James R. Grossman
James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. He was previously vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. The author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929, Grossman was project director and co-editor of the print and digital Encyclopedia of Chicago and is editor emeritus of the series Historical Studies of Urban America, which he abandoned to his colleagues after 50 volumes. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture.
Recent Reflections
February 25, 2025
Washington, DC’s Shifting Landscape
January 30, 2025
On the K–12 Education Executive Order
December 4, 2024
Making a Difference in State-Level History Education
From the Executive Director in Perspectives on History
AHA Advocacy
In a wide range of situations, whether involving the rights and careers of individual historians, historical practice in diverse venues, or the role of history in public culture, the American Historical Association has the responsibility to take public stands. In the past few years, the AHA has sponsored amicus briefs considered by the US Supreme Court; sent letters to states considering legislation that would restrict history education or eliminate tenure at public universities; and opposed decisions by academic institutions to cut history departments and terminate faculty members.
For the Press
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. Please provide any pertinent deadlines and we will do our best to accommodate your request. The AHA can find you a historian for any topic, and assists with dozens of inquiries each year.
Teaching History with Integrity
The AHA, its members, and other historians find ourselves on the front lines of a conflict over America’s past, confronting opponents who are actively promoting ignorance in service of misleading notions of unity. Through Teaching History with Integrity, the AHA leads or participates in several initiatives to provide resources and support for history educators facing intensifying controversies about the teaching of the American past. Historians have a crucial role to play as participants in public deliberations about how to engage students in truthful and rigorous inquiry in history classrooms.