Supporting Historical Thinking in Public Life
Everything Has a History
In his December 2015 column in Perspectives on History, AHA executive director James Grossman introduced the hashtag #EverythingHasaHistory. History can inform our understanding of everything and historians' voices are essential in conversations about current events.
Congressional Briefings
The AHA’s Congressional Briefings series seeks to provide Congressional staff members, journalists, and other members of the policy community with the historical context essential to understanding contemporary issues. The sessions are strictly nonpartisan and avoid advancing particular policy prescriptions or legislative agendas.
History Behind the Headlines
History Behind the Headlines is a webinar series featuring prominent historians discussing the history behind current events. Webinars in this series are generously sponsored by AHA member Jared Brubaker.
From the Executive Director’s Desk
AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel offers reflections on current issues before the AHA.
Current Events in Historical Context
History, the Past, and Public Culture: Results from a National Survey
This project aspired to take America’s historical pulse by assessing public perceptions of, and engagement with, the discipline of history and the past. The AHA partnered with Fairleigh Dickinson University to develop and implement a national survey that explored the public’s definition of the term “history,” where audiences access history.
Historians Respond to Federal Actions
AHA members are providing important historical context and insight to the public on the recent actions by the federal government.
Tracking Federal Actions Affecting History
The AHA is tracking information on federal actions and their impact on history and education.
The History of Racism and Racist Violence in the United States
In response to ongoing racist violence in the United States, we have compiled a list of AHA resources on the history of racism and racist violence.
For the Press
The AHA is pleased to speak with and provide resources for journalists and the media. If you are a member of the media and would like to submit a request for a referral or interview, please email press@historians.org. Please provide any pertinent deadlines and we will do our best to accommodate your request. The AHA can find you a historian for any topic, and assists with dozens of inquiries each year.
Everything Has a History in Perspectives
The Morris Canal
Gone are its traces in Newark, New Jersey, but the Morris Canal helped shape the city’s industrial history.
What Does It Mean to Think Historically?
This 2007 Perspectives on History article by Thomas Andrews and Flannery Burke introduced the “five C's of historical thinking”: the concepts of change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency.
History in Focus Podcast
The Craft of Writing History with Drafting the Past’s Kate Carpenter
Vetted Bibliographies
A Bibliography of Historians' Responses to COVID-19
In 2020-21, the AHA compiled a professionally vetted bibliography of historians’ responses to COVID-19 as a resource for the public, teachers, and scholars seeking historical perspectives on the current crisis and its local and global impacts.
Historians on the Confederate Monument Debate
In the wake of the Charlottesville tragedy in 2017, historians across the country provided important historical context and insight to the public. The AHA compiled statements that our members, fellow historical societies, Council members, and staff made in op-eds, interviews, and other media conversations about the importance of historical thinking and knowledge within the current debate.
Video Resources
The Role of Historical Thinking in Public Culture
In a recorded conversation in 2017, AHA executive director Jim Grossman and 2017 AHA president Tyler Stovall discussed the role of historical thinking in public culture.
Everything Has a History Video Library
This YouTube playlist features videos of historians providing historical context on current events, including the 2016 presidential election.