The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional standards, and support scholarship and innovative teaching. It publishes ''

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...

'' four times a year, with scholarly articles and book reviews. The AHA is the major organization for historians working in the United States, while the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

is the major organization for historians who study and teach about the United States. The group received a congressional charter in 1889, establishing it "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."

Current activities

As an umbrella organization for the discipline, the AHA works with other major historical organizations and acts as a public advocate for the field. Within the profession, the association defines ethical behavior and best practices, particularly through its "Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct". The AHA also develops standards for good practice in teaching and history textbooks, but these have limited influence. The association generally works to influence history policy through the National Coalition for History. The association publishes ''

'', a major journal of history scholarship covering all historical topics since ancient history and ''Perspectives on History'', the monthly news magazine of the profession. In 2006 the AHA started a blog focused on the latest happenings in the broad discipline of history and the professional practice of the craft that draws on the staff, research, and activities of the AHA. The association's annual meeting each January brings together more than 5,000 historians from around the United States to discuss the latest research and discuss how to be better historians and teachers. Many affiliated historical societies hold their annual meetings simultaneously. The association's web site offers extensive information on the current state of the profession, tips on history careers, and an extensive archive of historical materials (including the G.I. Roundtable series), a series of pamphlets prepared for the War Department in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The association also administers two major fellowships, 24 book prizes, and a number of small research grants.

History

The early leaders of the association were mostly gentlemen with the leisure and means to write many of the great 19th-century works of history, such as

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

, Justin Winsor, and

James Ford Rhodes James Ford Rhodes (May 1, 1848 – January 22, 1927), was an American industrialist and historian born in Cleveland, Ohio. After earning a fortune in the iron, coal, and steel industries by 1885, he retired from business. He devoted his life to his ...

. However, as former AHA president

James J. Sheehan James J. Sheehan (born 1937) is an American historian of modern Germany and the former president of the American Historical Association (2005). Biography Born in San Francisco in 1937, Sheehan earned a B.A. from Stanford University in 1958 and ...

points out, the association always tried to serve multiple constituencies, "including

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

s, members of state and local historical societies, teachers, and amateur historians, who looked to it - and not always with success or satisfaction - for representation and support." Much of the early work of the association focused on establishing a common sense of purpose and gathering the materials of research through its Historical Manuscripts and Public Archives Commissions.

Publication standards

From the beginning, the association was largely managed by historians employed at colleges and universities, and served a critical role in defining their interests as a profession. The association's first president,

Andrew Dickson White Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who cofounded Cornell University and served as its first president for nearly two decades. He was known for expanding the scope of college curricu ...

, was president of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and its first secretary,

Herbert Baxter Adams Herbert Baxter Adams (April 16, 1850 – July 30, 1901) was an American educator and historian who brought German rigor to the study of history in America; a founding member of the American History Association; and one of the earliest ed ...

, established one of the first history Ph.D. programs to follow the new German seminary method at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. The clearest expression of this academic impulse in history came in the development of the ''American Historical Review'' in 1895. Formed by historians at a number of the most important universities in the United States, it followed the model of European history journals. Under the early editorship of

J. Franklin Jameson John Franklin Jameson (September 19, 1859 – September 28, 1937) was an American historian, author, and journal editor who played a major role in the professional activities of American historians in the early 20th century. He helped establish t ...

, the ''Review'' published several long scholarly articles every issue, only after they had been vetted by scholars and approved by the editor. Each issue also reviewed a number of history books for their conformity to the new professional norms and scholarly standards that were taught at leading graduate schools to Ph.D. candidates. From the AHR, Sheehan concludes, "a junior scholar learned what it meant to be a historian of a certain sort".

AHA and public history

Meringolo (2004) compares academic and public history. Unlike academic history, public history is typically a collaborative effort, does not necessarily rely on primary research, is more democratic in participation, and does not aspire to absolute "scientific" objectivity. Historical museums, documentary editing, heritage movements and historical preservation are considered public history. Though activities now associated with public history originated in the AHA, these activities separated out in the 1930s due to differences in methodology, focus, and purpose. The foundations of public history were laid on the middle ground between academic history and the public audience by National Park Service administrators during the 1920s-30s. The academicians insisted on a perspective that looked beyond particular localities to a larger national and international perspective, and that in practice it should be done along modern and scientific lines. To that end, the association actively promoted excellence in the area of research, the association published a series of annual reports through the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and adopted the ''American Historical Review'' in 1898 to provide early outlets for this new brand of professional scholarship.

Establishing a national history curriculum

In 1896 the association appointed a "Committee of Seven" to develop a national standard for college admission requirements in the field of history. Before this time, individual colleges defined their own entrance requirements. After substantial surveys of prevailing teaching methods, emphases and curricula in secondary schools, the Committee published "The Study of History in Schools" in 1898. Their report largely defined the way history would be taught at the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

level as a preparation for college, and wrestled with issues about how the field should relate to the other social studies. The Committee recommended four blocks of Western history, to be taught in chronological order—ancient, medieval and modern European, English, and American history and civil government—and advised that teachers "tell a story" and "bring out dramatic aspects" to make history come alive.

e student who is taught to consider political subjects in school, who is led to look at matters historically, has some mental equipment for a comprehension of the political and social problems that will confront him in everyday life, and has received practical preparation for social adaptation and for forceful participation in civic activities.... The pupil should see the growth of the institutions which surround him; he should see the work of men; he should study the living concrete facts of the past; he should know of nations that have risen and fallen; he should see tyranny, vulgarity, greed, benevolence, patriotism, self-sacrifice, brought out in the lives and works of men. So strongly has this very thought taken hold of writers of civil government, that they no longer content themselves with a description of the government as it is, but describe at considerable length the origin and development of the institutions of which they speak.

The association also played a decisive role in lobbying the federal government to preserve and protect its own documents and records. After extensive lobbying by AHA Secretary

Waldo Leland Waldo Gifford Leland (July 17, 1879 in Newton, Massachusetts – October 19, 1966) was an American historian and archivist whose work for the Carnegie Institution and the Library of Congress was instrumental in the founding of the National Archive ...

and Jameson, Congress established the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

in 1934. As the interests of historians in colleges and universities gained prominence in the association, other areas and activities tended to fall by the wayside. The Manuscripts and Public Archives Commissions were abandoned in the 1930s, while projects related to original research and the publication of scholarship gained ever-greater prominence.

Recent developments

In recent years, the association has tried to come to terms with the growing public history movement and has struggled to maintain its status as a leader among academic historians. The association started to investigate cases of professional misconduct in 1987, but ceased the effort in 2005 "because it has proven to be ineffective for responding to misconduct in the historical profession."

Recent presidents

*2013:

Kenneth Pomeranz Kenneth Pomeranz, FBA (born November 4, 1958) is University Professor of History at the University of Chicago. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1980, where he was a Telluride Scholar, and his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1988, ...

(Univ. of Chicago) *2016:

Patrick Manning Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 Ma ...

(University of Pittsburgh) *2017:

Tyler Stovall Tyler Edward Stovall (April 9, 1954 – December 11, 2021) was an American academic and historian. He served as president of the American Historical Association in 2017. Biography Stovall earned a degree in history from Harvard University in 1976 ...

(University of California, Santa Cruz) *2018:

Mary Beth Norton Mary Beth Norton (born 1943) is an American historian, specializing in American colonial history and well known for her work on women's history and the Salem witch trials. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emeritus of American History at t ...

(Cornell University) *2019: J. R. McNeill (Georgetown University) *2020:

Mary Lindemann Mary Lindemann (born 1949) is an American historian, professor of history and former chair of the History Department at the University of Miami. She was president of the American Historical Association during the term 2020 and president of the Ger ...

(University of Miami) *2021:

Jacqueline Jones Jacqueline Jones (born 17 June 1948) is an American social historian. She held the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas from 2008 to 2017 and is Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin. ...

(University of Texas at Austin) *2022: (University of Wisconsin-Madison), elect

Selected awards

;for publications: *

Herbert Baxter Adams Prize The Herbert Baxter Adams Prize is an annual book prize of the American Historical Association. It is awarded for "a distinguished first book by a young scholar in the field of European history", and is named in honor of Herbert Baxter Adams, who ...

for the best book in European history *

George Louis Beer Prize The George Louis Beer Prize is an award given by the American Historical Association for the best book in European international history from 1895 to the present written by a United States citizen or permanent resident. The prize was created in 1923 ...

for the best book in European international history since 1895 *

Jerry Bentley Jerry Harrell Bentley (December 12, 1949 – July 15, 2012) was an American academic and professor of world history. He was a founding editor of the '' Journal of World History'' since 1990. He wrote on the cultural history of early modern Europe a ...

Prize for the most outstanding book on world history *

Albert J. Beveridge Award The Albert J. Beveridge Award is awarded by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the best English-language book on American history (United States, Canada, or Latin America) from 1492 to the present. It was established on a biennial basis ...

in American history for a distinguished book on the history of the United States, Latin America, or Canada, from 1492 to the present *

Paul Birdsall Prize The Paul Birdsall Prize is an biennial prize given to a historian by the American Historical Association. Background The prize was established by a donation from Hans W. Gatzke, who remained anonymous until his death. The prize is named for P ...

for a major book on European military and strategic history since 1870 * James Henry Breasted Prize for the best book in any field of history prior to AD 1000 * John H. Dunning Prize for the most outstanding book on US history *

John K. Fairbank Prize The John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History is offered annually for an outstanding book in the history of China proper, Vietnam, Chinese Central Asia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, or Japan, substantially after 1800. It honors the late John K. ...

for the best book on East Asian history since 1800 * Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book in the field of British history since 1485 *

Leo Gershoy Award The Leo Gershoy Award is a book prize awarded by the American Historical Association for the best publication in English dealing with the history of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Endowed in 1975 by the Gershoy family and first ...

for the best book in the fields of 17th and 18th-century western European history *

Friedrich Katz Friedrich Katz (13 June 1927 – 16 October 2010) was an Austrian-born anthropologist and historian who specialized in 19th and 20th century history of Latin America, particularly, in the Mexican Revolution. "He was arguably Mexico's most wide ...

Prize for the best book in Latin American and Caribbean history * James A. Rawley Prize for the best book that explores the integration of Atlantic worlds before the 20th century ;for professional distinction: * James Harvey Robinson Prize for the teaching aid that has made the most outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history in any field * Herbert Feis Award for distinguished contributions to public history * Award for Scholarly Distinction to senior historians for lifetime achievement * Martin A. Klein Prize instituted in

his name His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

for the most distinguished work of scholarship on African history published in English during the previous calendar year

Past presidents

Presidents of the AHA are elected annually and give a president's address at the annual meeting: *

1884
*

1886
* Justin Winsor
1887
*

William Frederick Poole William Frederick Poole (24 December 1821, Salem, Massachusetts – 1 March 1894) was an American bibliographer and librarian. Biography He graduated from Yale University in 1849, where he assisted John Edmands, who was a student at the Brothe ...

1888
*

Charles Kendall Adams Charles Kendall Adams (January 24, 1835 – July 26, 1902) was an American educator and historian. He served as the second president of Cornell University from 1885 until 1892, and as president of the University of Wisconsin from 1892 until 1901. ...

1889
*

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

1890
* William Wirt Henry
1891
*

James Burrill Angell James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan, from 1871 to 1909. He represented the transition from sma ...

1892–1893
*

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fr ...

1893–1894
*

George Frisbie Hoar George Frisbie Hoar (August 29, 1826 – September 30, 1904) was an American attorney and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1877 to 1904. He belonged to an extended family that became politically prominen ...

1895
*

Richard Salter Storrs Richard Salter Storrs (August 21, 1821 – June 7, 1900) was an American Congregational clergyman. Biography Storrs was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He bore the same name as his grandfather (1763–1819), pastor at Longmeadow, Massachusett ...

1896
*

James Schouler James Schouler (March 20, 1839 – April 16, 1920) was an American lawyer and historian best known for his historical work ''History of the United States under the Constitution, 1789–1865''. Biography Schouler was born in West Cambridge (now ...

1897
*

George Park Fisher George Park Fisher (August 10, 1827 – December 20, 1909) was an American theologian and historian who was noted as a teacher and a prolific writer. Biography He was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brown University in 1847, ...

1898
*

1899
*

Edward Eggleston Edward Eggleston (December 10, 1837 – September 3, 1902) was an American historian and novelist. Biography Eggleston was born in Vevay, Indiana, to Joseph Cary Eggleston and Mary Jane Craig. The author George Cary Eggleston was his brother. A ...

1900
*

Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Arm ...

1901
*

Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His book '' The Influence of Sea Powe ...

1902
* Henry Charles Lea
1903
* Goldwin Smith
1904
* John Bach McMaster
1905
* Simeon E. Baldwin
1906
*

1907
*

George Burton Adams George Burton Adams (June 3, 1851 in VermontAdams, George Burton
in ''

1908
* Albert Bushnell Hart
1909
*

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...

1910
*

William Milligan Sloane William Milligan Sloane (November 12, 1850 – September 11, 1928) was an American educator and historian. Career William Milligan Sloane was born in Richmond, Ohio on November 12, 1850. He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia Universit ...

1911
*

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

1912
* William A. Dunning
1913
*

Andrew C. McLaughlin Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin (February 14, 1861 – September 24, 1947) was an American historian known as an authority on U.S. Constitutional history. Background McLaughlin was born in Illinois and received his bachelor's and law degrees from the ...

1914
* H. Morse Stephens
1915
*

George Lincoln Burr George Lincoln Burr (January 30, 1857 – June 27, 1938) was a US historian, diplomat, author, and educator, best known as a Professor of History and Librarian at Cornell University, and as the closest collaborator of Andrew Dickson White, the ...

1916
* Worthington C. Ford
1917
* William R. Thayer
1918–1919
*

Edward Channing Edward Perkins Channing (June 15, 1856 – January 7, 1931) was an American historian and an author of a monumental ''History of the United States'' in six volumes, for which he won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. His thorough research i ...

1920
*

Jean Jules Jusserand Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand (18 February 1855 – 18 July 1932) was a French author and diplomat. He was the French Ambassador to the United States 1903-1925 and played a major diplomatic role during World War I. Birth and education ...

1921
*

Charles H. Haskins Charles Homer Haskins (December 21, 1870 – May 14, 1937) was a history professor at Harvard University. He was an American historian of the Middle Ages, and advisor to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. He is widely recognized as the first academic ...

1922
*

Edward P. Cheyney Edward Potts Cheyney, A.M., LL.D. (1861–1947) was an American historical and economic writer, born at Wallingford, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1883. He visited German universities and studied at the British ...

1923
*

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(1924, died before completing his term as president) *

Charles M. Andrews Charles McLean Andrews (February 22, 1863 – September 9, 1943) was an American historian, an authority on American colonial history.Roth, David M., editor, and Grenier, Judith Arnold, associate editor, "Connecticut History and Culture: An Histo ...

1924
* Dana C. Munro
1926
*

Henry Osborn Taylor Henry Osborn Taylor (December 5, 1856 – April 13, 1941) was an American historian and legal scholar. Career Taylor graduated from Harvard University in 1878 and, later, from Columbia Law School. He later received honorary degrees from Harvar ...

1927
*

James H. Breasted James Henry Breasted (; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 h ...

1928
*

James Harvey Robinson James Harvey Robinson (June 29, 1863 – February 16, 1936) was an American scholar of history who, with Charles Austin Beard, founded New History, a disciplinary approach that attempts to use history to understand contemporary problems, which g ...

1929
*

Evarts Boutell Greene Evarts Boutell Greene (1870–1947) was an American historian, born in Kobe, Japan, where his parents were missionaries. He graduated Harvard University (B.A., 1890; Ph.D., 1893), and began teaching American history (1894) at the University of Ill ...

1930
*

Carl Lotus Becker Carl Lotus Becker (September 7, 1873 – April 10, 1945) was an American historian of the Age of Enlightenment in America and Europe. Life He was born in Waterloo, Iowa. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1893 as an undergraduate, an ...

1931
*

Herbert Eugene Bolton Herbert Eugene Bolton (July 20, 1870 – January 30, 1953) was an American historian who pioneered the study of the Spanish-American borderlands and was a prominent authority on Spanish American history. He originated what became known as the ''Bo ...

1932
* Charles A. Beard
1933
* William E. Dodd
1934
* Michael I. Rostovtzeff
1935
* Charles McIlwain
1936
* Guy Stanton Ford
1937
* Laurence M. Larson
1938
* William Scott Ferguson
1939
*

Max Farrand Max Farrand (March 29, 1869 – June 17, 1945) was an American historian who taught at several universities and was the first director of the Huntington Library. Early life He was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He graduated from ...

1940
*

James Westfall Thompson James Westfall Thompson (1869–1941) was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and France. He also made noteworthy contributions to the history of literacy, lib ...

1941
*

Arthur M. Schlesinger Arthur Meier Schlesinger Sr. (; February 27, 1888 – October 30, 1965) was an American historian who taught at Harvard University, pioneering social history and urban history. He was a Progressive Era intellectual who stressed material cau ...

1942
* Nellie Neilson
1943
* William L. Westermann
1944
*

Carlton J. H. Hayes Carlton Joseph Huntley Hayes (May 16, 1882 – September 2, 1964) was an American historian, educator, diplomat, devout Catholic and academic. A student of European history, he was a leading and pioneering specialist on the study of nationalism. ...

1945
* Sidney B. Fay
1946
*

Thomas J. Wertenbaker Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker (February 6, 1879 – April 22, 1966) was a leading American historian and Edwards Professor of American History at Princeton University. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he received his bachelor's and doctoral degree ...

1947
*

Kenneth Scott Latourette Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an American historian of China, Japan, and world Christianity.

1948
* Conyers Read
1949
*

Samuel E. Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...

1950
*

Robert Livingston Schuyler Dr. Robert Livingston Schuyler (February 26, 1883 – August 15, 1966) was a prominent scholar of early American history and British history of the same time period. He was an educator and an editor. He spent most of his academic career at C ...

1951
*

James G. Randall James Garfield Randall (June 4, 1881 in Indianapolis, Indiana - February 20, 1953) was an American historian specializing on Abraham Lincoln and the era of the American Civil War. He taught at the University of Illinois, (1920–1950), where David ...

1952
* Louis Gottschalk
1953
*

Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March 9, 1996) was a leading American historian, who taught many graduate students at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin, and was a leader in developing the fields of social history and ...

1954
*

Lynn Thorndike Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA – 28 December 1965, Columbia University Club, New York City) was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, and the young ...

1955
* Dexter Perkins
1956
*

William L. Langer William Leonard Langer (March 16, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American historian, intelligence analyst and policy advisor. He served as chairman of the history department at Harvard University. He was on leave during World War II as h ...

1957
*

Walter Prescott Webb Walter Prescott Webb (April 3, 1888 in Panola County, Texas – March 8, 1963 near Austin, Texas) was an American historian noted for his groundbreaking work on the American West. As president of the Texas State Historical Association, he la ...

1958
* Allan Nevins
1959
* Bernadotte E. Schmitt
1960
* Samuel Flagg Bemis
1961
* Carl Bridenbaugh
1962
* Crane Brinton
1963
* Julian P. Boyd
1964
* Frederic C. Lane
1965
* Roy F. Nichols
1966
* Hajo Holborn
1967
* John K. Fairbank
1968
* C. Vann Woodward
1969
* R. R. Palmer
1970
* David M. Potter (1971, died before completing his term as president) * Joseph R. Strayer
1971
* Thomas C. Cochran (historian), Thomas C. Cochran
1972
* Lynn Townsend White, Jr.
1973
* Lewis Hanke
1974
* Gordon Wright (historian), Gordon Wright
1975
* Richard B. Morris
1976
* Charles Gibson
1977
* William J. Bouwsma
1978
* John Hope Franklin
1979
* David H. Pinkney
1980
* Bernard Bailyn
1981
* Gordon A. Craig
1982
* Philip D. Curtin
1983
* Arthur S. Link
1984
* William Hardy McNeill, William H. McNeill
1985
* Carl N. Degler
1986
* Natalie Zemon Davis
1987
* Akira Iriye
1988
* Louis R. Harlan
1989
* David Herlihy
1990
* William E. Leuchtenburg
1991
* Frederic E. Wakeman Jr
1992
* Louise A. Tilly
1993
* Thomas C. Holt
1994
* John H. Coatsworth
1995
* Caroline Bynum, Caroline Walker Bynum
1996
* Joyce Appleby
1997
* Joseph C. Miller
1998
* Robert Darnton
1999
* Eric Foner
2000
* Wm. Roger Louis
2001
* Lynn Hunt
2002
* James M. McPherson
2003
* Jonathan Spence
2004
*

2005
* Linda K. Kerber
2006
* Barbara Weinstein (historian), Barbara Weinstein
2007
* Gabrielle M. Spiegel
2008
* Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
2009
* Barbara Metcalf
2010
* Anthony Grafton
2011
* William Cronon
2012
*

2013
* Jan E. Goldstein
2014
* Vicki L. Ruiz
2015
*

2016
*

2017
*

2018
* J. R. McNeill
2019
*

2020
*

2021

Affiliated societies

*American Catholic Historical Association *Coordinating Council for Women in History *Conference on Latin American History *National Council on Public History *Oral History Association *Peace History Society *Society for History in the Federal Government *Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship *Society for Military History *Society of Architectural Historians *Swiss American Historical Society *World History Association

References

Selected bibliography

* Alonso, Harriet Hyman. " Slammin' at the AHA." ''Rethinking History'' 2001 5(3): 441–446. Fulltext in Ingenta and Ebsco. The theme of the 2001 annual meeting of the AHA, "Practices of Historical Narrative," attracted a variety of panels. The article traces one such panel from its conception to presentation. Taking the theme to heart, the panelists created a "slam" (or reading) of narrative histories written by experienced historians, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student, and then opened the session to readings from the audience. * American Historical Association Committee on Graduate Education.
We Historians: the Golden Age and Beyond
" ''Perspectives'' 2003 41(5): 18–22. Surveys the state of the history profession in 2003 and points out that numerous career options exist for persons with a Ph.D. in history, although the traditional ideal of a university-level appointment for new Ph.D.s remains the primary goal of doctoral programs. * Bender, Thomas, Katz, Philip; Palmer, Colin; and American Historical Association Committee on Graduate Education.

'' U. of Illinois Press, 2004. 222 pp. * Elizabeth Donnan and Leo F. Stock, eds. ''An Historian's World: Selections from the Correspondence of John Franklin Jameson,'' (1956). Jameson was AHR editor 1895–1901, 1905–1928 * Higham, John. ''History: Professional Scholarship in America''. (1965, 2nd ed. 1989). * Meringolo, Denise D. "Capturing the Public Imagination: the Social and Professional Place of Public History." ''American Studies International'' 2004 42(2–3): 86–117. Fulltext in Ebsco. * Morey Rothberg and Jacqueline Goggin, eds., ''John Franklin Jameson and the Development of Humanistic Scholarship in America'' (3 vols., 1993–2001). * Novick, Peter. ''That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. * Orrill, Robert and Shapiro, Linn. "From Bold Beginnings to an Uncertain Future: the Discipline of History and History Education." ''American Historical Review'' 2005 110(3): 727–751. Fulltext in History Cooperative, University of Chicago Press and Ebsco. In challenging the reluctance of historians to join the national debate over teaching history in the schools, the authors argue that historians should remember the leading role that the profession once played in the making of school history. The AHA invented school history in the early 20th century and remained at the forefront of K–12 policymaking until just prior to World War II. However, it abandoned its long-standing activist stance and allowed school history to be submerged within the ill-defined, antidisciplinary domain of "social studies." * Sheehan, James J.
The AHA and its Publics - Part I
" ''Perspectives'' 2005 43(2): 5–7. * Stearns, Peter N.; Seixas, Peter; and Sam Wineburg, Wineburg, Sam, ed. ''Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History.'' New York U. Press, 2000. 576 pp. * Townsend, Robert B. ''History's Babel: Scholarship, Professionalization, and the Historical Enterprise in the United States, 1880–1940''. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2013. * Tyrrell, Ian. ''Historians in Public: The Practice of American History, 1890–1970''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.

External links

* {{authority control American Historical Association, History organizations based in the United States Professional associations based in the United States Organizations established in 1884 Historical societies of the United States Supraorganizations Patriotic and national organizations chartered by the United States Congress 1884 establishments in the United States