2016 Cultural Instutution Professional Application

Gilder Lehrman Center Announces the Fifth Annual Yale Public History Institute Seeks Applications from Staff Members at Cultural Institutions Committed to Programs Interpreting African American History

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University, along with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, is pleased to announce the 2016 Yale Public History Institute, a summer seminar that brings together graduate students, historians, and the staff of public history institutions—museums, historic sites, libraries—to explore and create ways to interpret African American history and culture for the broader public. The Institute offers an opportunity for participants to network with one another, to share professional experiences, to deepen historical knowledge, and to build skills to develop innovative and effective interpretive projects.

The 2016 seminar, the fifth annual, will be held at Yale University from July 10 to 15. Led by Director Richard Rabinowitz, the Institute will feature daily sessions on historical content and interpretive issues led by Yale faculty members and pre-eminent public historians. Last year’s sessions covered interpretation and display of African American history (Richard Rabinowitz and Lynda Kaplan, American History Workshop), the origins or New World slavery (Professor Robert Harms), slavery, abolition, and memorialization in America (Professor David Blight), the evidence of and audience for African American history (Christy Coleman, The American Civil War Museum, Richmond), pitfalls of interpreting African American public history (Fath Davis Ruffins, Smithsonian National Museum of American History), and the Civil Rights struggle and American memory (Professor Jonathan Holloway).

In April 2016, Institute organizers will be inviting individual staff members from public history institutions around the U.S. to participate in the 2016 program. To be considered, please submit:

• Statement of interest. In no more than two pages, please describe your public history experience, past or future projects related to African American history, and career ambitions.
• Curriculum vitae (no more than two pages, please.)
• The names and contact information of two people who know your public history work.
• One letter of support sent directly to the email address below.

Please send your application materials to gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu no later than April 4, 2016. Be sure to include your contact information including name, position, organization, address, email, and phone number. Institute organizers will use this information to develop a list of invitees and may contact you with further questions.

The GLC will pay all costs of lodging in Yale dorms and meals at Yale dining service. Each participant will pay his/her transportation to and from New Haven, CT.

For more information, visit glc.yale.edu/outreach/public-history, or contact David Spatz at (203) 432-3339 or gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu.