Public History Center
Keeping Our History Alive
The Public History Center serves as the consulting branch of the Public History Program at the University of North Alabama and supervises public history graduate students in their fieldwork and project development.
Our staff also participates in community outreach, research, content development, and historic site strategy, and maintains a close project partnership with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. We work to nominate properties to the National Register of Historic Places, conduct oral history interviews, develop walking and driving tours, document historic cemeteries, and design exhibits. Our staff also conduct Section 106 Architectural and Historical Reviews.
For questions about projects and Section 106 services, contact Dr. Brian Dempsey at bdempsey@una.edu.
Public History Program
The Shoals area of Northwest Alabama has a rich network of local history organizations, museums, archives and is home to the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. This network helps to create many opportunities for direct student involvement in the field of Public History. While completing their required coursework and their internship projects, students gain experience in museum exhibit design, cultural resource management, archival collections management, digital history, historic preservation and oral history. Projects are designed to give students the skills they need to be competitive on the job market and to benefit the Shoals community, the State of Alabama and surrounding regions as a whole.
The Mission of the Public History Program at UNA is to:
- Provide students with a solid foundation in the methodologies of traditional academic history and Public History in order to create well-rounded Public History professionals.
- Help students develop the skills they need to enter into positions in archives, museums, and in historic preservation organizations.
- Aid local historical agencies and sites with projects to bring to life the diverse history of the Shoals region.
Students are currently engaged in a wide range of projects, including drafting National Register Nominations, exhibit design, website design for local history organizations, designing walking and driving tours of historic districts and regions in cooperation with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, developing historic districts, aiding with cemetery assessment projects, completing oral history interviews in cooperation with the Tennessee Valley Historical Society, and cataloging archival and museum collections at the UNA Archives and Special Collections and at Pond Springs—the General Joe Wheeler Home.
Public History Assistantships
The Department of History awards assistantships to outstanding applicants to the public history program. Students who are awarded assistantships will receive a tuition waiver for 9 credit hours (fall and spring) and a stipend of $9,000 for the academic year. Assistantships are awarded for one year and are renewable upon review. Graduate assistants work with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, the Collier Library Archives and Special Collections and with the UNA Public History Center.
Public History Internships
Public History Internships give students a semester-long experience working with a historical agency and allow them to focus on developing a particular skill-set necessary for employment in their chosen area of focus. Students may complete internships with organizations located in the Shoals region such as the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, Pond Springs – The General Joe Wheeler Home, and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Archives, the Collier Library Special Collections at UNA. Students may also complete internships with state or national organizations. A minimum of 140 hours of work with a historical agency is required.
Interns and their supervisors work together to create a project that will benefit both the intern and their host institution. Upon the completion of their internship, students will have a final product that will demonstrate their ability to work in their chosen area of Public History. Examples of final internship projects include a finding aid for an archival collection, a walking or driving tour, a grant application, a cultural resource survey, a museum exhibit (including a script and exhibit design), or a National Register nomination form.
Internship Forms: