This week our readings centered around the current research and reviews of prominent public history organizations, and where public history is evolving towards. As we have discussed in class, one of our major concerns we have is how our audiences value the history that we hope to interpret in public history settings, and how we can produce better history for our audiences. In Imperiled Promise a report on the state of history in the National Park Service, was facilitated by the research of four prominent historians, Anne Mitchell Whisnat, Marla R. Miller, Gary B. Nash, and David Thelen. They focused their study of the NPS sites on how historians are doing history, and who exactly in and for NPS (5). This study also provided an understanding of some of the issues that many sites face, such as lack of funding, and disconnections between natural and cultural resources from historical interpretations. This NPS report concludes that there needs to be reevaluation of site resources and interpretations, that can better include previously unused resources within their interpretations. There is also a call for better understandings of funding not only through NPS and OAH, but also through grant work and other avenues of funding which can greatly assist with dwindling monetary assistance that many sites are facing.
In the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's 2014 portfolio, we are given an insight into the many challenges that non-profit cultural institutions are facing, and we again see that lack of funding and the Economic Crisis which the nation faced in previous years has contributed to this issue. However many of the institutions that have faced cuts in funding, are slowly bouncing back and rebuilding their resources. There is also emphasis on the fact that despite these funding issues, many of the cultural institutions have been able to maintain a constant flow of programs and exhibits for the public.
What seems to be a very common theme and emphasis between both reports is the challenges that public history and cultural institutions are facing primarily from a lack of or cutting down of funding. However each report states that institutions and site need to be conscious of this, and become savvy and organized in their approaches to maintain appropriate funding. Although we as public historians strive to produce good history for our audience, we also need to recognize the challenges of funding and resources that can affect the history we hope to produce.