This semester is an odd one from the Public History standpoint. I'm not taking any history classes. This semester my courses are Advanced GIS and Archives. Two classes that finish up my coursework for the MA, but don't actually contain any history work. The archives class is an interesting one. In my time with the ALPL I've had dealings with the archivist and gone over various aspects of the collection and how they should be held in the library. These conversations dealt with both the audio/visual materials as well as the documentation and transcripts of the interviews.
For the GIS class I'm working on building my skill set, as well as putting together part of the project that will eventually build part of my thesis. I'm also working on my topic proposal and defense this semester. To say that it is an interesting semester is an understatement. I'm working in an archive, still waiting to start my job with the guard and doing an online class. All and all it 's a departure from my life for the first three semesters of this degree. What's all this have to do with my future plans as a historian, well that's a good question. If you had asked me before January 20th what I expected to do once I'm done with all this I would have told you that I was looking to return to what I saw as my calling, the National Park Service. In the wake of the Trump administration's policies and the response of my brothers and sisters in the Green and Grey. I'm not sure that there will be a place for me, not for my lack of a desire to return. But because I feel that the NPS will be under attack from this administration and the funding will remain scarce and jobs within the service will be hard to come by. I still hold out hope that my flat hat will once again grace my head, and that I will be able to introduce myself to the thousands of visitors that I interact with as Ranger Steve, the question remains when that will occur. Maybe, there will be a change in the forecast. I finish my Military obligation in 2022, by then there might be a place for me at one of the parks that are on my list. Maybe it will be a new park, or a park that I hadn't even thought of going to yet. But the Park Service remains close to my heart, and those that wear the flat hat are always in my prayers. Keep up the good fight fellow Rangers, I'll join you soon. -Ranger Steve
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![]() I have been a member of the Illinois National Guard for three years now, and until now I have been just a regular drilling member. But if the right opportunity came I have kept an eye open to move from just coming in to drill, to a more full time commitment with the guard, this winter just such an opportunity came knocking at my door. I have built relationships with a lot of people within the guard, people that significantly outrank me during our interactions in uniform, but outside of drill weekend would be considered my peers. This is one of the funny things about the guard, in that you can often have a dual relationship with people, because of where you stand in and out of uniform. I have two undergrad degrees (BA & BS) and I'm finishing up my MA this year, but I chose to not go to OCS, so I am serving as a SGT. Being enlisted, but with the education and professional experience that is equal to or above many of the Captains that I interact with makes for an interesting dynamic. This winter those relationships turned into a phone call asking if I would like to come out and work for the Guard full time, working on the centennial of WW1, and the state's commemorations for the next two years. They needed someone with a history background that was willing to come on and fill this slot, they also had to be a member of the guard, and the bonus was that I live in the town where the post would be so I don't have to relocate. This meeting was between full time officers on post, the officers in charge of various departments for the state's command headquarters, and the TAG, the Commanding General for the State of Illinois. To say that I'm honored to get the opportunity is an understatement, the chance to further both my military and civilian careers, and to work on such an important subject is amazing. The discussions that have come out of this, about the relationships that I can work to build between local history organizations, private foundations, communities within the state, and the National Guard is what public history is all about. For the last year and a half I've been working on becoming a better Public Historian, learning and discussing theory and best practices, and now as I'm working on my thesis, I get to apply all of this in my full time work. This job will also be a challenge, pushing me to grow in significant ways, I'm going to have to become excellent at time management, as this job is going to require a lot, and this semester I still have to finish two classes and propose my thesis topic. This job will also push me to be a better soldier, the daily life on post and being in uniform everyday will change my life in the military, no longer is it just a matter of making it through two days a month, now this is my full time job, and I have to take that very seriously. In my last post I talked about what kind of historian I am, and the events of the last month and the conversations that I have had confirm what I kind of knew already. I am a public historian, committed to the idea that good history rests on not only the scholarship of people such as myself, but the community members and stakeholders that I partner with. Good history rests with the meaning that is created when stakeholder, visitor, historian, and others come together, to take the stories of the past and root them in the ways that they speak to the present. The next two years will be filled with many challenges, professionally and personally, as I work to finish my degree, and give proper honor to the men that left Illinois to serve one hundred years ago, as well as to connect those men to the communities they resided in, and the residents that live there today. This challenge is one that I'm looking forward to, and I only hope that I do the men and women of Illinois proud. |
The Ranger SteveThough I'm no longer found underneath the Flat Hat of the NPS I still find myself identifying as Ranger Steve more often than not. Archives
January 2017
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