History Matters: A California Humanities Statement 

California Humanities supports the thoughtful essay In Defense of Public History, published by Zócalo Public Square and co-authored by historian William Deverell, USC Professor of History and former California Humanities Board Chair; Stephen Aron, President and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West; David N. Myers, UCLA Distinguished Professor of History; and Justin Jampol, Founder and Executive Director of the Wende Museum a past California Humanities Community Stories grantee. 

California Humanities recently partnered with the Autry Museum on the live recording of our Reclaiming Our Stories: Voices of Indigenous Peoples of California podcast, and we are proud to stand alongside colleagues who champion the essential role of public history. 

The essay affirms the importance of preserving rigorous, evidence-based scholarship and ensuring that museums and historians can present a complete and honest account of our shared past. That includes histories that are difficult, contested, and at times uncomfortable, including the legacies of slavery, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, and other defining chapters of our nation’s history. 

At California Humanities, we believe the humanities help us better understand one another by engaging with history in all of its complexity and inspiration. We support the authors’ call to protect the integrity of public history and to ensure that historical scholarship remains grounded in evidence, inquiry, and the many voices that shape our collective story.