AHA Position Opening – Manager of Teaching and Learning (August 2022)

Join our collaborative team of staff dedicated to promoting history and supporting the work of historians. The AHA is accepting applications for Manager of Teaching and Learning. We will begin reviewing applications on August 29, 2022.

AHA Members Serve as Lead Historians on Amicus Brief (August 2022)

AHA members Kate Masur (Northwestern Univ.) and Gregory Downs (Univ. of California, Davis) served as the lead historians on an amicus brief submitted by professors of history and law to the Supreme Court for Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina. The brief contests the “originalist” claim that the 14^th Amendment does not permit race-conscious policies of any kind.

AHA Congratulates Colleen Shogan, Nominee for Archivist of the United States (August 2022)

The American Historical Association joins the American Political Science Association (APSA) in applauding the nomination of Colleen Shogan for Archivist of the United States. APSA’s statement congratulating Dr. Shogan on the nomination notes, “Dr. Shogan has an outstanding record of executive leadership and service in government, an extensive record of research management, and an abiding commitment to the enduring value of the National Archives to our democracy and an informed citizenry.” The AHA looks forward to working with Dr. Shogan and her colleagues at the National Archives and Records Administration. Visit the APSA website for their full statement congratulating Shogan. 

AHA Special Projects Coordinator Testifies to Texas State Board of Education (August 2022)

On August 1, AHA special projects coordinator Julia Brookins provided testimony at a special meeting of the Texas State Board of Education regarding proposed revisions to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies. “Texas history and the histories that you are considering here really have a lifelong impact on a lot of people,” Brookins said. “The drafts could continue to use review by scholars in each of the major subject areas, in particular for factual accuracy. . . . I recommend that the Board ask the work groups to revisit that language and I encourage . . . the integration of social studies practices into the actual course outcomes.” Brookins’ testimony begins at 2:41:16 of Part 2.

AHA Sends Letter to Virginia Governor Regarding Board of Historic Resources Appointments and Confederate Monuments (August 2022)

The American Historical Association has sent a letter to Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin affirming the “importance of input from qualified historians” in deliberations about monuments in public spaces. “Your appointments to the Board of Historic Resources and other historical institutions fall within that reference to professional qualifications and democratic decision-making,” the AHA wrote. “A productive conversation requires that all participants act in good faith, with an informed understanding of scholarship and a careful and nuanced appreciation of the historical context.” The letter included a copy of the AHA’s Statement on Confederate Monuments, which “urge[s] communities faced with decisions about monuments to draw on the expertise of historians both for understanding the facts and chronology underlying such monuments and for deriving interpretive conclusions based on evidence.”

Amicus Curiae Brief and AHA-OAH Statement on Dobbs Decision Featured in News Outlets (July 2022)

AHA Executive Director Featured on KNX In Depth Podcast (July 2022)

AHA executive director James Grossman was featured on the KNX In Depth podcast from KNX News, Los Angeles, discussing the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. Grossman spoke with hosts Mike Simpson and Charles Feldman about Watergate’s significance and its parallels to the events of January 6, 2021.

AHA Executive Director Featured in Article on Academic Conferences in the Post-Roe Era (July 2022)

AHA executive director James Grossman was featured in a Chronicle of Higher Education article by Sylvia Goodman about the challenges of choosing locations for academic conferences after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision by the Supreme Court. “A law banning abortion makes it impossible for us to ask our members to convene,” Grossman said, noting that the AHA sees this as an issue of equal rights, including access to “appropriate and equal medical treatment.” Grossman also discussed the AHA and OAH’s joint statement on the Dobbs decision, which criticized the majority opinion’s use of history that “did not meet professional standards.”

History, the Supreme Court, and Dobbs v. Jackson: Joint Statement from the AHA and the OAH (July 2022)

The AHA and the Organization of American Historians have jointly issued a statement expressing dismay that the US Supreme Court “declined to take seriously the historical claims of our [amicus curiae] brief” in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. “Instead, the court adopted a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than thirty years. … These misrepresentations are now enshrined in a text that becomes authoritative for legal reference and citation in the future. The court’s decision erodes fundamental rights and has the potential to exacerbate historic injustices and deepen inequalities in our country.” To date, 30 organizations have signed onto the statement.

“Abortion, Choice, and the Supreme Court: History Behind the Headlines” (July 2022)

Join us for our free AHA Online event, “Abortion, Choice, and the Supreme Court: History Behind the Headlines,” on Wednesday, July 6, at 3 PM ET. 

This AHA Online event brings together four leading scholars to place Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in historical context. How did we get here from Roe v. Wade (1973)? Why is history central to this jurisprudence and its implications?

Panelists:

• Nancy F. Cott, Jonathan Trumbull Research Professor of American History, Harvard University
• Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, New York University School of Law
• Aaron Tang, Professor of Law, University of California, Davis School of Law

Moderated by: Leslie J. Reagan, Professor of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

To attend, please register. Can't make it? Don't worry-- register anyway and receive the link to the recording, which will be posted to the AHA's YouTube channel, after the event.