The Society of Americanists

The Society of Americanists A Coalition of Persons, Organizations, and Programs Devoted to the Study of the United States

The Society of Americanists (SOA) is a coalition of persons, organizations, and academic programs devoted to the study of the United States. SOA has as its purpose fostering integrated studies of American history, society, arts, and culture in all their aspects; providing a forum for discussion of scholarly and professional issues among its members, including an annual conference and communication

s; and promotion of the profession of Americanists devoted to the study of the United States in a global context. Its distinctive niche in the organizational landscape of learned, professional societies in American Studies is to represent the discipline and profession of Americanists and advance analytical approaches to the research and interpretation of the United States.

NY Times article by Ruth Franklin on how Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught.
08/24/2026

NY Times article by Ruth Franklin on how Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught.

I traveled around the country to find out if “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” still has a place in the classroom.

Interview with Americanist professor Susan Asbury, author of new book on board games of the Gilded Age and their implica...
07/28/2026

Interview with Americanist professor Susan Asbury, author of new book on board games of the Gilded Age and their implications for American values of the industrial era. https://jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/fun-and-games-an-interview-with-susan-asbury-by-curtis-smith/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTVjVBwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR6cUgyRMO8UFH17iK8EWYNUaS0j5yC_GeL7TuC0JTMvf2i3lyR-MuVQF6Fv3w_aem_BrZxvdjgnBwazxTYJmD5yQ

Between 1880 and 1920, the American board game industry produced a host of board games that reflected political, economic, social, and cultural themes of the day.

07/28/2026

The Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers who chose a life of extreme simplicity, sleeping on wooden benches with blocks of wood for pillows and rising in the middle of the night to sing. They produced remarkable hymns, illuminated manuscripts, and one of the busiest printing operations in the colonies. The medieval looking buildings still stand in Lancaster County. Have you visited the Ephrata Cloister and seen how they lived?

The interpretation of American history in the news: White House report labeling Smithsonian curators “radical activists ...
07/07/2026

The interpretation of American history in the news: White House report labeling Smithsonian curators “radical activists “? See the PBS story on the report: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/white-house-report-brands-smithsonian-leadership-as-radical-activists-who-cant-be-trusted?fbclid=IwZnRzaAS5UDVwZG9mAWZkaWQWUKFGLoyW0Y3zh849Mb7b8Ip0uUC2emV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6APIl3W_6p-F181wnzz_uQZ3dDvX8yfKGkbzn5tLIsk8_bCEdQ-NOaY2SMTQ_aem_ucRsq3ce1dP2jSmhiH4OwA. The OAH has already blasted the report. What do you think?

The report released late on Independence Day by the White House Domestic Policy Council comes in the midst of Trump’s aggressive campaign to overhaul some of Washington's most sacred cultural and historic institutions.

NY Times reports historians’ latest think about the Revolution.
06/24/2026

NY Times reports historians’ latest think about the Revolution.

In the past 50 years, the way we tell the story of the Revolution has become dramatically more complex. Can it still inspire us all?

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