#public history

The Smithsonian’s Plan to Return the Benin Bronzes Comes After Years of Relationship Building

“For decades, Nigerians have called for the return of those stolen artifacts, and at last, museums in Europe and the United States have finally begun listening. The Smithsonian Institution is now taking steps to return some of these artworks in its collections, a decision rooted in both a forthcoming policy on ethical collecting, and in a decade-long partnership with the Nigerian community that helped foster mutual trust and a shared vision.”

We’ve got exciting news! We’ll be at this year's National Council on Public History Annual Meeting discussing Public History Ryan Gosling and the use of popular culture to engage with online audiences.  Stay tuned for some new images in anticipation of the conference, and find us on Twitter or follow the hashtag #phrg2013 for updates about our panel.  Feel free to ask us any questions and join in the conversation about digital media and the practice of public history.

Hey girl,

After too much academic reading and Ryan Gosling Google-image searching, we think it’s time to finally introduce ourselves, the writers of this silly, yet (hopefully!) thought-provoking blog we like to call Public History Ryan Gosling.  Both graduate students at Loyola University Chicago and former History BA’s from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, our names are Rachel Boyle and Anne E. Cullen. 

Rachel just finished her first year in the joint Public History/American History PhD Program at Loyola.  Annie just finished her first year of Loyola’s Public History Masters Program.

The genesis of this project dates back to some friendly banter and joking in one of our graduate courses entitled Public History: Theory and Methodology (taught by Dr. Patricia Mooney-Melvin).  Serving as a welcome distraction from oral history transcription and the source of perhaps too much amusement, this project has now reached close to 60,000 people.  The blog has attracted attention from prominent public history and popular culture websites, stimulated meaningful online conversation, and entertained thousands of public history professionals, students, and history buffs. We strongly believe the overwhelming success of this project illustrates the power of digital media and popular culture to act as tools for public historians.  To this end, we are currently working on additional projects to explore the successes, implications, and potential shortcomings of Public History Ryan Gosling including a forthcoming scholarly article. Stay tuned!

To contact us, email us at [email protected].

And, we can’t forget some acknowledgements.  We didn’t do this alone!  Inspiration, ideas for posts, and help with live-tweeting at the NCPH/OAH 2012 Annual Meeting came from our colleagues and friends Melissa D’Lando, Kristin Emery, Devin Hunter, Will Ippen, Laura Johns, Dan Ott, Andrew Raffaele, Greg Ruth, Amelia Serafine, and many others we’re sure we’re forgetting.  Thanks for an overwhelming amount of support and encouragement goes to Drs. Ted Karamanski, Patricia Mooney-Melvin, and Kyle Roberts at Loyola University Chicago and Dr. Lynn M. Hudson at Macalester College.

(To read more of our public history musings in a digital media platform, and those of our colleagues, visit our student-run public history blog The Lakefront Historian.)

Last, but certainly not least, our warmest thanks to Ryan for his good graces and handsome face.  As he would say: