American Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury Street
Worcester, MA 01609
United States
The third historical society in the nation, the American Antiquarian Society played an influential role in the formation of historical culture and consciousness in the early United States, laying the groundwork for professional practices that are still embraced today: collection policies, distinctions between preservation of textual and nontextual artifacts, publication programs, historical rituals and commemorations, reconciliation of scholarly and popular approaches, and more. At the same time, officers faced challenges to their historical authority from communities interested in preserving a broader range of materials and documenting more inclusive histories, including fellow members, popular historians, white women, and peoples of color. Drawing on her new book, Rescued from Oblivion: Historical Cultures in the Early United States (2020), Alea Henle and AAS President Scott Casper will discuss the AAS's organization and early successes and failures.
A librarian and historian, Alea Henle is head of access & borrow at Miami University. She has a Master’s in library science from Simmons College and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Connecticut. Over the past years, she's worked in libraries from Washington, D.C. to Colorado to New Mexico and taught classes in history, librarianship, archives, and records management. Her research interests center on how decisions in libraries, archives, research centers, and commercial database providers increasingly shape the resources available—making materials paradoxically both easier and more difficult to locate.