Everything Has a History

Bringing Historical Context to Current Events
The American Historical Association is proud to serve as an advocate for the crucial role of historical thinking in public life. Historians in all fields and professions work to provide context for the pressing issues facing the country and the world. This selection of resources highlights the insights that come when we recognize that everything has a history.
Ukraine, Russia, and the Cold War and its Legacies
In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we have compiled a list of AHA resources on the history of Ukraine, Russia, and the Cold War and its legacies. Teachers can use them in classrooms to help students understand the history of the present; journalists can draw on them to provide historical context for current events; researchers can draw on them to inform future scholarship.
The History of 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 racist violence. Teachers can use them in classrooms to help students understand the history of the present; journalists can draw on them to provide historical context for current events; researchers can draw on them to inform future scholarship.
A Bibliography of Historians' Responses to COVID-19
The AHA is compiling 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. The bibliography includes commentary and publications by historians in both scholarly and popular periodical literature; recorded lectures and webcasts; and digitized primary source materials from past epidemics and pandemics. In amassing these references, the AHA seeks to provide a space where anyone, regardless of expertise, can find digital historical material relevant to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Assault on the Capitol in Historical Perspective
We know teaching the events of January 6, 2021—which are not a “moment,” but the product of a long history—presents a familiar, yet unusually urgent, challenge: how can students use historical knowledge and thinking to understand the present? Here are some resources that might help.
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.
Historians on the Confederate Monument Debate
In the wake of the Charlottesville tragedy, historians across the country provided important historical context and insight to the public. The AHA compiled statements that our members, fellow historical societies, AHA council members, and staff have made in op-eds, interviews, and other media conversations about the importance of historical thinking and knowledge within the current debate.
Everything Has a History Video Library
This YouTube playlist compiles videos of historians providing historical context on current events, especially regarding the 2017 presidential election. It also features a conversation between AHA executive director Jim Grossman and 2017 AHA president Tyler Stovall on the role of historical thinking in today's public culture.
Everything Has a History
In his December 2015 column in Perspectives on History, AHA Executive Director James Grossman introduced the hashtag, #EverythingHasaHistory, which has since served to unite historians on Twitter and beyond in the belief that history can inform our understanding of everything and that historians' voices are essential in conversations about current events.