News of the Organization

Abraham Lincoln at 200: History and Historiography: A Special Issue of the Journal of American History

For more than two years, the staff of the Journal of American History has worked on a special issue that brings together an international group of scholars to debate the legacy and the future of Lincoln studies. It features several articles that were selected from an open call for papers. In “‘Young Men for War’: The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign,” Jon Grinspan explores the influence of these militaristic clubs of Republican youths who stumped for Abraham Lincoln. The grassroots movement of the Wide Awakes demonstrates the surprising importance of novice political participants in their party’s campaign. This story also helps explain how the 1860 campaign inadvertently led to the secession of the South.

Dorothy Ross argues in her article, “Lincoln and the Ethics of Emancipation: Universalism, Nationalism, Exceptionalism,” that recent historians have emphasized Lincoln’s opposition to slavery to the neglect of his ardent nationalism. She examines his dual allegiance to liberal universalism and to the American nationvalues that circumstances of history had cast as competing moral idealsand finds that Lincoln used the exceptionalist idea of the American nation both to resolve his moral dilemma and to evade it.

In “The Not-So-Grand Review: Abraham Lincoln in the Journal of American History,” Allen C. Guelzo explores the treatment of the nation’s sixteenth president in the pages of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review and its successor, the JAH. He finds inadequate coverage of Lincoln in articles and substandard reviews of Lincoln books, but notes that such tendencies mirror broader trends in Lincoln scholarship in the twentieth century. Guelzo notes, however, that starting in the 1990s this course began to change, and he hopes that the shift is indicative of an awakening interest in and appreciation for Lincoln in the pages of the JAH.

Matthew Pinsker contributed a state-of-the-field essay, “Lincoln Theme 2.0,” revisiting a question first asked by James G. Randall in his 1936 article, “Has the Lincoln Theme Been Exhausted?” Like Randall, Pinsker answers in the negative; he sees a resurgence of Lincoln scholarship spurred by the 2009 bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and by digital projects that expand access to evidence from the period. Following Pinsker’s essay, scholars Edward L. Ayers, Catherine Clinton, Michael F. Holt, Mark E. Neely Jr., and Douglas L. Wilson offer perspectives on the state of the field.

We are most grateful to Richard Carwardine and Jay Sexton, organizers of the conference “The Global Lincoln,” held at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford on July 3-5, 2009, for help in putting together the JAH’s interchange conversation featuring colleagues from several countries discussing the global impact of Abraham Lincoln.

The Journal of American History has created a companion online project for this special issue. It features the full text of the articles and the interchange; a bibliography of Lincoln in the JAH; Matthew Pinsker’s Web site on building the digital Lincoln; and a podcast conversation with Pinsker. Please see: <http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/lincoln/>.

Contingent History Faculty in the News: Scopino Wins Teaching Award

Dr. Al Scopino, a part-time history lecturer at Central Connecticut State University and OAH member, won the university’s 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award in the part-time category. Given annually, the award recognizes the most outstanding faculty member nominated by students and selected by a rigorous faculty screening process. Scopino is an eighth-grade American history teacher who has taught U.S. history at Central Connecticut State University since 1994. Describing his approach to history teaching as “holistic,” he combines traditional lectures with group activities and media presentations, while synthesizing political and diplomatic history with literature, music, and religion. Scopino was honored at a gathering that also recognized the 2008 full-time faculty winner and other nominees. Scopino has been nominated by his students many times.

Part-time instructors make many contributions to the history profession. The OAH Newsletter invites readers to send news of other awards, research grants, and honors that part-time historians have received to the editorial staff.

OAH Announces 2010 Community College Workshops

The 2010 OAH Community College Workshops will be held in June in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area. The workshops will focus on the unique challenges that community college historians face in their classrooms. Part of each three-day workshop will include an entire day highlighting area public history sites and museums and how to incorporate them in teaching the American history survey. AT PRESS TIME: June 15-17 have been chosen for the workshop at the Community College of Philadelphia. For more information, visit <http://cc.oah.org/>.

Preregistration is Open for the 2010 OAH Annual Meeting, Washington, DC

The 2010 OAH Annual Meeting offers a wide-ranging program that will highlight the culture and cultures of the United States. Presentations will cover the full chronological sweep of the American past, from pre-Columbian years to the twenty-first century, and the rich thematic diversity that has come to characterize contemporary American history writing and teaching. Early Bird Preregistration is now available exclusively for OAH members. For more information, visit <http://meetings.oah.org>.