To begin this week the National Coalition for History has news of recent appointments at the National Council on the Humanities and the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center. Then, we send you to two places on Haiti: Blue Shield’s call for saving Haiti’s cultural heritage and a New York Times op-ed on Haiti’s history. We also report two deaths this week, historians Howard Zinn and Louis R. Harlan. Read two interviews as well, one from AHA President-elect Tony Grafton and the other from an associate professor at Elon University. Finally, we look to topics on History Day, sharing faculty positions, Business’s need for the Liberal Arts, the ethics of oral history, and the Harry Houdini Collection.

News

• Historians Appointed to Prominent Washington Positions
  The National Coalition for History reports on two new positions that have been recently filled by historians: Adele Alexander is joining the National Council on the Humanities and William Roger Louis has been made the John W. Kluge Center Chair.

Haiti

• ICBS Statement on the Earthquake in Haiti
  The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) has released a statement recognizing that while the current need in Haiti is to “find the missing, and to help the injured and homeless,” soon there will be a need to protect Haiti’s cultural heritage. The Blue Shield Mission is “to work to protect the world’s cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict, natural and man‐made disasters.” They have begun a Facebook page to share “news about cultural heritage, institutions affected in Haiti” and are calling for volunteers from libraries, archives, museums, to be placed on a list to go to Haiti as soon as the structural conditions have been assessed and it is safe  to work in the buildings or at the sites.
• To Heal Haiti, Look to History, Not Nature
  An Op-Ed contributor at The New York Times takes a look at Haiti’s history, and the events that led up to the recent earthquake.

Deaths

• Howard Zinn, Historian, Dies at 87
  Howard Zinn, historian and author of A People’s History of the United States, passed away yesterday at the age of 87.
• Louis R. Harlan, biographer of Booker T. Washington, dies
  From HNN, as we reported on Monday, Louis R. Harlan, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Maryland, College Park, and former president of the AHA has passed away.

Interviews

• Interview with AHA President-elect Anthony Grafton
  HNN interviews AHA President-elect Tony Grafton, about his interests and concerns as he takes up his new role at the AHA.
• How Teachers & Classrooms Will Need to Change in Our Hyperconnected Age
  The Britannica Blog has posted an interview between a reporter from The Futurist and Janna Anderson, an associate professor at Elon University and author of the “Future of the Internet” book series.

Articles

• History Day: Another outreach opportunity for academic libraries
  Members might be interested in a librarian’s perspective on National History Day, which they talk up as an "excellent outreach opportunity." 
• 2 People, 1 Job, 36 Years
  Inside Higher Ed tells the story of Alice Almond Shrock and Randall Shrock, married historians who have shared “a single faculty position in Earlham’s history department” since 1974.
• Business Curricula Need a Strong Dose of the Liberal Arts, Scholars Say
  The Chronicle reports on a recent session at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, where two session participants explain that business leaders want graduates with the breadth and skills that subjects like history provide.
• The Ethics of Oral History
  Jean Smith at the History Compass Exchanges blogs considers “ethical responsibility oral historians” in this and a previous post.
• The Harry Houdini Collection at the Library of Congress
  The More or Less Bunk blog notes that Google Books has posted 30 to 40 books from the Harry Houdini Collection.

Contributors:  Noralee Frankel, Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, Arnita Jones, and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.