Event to be held in Santa Fe
Five hundred historians, teachers and history practitioners are in Santa Fe this week for the 2007 Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History. Organized by Rose Diaz, program manager at the University Library’s Political Archives at UNM, the four-day conference, April 12-15, offers sessions, tours and other events for participants to explore public history and gain insights into history and historians.
The opening plenary session on Friday, April 13, 8:30-10 a.m. at the Historic Lensic Theatre, is free and open to the public. Several prominent panelists will discuss the conference theme, “Many Histories, Many Publics—Common Ground?”
Registration for the entire conference and one-day passes are available at the conference headquarters, the La Fonda, beginning Thursday morning. Full information about the conference, including a detailed program and descriptions of the special historical tours, is online at 2007 Annual Meeting.
NCPH President Bill Bryans notes that this year’s conference, the 29th in the organization’s history, is an opportunity to find “common ground” among the diverse group of practitioners calling themselves public historians. “Public history is where people connect with their past,” Bryans observes. The Santa Fe meeting will explore the collaborative attribute of the field, one that connects a wide array of historians to each other and to the audiences “that not only receive the products of our labors but also often participate in its production.”
Founded in 1979, the National Council on Public History works to advance the professionalism of public history and to advocate enhanced public and governmental support for historical programs. NCPH includes museum professionals, government historians, corporate and business historians, historical consultants, archivists, teachers, cultural resource managers, curators, film and media producers, oral historians, policy advisors, professors and students with public history interests, teachers, and many others.
For more information, call (812) 272-7142.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu