American Historical Association

This July marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In a new episode, Daniel speaks with AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel about the AHR’s latest special issue, “’76 Objects,” which explores the material culture of the American Revolution through more than sixty objects. Contributors also join to discuss how these objects reveal new perspectives on the revolutionary era.

‘76 Objects In recognition of the 250th anniversary, the AHR’s June 2026 issue, titled "'76 Objects," explores the material culture of the revolutionary era. Daniel speaks with Sarah Weicksel and a handful of con...

Today at 1:00 p.m. ET:

Join the AHA and Wiki Education for Wikipedia as Pedagogy: How Students Are Shaping Historical Narratives and Opening Up Access, an AHA Online webinar on how faculty are incorporating Wikipedia editing into their pedagogy.

Panelists will discuss how and why they’ve adopted Wiki Education’s “Wikipedia assignment,” how this public-facing endeavor has affected their teaching, and how Wikipedia can help students develop a range of critical skills from research to AI-literacy.

Featuring:

Maura Hametz (James Madison Univ.)
Allison Marsh (Univ. of South Carolina)
Jasmine Yarish (Univ. of the District of Columbia)
Moderated by Helaine Blumenthal (Wiki Education)

🎥 Free and open to the public

Can’t make it? Register anyway and view the recording after the event.

Wikipedia as Pedagogy: How Students Are Shaping Historical Narratives and Opening Up Access – AHA Wikipedia as Pedagogy: How Students Are Shaping Historical Narratives and Opening Up Access AHA Online and Wiki Education Thursday, June 4, 1–2 p.m. ET In this webinar, faculty will explore how how th...

Who shapes the way history is taught in schools?

AHA director of teaching and learning Brendan Gillis spoke with the Houston Chronicle about proposed changes to Texas social studies standards that would embed more instruction on Christianity into the curriculum and inflate its role in historical events.

Gillis argued that these efforts are being driven by activists from outside of Texas. “What we're seeing in Texas is not homegrown history,” Gillis said. “A lot of these formulations about bringing the Bible and Christianity into the curriculum are being drafted and circulated by national organizations that want to change how religion and religious history are taught.”

Read more:

Texas curriculum rewrite adds Christian history, Bible readings to every grade Experts say some of the lessons are at odds with the historical record or inflate the role of Christianity in major events.

In April, the AHA filed an amicus brief in support of the City of Philadelphia's lawsuit challenging the removal of the Freedom and Slavery Exhibit at Independence National Historical Park. A federal appeals court heard arguments in the case yesterday. Read coverage of the hearing:

• Administration Argues for Power Over Philadelphia Slavery Memorial (New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/us/politics/trump-slavery-philadelphia-president-house.html

• Trump Fights Washington Slave Exhibit Order at Third Circuit (Courthouse News): https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-fights-washington-slave-exhibit-order-at-third-circuit/

Read the AHA's amicus brief: https://www.historians.org/news/aha-files-amicus-brief-in-lawsuit-defending-public-history/

AHA Files Amicus Brief in Lawsuit Defending Public History - AHA The American Historical Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the City of Philadelphia's lawsuit challenging the removal of the Freedom and Slavery Exhibit at Independence National Historical Park. Our brief provides historical and ...

The AHA is pleased to announce this year's summer columnists! Congratulations to Becca Aponte (Emory Univ.), Madalyn K. Shaw (Univ. of Toronto), and Justine Truc (Univ. of South Carolina), who will each write two columns. Learn about them and their upcoming work:

Meet the 2026 Perspectives Daily Summer Columnists – AHA Introducing the three graduate students who will write about the global history of capitalism through women’s experiences in Senegal, trust in photography through UFOs and AI, and teaching American hi...

In the 1920s, leaded gasoline solved the problem of noisy automobile engines—and caused a public health crisis.

In ,Douglas Sackman compares generative AI in classrooms to leaded gasoline, asking what history can teach us about the risks of embracing new technology before understanding the consequences.

Where Are We Driving? – AHA Big promises are being made about how AI could revolutionize education. But what problems might it introduce?

History matters — in classrooms, in communities, and in public life.

The American Historical Association promotes historical thinking, defends academic freedom, supports teaching and scholarship, and sets professional standards for the field.

See what we’ve been doing recently to advocate for historians and educators:

AHA Advocacy | American Historical Association The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts.

📣 Call for Proposals: AI in Historical Perspectives

The American Historical Review calls for proposals for an upcoming History Lab series that approaches AI not simply as contemporary technology, but as a subject of historical and historiographic inquiry.

How can historians contextualize, interrogate, and reinterpret AI within histories of labor, empire, economy, culture, science, and human agency?

Learn more and submit your proposal on our website:

AHR Call for Proposals: AI in Historical Perspectives The AHR calls for proposals for essays that frame AI not as a contemporary technology to be used or rejected but instead as a historical and historiographic phenomenon to be contextualized, interrogated, and reinterpreted.

What does it mean to teach LGBTQ+ history when the conditions for doing so are increasingly constrained?

This Pride Month, we're revisiting a 2024 article by Anne Gray Fischer, who argues it's essential “to prioritize teaching LGBTQ+ histories that foster community in places that are both hostile and home.”

Teaching LGBTQ+ History – AHA As states pass legislation targeting DEI efforts, one historian offers her experience teaching LGBTQ+ history in these challenging times.

The AHA has released a statement expressing concern about Florida’s newly announced FACT US History framework, a state-designed alternative to the Advanced Placement US History course.

The statement warns that the framework imposes “an overt ideological agenda” on students seeking college credit and presents a “partial, distorted, and educationally unsound account of our nation’s history” that “repeatedly presents contested ideological interpretations that are far outside of mainstream consensus as settled historical fact.”

To date, 5 organizations have signed on to this statement.

Read the full statement:

AHA Statement on Florida FACT US History Course Framework The AHA expresses concern about the recently announced Florida Advanced Courses and Tests (FACT) US History course framework, which “imposes an overt ideological agenda on Florida public school studen...