Partially private repository?

[Daed Lee <daed@thoughtsofcode.com>]

Hi, I'm wondering if git can handle the following use. I have a
project that started as private experiment, but has morphed into
something I'd like to release publicly. I want to give others access
to the repository, but only to commits after a certain cutoff date.
Commits prior to that date have things like hardcoded file paths,
emails, etc. that I'd like to keep private.

I suppose the easiest thing to do would be to create a new repository,
add the project files to it, and make that public, however I'd like to
keep my private commit history along with the public commit history
going forward in a single repository if possible. Is there a way to do
this with git?

Appreciate any pointers in the right direction. Thanks.