History, Natural History & the Arts
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced 2022 AASLH Annual Conference will be held September 14th through 17th in Buffalo with the 2022 Virtual Conference following on November 1st through 4th.
This years theme is Right Here, Right Now: The Power of Place. [Read more…] about AASLH Annual Conference Registration is Open
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced the results of the first ever National Census of History Organizations, an effort to research the size and scope of the history community in the United States. [Read more…] about A First Ever National Census of History Organizations
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in our local communities, country, and world. In response to concerns from the history community, American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has developed a new webinar series — AASLH conversations — to help practitioners and institutions discuss how to respond to the current crisis. [Read more…] about Quarantine Pastimes: Local History Management Webinars
This August 28-31, the joint American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) and International Coalition of Sites of Conscience Annual Meeting will convene in Philadelphia to learn, engage in fellowship, tour, and address this year’s theme, What Are We Waiting For? Depending on the work at hand, this theme serves different purposes. It is a call to action, a challenge to embrace difficult work now. It is also a cautious whisper, a reminder to slow down and get it right. Although different issues warrant different responses, consideration of the question is essential in light of the challenges our field, communities, nation, and planet are facing. [Read more…] about American Association for State and Local History Conference
Every issue of History News, the publication of the American Association for State and Local History, is worth reading for its reports and insights into our field, but the latest “Emerging Professionals Takeover Issue” (Winter 2018) is particularly fascinating.
It was written and edited by emerging history professionals – people recently entering the field or holding their first professional or management positions. The issue touches on several topics of concern today and even more important for the future of the field. [Read more…] about Bruce Dearstyne: Historians and the Public Good
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) have announced that Bruce W. Dearstyne is the recipient of an Award of Merit for the book The Spirit of New York: Defining Events in the Empire State’s History, published by SUNY Press. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 71st year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. [Read more…] about Bruce Dearstyne Wins AASLH Leadership in History Award
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced the winners of the 69th annual Leadership in History Awards, which recognizes achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
This year, AASLH conferred seventy-seven national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, books, and organizations. The only winner in New York State was Laurence M. Hauptman for the publication In the Shadow of Kinzua: The Seneca Nation of Indians since World War II. In contrast, Pennsylvania had 10 awardees. [Read more…] about State and Local History Awards Announced
The New York State Museum, a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education, has received an Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) for its exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War.
The 7,000 square-foot exhibit, which opened on September 22, 2012 in Exhibition Hall, is now extended through March 23, 2014. [Read more…] about State Museum Civil War Exhibit Honored, Extended
A partnership of state and non-profit entities has won an important award for its project to educate Vermonters about the history and archeology of the Lake Champlain area as part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial.
At its recent annual conference, the American Association for State and Local History awarded the Lake Champlain Voyages of Discovery project a 2010 Leadership in History Award of Merit. [Read more…] about Champlain History Project Wins Prestigious Award
At the Association’s annual conference in Oklahoma City yesterday, NYS Historical Association (NYSHA) President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott, began a two-year term as Chair of the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) 20-member governing Council. Elliott was elected to the position last year by the Association’s membership.
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH is the country’s leading association for history organizations and those who staff them. It provides leadership and support for its 6300 institutional and individual members, including professional development and recognition, publishing and networking, and advocacy.
The Association has been a leader in helping history museums, historic house museums, historical agencies and societies, and archives think creatively and entrepreneurially about their roles in contemporary society and in their communities and about how to sustain their programs and services even as traditional funding sources also are under duress.
Elliott will continue to serve as President and CEO of NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum, and as Vice President of the Museum Association of New York.
Terry Davis, AASLH President and CEO, noted that Elliott had previously served on the Association’s Council and other national history education boards. “Steve is highly respected in the field. His thoughtful approach to issues and tireless advocacy for collaboration among history, museum, and educational organizations are timely strengths.”
Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of The Farmers’ Museum Board of Directors, also commended Elliott’s selection. “He is a solid leader who works extremely well with Boards of Directors, and he certainly knows well the operational challenges that museums and history organizations have been surmounting.”
Dr. Douglas E. Evelyn, Chairman of the NYSHA Board of Trustees, is himself a former Chair of AASLH. “Steve is a good pick for this important national position at this particularly challenging time. He has a wealth of varied professional experience, having served in the field for 38 years, from Williamsburg to Cooperstown, and is wholly committed to maximizing how these vital keepers of America’s diverse heritage serve well their broad constituencies.”
Elliott has been the President of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum since 2005. Previously he served for five years as Executive Director of the First Freedom Center, in Richmond, Virginia, a non-profit whose educational mission focuses on the development of religious freedom in America. He held numerous posts over 28 years with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in Virginia, the world’s largest living history museum, including Vice President of Education and Museums; Vice President and Chief Administration Officer; Vice President of Planning, Information and Capital Project Management, and Quality Performance; and, Secretary of the Foundation. He has also served on the Board and as a member of the Executive Committee of National History Day; as a governing Council Member and Vice Chair of the American Association for State and Local History; a Board Liaison for the National Council for History Education; and held leadership positions with many public service and community organizations in the Williamsburg-Hampton Roads and Cooperstown areas. Elliott received his Bachelor’s degree cum laude from Cornell University; completed doctoral coursework in history at The College of William and Mary; was a Fellow to the 1972 Seminar for Historic Administration, and completed the 1990 Tuck Business School Executive Program at Dartmouth College.
Photo: NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott