| PUBLIC HISTORY AT WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
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The mission of Public History at Wright State University is to prepare professionals who are well-grounded in knowledge of historical content, professional training, and hands-on experience.
  
  
What is Public History?
Public history is the practical use of historical understanding and methodological skills outside the academic world. Public history fosters a critical analysis of all facets of the past, lends itself to any endeavor that requires historical knowledge and seeks to create a useful history for all segments of the public.
Public historians are museum curators, educators and directors, archivists, historical society directors and collections managers, historians of public policy, documentary editors, preservationists, state and national park service staff, government historians, genealogy experts, corporate historians and archivists, historical consultants and media historians. The growth of historical societies, museums, archives and preservation organizations as well as the increasing awareness the value of the history in business and government have made public history a rapidly expanding field with numerous opportunities for employment. In the 1980s, the American Historical Association determined that over thirty percent of all jobs for historians were within the field of public history. The phenomenal growth of the institutions that employ public historians promises even more dramatic increases in the field during future years. In 1974, before "public history" became a recognizable term among historical scholars, the Wright State University History Department perceived this professional trend and created a Graduate Program in Historical and Archival Administration. Over one hundred thirty graduates of this program are now public historians throughout the United States.
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What are people saying about Public History at Wright State?
"The experience I gained both in the classroom and from internships has greatly benefited me already in my job, especially when it comes to processing, records management, and archival technologies...While the days are busy and sometimes very long, I can at least truly say I love my job!"
"I can honestly say that I utilize the skills and experience I gained as a student in the Public History program every day."
"I would like to say that the program at Wright State is fantastic. . . . The strengths from the program were the hands-on courses in exhibits and archival preparation, the internship, and the focus on historical thinking and research."
Tracie Evans
Curator of Collections
Saunder Village in Archbold, OH
1999 Graduate
"I've had a wonderful career and I owe the Wright State program so much for making it possible."
Stacy Belcher Gould
University Archivist
University of Hong Kong
1991 Graduate
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For more information, contact Dawne Dewey, Public History Director, Public History Program, P.L. Dunbar Library 401E, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Dayton, OH 45435-0001; tel. (937)775-2011; e-mail: dawne.dewey@wright.edu
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