Organization of American Historians - History and Background

History and Background

The Mississippi Valley Historical Association was formed on October 17 and 18, 1907 at a meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, of seven historical societies of the Mississippi Valley. The organization, devoted to studying the Mississippi Valley region, began a tradition of holding an annual meeting each year, and began quarterly publication in 1914 of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review. As the scholarly emphasis of the organization and its journal developed and spread over time, its initial emphasis on the Mississippi Valley waned, in favor of an approach focusing more broadly on the United States. In recognition of this, and of the publication of the fiftieth volume of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the name of the journal was changed to the Journal of American History and the organization, correspondingly, and by approval of the voting majority of its membership through a mail ballot, was rechristened on Friday, April 23, 1965 as the Organization of American Historians.

Indiana University was selected as home for the editorial offices of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review predecessor to the Journal of American History in 1963. Prior to relocating to Indiana, the editorial offices were located at Tulane University. The organization moved its business offices to Indiana in the summer of 1970 from its home on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The OAH was admitted to the American Council of Learned Societies in 1971. It is a foundational partner in both the National Coalition for History, the National Humanities Alliance as well as National History Day.

Information about OAH governance, officers, and its committee structure http://www.oah.org/about/