the oah news
- Calls for Papers (6)
- News of the Organization (7)
- Clio's Kudos (4)
- In Memoriam (2)
- News of the Profession (5)
- From the Archivist (7)
- Awards and Prizes (1)
- Internships (0)
- Fellowships (3)
- Grants (1)
- Meetings, conferences or symposia (11)
- Miscellaneous (6)
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The OAH News
Action Items of the OAH Executive Board
The OAH Executive Board took action on its April agenda items, including approving the organization's budget for fiscal year 2013, establishing new travel grants and a new book prize in labor history, as well as approving appointments to the OAH Magazine of History Editorial Board and forming a new committee on disability and disability history. Read more >
Betty Miller Unterberger (1922-2012)
OAH notes with sadness the passing of longtime member Betty Miller Unterberger. A native of Scotland, she began her college career at Syracuse University, earned her Master's degree at Radcliffe College (now Harvard), and completed her PhD at Duke University. A pioneer in her own right, Unterberger was Texas A&M's first female professor, and was the first woman president of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR). Read more about her life in a profile OAH printed in August 2005 in the OAH Newsletter.
NHPRC Promotes More Product, Less Processing
One of the seldom-told stories at the National Archives is about the work of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Most people, if they have heard of the NHPRC at all, know about its work in supporting historical documentary editions—the papers of American presidents, statesmen, or civil rights leaders. Or they have a general notion that the commission awards grants for preservation and access projects at state and local government agencies, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations. Since it began giving grants in 1964, the NHPRC has awarded $207 million to 4,900 projects in all fifty states and special jurisdictions. Read more >
New Guggenheim Fellows
OAH members Laura F. Edwards (Duke University) and Lori D. Ginzberg (Pennsylvania State University) were among the recently announced 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellows. More information is available at: http://http://www.gf.org/news-events/2012-Fellows-in-the-United-States-and-Canada/.
2013 NCPH Annual Meeting Call for Proposals
The program committee of the National Council on Public History (NCPH) has issued its call for proposals for the 2013 annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for April 17-20, in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, visit: http://ncph.org/cms/conferences/2013-annual-meeting/ The program committee of the National Council on Public History (NCPH) has issued its call for proposals for the 2013 annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for April 17-20, in Ottawa, Canada. More information is available at: http://ncph.org/cms/conferences/2013-annual-meeting.
New Materials: Their Social and Cultural Meanings
Historians of science, technology, and medicine as well as scholars in science and technology studies, anthropology, the visual arts, cultural studies, and related fields are invited to submit essays for an edited volume on the historical and cultural meanings of new materials. The resulting collection of essays, focused on the creation, testing, and definition of materials in all historical settings, will be published in the Hagley Perspectives on Business and Culture series of the University of Pennsylvania Press and edited by Amy Slaton (Drexel University). Essays should not exceed 10,000 words (exclusive of endnotes), and must be received for consideration by November 1, 2012. Please address inquiries to Amy Slaton at slatonae@drexel.edu.
The Presidential Election of 2012
On November 16 and 17, Hiram College will host a two-day conference featuring panels on many aspects of the 2012 presidential election: voting behavior, demographic trends, and the election outcome; general election strategies of the two nominee’s campaign organizations; the role of the media and public opinion; the role of economic policy; the role of domestic policy; the role of foreign and national security policy; and the makeup, policy inclinations, and relationship of the new 113th Congress with the president. Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2012. More information is available at: http://thehiramcollege.net/garfieldinstitute/conference-2012/the-presidential-election-of-2012/.
Susan D. Ware is new General Editor
Susan D. Ware has been appointed the General Editor of the American National Biography, the premier biographical encyclopedia of U.S. history. More information is available at: http://www.acls.org/news/4-19-2012/.
Mellon Foundation Elects New President
Earl Lewis, Emory University, has been elected president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
New AAAS Fellows Named
David Blight, Yale University, Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University, and Vicki L. Ruiz, University of California, Irvine, were newly-elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. More information is available at: http://www.amacad.org/.
NARA Releases 2011 Federal Records Management Self-Assessment Report
In May 2011, NARA issued the mandatory annual records management self-assessment to federal agencies. The goal of the self-assessments is to determine whether federal agencies are compliant with statutory and regulatory records management requirements. More information is available at: http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/resources/self-assessment-2011.pdf.
NEH Seeks Nominations for 2013 Jefferson Lecture
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites nominations for the 2013 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. NEH’s annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities award recognizes a scholar who has made significant contributions to the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way. Deadline for nominations is May 25, 2012. More information is available at: http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture-nominations.
Gilder Lehrman Institute Releases Essential Questions in American History Videos
The Gilder Lehrman Institute released a collection of short videos with historians answering fundamental questions about American history. More information is available at: http://vimeo.com/album/1886800.
Lewis E. Atherton Prizes for Dissertation and Thesis
The State Historical Society of Missouri seeks nominations for the Lewis E. Atherton Prizes, to be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation and master’s thesis on Missouri history or biography. For the 2012 prizes, nominees must have completed the doctoral degree or the master’s degree between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012. The deadline for receipt is June 30, 2012. More information is available at: http://shs.umsystem.edu/awards/athertonaward.shtml.
Cromwell Fellowships for Research in U.S. Legal History
pplications are now open for fellowship awards funded by the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation to support research and writing in American legal history. Preference is given to scholars at the early stages of their careers, including advanced graduate students. Deadline is July 13, 2012. More information is available at: http://www.legalhistorian.org/awards.shtml.
Teacher Seminar on Abraham Lincoln: His Life, Leadership, and Legacy
This three day seminar, June 18-21, at the Lincoln Heritage Museum in Lincoln, Illinois combines onsite visits, activities, and stimulating discussion to provide teachers with a deeper awareness of Lincoln, the changing times in which he lived, and how he helped move the nation ahead. For more information and to apply, please contact Ron Keller, Lincoln College, at rkeller@lincolncollege.edu. Deadline to submit an application is May 28, 2012.
Deep Delta Civil War Symposium
The 26th annual Deep Delta Civil War Symposium will be held June 1-2, 2012 in the War Memorial Student Union at Southeastern Louisiana University. Sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science, the theme of this year's symposium is “Lee’s Generals.” More information is available at: http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/depts/hist_ps/civil_war_symposium/index.html.
Engaging Students and Teachers: Integrating Primary Sources in the K-16 Curricula
The 2012 Midwest Archives Conference Fall Symposium will be held October 19-20 it will gather archivists and educators to learn and discuss methods for connecting students with primary sources. The symposium will be held at the Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront in Covington, Kentucky. More information is available at: http://www.midwestarchives.org.
Reading Artifacts Summer Institute
The 2012 Reading Artifacts Summer Institute will take place August 13-17 at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. More information is available at: http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/2012-reading-artifacts-summer-institute.cfm.
Leading Scholars Put Civil War on Trial
Albany Law School will host “The Civil War on Trial: Legal Issues that Divided a Nation” a scholarly conference in June 2012 to discuss the legal issues that led to and defined the Civil War and post-war reconstruction. More information is available at: http://www.albanylaw.edu/sub.php?navigation_id=297&event_id=624.
Smithsonian Symposium on Technology and the Civil War
Proposals are sought for a symposium on technology and the American Civil War, as part of the Smithsonian Institution’s contribution to the war’s sesquicentennial commemoration. It will be hosted by the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, November 9-11 2012. For more information, contact the symposium organizer, Bart Hacker, at: hackerb@si.edu, no later than June 30, 2012.
Naomi Wulf, 1964-2012
Naomi Wulf’s many American friends were deeply saddened to learn of her death on April 17, 2012, after her courageous, decade-long struggle with cancer. Naomi was a key figure in the American Studies community in France and throughout Europe. Born in 1964 of mixed Franco-American parentage, Naomi promoted a broader and deeper understanding of her two countries through her scholarship and her warm personal connections with fellow scholars.
Naomi completed her PhD. under the mentorship of the distinguished Americanist Elise Marienstras at Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7 and first taught at Paris-12, now the Université Paris-Est Créteil; in 2007, she was named professor of American History at the Universit? Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3. At the time of her death Naomi was revising her prize-winning doctoral dissertation for publication as a book, “Democracy in America”: Orestes Brownson, American Critic of Jacksonian America. Naomi was convinced that this brilliant and eccentric preacher, social reformer and Catholic convert offered an illuminating counterpoint to Alexis de Tocqueville’s famous contemporaneous account of the new nation’s political culture in his classic Democracy in America. Naomi worked on her project for many years, exploring Brownson’s Jeffersonian roots as a fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies (Monticello) in the Fall of 2010.
Naomi had a genius for collaboration and conference-organizing. Co-author of two monographs with her mentor Elise Marienstras, Naomi also edited volumes of conference proceedings and special issues of journals with Marienstras, Marie-Jeanne Rossignol, and Nathalie Caron. With Caron, her dear friend and now professor at Paris-Est Créteil, Naomi published “Les Lumières américaines: continuitiés et renouveau” in the on-line journal Transatlantica in 2009. This important essay was awarded the David Thelen Prize for the best foreign-language article on American history at the April meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Milwaukee and will be appear in English translation in The Journal of American History in 2013.
Naomi Wulf will be sorely missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing her.
Peter Onuf, University of Virginia
Nathalie Caron, Paris-Est Créteil
National Archives Announces Legislative Archives Fellowship for 2012
The National Archives seeks applications for its 2012 Legislative Archives Fellowship to support work in United States history based on research in the records of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Applications for the 2012 fellowship will be accepted until midnight EDT May 16, 2012. Contact the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives for fellowship requirements and application instructions. More information is available at: http://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/fellowship.html.
2013-2014 Fellowships at the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study
The School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, invites about twenty scholars each year to be in residence to pursue their own research. The School welcomes applications in economics, political science, law, psychology, sociology and anthropology. It encourages social scientific work with an historical and humanistic bent and also entertains applications in history, philosophy, literary criticism, literature and linguistics. Applicants must have a Ph.D. at time of application. More information is available at: http://www.sss.ias.edu/applications.
NEH Invites Proposals on Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites proposals for projects that advance the role of the humanities at community colleges through curriculum and faculty development on a theme of “bridging cultures.” Proposals should provide support for community college faculty and administrators to create new courses on “bridging cultures” themes or topics; design new course sequences, concentrations, and core curricula; or conduct scholarly research that will improve faculty preparation and enrich teaching. Deadline for applications is August 14, 2012. More information is available at: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/BridgingCulturesCCRFP.html.
The Port Huron Statement: Fifty-Year Commemorative Conference
The Port Huron Statement and the Making of the New Left, an open conference at the University of Michigan, October 31-November 2, 2012, will mark fifty years since publication of The Port Huron Statement by Students for a Democratic Society. The conference will explore the social, cultural, political, and global contexts for the rise of new radical movements from 1958-1965. For further information, contact Professor Howard Brick ().
Annual Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars
The University of Delaware and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, will host the tenth annual symposium April 13-14, 2012. The symposium investigates the potential of object-based research to expand and even reinvent our understanding of culture and history. The symposium is free and open to the public, but advance registration is encouraged. For more information contact
Foreign Relations of the United States Series Now Available as an E-Book
The Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State has announced the release of its Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series in a new e-book format that is readable on popular electronic devices such as the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad. The e-book edition combines many of the benefits of print and web publications in a new form that is portable and extremely convenient. More information is available at: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/ebooks.
National Park Service Awards State and Tribal Historic Preservation Grants
Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar recently announced $46.9 million in historic preservation grants to the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Territories, and three independent Pacific island nations. The Secretary also announced $8.4 million in grants to 131 American Indian tribes to support Tribal Historic Preservation Offices under the National Historic Preservation Act. The $46 million in grants will enable the states to preserve and protect historic sites without expending tax dollars. The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) is supported by revenue from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. The National Park Service administers the fund and uses the majority of appropriated funds to distribute matching grants to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. More information is available at: http://nps.gov/history/hps/hpg/index.htm.
Writers Wanted for Historical Documents Studies Project
Salem Press, an imprint of EBSCO Publishing, is soliciting historians to write for a reference series in development that is best defined as historical document studies. We will publish primary source documents with analysis designed for advanced high school (AP) and undergraduate students and their teachers. Our coverage begins with two volumes, 1492-1750 and 1750-1800, and presents selections from journals, diaries, political sermons, slave narratives, political tracts, letters, and other genres on major subjects in the period. We also seek writers for volumes covering the 19th century, which will soon advance to production. An honorarium is available. For more information contact Jim Ryan, Senior Managing Editor, EBSCO Publishing at
Flat World Knowledge (FWK), the leading publisher of open textbooks, is looking for contributors to work on its upcoming database of primary sources in US history. Potential contributors should contact the editor, Dr. David J. Trowbridge, Marshall University at More information is available at: http://www.flatworldknowledge.com.
The OAH Releases 2011 Annual Report
The OAH is pleased to share with you its 2010-2011 OAH Annual Report. With reports from the president, executive director, executive editor, and treasurer, the annual report places at your fingertips a comprehensive view of the organization’s programs and activities for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. Read more >
Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Park Service
The OAH is pleased to announce the availability of Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Park Service, a new report examining the practice and presentation of American history in the National Park Service and at its sites. Read more >
HistoryMakers NEH Summer Institute
The HistoryMakers’ 2012 NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers will be held in Chicago, Illinois from Sunday, July 8, 2012 - Friday, August 3, 2012. In a competitive process, teachers will compete for 25 spots as Summer Scholars. These Summer Scholars will spend the month of July studying the subject of African American political history from the Reconstruction to the present. More information is available at: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/edday.
Federal Trials and Great Debates
Secondary school teachers of U.S. history and government are invited to apply for a summer institute, Federal Trials and Great Debates in United States History, to be held June 24-29, 2012, in Washington, DC. The institute is cosponsored by the Federal Judicial Center and the American Bar Association Division for Public Education. More information is available at: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/initiatives_awards/summer _institute_for_teahers.html.
Historical Research Assistance
Researcher seeks little known historical items, events, or people of interest for an upcoming television series. The series seeks to spotlight lesser known people or events that have made an impact on or are central to American history. Please send your ideas to Ms. Michelle Smawley (.
National History Day Receives National Humanities Medal
On February 10, 2012, President Barack Obama announced winners of the 2011 National Humanities Medal, awarded for outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, philosophy, and musicology. National History Day, an academic program for elementary and secondary school students, was among this year’s recipients. Each year more than half a million students from across the country compete in National History Day, conducting research and producing Web sites, papers, performances, and documentaries to tell the human story. More information is available at: http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/nationalmedals.html.
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies will move its editorial offices to The Ohio State University for the next five years starting in May 2012. Frontiers explores the critical intersections of gender, race, sexuality, and transnationalism. In celebration of its fortieth anniversary in 2015, Frontiers will publish a special issue per year for the next five years reflecting on significant events and topics from forty years ago, with the first issue commemorating Roe vs. Wade. The editors welcome scholarly, creative writing, and visual art submissions on reproductive rights, reproductive justice, and reproductive technologies. For more information contact the editors at .
Call for Submissions: 2013 OAH Willi Paul Adams Award
The Willi Paul Adams Award is given biennially by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book on American history published in a foreign language. The award (formerly the Foreign Language Book Prize) is named for Willi Paul Adams, who was an active member of the OAH in Germany and a tireless advocate of the internationalization of American history. The award committee invites submissions before its deadline of May 1, 2012. Read more >
2012 OAH Community College Conference
The Organization of American Historians is pleased to announce its sixth annual community college conference to be held June 14-16, 2012, at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. This year’s community college conference will focus on Abraham Lincoln and his career in Springfield, and is tailored to meet the specific needs and challenges of community college historians. The three-day conference offers community college historians an excellent opportunity for professional development, networking, and a chance to explore Springfield's unique connection to Lincoln. Read more >
2012 OAH Election Results
We are pleased to announce the results of the 2012 OAH Election. OAH President, Albert M. Camarillo, Stanford University; OAH President-Elect, Alan M. Kraut, American University; and OAH Vice President, Patricia Nelson Limerick, University of Colorado. Read more >
A Presidential Charge to Improve Federal Records Management
President Barack Obama has designated the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as one of the leading agencies in his Open Government Initiative to bring more participation, collaboration, and transparency to government. Read more >
National Council for Public History Call for Proposals
The National Council on Public History (NCPH) invites panel, roundtable, workshop, working group, and individual paper proposals for its 2013 conference to be held in Ottawa, Canada. The Call for Poster sessions will be issued in fall 2012. Deadline for proposals is July 15, 2012. More information is available at: http://ncph.org/cms/.
NEH Summer Institute for Teachers
“American Frontiers in Global Perspective” will explore how the frontier experience in US history compares with frontier experiences in other societies. In addition to considering various meanings of “frontiers,” participants will develop curricular materials for secondary level classrooms, interact with fellow educators from throughout the United States, and study with a faculty of scholars active in the fields of history, environmental studies, and secondary education. The summer institute will be hosted by Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 24 through July 13, 2012. More information is available at: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/history/katerbergneh/.
Making Access Easier at the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration is increasing its use of social media sites and tools to provide access to its vast holdings. Read more >
The OAH Executive Board Issues Statement on Institutional Review Boards
In its letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the executive board of the Organization of American Historians (OAH) unanimously agrees that the work of historians, especially oral historians, should be exempt from the purview of institutional review boards (IRBs). Read more >
2012 OAH Community College Symposium
The OAH Community College Symposium is a three-day professional development experience for community college historians. The sixth annual OAH Community College Symposium will be held in Springfield, Illinois, June 14-16, 2012, on the campus of Lincoln Land Community College. Designed to enrich the teaching of the U.S. history survey, the symposium presents new historical themes-as well as the latest historical research in traditional themes-to those teaching the college survey course. To reach a wide audience of historians, the annual symposium is held in a different U.S. location each year. More information is available at: http://cc.oah.org/.
NARA Tightens Security to Prevent Thefts, Mutilation
Over the years, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has faced many physical and environmental threats to its holdings including fire, water, insects, and mold. We have been open about these risks and forthcoming about our efforts to combat them. However, there’s another risk to our collection. Read more >
Founding Fathers’ Papers Headed for Internet
At the National Archives, we often note that we have ten billion pieces of paper in our holdings, containing the history of our nation from its beginnings in the Revolutionary period up to present. Now, we know that we don?t have all the documents that tell the story of our democracy. That?s why we are active in ensuring that historical documents not in our holdings are also preserved and made easily available to everyone. We do this through our grant-making arm, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Read more >
At NARA, Making Tough Choices in the Budget
The Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero, discusses many of the tough decisions his organization faces as a result of federal budget cuts for 2012. Read more >
National Archives Takes Leading Role on Declassification
David S. Ferriero discusses President Obama’s mission for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Read more >
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