The history community needs advocacy but often struggles with where to begin. What does advocacy look like for the country’s thousands of small and mid-sized organizations, so often strapped for time, money, staff, and other resources? This is where AASLH’s new state and local advocacy effort, Speak Up for History comes in. This initiative will offer a hub for concrete tools, guidance, and programming to help practitioners more effectively demonstrate the value of history work to their communities. 

While much advocacy guidance is prone to theory and focused on the federal landscape, Speak Up for History underscores the notion that effective advocacy means continual, everyday actions that demonstrate your value and build relationships within your community—in other words, speaking up and proving to your neighbors that you matter. Learn more about the initiative, including information about key resources and upcoming events.

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To kick off this new effort, AASLH worked with consultancy Story + Reason to offer an introductory manual, Speak Up for History: Getting Started in Local Advocacy. View the manual either as an online booklet or as a downloadable PDF. You can also participate in an in-person workshop at AASLH’s upcoming annual conference and in our October 20 webinar on the basics of local advocacy.

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Interested in wearing your support for Speak Up for History? Check out the AASLH store.

AASLH is pursuing multiple strategies to respond to current challenges and build a stronger, more sustainable history community.

Speaking up about history—effectively
Grounded in the findings of extensive research showing most Americans’ support for complete and accurate tellings of history, AASLH has been shining a light on the field via various communications platforms. AASLH was recently quoted in articles on government efforts to censor history and state initiatives broadening the 250th anniversary’s narrative.

You can also read recent advocacy-related pieces on the AASLH blog, such as a joint statement, “Trust Americans to Learn from the Past,” issued by AASLH and fellow history associations, and our position on White House interference at the Smithsonian Institution. Most recently, we released a response rejecting the White House’s report on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Offering training and community-building opportunities
AASLH is designing programs and resources to help practitioners deepen their advocacy capacities. Most recently, we started developing Speak Up for History, a new initiative offering concrete guidance in local and state advocacy practice. View our introductory manual on local advocacy here. Other AASLH advocacy programs and resources include:

• Workshop on local advocacy on Wednesday, September 16, at our annual conference in Providence
• “Strengthening History Communication” workshop on September 30
• Webinar on getting started in local advocacy on October 20
• Reframing History report and toolkit on effectively communicating about history

Considering legal options
We are exploring legal avenues in defense of the history community. These options include joining an existing lawsuit as a co-plaintiff, filing a separate suit, and/or filing an amicus brief with a court entertaining one of the existing suits.

In 2025, AASLH President & CEO John Dichtl submitted a declaration in a lawsuit defending IMLS and AASLH joined a coalition of museum, library, and cultural organizations in filing an amicus brief in Rhode Island v. Trump, a lawsuit brought to combat White House efforts to dismantle IMLS. In February 2026, AASLH and a coalition filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary’s Order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which implements the executive order of the same name. The coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction was recently granted, though the injunction has since been stayed by a federal circuit court as the litigation proceeds. Learn more about the lawsuit here.

Coordinating with partners
We are in regular conversation with fellow associations and other partners to stay up-to-date on the latest developments, foster collaboration, and coordinate efforts in response to the shifting landscape. Most recently, AASLH signed on to support We Want More History! a national weekend of history in public planned for late September led by the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association, and others .

Collecting real-world stories of impact
AASLH is gathering experiences from history organizations nationwide to better understand—and draw attention to—the real-world impact of recent state and federal actions. Share your story and read examples.

AASLH’s efforts to champion the history field are made possible by the generous support of the history community. Become a member of AASLH or donate to our annual fund today.

Strengthen your advocacy skills
AASLH is developing a new state and local advocacy initiative, Speak Up for History, which will offer concrete guidance and tools for finding effective ways for history organizations to demonstrate their value to their communities. View the introductory manual on local advocacy here.

Participate in We Want More History! this September
The weekend of September 26, 2026, will mark a national day of history in public. History organizations are invited to join libraries, parks, and other civic spaces in hosting programs, community conversations, teach-ins, and other events highlighting the importance of engaging with the full sweep of American history. A toolkit for participants and a matching portal for host sites are available here.

Document content at history sites and organizations
Many institutions are receiving directives or feeling pressure to change, add, or remove content due to the current political environment. You can help preserve the hard work and expertise of our field—and support complete and accurate history—by documenting at-risk interpretation in your own community, as well as by contributing to repositories such as Save Our Signs, an online archive of NPS signage.

Contact your elected officials
Tell your elected representatives and other stakeholders how your organization is being affected by government actions. Be as specific as possible.

• Speak up in response to proposed White House OMB rule changes that would hinder the work of the history field.
• Ask your representatives in the House and Senate to defend IMLS, NEH, and NPS and push back against censorship. You can also encourage your federal representatives to join the  Congressional Museum Caucus.
• Write and call your state-level elected officials and ask them to encourage their peers in the federal government to push back against harm to the history field.
• Invite Congress to your organization. Demonstrate your institution’s value by offering your representatives a special tour. To get in touch, contact district offices or attend public forums they are hosting.

Reach out to local media
Local news stories can be a powerful way to demonstrate the importance of the history field and federal cultural agencies. If you live in a community with a reputable local news outlet, contact them to gauge their interest in your organization’s story.

Make the case with research
Research shows that the vast majority of people in America value history institutions such as museums. We also know that the majority of the public embrace complete and honest American history and want to see these stories told at museums, history organizations, and historic sites.

Appeal your grant cancellation
If your federal grant has been cancelled, there are steps you can take to advocate for your organization and lay the groundwork for possible remedy in the future. These include:

• Submit a formal appeal for the cancellation. You can follow instructions to do so from the National Council of Nonprofits and Holland & Knight.
• Ensure your response to the grant termination is documented by submitting it via both the official grant portal and in a message to official agency email addresses.
• Report the cancelled grant to your members of Congress, via both email and phone.

Share your impact story with AASLH
Specific, local stories are the most effective way to advocate for the history community. Share your story to help AASLH demonstrate the effect on the field of recent government actions. See sample stories here.

AASLH’s efforts to champion the history field are made possible by the generous support of the history community. Become a member of AASLH or donate to our annual fund today.

Combatting censorship

• AASLH Issue Brief: Educational Censorship in America (2022)
• AASLH Action Guide for History Censorship (2022)
• American Historical Association (AHA) and Organization of American Historians (OAH) Joint Statement on Federal Censorship of American History (2025)
• PEN America information on book bans and educational censorship

Research on the history field and history in American life

• AASLH Reframing History initiative (2022)
• AASLH National Census of History Organizations (2022)
• AHA report: “American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools” (2024)
• AHA report: “History, the Past, and Public Culture” (2021)
• More in Common report: “Defusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America’s National Story” (2022)

Effective history communication

• AASLH Speak Up for History initiative and tools
• AASLH Reframing History initiative
• History Relevance’s Value of History
• Recordings from AASLH 2024 virtual summit Doing History in Polarized Times
• Nationhood Lab report: “The Story of America: A Rebooted Civic National Narrative” (2025)
• National Trust for Historic Preservation 10 Tips for Advocacy
• Communications guide from the National Council of Nonprofits

Defending federal agencies

• AHA Tracking Federal Actions Affecting History initiative
• OAH Federal Employees and Contractors Oral History Project
• Journal of Early Republic’s Early Republic Tracker
• George Wright Society’s The Stewardship Archive: Protecting America’s Public Lands, Waters, and Cultural Sites

Other resources

• Museums Advocacy Day
• Advocacy resources from the National Humanities Alliance
• Data stories and annual reports on museums from Wilkening Consulting

AASLH’s efforts to champion the history field are made possible by the generous support of the history community. Become a member of AASLH or donate to our annual fund today.