Applied history is the effort to apply insights grounded in the study of the past to the challenges of the present, particularly in the area of policy-making. Applied history is closely associated with the field of

public history Public history is a broad range of activities undertaken by people with some training in the discipline of history who are generally working outside of specialized academic settings. Public history practice is deeply rooted in the areas of historic ...

, and the terms today are sometimes used interchangeably, though historically, public history has been a more encompassing term, engaging a broad range of audiences, subjects and methods, while applied history has been more narrowly focused on work associated with the development of domestic and foreign policy.

History

The term "applied history" was coined in 1909 by political scientist and historian Benjamin Shambaugh (1871-1940). A founding member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association (today the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

), Shambaugh edited its proceedings from 1909 to 1914 and served as its president in 1909-1910. In 1912, Shambaugh, then superintendent of the State Historical Society of Iowa, launched the publication ''Applied History'', a series that ran until 1930. Shambaugh defined applied history as "the use of the scientific knowledge of history and experience in efforts to solve present problems of human betterment." Examples included legislative reference work and policy analysis, as well as the creation and stewardship of public archives, and the practice of state and local history. Richard Neustadt

The ''Applied History'' series, and related efforts, lost funding during the Great Depression, and "applied history" as an enterprise receded until the 1970s, when it re-emerged in new contexts and forms. In 1974, Harvard University historian

Ernest R. May Ernest Richard May (November 19, 1928 – June 1, 2009) was an American historian of international relations, whose 14 published books include analyses of American involvement in World War I and the causes of the Fall of France during World War ...

published Lessons of the Past': The Use and Abuse Of History in American Foreign Policy'', which argues that more substantive engagement with the discipline of history would improve policymaking. May together with

Richard Neustadt Richard Elliott Neustadt (June 26, 1919 – October 31, 2003) was an American political scientist specializing in the United States presidency. He also served as adviser to several presidents. He was the author of the books ''Presidential Power' ...

taught courses in which students were invited to apply historical insight to contemporary social issues; in 1986 May and Neustadt published ''Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers''. In 1975, historians Joel Tarr and Peter Stearns launched an Applied History program at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. This Ph.D. program aimed to prepare students for jobs in a variety of public and private educational institutions. In the 1980s, the program changed its name from “Applied History” to “History and Policy.”

Academic focus

Today there are a number of academic programs in applied history. Shippensburg University hosts a Center for Applied History, and there is an Applied History Project at

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In Flanders, KU Leuven and the State Archives of Belgium host project Corvus, which uses its research in applied history to develop, test and evaluate different types of historical consultancy. In November 2018, Dutch Historians Harm Kaal ( Radboud University) and Jelle van Lottum ( Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands) founded the ''Journal of Applied History'', published by academic publisher

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * Davison, Graeme (1991). “Paradigms of Public History,” in John Rickard and Peter Spearritt, eds, ''Packaging the Past? Public Histories'' Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. * * Schroder, Alan M (1980). "Public History Makes the Scene In 1912." ''History News'', Vol. 35, No. 6: 13-14. * * {{cite journal , last1=Tarr , first1= Joel A. , title=Curriculum in Applied History: Toward the Future , journal= The Public Historian , date= Summer 1987 , volume=9 , issue=3 , pages= 111–125, doi= 10.2307/3377191 , jstor= 3377191 History education Museology