American Historical Association

 

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:

1. New AHA Executive Director: Jim Grossman to Succeed Arnita Jones
2. JSTOR Access to AHR
3. New Association Management System for the AHA
4. AHA Today – Recent history news
5. News from Washington – Updates from NHA and COSSA

 

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New AHA Executive Director: Jim Grossman to Succeed Arnita Jones

The American Historical Association is pleased to announce that Dr. James Grossman, currently Vice President for Research and Education at Chicago’s Newberry Library, will succeed Dr. Arnita Jones as the Association’s Executive Director. Dr. Jones will retire at the end of August.

AHA President Barbara Metcalf expressed the enthusiasm of the AHA Council over Dr. Grossman’s appointment: “He is an accomplished scholar, a passionate advocate for history, and a leader in both public humanities and history.” At the Newberry Library he has overseen programs for the general public as well as for scholars and teachers, and has built a strong reputation for bridge-building across fields and disciplines.

Read more about Dr. James Grossman and his transition into his new role at the AHA here on AHA Today.

 

 

 

JSTOR Access to AHR

As benefit of membership, every member of the American Historical Association now has electronic access to all 115 years of the American Historical Review through the University of Chicago Press. Members who log in to the AHR will now be able to browse, search, and read the entire run of the  AHR from 1895 to the present. 

 

 

New Association Management System for the AHA

Change Is Coming to the AHA

On July 1, 2010, the AHA will flip the switch on a new association management system (AMS). The system will be the fourth such system the AHA has implemented (since record keeping first went digital in the late 1970s) in its continuing attempts to make its members services in particular as user friendly and efficient as possible.

Previous systems were by and large invisible to the membership, and were cumbersome as well (the current system, for instance, requires a rather complicated and inevitably slow process of weekly synchronization between the web site and the database). The new system, on the contrary, will allow direct member interaction via the web site in many crucial and time-sensitive areas. Members who join, renew, or wish to update their address or other member information can now interact directly with the AMS. The new system will also bring to the member services web pages long sought after features such as changeable passwords, real-time updates, and other member-related information. We expect, as well, that it will open the door to enhancing and customizing the web site for each individual member.

The implementation team, composed of key staff members from each department, as well as the AMS vendor’s staff, has been working on the transition since returning from the annual meeting, and is now gearing up to devote major attention to the project as it moves towards the “go live” day.

We hope for a seamless transition, but history suggests that there may be a few bumps in the digital road ahead. We request members to bear with us during this time. We will welcome feedback on the new system: about difficulties, if any, that are encountered, as well as suggestions about possible enhancements to the web site or to member services. While we can’t promise to implement every suggestion or immediately resolve every problem, we will give careful consideration to all feedback. Please contact us at feedback@historians.org.

 

AHA Today

Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:

• Memorial Hall Museum Online: American Centuries
  Explore American History with hands-on activities, exhibits, lessons, historic documents, and artifacts.

• Wet with Blood: The Investigation of Mary Todd Lincoln’s Cloak
  Together with Academic Technologies at Northwestern University the Chicago Historical Society has created Wet with Blood, an interactive website that explores the mysteries of Mary Todd Lincoln’s cloak.

• Bancroft Prize Winners Announced
  Columbia University announced the 2010 winners of the prestigious Bancroft Prize on March 17.

• The HerStory Scrapbook
  The HerStory Scrapbook makes accessible pieces from the New York Times during “the final four years of the women’s suffrage campaign."

• Also, see the most recent What We’re Reading (March 18 and March 25) and Grant of the Week (Richard A. Baker Graduate Student Research Travel Grant in Congressional Studies) posts.

 

 

News from Washington

In addition to AHA Today, the Association also draws on the efforts of a number of coalitions that support the Association's agenda to 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 Humanities Alliance
Find the following and more in the February 26, 2010 NHA-Announce:

• Jim Leach Testifies Before House Subcommittee on March 17 NEH Chair engages Members of Congress in discussion on civility

• National Humanities Alliance Holds Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day in DC Participants convene to discuss humanities policy and advocacy

 

Consortium of Social Science Associations

March 22 Washington Update

 

 

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Contributions to this issue of Fortnightly News came from: Elisabeth Grant, Chris Hale, Vernon Horn, Arnita Jones, and Robert B. Townsend

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: March 26, 2010