{"id":87399,"date":"2024-12-12T10:38:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T15:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/?page_id=87399"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:46:11","slug":"history-public-policy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/why-history-matters\/history-public-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"History & Public Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\tAHA Advocacy at the Federal Level\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tSupporting Robust Funding for History & the Humanities\t<\/h4>\n\t

The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts. Learn about our recent advocacy actions related to proposed legislation at the federal and state levels, funding for history education, and other important issues.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tView All Advocacy Actions\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tCongressional Charter\t<\/h4>\n\t

In 1889, the American Historical Association was incorporated in the District of Columbia by an act of Congress: “for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical manuscripts and for kindred purposes in the interest of American history and of history in America.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tAHA Congressional Briefings\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tView All Events\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tHistorical Perspectives on Current Issues\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA’s Congressional Briefings series seeks to provide Congressional staff members, journalists, and other members of the policy community with the historical context essential to understanding contemporary issues. The sessions are strictly nonpartisan and avoid advancing particular policy prescriptions or legislative agendas.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy History Matters\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA offers resources on the importance of studying history, and reflections on why learning about the past helps us understand the present.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tAmicus Briefs\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tLegal History at Work\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA endorses amicus briefs that coincide with the AHA’s Guiding Principles for Taking a Public Stance<\/em><\/a>, and our members often lend their expertise to crafting amicus briefs. The AHA takes into account the nature and quality of historical scholarship included in the brief, the relevance of the case to major historical issues and\/or the work of historians, and the significance of the subject being litigated.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\n\t\t\tGuiding Principles on Taking a Public Stance\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPolicies and Procedures for Considering Amicus Brief Requests\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFor the Press\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tNational Coalition for History\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h5>\n

\n\t\t\tNational Park Service \t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tSupporting America’s Best Idea\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA supports the historians who work for the National Park Service and the hundreds of parks and national historic sites they preserve and interpret.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFind Your Park\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tArchives & Records\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tSupporting the National Archives\t<\/h4>\n\t

The US National Archives was established largely due to the efforts of J. Franklin Jameson<\/a> (managing editor of the AHR<\/em> during the early 1900s) and the AHA’s Committee on Governmental Historical Documentary Publications and the Committee on National Archives Buildings. The AHA works to support NARA’s important mission and staff; advocate for robust funding for the agency; and collaborate on issues important to archivists and historians.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisit NARA’s Website\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tRecords Retention\t<\/h4>\n\t

In January 2021, the AHA joined a coalition led by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in filing a lawsuit to prevent the National Archives at Seattle facility’s imminent sale. As part of the AHA’s participation in\u00a0State of Washington et al. v. Russell Vought et al.<\/em>, the AHA collected statements from professional historians and AHA members testifying to the critical role played by the Seattle facility in Pacific Northwest scholarship and education. The coalition succeeded in preventing the sale and keeping the archives in Seattle.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tHistorians & Foreign Relations\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Historical Advisory Committee to the Department of State\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA has been involved with the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation (HAC) since its establishment in 1991. One of the committee members is selected by and represents the AHA. The AHA regularly reports on the work of the HAC and the progress of the Foreign Relations of the United States<\/em> (FRUS<\/em>) series.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More about the HAC\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tHistory Education\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tTeaching History with Integrity\t<\/h4>\n\t

The AHA leads or participates in several initiatives to provide resources and support for history educators facing intensifying controversies about the teaching of the American past, and to advocate for honest history at the local, state, and federal levels.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"Five\n

\n\t\t\tAmerican Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools<\/i>\t<\/h5>\n\t

The AHA’s 2024 report shares findings from the most comprehensive study of secondary US history education undertaken in the 21st century. The report provides empirical evidence and rigorous analysis to inform current debates over how history is taught in our schools.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the Report\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"alexis-brown-omeaHbEFlN4-unsplash\"\n

\n\t\t\tFreedom to Learn\t<\/h5>\n\t

The AHA’s Freedom to Learn initiative educates historians and others on how to advocate publicly for honest history education, responds directly to the bills themselves, and creates resources to help teachers directly affected by these bills think about how to maintain the integrity of their history courses.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t

AHA Statement Condemning Report of Advisory 1776 Commission<\/h3>\n\t\t

In January 2021, the AHA issued a statement condemning the report<\/a> from “The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission.” “Written hastily in one month after two desultory and tendentious ‘hearings,'” the AHA writes, “without any consultation with professional historians of the United States, the report fails to engage a rich and vibrant body of scholarship that has evolved over the last seven decades.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the Statement\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tPerspectives<\/i> on Historians & Public Policy\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tConversations about Public Policy in the AHR<\/i>\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\"Cover\"\n
\n\t\t\tA New Welfare History\t<\/h5>\n\t

A forum on the history of welfare in the September 2024 issue.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"Cover\n

\n\t\t\t“The Long and Wide Environmental Justice Movement: Dispatches from Flint and Detroit”\t<\/h5>\n\t

A featured review by Andrew R Highsmith in the June 2024 issue.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"AHR\n

\n\t\t\t“Migrating Concepts: The Transatlantic Origins of the Bracero Program, 1919-42”\t<\/h5>\n\t

An article by Julie M. Weise and Christoph Rass in the March 2024 issue.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AHA Advocacy at the Federal Level Supporting Robust Funding for History & the Humanities The American Historical Association is unique…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105005,"parent":1817,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87399","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","has-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87399"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106588,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87399\/revisions\/106588"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}