Fund the Future, Support the Past
We have less than a year left to complete the most ambitious fundraising effort the OAH has ever conducted. In 2019, then-President Earl Lewis issued his challenge to the membership to raise $500,000 in five years. Earl gave $50,000 to start the campaign and pledged an additional $50,000 if the goal was met. Since then OAH members have raised over $417,000.
Your support is key to us achieving the goal of $500,000 by April 2024.
In addition to a single donation or a pledge, the OAH can accept non-cash contributions. Regardless of type or payment schedule, all gifts will count towards making this happen! Please contact Paul J. Zwirecki ([email protected] or (812) 855-8726) for more information on making a donation of stock or making other planned gifts to the organization to support the Earl’s generous challenge. One-time donations can be made at https://oah.memberclicks.net/
Teaching Native Histories: A Midwest Teaching Lab
On November 10 and 11, the OAH and the Newberry Library are hosting a workshop for high school social studies and U.S. history teachers on Native and Indigenous history. The program will be facilitated by Dr. Meredith McCoy, Assistant Professor in American Studies and History at Carleton College (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe descent) and a former secondary education teacher.
The Teaching Native Histories Midwest Teaching Lab offers educators the time and space to be learners first by offering interactive sessions on the discipline of Native history as a whole, with a focus on the history of Native education and boarding schools. The program then shifts to helping teachers translate what they learned into effective classroom practice. Participants will work through the particular challenges of teaching Native histories and will develop a self-learning plan for continued growth.
Teaching Native Histories will also experiment with a new model of educator collaboration in which K-12 and higher ed teachers learn from one another in order to build a bridge between these different learning environments. Currently, there are few opportunities for K-12 teachers and history professors to engage. Students move from “social studies” to “history” in their K-16 educational journey, but teachers at these varied levels remain siloed. How can conversations across the K-16 continuum help us address our common pedagogical challenges? The program will include a K-16 panel, “From Social Studies to History,” featuring Ms. Erica Ferguson (Department of Social Studies, Chicago Public Schools), Ms. Jane Lennon (APUSH, St. Ignatius College Prep), and Dr. Matt Villeneuve (History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa). The panel will be moderated by Dr. Laura McEnaney (Vice President of Research & Education, Newberry Library).
Finally, the Teaching Native Histories Midwest Teaching Lab will provide an opportunity for teachers to stay connected after its conclusion. Teachers will be able to develop a new professional network: a community of practice that enables professional collaboration to continue across the K-16 continuum.
Participants will receive complimentary coffee/tea, breakfast, and lunch on both days, and the first day will conclude with a reception in the historic lobby of the Newberry Library. Teachers certified in Illinois are eligible to receive 8 CPDUs (Continuing Professional Development Units) for their full participation. Partial credits will not be awarded.
This workshop is offered free of charge and registration is limited to 25 participants, who will be taken on a first come, first served basis.
You can register for the workshop here – https://oah/resources/oah-newberry-k-16-educators-workshop/
Advocacy Update
The OAH has endorsed the September 11, 2023 statement issued by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) on proposed cuts at West Virginia University. OAH joined over two dozen ACLS-member societies in supporting the ACLS statement, which “calls on WVU and other universities who may be tempted to imitate the surface pragmatism of WVU’s approach to focus their energy and resources toward renewing the great tradition of education in the liberal arts and sciences for which the United States is known around the world.”
Read the full statement on the ACLS website – https://www.acls.org/news/fighting-for-an-ambitious-vision-of-public-higher-education-in-america/
Upcoming Award Deadlines
Three OAH awards have upcoming deadlines. We encourage you to nominate yourself or an eligible colleague for any of the below awards.
The Tachau Teacher of the Year Award is given annually in recognition of the contributions made by precollegiate teachers to improve history education within the field of American history. The deadline for nominations is November 1, 2023.
The Stanton-Horton Award for Excellence in National Park Service History recognizes excellence in National Park Service historical efforts that make the NPS a leader in promoting public understanding of and engagement with American history. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2023.
The Erik Barnouw Award recognizes outstanding programming on television, or in documentary film, concerned with American history, the study of American history, and/or the promotion of American history. The deadline for the award is January 5, 2024.
Award recipients will be honored during the 2024 OAH Conference on American History held in New Orleans, April 11-14.
Learn more about these and all OAH awards at https://www.oah.org/awards/.
Submit a Proposal for the 2025 Conference on American History
Proposals for the 2025 Conference will be accepted December 1, 2023, to March 1, 2024.
In a departure from past practice, the 2025 OAH Conference on American History, to be held in Chicago, April 3 to April 6, 2025, will have no single theme. We welcome all questions, themes, and fields, new and old, in the comprehensive subject of United States and American history. We invite proposals focused on categories and specializations of history by gender, race, sexual orientation, region, chronology, or area study. All of these areas of inquiry are at the center of our craft. At the same time, no one need design a session to fit a theme, large or small. We welcome all kinds and methods of studying American history.
Read the Call for Proposals and learn how to submit your proposal here –
Become a Reviewer for the Journal of American History
The JAH is always looking for qualified historians to serve as reviewers for the Journal of American History. To be qualified, a reviewer should have either a Ph.D. in American history or a related field, professional experience in the teaching or presentation of the history of America, or publications in the field. It is crucial that prospective reviewers indicate their areas of interest and publications on the reviewer data sheet since we use this information to identify reviewers who have expertise in the particular subject matter of the book or article being reviewed.
To submit a new reviewer data sheet, or to update an existing record, please visit the website— https://portal.oah.org/reviewer-data-sheet/form—and complete the form. We recommend that those interested in reviewing update their information at least once every two years to ensure that you remain on the active reviewer roster.