In the spring and summer of 2024, the AHA continued its state-level advocacy work by providing testimony on social studies learning standards in Maine and Idaho, writing to the governor of Iowa about social studies legislation, and issuing a statement opposing Oklahoma’s mandate for religious content in public schools. We also wrote to Tarleton State University expressing concern about the nonrenewal of a historian’s contract, released a statement on campus protests in May, and signed on to an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) statement on the same issue. Additionally, the AHA endorsed a letter to Congress asking for recognition of the US Army’s first uniformed female combatants, the “Hello Girls” of World War I, and signed on to a letter from the Coalition for International Education (CIE) supporting funding for Title VI programs.
In this period, the AHA also issued action alerts to members in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska encouraging them to contact their state legislators about proposed legislation related to history education, and one to the membership at large urging them to contact their federal representatives in support of increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities in the fiscal year 2025 budget.
AHA Endorses Letter Asking for Congressional Recognition of the US Army’s First Uniformed Female Combatants
On April 22, the AHA endorsed a letter from 55 professional historians asking members of Congress to cosponsor S 815 and HR 1572, bills that would award the Congressional Gold Medal to the US Army’s first uniformed female combatants—the switchboard operators who connected calls between the front lines and army command during World War I. “When survivors sailed home in 1919, the Army informed them that their dog-tags and dedicated service did not entitle them to the same Victory Medals, cash bonuses, or hospitalization for disability granted other soldiers,” the letter states. “A group of descendants and the World War One Centennial Commission have spearheaded an effort to obtain the Congressional Gold Medal on their behalf. Doing so would not only honor these pioneers, but every woman in uniform since.”
AHA Responds to Maine Social Studies Standards
On April 24, Scot McFarlane testified on behalf of the AHA to the Maine Department of Education (DOE) regarding the state’s current social studies standards; he also shared prepared remarks at a public hearing in Augusta on April 29. “Maine’s social studies standards . . . emphasize skills with little specificity about content. This is a missed opportunity. State-level social studies standards can help teachers engage their students by placing local, state, and regional history in a context that connects to national and global themes,” he stated. “Good, history-rich standards can guide parents, teachers, and school administrators as they prepare future generations of Maine students for success in a complex and interconnected world.”
The AHA reviewed the existing Maine Learning Results for Social Studies and, on April 30, submitted testimony to the Maine DOE as part of the state’s process for standards revision. This testimony included suggested revisions and “encourages the DOE to provide more robust guidance to districts and teachers about themes, topics, ideas, and developments with which students should ideally be familiar by the completion of their K–12 education,” emphasizing the importance of teaching students to think historically.
AHA Urges Veto of Iowa Social Studies Bill
On April 25, the AHA sent a letter to Iowa governor Kim Reynolds urging her to veto HF 2545, a bill “riddled with distortions and inaccuracies” that “overrides the state’s mandated process for developing public school curricula, while imposing unprecedented restrictions on the content and structure of key courses in US and world history.” The AHA wrote that “this bill is a Frankenstein’s monster constructed out of five out-of-state model bills that share little more than the support of a small group of lobbyists with an overt political agenda.”
AHA Provides Testimony on Idaho Social Studies Standards Review
The AHA reviewed the draft Idaho Content Standards for Social Studies and, on May 1, submitted testimony to the Idaho Department of Education offering suggestions to improve student learning in specific content areas. “Additional attention to state and local history would enhance this framework by engaging students through exploration of the pasts that shape their experiences and the communities in which they live,” the AHA wrote. “Taking advantage of this opportunity to revise the standards by bringing in more of Idaho’s unique story, especially in relation to Native history, westward migration, mining, and public land use, as well as specifying more than a single line about the Civil Rights Movement would further strengthen them.”
AHA Statement on 2024 Campus Protests
On May 13, the AHA issued a statement “deplor[ing] recent decisions among college and university administrators to draw on local and state police forces to evict peaceful demonstrators.” Pointing to historical events on campuses such as Kent State University and Jackson State University in 1970, as well as the “Orangeburg Massacre” of 1968, the AHA “urges everyone involved to learn from that history and turn away from the violent escalation we are now seeing on campuses.” The AHA “urges administrators to recognize the fundamental value of peaceful protest on college and university campuses.” As of August 1, 42 organizations have signed on to the statement.
AHA Signs On to ACLS Statement on 2024 Campus Protests
On May 30, the AHA signed on to the ACLS Statement on 2024 Campus Protests, which addresses the use of state and local police forces by universities against student protestors and the “excessively punitive attitude taken toward protesting students.” The ACLS wrote, “As scholars, we believe that suppressing the expression of unpopular or uncomfortable ideas by students or faculty engaged in peaceful protest does not do justice to the values at the heart of the university.”
AHA Signs On to CIE Letter Urging HEA–Title VI Funding for FY 2025
On June 21, the AHA signed on to a letter from CIE to leaders in the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. The CIE letter endorses a letter from 98 House members requesting that the Committee on Appropriations include $91 million in funding for International Education and Foreign Language Studies in the FY 2025 budget. “To safeguard our nation’s capacity on all world areas and languages during current and potential future global crises, we must continuously replenish our pool of professionals with international expertise,” the letter states. “Robust federal funding is also essential to ensuring that students from all racial and socio-economic backgrounds can access these high-quality educational programs.”
AHA Sends Letters to Tarleton State University Leadership concerning Nonrenewal of Historian’s Contract
On July 1, the AHA sent letters to president James Hurley, provost Diane Stearns, and chief of staff Credence Baker at Tarleton State University expressing “deep concern” about the decision not to renew the contract of historian Ted Roberts. “According to media reports, the nonrenewal was . . . the outcome of an event unrelated to Mr. Roberts’ performance as a member of the faculty,” the AHA wrote. “The AHA objects to Tarleton University’s decision to fire a faculty member for comments made outside of the context of his university employment and extraneous to his role as teacher and historian.”
AHA Statement on Oklahoma Mandate for Religious Content in Public Schools
On July 9, the AHA issued a statement condemning the recent order from Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters requiring “all Oklahoma schools . . . to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum.” “Oklahoma students deserve to learn about the complex and nuanced conversations among early national America’s already diverse religious traditions, the Constitution, and the First Amendment,” the statement reads. “This order violates that right, threatening the integrity of history instruction in public education and the basic constitutional rights of Oklahomans.” As of August 1, 17 organizations have signed on to the statement.
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