AHA launches "Long Overdue" series, with archival research by Mohammed S. Ali
David Levering Lewis wrote the inaugural Long Overdue obituary on W.E.B. DuBois. Image: Gelatin silver print of W.E.B. DuBois by James E. Purdy (1907). National Portrait Gallery / Smithsonian Institution / CC0.
On December 6, 2022, the American Historical Association launched Long Overdue, a project to commemorate historians of color who were marginalized by the American Historical Association by the time they passed away. Managing Editor Laura Ansley explains, "obituaries...say something about how communities are defined, who is included and who is left out."
PhD Candidate Mohammed S. Ali contributed to Long Overdue as a Summer 2022 Provost Intern. Together with Laura Ansley and Research & Publications Director Dr. Sarah Weicksel, Mohammed compiled a comprehensive database of AHA obituaries published between 1900 and 1980, to set Long Overdue on firm footing prior to launch. You can help the editors identify overlooked historians by using their online form.
"Inspired by the New York Times’ Overlooked series, Long Overdue is a series of In Memoriam essays for historians of color whose passing the AHA did not mark. We hope to highlight the many historians of color whose research, teaching, and service helped to shape the discipline, and to honor those excluded by AHA practices and culture in the past." The launch of Long Overdue is a part of the Racist Histories and the AHA initiative.
