Public History
for a New Generation
Created and led by Professor Kathryn Lasdow, a new summer program gives high school students a full picture of Boston history and of how history is presented in nonacademic settings.
CSPAN
Katy’s Fall 2021 class on “Cities in the Early Republic” was featured on CSPAN’s American History TV. How do historians know what cities looked like in the early 1800s, and what physical evidence exists to understand urban change over time?
Living through history: Suffolk archivists and historians are capturing a real-world record of our lives during COVID-19
Staff in Suffolk’s Moakley Archive & Institute, history department faculty, and students are leading an effort across the city to solicit diverse digital snapshots of life during the coronavirus. What has emerged is a collection historians say will be invaluable in understanding the pandemic’s true impact in the future.
Serving History: Bringing New Stories to Light
Public History intern, Tessa White, joins the curatorial team at the Gibson House Museum as they develop a new house tour on the history of domestic service in Boston’s Back Bay.
Public History Takes a Forced Holiday
The Covid-19 pandemic forces local leaders and museum professionals to rethink the Boston Marathon and its ties to Patriot’s Day.
TIME TRAVEL - Public History Students Learn & Teach By Creating walking Tours of Boston
Katy and her students Nora and James discuss fun and creative approaches to designing walking tours in “City of Stories: Walking Tours of Boston’s Past.”
Tracing Boston’s Black History
Uncovering the hidden history of abolition On Beacon Hill
Katy and her colleague Bob Bellinger discuss the 2018-2019 launch of the History Department’s Public History concentration and the acquisition of archival collections related to Boston’s black history, alongside an in-depth profile of History Department student leaders.
Photo: brooklynhistory.org
jackie robinson's legacy beyond baseball
talking civil rights and activism with "Battery mates" and "beyond the game" podcasts
In 2017, following the opening of "Until Everyone Has It Made: Jackie Robinson's Legacy" at Brooklyn Historical Society, Katy sat down with the Battery Mates and Beyond the Game podcasts to discuss Robinson's dynamic sports and civil rights legacy in Brooklyn and America. The 70th anniversary of Robinson "breaking the color barrier" in baseball reminds us that Robinson's legacy as an activist on and off the field continues to inspire action and spark debate today.
Photo: The William Vale Hotel, Designboom.com
williamsburg, brooklyn: past and present, the william vale hotel
The William Vale is one of many chic hotels popping up in Brooklyn these days.
Katy discusses Williamsburg's history and offers her thoughts on the area's transformation from a multi-cultural, working-class neighborhood to a trendy hipster enclave.
Photo: Dockworkers, DUMBO, Brooklyn Historical Society.
In 2018, Brooklyn Historical Society DUMBO will celebrate the opening of the long-term exhibition, Waterfront in their gallery space at Empire Stores. Designed by award-winning studio Pure+Applied, the exhibition will present the social, ecological, and industrial history of Brooklyn's coastline from the melting of the Wisconsin glacier to today. Read more about Waterfront and what's happening at Empire Stores.