Public History Program, Spring 2023 Update
Public History Program Update from Prof. Leif Fredrickson
~January 2023~
I hope you all are doing well with the beginning of the semester! I wanted to highlight a few things about internships and upcoming events.
Internships this semester:
- If you are still interested in doing an internship this semester (for credit, and potentially paid!) please let me know ASAP! There are several potential options with local museums and organizations, but we will need to figure out the details quickly.
Internships this summer:
- There are numerous possible internships this summer with the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Preserve Montana, and others.
- I want to especially highlight right now, this opportunity to work as a collections custodian in the incredibly cool historic town of Virginia City, Montana. Do you like looking at old artifacts? Interested in the history of gold mining, frontier settlements, vigilantes or the preservation of ghost towns? Then you should check this out. There is not a deadline, but I suspect it is a position that will be filled soonish. It is a paid job. You can read more about it and see how to apply for it here. As always, you are also welcome to reach out to me with questions about it or help on applying.
Upcoming Events and Projects to Check Out
Talk: "History Matters: What We can Learn by Practicing Public History." We have the great fortune of having the eminent historian (and UM alumn!) Professor Martin Melosi in Missoula in February to deliver this talk. Professor Melosi is a prominent historian of the environment, cities, technology, atomic energy and many other things. He has also worked in the field of public history for a long time and was the founder and director of the public history program at the University of Houston. This will be a great chance to hear about the importance of public history, and to talk with Professor Melosi about everything from his huge new book on garbage (!) to careers in public history. Oh, and there will be snacks and refreshments! Time and place: February 15, 3:30pm in LA 103A.
I also want to share some of the cool projects students have had a hand in through internships.
Right now, at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, there is a new exhibit called Undressing History. The idea for the exhibit came from our own public history student, and museum collections intern, Torrie Cooney (see the picture above). If you like the history of fashion, clothing, military history, the history of gender or cultural history in general, you should check it out! You can even get a preview with a virtual tour at the link above. AND - if any of you students are interested in a group trip out to see the exhibit with Torrie, let me know. We can organize sometime in the next couple of weeks!
I also want to share a link to the new documentary about Montana's surprising African-American history: Hidden Stories: Montana's Black Past. The documentary was produced by the Montana Historical Society and (now graduated) public history student Kali Zaglauer, who interned for the project, is an associate producer of it. You can watch it any time for free at the link above.
That's it -- as always, please reach out if you have any questions about the public history program!
Leif Fredrickson, Director, Public History Program, History Department, University of Montana