Public History Magazine

  Review of the Online exhibit hosted by the Library of Congress December 18, 2022 The "The American Revolution: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts" exhibit is an online exhibit that offers a comprehensive look at the events, people, and ideas that shaped the American Revolution. The exhibit presents a wide range of primary source materials, including documents, maps, and illustrations, that provide insight into the political, social, and cultural developments of the American Revolution. The exhibit is divided into four main sections: "Causes of the Revolution," "The War for Independence," "The Creation of the United States," and "Legacy of the Revolution." Each section includes a variety of interactive elements, such as maps, timelines, and videos, as well as text-based information about the key events and figures of the American Revolution.  The exhibit is well organized and easy to navigate, with clear sections and subhea...

  The virtual exhibit Colonists Citizens Constitutions: Creating the American Republic, located on the website colonistscitizensconstitutions.org, is a fully interactive digital exhibit that allows users to observe various significant documents in American history. Said virtual exhibit consists of forty items that all reflect notions of self-governance pertaining to American history from British inscribed Charters to State Constitutions. Moreover, the exhibit, within the interactive space, declared that the purpose of the exhibit is to "highlight documents that tell the story of American constitutionalism from the founding era through the turn of the twentieth century." [1] Further, the curators of the virtual exhibit explained, within, the exhibit's introduction, that they want the exhibit's users to have easy access to texts and documents that allow said users to comprehend the significance of self-governance. [2] Therefore, the above-noted exhibit's documents i...

   Photo from https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/   History that is interactive and engaging does a tremendous job of captivating learners. While various exhibitions and showcases do this remarkably well, nothing is quite as captivating as walking through history itself. Therefore, Colonial Williamsburg is an example of a fantastic public history exhibit.        Williamsburg, Virginia was an important location during the colonial era. It was the capital of Virginia at the time and was the center of politics, culture, and education. Important figures in United States history such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson spent time in Williamsburg developing what would eventually become the country's principles (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2022).       While after the revolution the capital was moved up to Richmond, the importance of Williamsburg cannot be understated. Prior to the reconstruction of the town as a historic...

                            The public history exhibit I decided to choose is right near my backyard located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. I chose the Fort Lee Historic Park under the umbrella of the Palisades Interstate National Park Commission located mostly in North Jersey and a small section of New York. Brief information about Palisades Interstate Park, it was founded in 1900 under Theodore Roosevelt as a preservation site. The natural cliffs off the Palisades that stretch over 20 miles creates for beautiful views and thick forest filled areas for visitors to explore.   The Palisades Interstate Park inherited Fort Lee Historic Park which was constructed in 1776 not long after America declared independence. The fort was named after General Charles Lee, its purpose was to block the British Navy on the west side of the Hudson River to block the British navy advancing North. Eventually on November...