As a budding public historian one of my main concerns is how can I create a learning experience that will engage wider audiences. The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life by Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, helps to bring information on this “wider audience” that historians wish to connect with.. As Thelen and Rosenzweig note in their introduction that they along with their colleges felt that, “professional historians were painfully unaware of how people outside of their own circles understood and used the past,” 1. Their study came from the issues historians face in connecting with a wider audience. Out of this realization the authors were able to spear head a study of if and how the “wider audience” viewed, interpreted, and connected with history. The authors interviewed a wide range of Americans from various areas of the country, and from many different backgrounds. A large majority of those interviewed by Rosenweig and Thelen seemed to gravitate towards historical learning due to personal reasons. Many individuals interviewed had personal or familial connections to certain events or points in American history, and some wanted to better understand their ancestral past in hope to better understand their own identity. This was extremely interesting because it helps to understand that many people with in America seek history that is relatable to themselves, or that can provide them with a sense of themselves or their families2. I believe that the authors were able to accomplish their goal of helping to bridge the gap between professional historians and their audiences, but I feel that this is a study that could be expanded on to include younger audiences. This study focused primarily on adult Americans, and while they are a large part of the audiences that frequent public history settings, they are but a part of that audience.
Pennsylvania in Public Memory by Carolyn Kitch, focuses on Pennsylvania’s industrial history, and public heritage programs. However, much like in The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life, there is the theme of audiences and creators of public history settings having extreme emotional connections to the past that they wish to become involved with.  What I found quite interesting in Kitch’s investigation of the various public history sites throughout Pennsylvania was that the majority of the history being interpreted was based upon emotional connections made between those of the present to the past. Many of the employees and volunteers of the various heritage sites in Pennsylvania explained why they worked within this historical sites and settings. Many of people interviewed explained to Kitch that their reasoning came from family, and personal memory.3 Again we see that emotional connection plays a role in the way history is research and interpreted by those outside of the world of the "professional historian". By understanding these emotional connections that the audiences and employees of heritage sites have with history can we attempt to bridge to gap between these two groups.




1. Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, Popular Uses of History in American Life (Columbia University Press,1998) 1.
2.Rosenweig and Thelen
3. Kitch, Carolyn, Pennsylvania in Public Memory (Penn State University Press) 18