Educational Memories and Public History: A Necessary Meeting

Several times historiography has dealt with the relationship between memory and history, with discussions and positions that have only recently been incorporated into a new and broader definition of the historical work. In particular, oral history highlighted the multiple connections between history and memory, especially for one main feature: it places a "relational" source at the heart of research, built during the moment of the meeting. This way the highest importance will be given to aspects which have been overlooked or which were not very evident in the well-established historiographical tradition: the personal and collective experiences and perceptions, the meaning of events of those involved (more than the events as such) and the contact with emotions and feelings. With this approach the history of the school is seen "from below", starting from daily and routine practices and from collective consciousness. Only like this can it thus be investigated in all its aspects and meanings, with a constant attention to the large local and regional variations that distinguish it. All this leads the researcher to write books and articles, even if it somewhat betrays the main duty of the oral historian: the return of memory. It is only giving back what we have been offered by evidence and testimonies, in a logic of the offering, that we may close the relational circle of this new history. The solution lies in the encounter, necessary and desirable, between educational studies and Public History. The digital environment makes it possible to open the memories to a public and collective use that traditional print publication cannot even remotely match. We must consider that between the XX and XXI century Public History has established itself, especially in North America, as the historical evolution of communication and openness to a non-academic public. The birth and mutations of digital history (from the 1993 "The Valley of Shadow" to the 2001 "911digitalarchive" and beyond) enables us to understand the transformation of communication patterns and evaluate the multiple possibilities of educational application, in particular to the everyday life of schooling communities.