About the Center for Public History
For almost twenty-five years, the Center for Public History at the University of Houston has been a leader in the field of public history in the city of Houston, the state of Texas, and the United States. The program is home to approximately 20-25 graduate students, as majors or minors, annually. By 2008, grants, contracts, and internships under the auspices of CPH and its faculty, have exceeded $2,500,000.
What is Public History? Simply put, it is the use of historical skills and methods outside of academic walls. Public historians are trained to meet the needs of the community - the public - whether that community is defined as a city, a neighborhood, a business, a historical society, or a museum audience. Public history is history intended for the public benefit.
The Center for Public History (CPH) is the administrative unit of the UH Public History program, the Houston History project, and the Tenneco Lecture Series, responsible for curriculum, degree programs, research, and outreach. Martin Melosi is the Director of the Center.
Its teaching mission is to train graduate students for history-related positions in the community through a rigorous, professional program leading to the MA in Public History or the Minor in Public History for both the MA and PhD degrees. It also is the focus for training PhD students in the areas of energy, environmental, policy, and urban history.
Graduates of the program are employed in various venues, such as the Smithsonian, the Bush Presidential Library, Historical Research Associates, and at academic institutions across the country.
The CPH also conducts meaningful research of benefit to the public, drawing on its faculty members’ international reputations in energy, environmental, policy and urban history.
Students and faculty have directed or worked on projects for local and regional institutions, such as the Houston Medical Forum, the City of Houston, Gulfport Shipyard, the Houston Bar Association, the Hilton Hotel, and the Houston Galveston Area Council. Students have participated in corporate and legal histories for entities such as Panhandle Eastern Corporation, Baker & Botts law firm, and Shell Oil through the Humanities and the Professions Program.
