The Making of Public History student research panel, November 2023

Background

On Monday, November 6, TUGSA held it's second graduate student research panel of the 2023-24 academic year. The topic was, "The Making of Public History," and engaged three panelists.

Dr. Ben Bradley, recently appointed assistant professor of History at the University of Guelph chaired the event. Dr. Bradley's research areas include:

modern Canada public pasts
commemoration, heritage sites and museums
tourism, travel, mobilities
cultural landscapes
environmental history.

Below the panelists bios and photos, you can learn more about their research topics.

Presentations and researcher bios

Sacajawea at the Fair: Creating Legend at the Lewis & Clark Exposition, 1905

Brianne Casey is an MA student in history at Wilfrid Laurier University under the supervision of Dr. Susan Neylan. Her research focuses on Indigenous histories of resistance, rights, and resilience. In particular, Brianne's MA research examines the activism of Tatanga Mani - a Stoney-Nakoda Chief and elder - and highlights his articulations of Indigenous sovereignty, pan-Indigenous organization, and Indigenous rights throughout the early Red Power era.

Presidency of Chaos: Historical Perceptions of President Bill Clinton's Impeachment

Benji Smith is a first-year PhD student studying under Dr. Andrew Hunt. His research focuses on Presidential Impeachment and how factors like partisan politics, media coverage, and public perception have impacted impeachment’s overall effectiveness. Benji received his MA in History from Waterloo in 2020, where he studied the extent of presidential authority advocated by Dick Cheney from 1972-2008.

"Yours to Discover": The Role of Provincial Parks in Public Environmental History

Nicole Vankooten is an MA student at the University of Waterloo, who is focusing her studies on environmental history under the supervision of Dr. Steven Bednarski. After spending two summers tree planting in Northern Ontario, she plans to bring her passion for forestry to her academic career through a Major Research Paper on Medieval English Forestry. Nicole is particularly interested in using environmental history as a tool for developing sustainable practices and analyzing historical attitudes toward the environment to better understand natural resource management.

Public History panel reflections

What was the presentation about and what drew you to the topic?

Casey: My presentation examined the construction of Sacajawea within the Lewis & Clark Exposition in 1905. In particular, I explored how Sacajawea as an Indigenous historical figure was represented in the public history event and how her image was manufactured to reflect 20th century messages about empire. I was drawn to this topic due to my interest in Indigenous participation/presence in expositions from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Smith: My presentation was a historiographical look at the Impeachment of President Bill Clinton. I originally started this topic in the fall of 2019 while I was working on publishing a paper about Richard Nixon. My mind was on political scandals, and this seemed like a logical next step!

Vankooten: “Yours to Discover” is a research project for my HIST*6590 Public History, Heritage, and Historical Consciousness class at the University of Guelph in Fall 2023. The presentation discusses how provincial parks are monuments of public environmental history and therefore have an important role in educating the public on the history of those lands. I use Algonquin Provincial Park as a case study. My main area of focus as an MA student is environmental history, and more specifically forest history. This project allows me to combine my passion for the environment with my new learning in public history. I’m also an avid hiker and camper so the Ontario Parks are near to my heart!

What sources did you use and why did you use them?

Casey: I used newspaper articles and promotional materials primarily. These materials were available through online archives such as newspapers.com and the Smithsonian Museum’s internet database. These primary sources provided insight into how Sacajawea was constructed within the Lewis & Clark Exposition.

Smith: Since this is an historiographical essay, I used secondary sources with a few primary sources interspersed throughout for some additional context. I chose my sources based on their publication date in relation to President Clinton’s impeachment to show the public perception and rhetorical change over time.

Vankooten: I used a range of sources across disciplines, including secondary sources on forest tourism, public environmental history, and informal methods of public education. Furthermore, I’ve found key primary sources such as the Algonquin Park Master Plan from 1974 as well as the book, Algonquin Story written in the early 1900s that featured a female park explorer. I also use the online archives provided by The Friends of Algonquin Park. I hope to take a trip to the Visitor’s Center to take pictures and notes on the exhibits firsthand.

Thinking about your own research, how has public history been used to mythologise themes, ideas, and historical figures in North America?

Casey: Within the commemoration of the Lewis and Clark’s expedition, the exposition’s event planners crafted a mythology around the journey, the two explorers, and their Shoshone guide. The image of Sacajawea was heavily mythologized by the event to reflect 20th century ideas about empire and colonization. Notably, her role in the expedition was used as consent on behalf of all Indigenous peoples toward colonization. This representation and image of Sacajawea became entrenched in public history and memory for decades after the 1905 exposition.

Smith: Public history has been used to sometimes either “dampen” or increase the overall impact of the President’s impeachment over time. For example, in his highly public autobiography, President Clinton tries to downplay his impeachment by discussing other matters going on at the time. On the other hand, we see a larger intrigue to his impeachment case and surrounding scandal emerging when it comes to matters of morality and appropriate relationships, especially around the #MeToo movement of recent years.

Vankooten: Did you know that Algonquin Provincial Park is actively logged to this day? The Provincial Park System has a mythologized theme of preserved and pristine wilderness for visitors to escape human activity and immerse themselves in nature. Logging, trail maintenance, paved roads and parking lots would reveal otherwise. My research calls for Parks to acknowledge their history of environmental exploitation, to demystify these themes, and to improve public awareness of the province’s environmental history.

Anything else you would like to add?

Smith: Thank you to my co-panelists Brianne and Nicole, our chair Dr. Bradley, and our organizer Catherine!

Vankooten: Tree planting in Northern Ontario provided an eye-opening experience into the true nature of Ontario’s forest history. I hope that this brief introduction to public environmental history encourages others to do some research of their own to learn more about it.