The H-US1918-45 List

Having just assumed the post of Editor of the H-US1918-45 List, I am posting a copy of my recent call to arms to the membership.

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Dear Colleagues,

As the new lead editor, I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage you to participate in the reinvigoration of the H-US1918-45 List. When I joined in 2003, there was considerable activity and some lively discussions, but in recent years we have experienced a phenomenon common to other H-Net lists, namely, a significant decrease in discursive posts.

My predecessor, Thomas Thurston – to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for keeping the List going – has suggested to me that among the many causes is the superfluity of information now available to any researcher, especially for the 20th century. In the face of an ever-expanding volume of primary sources – many of them online – people are suffering from information overload.

He and I are nevertheless in agreement that we wish to avoid the List becoming solely a means of providing obscure – and sometimes not so obscure – references for researchers (in itself, a worthwhile function). With a subscribed membership of over 1,000, including a number of people like myself who are without institutional affiliation, H-US1918-45 is capable of providing much more.

1. I believe that we are predisposed to think of this as the “New Deal” List, even though its seven years are bookmarked by the 1920s, on the one hand, and the early 1940s on the other. By the same token, there has been comparatively little cultural history debated on the List (the rise of the Regionalist movement in the 1920s, for example), or of such subjects as religious and rural history, even though both are hugely significant for the 1920s and somewhat significant thereafter. Again, there can only be debate on these and other topics if people are willing to bring them to the List.

2. This is a forum for scholarly exchange, particularly for ABD graduate students (and I encourage advisors on the List to get their students to sign up) and those like myself without institutional affiliation. It is in a forum such as this that new approaches to a subject can be tested before exposing them to the harsh glare of the conference circuit. Such exchanges also offer the potential for bringing the like-minded together as conference panels (something less common on this List than some others).

3. There is no reason why a scholarly book review on H-Net should count for less than one printed in an academic journal (although sadly it sometimes does). Reviews that appear here are likely to appear much closer to the date of publication than is generally the case with the print media. If we are to bring book reviews to the List, however, I could use the services of a review editor (the person currently listed in that capacity is no longer a subscriber to the list).

4. The present “Teaching Resources” section of the List is out of date, with many expired links and old curricula. I hope to update it but I would also like to feature written reflections from current instructors about what works and does not work in the classroom.

5. The List can strengthen ties to historic sites and archives by encouraging those employed by such facilities to keep members of the List informed as to what is available, including advance warning of soon-to-be-released material.

I look forward to working with you to make this List a resource that is both current and informative. Your suggestions are always welcome and your direct participation even more so.

Jeremy Bonner, PhD, Co-Editor, H-US1918-45