To the Editor:

In the February 2014 issue of Perspectives on History was a Viewpoints article called “Transforming the Preparation of Historians: Much More to Do,” by James M. Banner, Jr.

This article hit home with me, since I had a letter printed several years ago in Perspectives on the same theme. This theme was the domination of academic historians in the historical field.

I thought this domination was in the American Historical Association and American Historical Review. But now I realize, after reading Mr. Banner’s article, that this academic domination is field-wide.

An awareness of the situation goes back at least ten years. Mr. Banner cites the report called “The Education of Historians for the Twenty-First Century,” by Thomas Bender, Colin Palmer, and Philip M. Katz, written a decade ago.

Public historians, independent scholars (such as myself), people in business, and others interested in history deserve their due, and are entitled to a piece of the historical pie.

Alfred Elkins
The Bronx, NY

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