Admittedly my experience in regard to this rift is anecdotal, as David
Haberstich observed, but suggestive nevertheless.  In researching the
state of "public history" recently for a department considering adding it
as a component of their M.A. program, I had the opportunity to trace the
background of academic hostility toward the notion of the professional
practice of history outside the university.  Some of it had to do with
legitimate concerns about the loosening of standards in regard to
historical evidence and its interpretation in the public realm; other
concerns were only stimulated by "turf-protection" and fears about the
loss of resources.

Here's the interesting part: when I presented my findings about the
viability of a public history component to the faculty of this
university, I prefaced my discussion with a brief history of the
difficulty that virtually _all_ departments have had in establishing
these programs.  Ie. the academia vs. museums debate expressed itself in
pretty wrenching ways within faculties as these programs were set up in
traditional departments.  I explained that public history now has a
long-standing experience addressing concerns about rigorousness, and that
they needn't replicate the same rancorous debates as other departments if
they familiarized themselves with the excellent work that public
historians have done.  I explained this verbally and in my written
report.

Needless to say, they didn't hear me, and the exact same vicious
tug-of-war has taken place within this department between professors who
feel a responsibility to prepare M.A.'s for something other than more
graduate work and those who believe that a public history component can
only result in the dumbing-down of their intellectually challenging
program.

The rift appears all but unbridgeable to me, except in this respect: the
same professors whose distaste might have discouraged me from pursuing
public history now take pride in my success.  Perhaps this falls into the
category of backhanded compliment ("some of my best friends are public
historians"), but maybe their minds can really be changed through
personal contact with successful and conscientious public historians.

Elizabeth Stewart

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