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What We Do2023-10-13T12:04:14-05:00

What We Do

We provide resources for history lovers, professionals, volunteers, and enthusiasts. AASLH provides crucial resources, guidance, professional development, advocacy, new publications, field-wide research, and a sense of connectedness to over 5,500 institutional and individual members, as well as leadership for history and history organizations nationally. It is the only comprehensive national organization dedicated to state and local history.

Professional Development

Our Professional Development offerings—including the Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations (STEPS), History Leadership Institute, webinars, online courses, workshops, and Technical Leaflets—are designed for busy professionals, volunteers, and students. We do everything we can to make it easy for you to fit growth into your schedule.

Advocacy and Leadership

As the professional association for history practitioners and institutions throughout the country, AASLH takes on a major role providing leadership and advocacy for the history field. We help to build coalitions around key issues and speak on behalf of the history community with public officials at the national level while assisting our members who can work at the state and local levels. AASLH strives to position history as a critical component of American life.

Conferences and Events

The American Association for State and Local History hosts many events throughout the year, including our Annual Conference each September, as well as virtual and in-person summits. Each year a wide variety of history practitioners gather at the AASLH Annual Conference for a participatory and transformative four days of learning, collaboration, networking, and inspiration. The AASLH Annual Conference is known for practical sessions, takeaways galore, hallway conversations, unmatched evening events, new life-long friendships, intensive workshops, and the inspiration that comes from being around other history-doers.

Publications

AASLH provides many different publications for the field. Through our quarterly magazine History News, Technical Leaflets, book series, and our blog, we publish on a wide range of topics and issues to serve history practitioners. Special joint-publication projects, such as Nomenclature and the Inclusive Historian’s Handbook, have become more important in recent years. From investigations of critical issues to how-to guides, and everything in between, AASLH uses our different publication outlets to advance historical practice and the field.

Programs

AASLH offers programs that support our members’ practice of history. Our programs connect you to colleagues across the country who have new approaches and new ideas. Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill or fundamentally transform your organization, AASLH has programs to help you interpret history, engage your community, broaden your impact, and make the past more meaningful.

Research

AASLH conducts original research in service of the field. These projects, often collaborative with other organizations, yield insights that can strengthen our institutions and improve public history practice. Our research creates tools that you can use and ultimately strengthens all our programs.

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