Public History in the Age of Insurrection

Abstract

Public historians have struggled to take a hard line against neo-Confederate groups in theory as well as practice. This article proposes a methodological shift that can clarify the work and obligations of the public historian following the insurrection on January 6, 2021. The frame of action research positions historians as public-facing actors and advocates. The frame of restorative justice clarifies the stakes of, and stakeholders within, historical harm. We apply these frameworks to two contested sites for public history in Florence, Alabama, that revolve around the Confederacy. Finally, we use our experiences from the field to distinguish communities from counter-communities and provide strategies for making cultural institutions inhospitable to cultural insurrectionists.