AHA Advocacy at the Federal Level
Supporting Robust Funding for History & the Humanities
The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts. Learn about our recent advocacy actions related to proposed legislation at the federal and state levels, funding for history education, and other important issues.
Congressional Charter
In 1889, the American Historical Association was incorporated in the District of Columbia by an act of Congress: “for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical manuscripts and for kindred purposes in the interest of American history and of history in America.”
Perspectives on Historians & Public Policy
Amicus Briefs
Legal History at Work
The AHA endorses amicus briefs that coincide with the AHA’s Guiding Principles for Taking a Public Stance, and our members often lend their expertise to crafting amicus briefs. The AHA takes into account the nature and quality of historical scholarship included in the brief, the relevance of the case to major historical issues and/or the work of historians, and the significance of the subject being litigated.
Archives & Records
Collaborating with the National Archives
The US National Archives was established largely due to the efforts of J. Franklin Jameson (managing editor of the AHR during the early 1900s) and the AHA’s Committee on Governmental Historical Documentary Publications and the Committee on National Archives Buildings. The AHA works closely with the National Archives to support its important mission, staff, and work; advocate for robust funding for the agency; and collaborate on issues important to archivists and historians.
November 15, 2024
The National Archives Requests Feedback on Archives.gov
Records Retention
In January 2021, the AHA joined a coalition led by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in filing a lawsuit to prevent the National Archives at Seattle facility’s imminent sale. As part of the AHA’s participation in State of Washington et al. v. Russell Vought et al., the AHA collected statements from professional historians and AHA members testifying to the critical role played by the Seattle facility in Pacific Northwest scholarship and education. The coalition succeeded in preventing the sale and keeping the archives in Seattle.
Perspectives on Historians & Records
Historians & Foreign Relations
The Historical Advisory Committee to the Department of State
The AHA has been involved with the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation (HAC) since its establishment in 1991. One of the committee members is selected by and represents the AHA. The AHA regularly reports on the work of the HAC and the progress of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series.
History & Public Policy Events
Annual Meeting
The AHA annual meeting will feature sessions on public policy, the federal government and related issues, including Historians Engaged in Public Policy; How Historians Can Respond to the US Supreme Court’s Originalist Turn; Insurrectionists and Citizens, Politicians and Activists: Defining (and Contesting) American Democracy, 1860–2024; Public Education, Service, and Policy: Stepping up for K–12 Education; and Social Media for Historians: How We Got Here and What We Do with It Now.
Congressional Briefings
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.
History Behind the Headlines
History Behind the Headlines events feature prominent historians discussing the history behind current events. Open to the public and free of charge, events in this series are generously sponsored by AHA member Jared Brubaker.
Why History Matters
The AHA offers resources on the importance of studying history, and reflections on why learning about the past helps us understand the present.
History Education
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, and to advocate for honest history at the local, state, and federal levels.
American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools
The AHA’s 2024 report shares findings from the most comprehensive study of secondary US history education undertaken in the 21st century. The report provides empirical evidence and rigorous analysis to inform current debates over how history is taught in our schools.
Freedom to Learn
The AHA’s Freedom to Learn initiative educates historians and others on how to advocate publicly for honest history education, responds directly to the bills themselves, and creates resources to help teachers directly affected by these bills think about how to maintain the integrity of their history courses.
AHA Statement Condemning Report of Advisory 1776 Commission
In January 2021, the AHA issued a statement condemning the report from “The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission.” “Written hastily in one month after two desultory and tendentious ‘hearings,’” the AHA writes, “without any consultation with professional historians of the United States, the report fails to engage a rich and vibrant body of scholarship that has evolved over the last seven decades."
Conversations about Public Policy in the AHR
A New Welfare History
A forum on the history of welfare in the September 2024 issue.
.jpg "Cover of the June 2024 issue of the American Historical Review")
"The Long and Wide Environmental Justice Movement: Dispatches from Flint and Detroit"
A featured review by Andrew R Highsmith in the June 2024 issue.
"Migrating Concepts: The Transatlantic Origins of the Bracero Program, 1919–42"
An article by Julie M. Weise and Christoph Rass in the March 2024 issue.