Historians and Their Publics, Then and Now

Abstract

Abstract The American Historical Association annual presidential addresses provide evidence of transformations in the profession and the discipline from the founding of the association in 1884. It was not until the late 1970s that AHA presidents began to explore the histories of women and people of color in any depth; before then, addresses gave short shrift to whole swaths of the human population, and many of these talks promoted a triumphalist view of United States history. Today people outside the academy encounter cutting-edge historical scholarship by way of their daily newspaper, blogs and online news sites, TV and films, the Broadway stage, historic places, debates over renaming streets and removing statues, and genealogy projects. At the same time, historians face challenges from budget-cutting administrators (in universities, libraries, and museums) and from cynical politicians who seek to replace truth with myth, in the process roiling state legislators and members of local school boards. Consequently, historians today contend with two major opposing forces—on the one hand, a proliferation of lively venues that bring inclusive stories about the past to a wider audience, and, on the other, political conditions that lead to the intimidation of historians regardless of where they work. In the face of these challenges, the AHA must continue its robust advocacy work on behalf of all historians.