News & Advocacy

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News

The latest activity of the AHA and historians in supporting history and historical thinking.

  • AHA Member Named 2021 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Winner (November 2021)

    Nov 24, 2021 - 

    Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition announced that the 2021 Frederick Douglass Book Prize will be shared between AHA member Marjoleine Kars (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County) for her book Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast (New Press) and fellow historian Vincent Brown (Harvard Univ.) for his book Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). The Frederick Douglass Book Prize is awarded annually to “the best book written in English on slavery, resistance, and/or abolition published in the preceding year.”

  • AHA Member to Appear in 2021 Jeopardy! Professors Tournament (November 2021)

    Nov 24, 2021 - 

    AHA member Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders (Univ. of Colorado Boulder) and fellow historian Ed Hashima (American River Coll.) will appear in the 2021 Jeopardy! Professors Tournament. The tournament, featuring Lawrence-Sanders, Hashima, and 13 other professors, will air from December 6 through December 17, 2021.

  • AHA Special Projects Coordinator Testifies to Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs (November 2021)

    Nov 24, 2021 - 

    On July 15, AHA special projects coordinator Julia Brookins provided testimony to the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs about SB 3, a bill restricting the teaching of “divisive concepts” in Texas classrooms. “Senate Bill 3 is a continuation of a sloppy exercise in government overreach that will only exacerbate the harm caused by HB 3979 from this year’s regular session,” Brookins said. “I believe that learning about the less admirable aspects of the nation’s past is important to informed citizenship. As the founders themselves knew and stated, only an informed citizenry can sustain self-government.” The AHA also wrote to Texas governor Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature in August urging them to oppose the bill. Brookins’ testimony begins at 3:32:00 of the video.

  • AHA Member Named 10th Director of the Institute for Advanced Study (November 2021)

    Nov 19, 2021 - 

    AHA member David Nirenberg (Univ. of Chicago) has been named the 10th director of the Institute for Advanced Studies(IAS). “David’s administrative accomplishments, like the Institute itself, transcend cultural and disciplinary boundaries, providing new frameworks of knowledge to understand society and to realize the power of collective curiosity,” said IAS board vice chair Nancy Peretsman. “David offers the leadership qualities to ensure that IAS remains a significant center for basic research as it approaches its centennial.”

  • AHA Member Wins 2021 National Book Award (November 2021)

    Nov 19, 2021 - 

    AHA member Tiya Miles (Harvard Univ.) has been awarded the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction for her book All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake (Penguin Random House). The National Book Awards are awarded annually by the National Book Foundation, whose mission is “to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture.”

  • AHR Featured in Slate Article on Historical Video Games (November 2021)

    Nov 19, 2021 - 

    The American Historical Review was featured in a Slate article by AHA member Robert Whitaker about the Oregon Trail video game and the growth of history-themed video games. “This year,” Whitaker noted, “the academic journal of record, the American Historical Review, started to include video game articles and reviews.”

  • AHA Releases Statement on Censorship and Prosecution by Chinese Authorities (November 2021)

    Nov 17, 2021 - 

    In a newly released statement, the AHA is “alarmed by news reports that Chinese authorities have escalated the censorship and prosecution of Chinese citizens who deviate from the Communist Party line of hero worship.” “Such efforts strike at the very heart of historical scholarship, which depends on open-ended inquiry and a free exchange of ideas, wherever that inquiry leads, and whether or not those ideas cast aspersions on historical actors,” the AHA states. “The AHA stands firmly against national laws and policies that in effect criminalize the historical enterprise.”  To date, 19 organizations have signed onto this statement.

  • National Archives and Records Administration Responds to Reopening Questions Raised in AHA Letter

    Nov 15, 2021 - 

    In August, the AHA wrote to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on behalf of historical researchers seeking clarity about reopening plans. NARA has now provided responses to the questions posed in the AHA's letter, as well as a communication to researchers. We are glad to publish NARA's responses as a window into NARA’s reopening process and future plans, and we will continue to work with our colleagues at NARA to increase communication between archivists and researchers.

  • AHA Executive Director Quoted in Washington Times Article on PEN America Report (November 2021)

    Nov 10, 2021 - 

    AHA executive director James Grossman was quoted in a Washington Times article by Sean Salai about the debate sparked by PEN America’s report on recent so-called “divisive concepts” legislation. This legislation, Grossman said, is “part of a larger campaign of radical propaganda that aims to divide the American people by spreading mistruths about what is happening in the nation’s history classrooms.”

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