Now and Here: Public Humanities and National Parks in Tumultuous Times—An Introduction

Across the National Park System, visitors, community partners, descendant communities, and researchers are engaging with stories that seek to explore the full breadth of American history. Since 2018, the Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship Program has helped drive this effort. Thirty-five scholars, representing more than a dozen disciplines, have taken part in the initiative, leading efforts such as those described above. Their work has been both challenging and inspiring. They have questioned long-standing agency narratives and norms, while also affirming—often quite vigorously—the capacity of public humanities to bring people together in dialogue and debate. As the national coordinators of the Mellon Humanities Program, we are honored to be guest editors of this special issue of Parks Stewardship Forum. The featured articles offer insight into the depth and breadth of the Mellon Humanities Program’s achievements over the past seven years.