| A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC HISTORY PROGRAM AT WRIGHT STATE
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Launched in 1974, the Public History Program at Wright State is one of the oldest in the country. The requirements for a Master's Degree in History with a concentration in Public History consist of six academic core courses, a series of courses and practica in public history, a project, and an internship in an area of specialization such as archives, museums studies, or historical administration. The Department of History is home to nineteen faculty in a variety of fields including three full-time, tenured faculty with backgrounds in museums, archives, and National Parks. The faculty in history together with professional staff at nearby historical institutions offer courses in archival theory and practice, museum studies, exhibits, material culture, architectural history, preservation, records management, historical research methods, history and new media, oral history, and museum education.
The two-year program prepares graduates for careers in state and local historical societies, archives and records management, history museums, business history, historic preservation, state and federal park services, and public programs in history education. Student interns work alongside professionals in a wide variety of settings including the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Air Force Museum, the Montgomery County Historical Society, and the Ohio Historical Society.
The Department of History and Wright State University offer a number of graduate assistantships (position with stipend and tuition) and graduate tuition fellowships (tuition for in-state or out-of-state students) to qualified applicants. Graduate students acquire valuable professional experience as staff, graduate assistants, coop positions, and graduate student employees in area archives, records centers, museums, and historical organizations while in graduate school. Graduate assistants and student workers are currently employed in the Wright State University Special Collections and Archives, the Wright State University Art Gallery, the University of Dayton Archives, the Kettering Foundation, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the Wright Dunbar Aviation Heritage Commission, and the Department of History; others have worked in recent years with the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Sinclair Community College Archives, the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center, and many other local organizations.
Wright State University is named for the Wright brothers, inventors of powered flight. Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives in the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library houses one of the most complete collections of Wright brothers material in the world. In Southwest Ohio, students have access to rich historical and educational resources including the U.S. Air Force Museum, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center, Carillon Historic Park, the Paul Laurence Dunbar Historic Site, the Montgomery County Historical Society, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Dayton—preparing to open a new center for the performing arts and to celebrate Ohio Statehood and the Invention of Flight in 2003—hosts other cultural institutions including the Dayton Art Institute, the Human Race Theater Company, the Boonshoft Museum of Natural History, CityFolk, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Rhythm and Shoes Dance Company, and the beautifully restored Victoria Theater.
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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