Dear AHA Member,
Fortnightly News is the AHA's e-mail newsletter, sent out around the first and fifteenth of every month to keep members up to date with the AHA and the history profession.
In this issue:
- American Historical Review – June Issue
- Perspectives on History – May Issue
- AHA Today – latest blog posts
- News From Washington
- Updates for the Directory
- 125th Anniversary Fund
Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues.
American Historical Review – June 2009
Members may have already received their copies of the June 2009 issue of the American Historical Review (and if not, they will be arriving soon).
This issue contains an article on Tamil migrants to Malaya in the 19th century, an AHR Roundtable entitled “Historians and Biography,” and an AHR Forum on Simon Schama’s History of Britain. There are also four Featured Reviews, followed by our regular Book Review section.
For a detailed summary of the June issue see the recent blog post: What’s in the June AHR?
Perspectives on History – May 2009
The May 2009 Perspectives on History is largely devoted to articles exploring how new media (web sites, wikis, Google, and more) intersect with history. AHA 
president Laurel Thatcher Ulrich begins this issue with an article on “Erasing History.” In it she explains how the “digital revolution not only offers new ways of researching and disseminating history… [i]t is also creating new topics for historical inquiry.”
Robert B. Townsend introduces the 17 other articles on the theme which include articles on “Digital Media in History: Remediating Data and Narratives,” “New Media and the Challenges for Public History,” and “Practicing Digital History at the Intersection of Teaching, Research, and Outreach.” (You can find a more detailed summary of these history and new media articles on the AHA’s blog.)
The May issue also includes news about the latest trends in academic salaries and students receiving history degrees, and reports on missing newspapers, new prizes, a German resource, and a “counterfactual” movie on JFK. And we continue the anniversary Timelines series with a look at the Association’s 1909 Annual Meeting. In AHA and coalition news, you will find an Open Letter from Robert A. Schneider, Guggenheim Fellowship winners, a look at openness and transparency in government, and more.
John Hope Franklin remains in many historians’ hearts and minds, and three articles in this issue remember him: Leon F. Litwack’s “Remembering John Hope Franklin,” Mary Frances Berry’s “Franklin, the Quintessential Scholar Activist,” and David Barry Gaspar’s “Franklin: The Mentor in My Memory.” Four other historians are recognized in the “In Memoriam” column: Robert I. Burns, S.J., Miriam Usher Chrisman, Charles Adams Hale, and Henry Ashby Turner Jr.
Again, for a more detailed summary of what’s available in the May issue of Perspectives on History see the blog, or check out the issue yourself in Perspectives Online.
AHA Today
Perspectives on History will be going on hiatus for the summer, but between issues, we will continue to track information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:
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Civil War Resources
As we approach the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War we survey a host of Civil War related resources online, for use in the classroom, in research, or in one’s free time. -
Digital Archives
As a pillar of preservation, archiving plays a pivotal role in the study of history. This post reviews a few digital archives available for both academic and personal exploration. -
The Great Pandemic
In light of the recent H1N1 flu outbreak, it seems timely to look back at the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, often referred to as the Great Pandemic. -
America’s Most Endangered Historic Places
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced its 2009 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. -
From the ArchivesWiki: Hazel Braugh Record Center & Archives
Recently on our blog, we introduced you to Lindsay Flanagan, who works as a museum program associate at the American Red Cross. For those interested in Red Cross history, the organization’s Hazel Braugh Records Center and Archives is now a part of our ArchivesWiki project. -
Also, see the most recent What We’re Reading (May 7 and May 14) and Grant of the Week posts (NHPRC Grant for Archives and Historical Publishing Projects, National Trust for Historic Preservation Partnership-in-Scholarship Grants, and NHPRC Professional Development Grants)
News From Washington
The American Historical Association belongs to a number of coalitions that support the Association's agenda and keep track of issues in the nation’s capital that will be of concern to historians. Here are news updates from some of them.
National Coalition for History
From the NCH’s Washington Update online:
- NCH Comments on Presidential Library System
- National Archives FY 2010 Budget Request
- Teaching American History Grants FY 2010 Budget Request
- See the archives, particularly in May (for the latest updates), to learn news from Washington that’s of interest to historians.
Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)
In the May 4th COSSA Washington Update (PDF) find these news topics:
- President Obama Addresses Science Policy in Speech to National Academy of Sciences
- Congress Clears Budget Resolution; Obama FY 2010 Details Soon
- The Call for Common Education Standards Gaining Traction
- And much more…
National Humanities Alliance
See the latest news on the NHA’s web site, and read the latest NHA update:
National Endowment for the Humanities
From the NEH’s latest news:
Updating the Directory of History Departments, Historical Organizations, and Historians
Members
The American Historical Association is preparing to publish the annual membership directory as part of the Directory of History Departments, Historical Organizations, and Historians. We are asking every member to review their current information for the listing and their preferences for listing. Please watch for an e-mail with your current information and a personalized link to the membership section of the web site. Or, you may login anytime to the member section to review your information at: http://www.historians.org/members/login.
Departments and Organizations
By this time all departments and organizations should have started to update their information for the Directory. If you are the head of a department or organization and want your institution listed, and have not yet received information about how to do so, please see the listing in the Directory page on the AHA’s web site or write to directory09@historians.org for assistance.
Information updated before August 1, 2009, will be included in the print edition, but changes can be made online throughout the year. When the online version is completed in late September, users will be able to access up-to-date details on all listing institutions.
125th Anniversary Fund
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We have already received generous support from many members of the Association. If you have not yet contributed, and would like to aid in the expansion of the Association’s public programs and outreach efforts, we hope you will give your support to the AHA 125th Anniversary Fund.
You can contribute to the fund online at www.historians.org/give or by check to AHA Anniversary Fund, 400 A St. S.E., Washington, DC 20003.
Please feel free to forward this email on to a colleague or friend.
Contributions to this issue of Fortnightly News came from: Elisabeth Grant, Arnita A. Jones, Robert Schneider, Pillarisetti Sudhir, and Robert B. Townsend
Last Updated: May 15, 2009
