Alex WellersteinVerified account

This will not be a simple process. To be effective, it will need to cross professions. Those professions currently have different standards, in part because they have different goals and histories. 11/17

It will also be difficult because - there are a lot of historians! This was a clear-cut case because Dr. Milov’s work was central. But sometimes the preps I write cite twenty historians for a segment that gets whittled down to >10 minutes. 12/17

These historians don’t all come from academia. I also draw on public scholarship written by archivists and museum professionals. They deserve credit too. I myself have done primary source work for BackStory, and you won’t hear my name on air either. 13/17

I could easily see the common consensus becoming a citation of the “biggest” book when we talk generally about broad topics like Reconstruction. But the most famous books are more likely to be written by privileged members of the academy. 14/17

Furthermore, history books themselves are actually a reflection of hundreds of other scholars, the community of ideas we draw upon. So how do we also honor the work of historians who don’t get big book deals? Historians who aren't in the academy? 15/17

As a grad student, I don’t have a lot of power to shape the landscape of public citation. But I can try to nudge the conversation in that direction. I can also be more self-conscious in my own public history practice. 16/17

A great thread. As someone who is in academia but who also writes popular pieces (and takes part in non-print media work as well, like podcasts), I'll say: the citation issue is a difficulty even in print media, because editors don't like footnotes, or even too many shout-outs.