytic Essay 10%
• DUE F 10/13 Attendance and Participation (Midterm) = 10%
• DUE M 10/23 ASSIGNMENT 03 Part 01: FBW Essay Close Reading Analysis and Project Proposal Question/Abstract 10%
• DUE M 10/30 ASSIGNMENT 03 Part 02: FBW Timeline Content Draft—Biography, Historical Context, Reading “Event” and Assets (Historical Drawings, Photos, Essays) 10%
• DUE M 11/13 ASSIGNMENT 04: FBW Project Timeline Revision (10%) and Proposal Draft (10%) 20%
• DUE F 12/08 Attendance and Participation (Since Midterm) = 10%
• DUE M 12/18 ASSIGNMENT 05: Final Project Proposal Written and Digital Materials. 25%

Evaluation

This course uses a simple evaluation process to help you improve your understanding of public history. Note that evaluations are never a judgment of you as a person; rather, they are meant to help you assess how you are processing material in the course and keep improving your skills of public history knowledge and understanding.

There are four evaluations given for assignments—(1) Yeah; (2) OK; (3) Needs Work; (4) Nah—plus comments, when relevant, based on the rubric below.

Remember to honor the Academic Honesty Policy at SUNY Brockport, including no plagiarism. In this course there is no need to use sources outside of the required ones for the class. The instructor recommends not using algorithmic software such as ChatGPT for your assignments, but rather working on your own writing skills. If you do use algorithmic software, you must cite it as you would any other secondary source that is not your own.

Overall course rubric

Yeah = A-level work. These show evidence of:

• clear, compelling assignments that include
• a credible argument with some originality
• argument supported by relevant, accurate and complete evidence
• integration of argument and evidence in an insightful analysis
• excellent organization: introduction, coherent paragraphs, smooth transitions, conclusion
• sophisticated prose free of spelling and grammatical errors
• correct page formatting when relevant
• accurate formatting of footnotes and bibliography with required citation and documentation
• on-time submission of assignments
• for class meetings, regular attendance and timely preparation
• overall, insightful, constructive, respectful and regular participation in class discussions
• overall, a thorough understanding of required course material

OK = B-level work, It is good, but with minor problems in one or more areas that need improvement.

Needs work = C-level work is acceptable, but with major problems in several areas or a major problem in one area.

Nah = D-level work. It shows major problems in multiple areas, including missing or late assignments, missed class meetings, and other shortcomings.

E-level work is unacceptable. It fails to meet basic course requirements and/or standards of academic integrity/honesty.

Assignments rubric

Successful assignments demonstrate:

1. Argument – presence of an articulated, precise, compelling argument in response to assignment prompt; makes an evidence-based claim and expresses the significance of that claim; places argument in framework of existing interpretations and shows distinctive, nuanced perspective of argument
2. Evidence – presence of specific evidence from primary sources to support the argument
3. Argumentation – presence of convincing, compelling connections between evidence and argument; effective explanation of the evidence that links specific details to larger argument and its sub-arguments with logic and precision
4. Contextualization – presence of contextualization, which is to say an accurate portrayal of historical contexts in which evidence appeared and argument is being made
5. Citation – wields Chicago Manual of Style citation standards effectively to document use of primary and secondary sources
6. Style – presence of logical flow of reasoning and grace of prose, including:
   a. an effective introduction that hooks the reader with originality and states the argument of the assignment and its significance
   b. clear topic sentences that provide sub-arguments and their significance in relation to the overall argument
   c. effective transitions between paragraphs
   d. a compelling conclusion that restates argument and adds a final point
   e. accurate phrasing and word choice
   f. use of active rather than passive voice sentence constructions

Citation: Using Chicago Manual of Style

1. There is a nice, quick overview of citation from the Chicago Manual of Style Shop Talk website. It includes lots of information, including:
   a. Formatting endnotes
   b. Tipsheet (PDF)
2. For additional, helpful guidelines, visit the Drake Memorial Library’s Chicago Manual of Style page
3. You can always go right to the source: the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is available for reference at the Drake Memorial Library Reserve Desk

Writing consultation

Writing Tutoring is available through the Academic Success Center. It will help at any stage of writing. Be sure to show your tutor the assignment prompt and syllabus guidelines to help them help you.

Research consultation

The librarians at Drake Memorial Library are an incredible resource. You can consult with them remotely or in person. To schedule a meeting, go to the front desk at Drake Library or visit the library website’s Consultation page.

Attendance Policy

You will certainly do better with evaluation in the course, learn more, and get more out of the class the more you attend meetings, participate in discussions, complete readings, and finish assignments. That said, lives get complicated. Therefore, you may miss up to five class meetings, with or without a justified reason (this includes sports team travel, illness, or other reasons). If you are ill, please stay home and take precautions if you have any covid or flu symptoms. Moreover, masks are welcome in class if you are still recovering from illness or feel sick. You do not need to notify the instructor of your absences. After five absences, subsequent absences will result in reduction of final grade at the discretion of the instructor. Generally, each absence beyond five leads to the loss of a grade from the final course evaluation.

Students in the online synchronous version of the course should log in to Zoom through a laptop or desktop computer with broadband wireless and, ideally, headphones. Please be in a calm, stable location (desk or table in a room, not in your car or out in the world). Keep your camera on during class and mute your microphone when not speaking. In the case of unforeseen technology breakdown (sounds, video, etc.), students may be asked to makeup work during office hours or through an additional written assignment. Individual cases will be negotiated with the instructor.

Disabilities and accommodations

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Brockport Faculty Senate legislation, students with documented disabilities may be entitled to specific accommodations. SUNY Brockport is committed to fostering an optimal learning environment by applying current principles and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion. If you are a student with a disability and want to utilize academic accommodations, you must register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to obtain an official accommodation letter which must be submitted to faculty for accommodation implementation. If you think you have a disability, you may want to meet with SAS to learn about related resources. You can find out more about Student Accessibility Services at their website or by contacting SAS via the email address sasoffice@brockport.edu or phone number (585) 395-5409. Students, faculty, staff, and SAS work together to create an inclusive learning environment. Feel free to contact the instructor with any questions.

Discrimination and harassment policies

Sex and Gender discrimination, including sexual harassment, are prohibited in educational programs and activities, including classes. Title IX legislation and College policy require the College to provide sex and gender equity in all areas of campus life. If you or someone you know has experienced sex or gender discrimination (including gender identity or non-conformity), discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, or stalking, we encourage you to seek assistance and to report the incident through these resources. Confidential assistance is available on campus at Hazen Center for Integrated Care. Another resource is RESTORE. Note that by law faculty are mandatory reporters and cannot maintain confidentiality under Title IX; they will need to share information with the Title IX & College Compliance Officer.

Statement of equity and open communication

We recognize that each class we teach is composed of diverse populations and are aware of and attentive to inequities of experience based on social identities including but not limited to race, class, assigned gender, gender identity, sexuality, geographical background, language background, religion, disability, age, and nationality. This classroom operates on a model of equity and partnership, in which we expect and appreciate diverse perspectives and ideas and encourage spirited but respectful debate and dialogue. If anyone is experiencing exclusion, intentional or unintentional aggression, silencing, or any other form of oppression, please communicate with me and we will work with each other and with SUNY Brockport resources to address these serious problems.

Disruptive student behaviors

Please see SUNY Brockport’s procedures for dealing with students who are disruptive in class.

Emergency alert system

In case of emergency, the Emergency Alert System at The College at Brockport will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the College’s Emergency Information website.

History Department learning goals

The study of history is essential. By exploring how our world came to be, the study of history fosters the critical knowledge, breadth of perspective, intellectual growth, and communication and problem-solving skills that will help you lead purposeful lives, exercise responsible citizenship, and achieve career success. History Department learning goals include:

• Articulate a thesis (a response to a historical problem)
• Advance in logical sequence principal arguments in defense of a historical thesis
• Provide relevant evidence drawn from the evaluation of primary and/or secondary sources that supports the primary arguments in defense of a historical thesis
• Evaluate the significance of a historical thesis by relating it to a broader field of historical knowledge
• Express themselves clearly in writing that forwards a historical analysis.
• Use disciplinary standards (Chicago Manual of Style) of documentation and citation when referencing historical sources
• Identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they appear in their own and others’ work
• Write and reflect on the writing conventions of the disciplinary area, with multiple opportunities for feedback and revision or multiple opportunities for feedback
• Demonstrate understanding of the methods historians use to explore social phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of interpretive analysis
• Demonstrate knowledge of major concepts, models and issues of history
• Develop proficiency in oral discourse and evaluate an oral presentation according to established criteria