Profile and Mission

Founded in 1907, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. The work of the organization is supported primarily through the contributions of its membership, income from an annual conference each spring, and the support of Indiana University, which houses the executive and editorial offices.

OAH's more than 9,300 members in the U.S. and abroad include college and university professors; students; precollegiate teachers; archivists, museum curators, and other public historians; and a variety of scholars employed in government and the private sector.

OAH advances the teaching and practice of American history at all levels and in all settings through its annual meeting, publications, advocacy, and other programs. For four days each spring, the OAH Annual Meeting brings together its members and their guests, more than 100 exhibitors, and hundreds of participants in over 150 sessions. OAH publishes three periodicals: the OAH Newsletter (quarterly), the OAH Magazine of History (quarterly), an important classroom tool for teachers, and the Journal of American History (quarterly), which for decades has been the leading scholarly journal in the field. OAH is a cofounder of the History Cooperative, (www.historycooperative.org) that provides access to scholarship in a growing list of outstanding history journals in the U.S. and abroad.

To foster and share the best work of historians, OAH also sponsors or cosponsors twenty major scholarly awards and prizes and provides prominent guest speakers to the public through its Distinguished Lectureship Program. The organization's executive office, with its website and dedicated system of committees, also offers information and guidance to the public and the profession on historical matters.

Acting as a voice for those interested in the study of the past, OAH participates in the National Coalition for History, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Humanities Alliance, as well as other outreach and advocacy efforts at the national and state levels. Through advocacy, OAH promotes the widest possible access to historical sources and scholarship, discussion of historical questions and controversies, support for the preservation, dissemination, and exhibition of historical sources, as well as respectful and equitable treatment for all practitioners of history.

Individual and student memberships in and institutional subscriptions to OAH are available.