Public History: What is it?

In Prof. Jordanova's essay on public history, she explains the differences between public and academic history. She also brings to light some of the political, moral, and cultural dilemmas that are brought up when displaying exhibits to the public. Public history, is a type of history that is intended to bring "popular" history to a mass audience, usually with a specific purpose and a specific target audience. That purpose may be political, to promote a corporation or to promote a sense of unity and fellowship among the audience. Public history exhibits, which include museums, monuments, memorials, cultural heritage sites, etc., are major cultural forces, help shape opinions and communicate events of the past to the public . But one must keep in mind the invisible forces and ulterior motives behind the exhibits. These invisible forces include who is funding the exhibit, the selective nature of choosing items to display, and the moralizing tones of heroes and villains or winners and losers in historical events of the past. It's good to keep in mind that public history exhibits show only a specific vantage point on the subject on display, but it's only natural for this to occur and good to keep these invisible forces in mind when viewing them.

The Alamo Exhibit

When I visited the Alamo exhibit at the Walker Education Center, I learned several things about the Alamo that I didn't know before. One of the most fascinating parts of the exhibit was the information about Juan N. Seguin. I had never heard much about him, and I thought it was tragic that he was a supporter of the Texas Revolution, but he was later exiled from Texas as a traitor and forced to flee back to Mexico as a "man without a country." I thought this was sad, because he fought f0r Texas independence and was a real Texas hero, but did not get the recognition he deserved. I also found it interesting that as legend has it no one survived the siege on the Alamo. But this turns out to be false, an Anglo-Texan women and her child as well as several other Tejano women and one man who pretended to be a prisoner, and also that Travis' slave Joe was set free by the Mexicans because they opposed slavery. The Alamo has come to represent more than a small battle in the Texas Revolution, it has been glorified as a stand against tyranny and a brave act of defiance by the defenders. The Alamo has even been considered as important of a battle as Thermopolye.