Society of American Historians. - Social Networks and Archival Context (original) (raw)

The Society of American Historians (SAH) was founded in 1939 by Allan Nevins (1890-1971) and several other historians for the purpose of promoting literary distinction in the writing of history and biography.

Until the mid-1950s, the principal aim of the SAH was in launching a history magazine that could appeal to a wide audience beyond the academic community. Nevins, a history professor at Columbia University and a two-time Pulitzer winner, initially proposed the idea of publishing a popular magazine of history to the American Historial Association (AHA). The AHA declined this proposal, however, which induced Nevins to establish the SAH in 1939 to undertake the publishing project. It took the SAH fifteen years to realize the idea, and over the years tentative titles for the publication included History, Horizons, Living History, and Milestones. In 1954, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History, the magazine finally came into being as the American Heritage.

For a brief period from 1952 to 1953, the SAH also ran the History Agency, an organization with the goal of providing the media with the services of professional historians. Although the History Agency was short-lived, one of its products was a collection of scripts for the 1953 radio series Omnibus, which was aired by the National Broadcasting Company.

Since the mid-1950s, the SAH's main focus has been in awarding prizes to promote historical writing with an American theme. In 1957, in order to stimulate the writing of history as literature, the SAH established the annual Francis Parkman Prize to honor the best nonfiction book of the year. The first Parkman Prize was awarded to George F. Kennan, Russia Leaves the War (Princeton University Press). Since 1960, the SAH has also awarded the Allan Nevins Prize, annually, for the best-written doctoral dissertation in history. Most of the winning dissertations have subsequently been published.

Presidents of the SAH have included Douglas Southall Freeman (1939-1944), James P. Baxter III (1944-1946), Allan Nevins (1946-1961), Eric F. Goldman (1961-1969), John A. Garraty (1969-1971) and Barbara Tuchman (1971-1975). After several revisions to its policy, the SAH limited its membership, in the the late 1960s, to invitation only.

From the description of Society of American Historians records, 1879-1976 [Bulk Dates: 1939-1976]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 670043094

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