AHA Media Appearances & Publications

Historians Speak Out

A Resource for the Press

AHA staff and Council members have written articles and made public appearances on history, history education, the importance of historical thinking in public life, and the work of historians.

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.

Media Appearances with AHA Staff & Council Members

2025

Interview with Brendan Gillis, "The campaign to make Richard Nixon great again," (NBC News, November 29, 2025).

Interview with Sarah Weicksel, "How the Education Dept. Wants to Advance ‘Patriotic Education’," (Inside Higher Ed, September 2025).

Interview with Sarah Weicksel, "Trump targets Smithsonian museums: Administration puts exhibitions under review," (Al Jazeera English, September 2025).

Interview with Sarah Weicksel, "Trump verordnet US-Museen Patriotismus," (tagesschau, August 23, 2025).

Interview with Sarah Weicksel, "Smithsonian and the the review on slavery," (Mornings with Simi, August 21, 2025).

Interview with Sarah Weicksel, "What one historian says White House vetting of Smithsonian means for U.S. cultural institutions," (WBUR Here & Now, August 13, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "President Trump said he fired a Smithsonian museum director. Can he do that?" (NPR Morning Edition, June 9, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "Trump’s cultural overhaul throttles local arts, humanities programs nationwide," (CNN, May 22, 2025).

Panel with Jim Grossman, "Historians on Democracy - Part 1: What was, what is, and what can be done?" (Max Weber Stiftung, May 2025).

Interview with Brendan Gillis, "Conversations: What is actually taught in our history classrooms, w/ Brendan Gillis," (History Shorts, May 2, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, “Trump’s executive order could reshape Smithsonian museums, sparking controversy,” (ARTnews, April 1, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, “Historian James Grossman discusses Trump order to overhaul Smithsonian Institution” (NPR Morning Edition, March 31, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, “How will Trump's executive order affect the Smithsonian?” (NPR All Things Considered, March 30, 2025).

Panel with Jim Grossman, "“The Past is Never Dead”: U.S. Perspectives on History, Memory, and Current Challenges," (AmerikaHaus, March 28, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "Not a Matter of Left or Right: Historians Fighting Censorship," (New Books Network, March 24, 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "The Tradition of the Presidential Inauguration," (Spectrum News, February 2025).

Interview with Jim Grossman on KNX News (January 24, 2025).

2024

Julia Brookins, senior program analyst, teaching & learning, testified before the Texas State Board of Education about the AHA’s report, American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools (November 2024).

Julia Brookins, senior program analyst, teaching & learning, testified before the Texas State Board of Education about the proposed approval of Bluebonnet Learning, new reading and language arts instructional materials developed by the Texas Education Agency (November 2024).

Interview with Nick Kryczka, "How are high school history curriculums changing? A new report surveys the teachers," (AirTalk with Larry Mantle, November 7, 2024).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "Historian discusses growing politicization of teaching history in K-12, college classrooms," (Sound of Ideas, September 26, 2024).

AHA researcher Scot McFarlane testified on behalf of the AHA to the Maine Department of Education regarding the state’s current social studies standards. In a public hearing in Augusta (April 2024).

Jim Grossman, "Divisive Concepts” and the Role of History Education in Democracy," (SpeechMatters, March 27, 2024).

2023

Interview with Jim Grossman, "James Grossman on Nikki Haley's Civil War Comments," (CNN International, December 29, 2023).

Katharina Matro with Ken Burns, "Ken Burns on How to Teach the Dark Parts of History," (Time, September 2023).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "How the American Revolution has become part of the current political divide," (PBS NewsHour, July 4, 2023).

"Don't Say Gay, Stop WOKE, Banned Books, and Anti-Trans Laws: Teaching Through the Backlash," an AHA Online webinar featuring Claire Potter, Anita Kurimay, Wesley Phelps, and Jeremy Young (AHA/YouTube, February 2023).

AHA special projects coordinator Julia Brookins testified before the Texas House of Representatives Higher Education Committee on behalf of the American Historical Association in opposition to Texas Senate Bill 18 (April 2023).

AHA special projects coordinator Julia Brookins testified before the Texas Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education on behalf of the AHA in opposition to Texas Senate Bill 17 (April 2023).

Interview with Laura Ansley and Sarah Weicksel, "Varieties of University Press Business Models: The Scholarly Society," (The H-Net Book Channel, April 12, 2023).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "Historians express 'horror' at Florida's HB 999. They say it threatens academic freedom," (WFSU, March 15, 2023).

Brendan J. Gillis, manager of teaching and learning at the American Historical Association, testified before the Virginia Board of Education’s hearing on the history and social studies standards revisions process (February 2023).

2022

Interview with Julia Brookins, Talking Teaching with the AHA, (Talking Texas History, November 8, 2022).
"Teaching History with Integrity Today," a synchronous, online roundtable during the 2022 Texas Conference with Johann Neem, Daniel Immerwahr, Laura Westhoff and with James Grossman (YouTube/AHA, November 2022).

Panel with Kathleen Hilliard, "Advocating for History Education: Insights for Historians," (YouTube/AHA, 2022).

Interview with Jim Grossman, "Historical association critical of social studies standards," (Keloland, September 16, 2022).

Julia Brookins provided testimony at a meeting of the Texas State Board of Education regarding proposed revisions to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies (August 30, 2022).

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 (August 1, 2022).

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 (July 2022).

Interview with James Grossman and James Sweet, "The American Historical Association: Scholarly Societies Series," (New Books Network, May 24, 2022).

2021

Articles & Op-Eds by AHA Staff & Council Members

2025

"The Black Diaspora in Latin America: An Interview with Ben Vinson III," (Black Perspectives, October 6, 2025).

Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan, "Trump’s War on ‘Vagrancy’ Has a Dark History," (Time, September 16, 2025).

Rebecca West, "The Monumental Work of Historic Preservation in the Building Trades," (Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 13, 2025).

Nicholas Kryczka, Whitney E. Barringer, and Scot McFarlane, “Changing the Subject in the School Wars: An American Historical Association Research Team Perspective,” (History of Education Quarterly, May 2025).

David W. Blight, Beth English, James Grossman, "Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not." (The New Republic, February 6, 2025).

2024

James Grossman, "Attacks on the AHA Are Unfounded," (The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 18, 2024).

Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan, "'History and tradition:' judicial engagement with public histories of homelessness," (History@Work, September 24, 2025).

James Grossman, “What’s Being Taught? Mapping the Landscape of US History Education” (Perspectives on History, May 2, 2024).

Sarah Jones Weicksel, "Mining Charity: Material Culture and Philanthropy on the Comstock Lode," (The Public Historian, May 1, 2024).

Whitney E. Barringer, Nicholas Kryczka, and Scot McFarlane, “Who Is in Charge of History Curricula? Some Findings from the AHA’s Research” (Perspectives on History, April 17, 2024).

Olina Banerji, “History Group Finds Little Evidence of K-12 ‘Indoctrination’” (EdWeek, March 21, 2024).

Nicholas Kryczka, Whitney E. Barringer, Scot McFarlane, and James R. Grossman, “Culture Warriors—on Both Sides—Are Wrong About America’s History Classrooms” (TIME, March 14, 2024).

2023

James Grossman and Brendan Gillis, "SB 83 would require college students to read documents their teachers wouldn’t be allowed to discuss with them," Cleveland Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com (December 2023).

Beau Dickenson, Brendan Gillis, and Chris Jones, "Defending History: Educators Stand Up to Protect Virginia's Social Studies Standards," Social Education (November/December 2023).

Panel with Jim Grossman, "Strategies for Defending the Freedom to Teach Complex Themes," (The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition/YouTube, October 2023).

Whitney E. Barringer, Lauren Brand, and Nicholas Kryczka, “No Such Thing as a Bad Question?: Inquiry-Based Learning in the History Classroom" (Perspectives on History, September 26, 2023).

Laura Ansley, "African American History in Florida: AHA Response to New Standards of Instruction," Perspectives on History (August 28, 2023).

James Grossman, "Florida lessons teach full story of Holocaust. They shouldn't make slavery seem benign," Miami Herald (August 14, 2023).

James Grossman, Laura Hostetler, "Opinion: How to destroy a great university," (Austin American-Statesman, April 30, 2023).

Brendan Gillis and Julia Brookins, "Maintaining Standards: Recent AHA Contributions to the Fight for Honest History Education," Perspectives on History (April 13, 2023).

James Grossman and Anne Hyde, "History at a Crossroads: The AHA Responds to Attacks on Honest History," Perspectives on History (April 13, 2023).

James Grossman and Anne Hyde, "Unwieldy bill would destroy higher education in Ohio | American Historical Association," The Columbus Dispatch (April 4, 2023).

Laura Ansley, "Don't Say Gay, Stop WOKE, Banned Books, and Anti-Trans Laws: The AHA’s Teaching through the Backlash Webinar," Perspectives on History (February 10, 2023).

James Grossman and Jeremy C. Young, "The Integrity of History Education: Bills Censoring K-12 Classrooms Censor Higher Education as Well," Perspectives on History (February 8, 2023).

2022

Alexandra F. Levy, "Supporting Educators: Teaching History with Integrity at AHA23." Perspectives on History (December 15, 2022).

Kathleen Hilliard, "Deep in the Heart of Teaching: The 2022 Texas Conference on Introductory History Courses." Perspectives on History (November 28, 2022).

Sarah Weicksel contributed a chapter to The Military and the Market (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press).

Leila Markosian, Kristen Shahverdian, and Alexandra F. Levy, "Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture, and Society." Perspectives on History (March 29, 2022).

2021

James H. Sweet, "From Inclusive Public Schools to Divisive Concepts: A Reflection." Perspectives on History (December 15, 2021).

Claire Vanderwood, "Student Focused and Historically Accurate: The 2021 Texas Conference on Introductory History Courses Takes on Divisive Concepts." Perspectives on History (December 21, 2021).

James Grossman and Beth English, "AHA and OAH Join Coalition to Combat Misinformation: The Integrity of History Education Is at Stake." Perspectives on History (September 15, 2021).

Jacqueline Jones, "Abstract and Ill Informed: Adding Facts to the Critical Race Theory Debates." Perspectives on History (August 12, 2021).

Laura Ansley, "'The Culture Wars—They're Back!' Divisive Concepts, Critical Race Theory, and More in 2021." Perspectives on History (August 11, 2021).

James Grossman and Jeremy C. Young, "To Understand the History Wars, Follow the Paper Trail," The Hill (July 5, 2021).

Mary Beth Norton and James Grossman, "Everything Has a History -- but Only for the Elite?" (Inside Higher Ed, May 12, 2021).

James Grossman and Jacqueline Jones, "On the way out, Trump trashes history: Why the 1776 project is so damaging." New York Daily News (January 20, 2021).

Perspectives from the Executive Director & President

January 25, 2022

A Pardon for Homer Plessy

January 24, 2022

Diffusion as Dilution?

December 27, 2021

A Tribute to Leon Litwack

AHA Congressional Briefings

Providing Historical Perspectives to Policymakers

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.

Learn More

December 23, 2025

History of Federal Science Funding

October 29, 2025

History of Artificial Intelligence, Privacy, & Security

July 24, 2025

History of the United States Senate

AHA Advocacy

The American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline, defends academic freedom, and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. The AHA, in collaboration with our colleagues at the American Council of Learned Societies and the Modern Language Association, have filed a lawsuit in response to the illegal dismantling of the National Endowment for the Humanities.