Editor’s note: This is the third entry in a series on how historians—especially contingent historians and those employed outside of tenure-track academia—do the work of history. If you know of someone we should interview, or would like to be interviewed yourself, send an email with the subject line HOW I DO HISTORY to pitches@contingentmag.org.
Priya Chhaya (@priyastoric on Twitter and Instagram) is a public historian at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Here’s how she does history.
You wear a lot of hats — writer, speaker, researcher — but what is your current position? How long have you worked there and how did you become involved with the organization?
For nearly 14 years I’ve worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where I develop online and offline content for people who care about saving places. While I started out at an entry level position, my current title is Associate Director of Content, which reflects a recently expanded role to direct and create digital content across the National Trust’s web properties and audiences. I never expected to have my career (so far) to be centered around a single organization, but life surprises you sometimes.
As for how I got here? The summer after I graduated with my Masters, I interned at the National Park Service. There was a gathering of all the summer interns at historical organizations at President Woodrow Wilson’s House (a National Trust Historic Site) and one of the HR managers, who also directed the National Trust intern program, mentioned the position to me. The rest is (ha!) history.
Tell our readers what a typical day of work is like for you. Is there such a thing as a typical day for you?
There isn’t really a typical day of work for me. I spend a lot of time either staring at my computer and sending emails, or attending meetings and making/receiving calls. What that all adds up to, however, is a complicated web of content management, calendaring, and marketing. I am, at any given moment, working on a variety of different projects that include strategizing, soliciting, writing, or creating content, and then marketing the resulting materials through a wide range of communication tools in collaboration with my colleagues on the Digital Marketing team.
Perhaps the most important thing I do is listen and translate. Across the organization there are many wonderful and passionate individuals working to save historic places. My job is to listen and learn about that work, and then translate and share the information to external audiences.
Tell us about the National Trust for Historic Preservation. What does it do and what should we know about it and the people who work there?
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is the only national nonprofit dedicated to saving historic places across the country. We accomplish this through a wide range of activities that range from stewarding historic sites to advocating for the protection of historic places through legislation at various levels of government (though primarily federal). We provide funding, and through the immense work of our field services staff, commit to direct on-the-ground action in communities across the country through our National Treasures program. We also prioritize telling the full American story, not only with programs like our African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund or our Where Women Made History campaign, but also through broader storytelling and community engagement.
That being said, the people are the best part about working here. My colleagues are passionate about the work we do, smart, and fun to be around. While we have many individuals who are preservation or historic site professionals, we also are an organization that employs people with a different skills set—such as fundraisers, policy wonks, those who understand membership, and marketing, or public relations—but above all most people are here because they believe in the cause and its role in making the world a better place. In my role I’ve had the privilege of collaborating (and learning) with nearly every department over the course of my career, first in the division responsible for the preservation work (the subject matter experts), then in the marketing department that I now call home.
Before your tenure at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, what were some other history-related positions that you held? How did they prepare for your work at the National Trust for Historic Preservation or public history in general?
Actually, this position at the National Trust was my first full-time professional history job. Before working here, I spent every extended break at a history internship, primarily at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service. I went to graduate school directly after undergrad, and I knew in order to make this truly a career I needed to make sure that I had a wide range of experience before I stepped out into the workforce. Those internships ranged from museum education programs to working on National Register nominations.
I initially took the job at the National Trust because it provided me with the skills developing training for adults—something I saw as a gap in my practical education. The second half of the job focused on what is now considered digital content marketing, which as time went on became the focus of my job. What all those internships gave me was a cross-section of skills, including the need to be flexible.
If there has been one constant in my career, it is to be ready for new things and to be willing to adapt and learn, because change is always looming on the horizon.
Chhaya speaking at PastForward (the annual conference of the National Trust); photo by David Keith
Have you always been interested in history? If so, what’s your earliest memory about a historical topic or event? Was there ever a moment or moments where you knew you wanted to study history?
While I’m not sure if I always was interested in history, I do know that I have always been interested in culture. As the child of immigrants, I often explored the pieces of my heritage that were Indian—primarily through food and folk dancing—and the part of me that was American (I should emphasize I no longer see a clear distinction between the two). I have always known that where I came from was an important part of understanding my own life and identity.
Enter high school and an incredible history teacher named James Percoco (I try and give him a shout out whenever I can). During my junior and senior years, I discovered a different way of thinking about history. He asked students to look out into the world and see history beyond the text in front of us. While learning names, dates, facts, and charts, I also gained skills on critically evaluating history in movies and other forms of media, how to engage with the landscape on a battlefield, and to see the practical application of that work during my first internship at seventeen. While I had gone into high school assuming I would become either a computer programmer, or something more expected, I left knowing that this was my dream.
This idea of history “out in the world” was further cemented in my experiences as an undergrad. As I went through my education, I would always hear from professionals about how they “fell” into the work they were doing. That wasn’t the story with me. From the moment I left high school I was intentional about what I wanted to do, which was to be a public historian.
Where did you go to college and graduate school? Was history your main area of study?
I attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, for undergrad where I majored in history and minored in anthropology. My graduate work was at American University where I received a MA in History concentrating in Public History.
At William and Mary, I continued thinking about history outside of the formal coursework. I took seminars that let me wander through Colonial Williamsburg and plantations along the James and York rivers (where we learned about everything from decorative arts to the lives of the enslaved people that worked there.) The experience further cemented my understanding about how people gain historical knowledge every day.
What were your research interests in graduate school?
As with any history program I entered graduate school with an era in mind. With much of my experience grounded in Williamsburg, I focused my history-related coursework on early American history (so pre-contact through the end of the Civil War).
Because of my previous high school and undergraduate experience I was interested in the ways in which history intersects with the public consciousness. As a result I thrived in courses on memory, visual and material culture, and museum studies. I walked away recognizing that formal historical study and how various publics engage with that history are two very valid ways of examining the past. While one cannot exist without the other, they have very different purposes.
Chhaya at the National Mall Tide Basin, which is endangered by subsidence, daily flooding, increasing visitation, and crumbling infrastructure.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about what historians do and how they work?
I think the biggest misconception people have about what historians do and how they work is that we live primarily in the past. At a time when understanding past events and how we engage with it is paramount, historians (in all forms) have a critical role in making the connections between where we are now and where we have been. (I am on the advisory committee for the Inclusive Historians Handbook.)
I’m a strong believer that understanding that connection is imperative in issues of equity, reconciliation, and perhaps most importantly promoting understanding. Obviously, this knowledge won’t solve some of our biggest problems, but they can provide pathways towards the solution. Knowing how we got here can help us chart our way forward.
For someone who is not familiar with the field of public history, how would you describe the field and what does public history mean to you?
Public history is about relevance. It is about how everyday people connect and engage with the past outside of a formal educational setting. It is about identity and meaning, but also about recognizing when those linkages are lost.
In recent years public history has, for me, started to mean something broader. On one hand it is still more traditional things like public programming at historic sites, exhibitions at a museum, the work done in public archives, or capturing oral histories of a community. But after working at the National Trust I’ve started to see it as something more expansive. It is about understanding how history impacted city building and affordable housing. How various groups of people struggle or come together.
From a storytelling perspective this practice is about how a public takes history and turns it into art. For me theatre, music, and art are all integral to understanding how humanity internalizes and reflects upon the events of the past and the present. Specifically, I am interested in how these can be used to tell the often neglected history and memory of typically underrepresented communities. That’s what some of my current research is about. It started during a sabbatical in 2017 and has continued at a slower pace, because research while having a full-time job is tough! Mostly it gives me an excuse to go see some really fascinating productions of historical content.
If any of this interests you, I highly recommend checking out the National Council on Public History (NCPH). It is a great organization that not only supports a wide range of public history practitioners in their work, but also comes with one of the most amazing professional communities. I would not be the historian I am today without it.
Speaking of NCPH, this week the organization made the decision to cancel its annual meeting (due to concerns over COVID-19) which was to take place on March 17—21 in Atlanta. This decision puts NCPH in the position of taking an enormous financial hit, with far reaching implications. What makes this especially tough, is that we were gathering to celebrate our 40th anniversary and to plan for our future. (Note: I have been a co-chair of a fundraising campaign for three years in preparation for this celebration). We are a small, yet mighty group with a strong board and an incredible leader. So here is my ask. If you are a supporter of public history, or are compelled to donate for other reasons, consider contributing to either NCPH’s Annual Fund or the Endowment. Both are welcome (though the Annual Fund is the best place to start as it is immediately accessible). Plus, if you donate you could get a thank you note from me!
What is something people don’t understand or appreciate about working in public history?
In short we often hear that public history is not “serious” history
Most public historians have the same training as academic historians, but with specialized skills to communicate those narratives to wider audiences. We often must distill a lot of information in a way that is easily understood and digested by those who don’t have the time to dig into the subject. We must be able to take complex topics and make them understandable. It’s hard work, and not anyone can do it.
Besides your public history work, you are also an author. Tell us about your book. What is it about?
Almost seven years ago, I found out I was going to be an aunt for the first time, and I wanted to do something special for this kid (and her parents). The result was The Heart of the River, a story about a little girl who goes on an adventure and looks for objects of wonder. As I was writing, I thought about all the things I wanted my niece to be—brave, kind, thoughtful, and imaginative—and I put it all into a story where she could see herself represented. I knew I did not want to give my sister some printed paper when it was done, so after realizing I was a writer not an artist, I hired an illustrator, and because I had gone to all that trouble, I self-published it.
I am proud of how it turned out, and learned a lot from the experience. Occasionally I get adorable pictures from parents whose kids refuse to put it down. I now have another niece and a nephew, so the running joke in my family is that I need to write a book for each of them. The second one is moving along nicely, but it’ll be a little bit before it’s out in the world.
What do you find to be the most rewarding part of working at the National Trust for Historic Preservation?
When I reached my tenth anniversary at the National Trust a few years ago I wrote a story about the reasons I love the work and the organization. In short it is the mission and the people that have kept me here so long. In the years since I wrote that piece, I’ve had incredible opportunities, such as organizing a keynote on Women’s history at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last October. I’ve also had the support of some incredible supervisors who encouraged me to think big. With that in mind, perhaps the most rewarding part of my job is the potential impact that our work has on a national scale, specifically in terms of sharing the full history of our country (and protecting the places associated with those stories). I love that I get to be a part of making that happen.
Attendees at PastForward
What advice would you share with someone wanting to work in public history?
The advice I would share with someone wanting to work in public history is to have patience, and be flexible. While I got a job a few months out of graduate school, I know that it isn’t typical in this day and age. It is essential that even as you focus on the type of public history work you are going to do, that you take the time to build other skills, even if you must look outside the field to support yourself.
If you do have to do this, look at every job as an opportunity. While it might not be exactly what you want there is always something you can take with you as you work towards the position you do want. Also, and I can’t emphasize this enough, is know your worth. (This is coming from someone who still has to constantly remind herself to do just that.)
I know that the field is constantly having discussions about the cost of our labor, especially in terms of being paid a living wage, and I am so glad the conversation is persisting. My story is, in some sense, one of privilege. I worked hard to be where I am, but the early years, at an entry level salary, were only possible because of a wide range of factors, including living at home with my parents until I could afford to leave. You can love this field, but sometimes that isn’t enough to make it work. Which leads me to this: be kind to yourself, and to each other.
How can people learn more about you and your work?
The best way to learn more about my work is to visit my website at www.priyachhaya.com. Here you can find out about my writing (almost always about things that inspire me). I also use Twitter and occasionally Instagram (both @priyastoric), though be warned I share information about theatre, pop-culture, reading, and Star Wars, in addition to all the history things. I am a positive person so it is usually a collection of things that bring me joy.
If you weren’t a scholar, what kind of work do you think you’d be doing?
That’s a tough question. In a lot of ways this is what I always wanted to do, but I think if I wasn’t working in history I would be working at another cause-oriented nonprofit. I would also love to be a full-time writer (or even a book reviewer!). Like many, I dream of writing a novel, especially a story that takes my historical experience and says something honest and meaningful about the world.
