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What Can New York Learn from Connecticut?

New York is not the only state turning to cultural heritage tourism or seeking to develop its historic community. Let’s look at our neighbor to the east and see what lessons we might learn from them.

Note – this post contains five items on what Connecticut is doing and four recommendations on what New York should do so it is too long to read on a computer at work in one sitting. Continue reading “What Can New York Learn from Connecticut?”

Planning Your Spring County History Conference

Summer is over. Fall is upon us. Schools are back in session (even in Chicago), and now is the time to start planning a Spring 2013 County History Conference.

It is a time of breaking bread and sharing stories among people with similar interests. We are a social species so bringing people together is good and it has advantages as people plan for collaborative activities in the future. Continue reading “Planning Your Spring County History Conference”

Whither the Social Studies Councils?

In previous posts, I have written about various components of the New York State History Community including the county historians, the county historical societies, and the municipal historians. I would like to take this opportunity to address another and highly relevant area, the teachers, beginning with the councils for social studies. Continue reading “Whither the Social Studies Councils?”

Academics and Popular History

Previous posts here have addressed issues raised at the annual conference of the American Historical Association (AHA) on of the lack of history jobs and the lack of history interest by the press. Related to that, a discussion on a history list last summer focused on the disconnect between the world of academic historians and the general public under the heading of “Scholarly versus Popular History.” The following submission by Lance R. Blyth, University of New Mexico (7/19/11) deserves attention: Continue reading “Academics and Popular History”

The Debate Rages Over History Jobs

The American Historical Association (AHA) held its annual conference on January 5-8, 2012, in Chicago. One of the non-academic issues it addressed was the employment situation in the history profession. The impetus for the last-minute session at the conference on the subject was an essay by Jesse Lemisch, Professor Emeritus of History at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York titled “History is Worth Fighting For, But Where is the AHA?“. Continue reading “The Debate Rages Over History Jobs”