OAH 2007: Otis L. Graham, Jr. ... Public History's Rodney Dangerfield Problem

The HISTORY NEWS NETWORK (http://hnn.us) recorded this appearance of Otis Graham, Jr. at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians on March 29, 2007.

Mr. Graham, who teaches history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses the problem Public History has had in establishing a foothold in the profession.

What is public history? Professor Graham recounted an encounter he once had with a Chinese student who had been puzzled by the label"public history." She finally decided it is history where the client gets to ask the questions. Professor Graham said that was as good a definition as he'd ever heard.

Others indicated public history is any history where the public is the primary audience rather than other academics.