Of course, there are several audiences for museums to prepare exhibits. I  
cited the Oakland Museum as an example of a public history program that created  
exhibits out of our everyday life in order to elicit deep memories from both 
the  general public and the people invited to come and give oral histories. As 
I  recall, the curator sat those old farmers down on a decrepit Windsor chair 
and  handed them a pair of shears to hold during the interview. Video 
equipment and  tape recorders were discretely located away from the setting. The lazy 
feel to  the setting put the farmers at ease and threads of thought began to 
flow. The  broader public interpretted the exhibit in a different light. 
 
This whole field of public history began in America in 1979, following a  
dramatic decline in student enrollment in standard history courses across the  
nation. Fascinating for me, as I crossed-over from anthropology and historical  
archaeology to study this emerging field. The broad exposure to museums,  
curation, genaeology, geography, antiques, community research, archaeology, and  
public involvement in cultural resources is what makes the field so different  
and invigorating. At the time, I applied these new concepts to a public  
archaeology program involving a Spanish fort, American civilian whaling station  
and Chinese fishing camp, government light house, and U.S. Army post. Now I  
apply it in landmarking 50-100 year old houses.
 
There is yet another field that developed in the last quarter century. The  
interest in popular culture is enormous in the United States and Canada. This  
appears to come from museum curators, sociologists, genaeologists, and  
collectors. The meetings are every bit as well attended as SHA conferences and  many 
groups of private collectors attend. I really am surprised this group has  
not been addressed on HISTARCH.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.