Excuse my sarcasm and I apologize if this comes off a bit glib, but I just can’t help myself. The Chronicle of Higher Education, bless their souls, just published a fine piece entitled “Turning West, Historians Take a Wider View of Early America.” On its surface, the article is fantastic. It highlights how a number of recent award winning books and articles have been pushing the field of EARLY American history to look west, to consider the history of all early “Americans,” to look beyond the eastern seaboard and integrate the history of what was the majority of the continents’ inhabitants. The recent works of Pekka Hämäläinen, Juliana Barr, Ned Blackhawk, etc… What makes me snicker is that one of the underlying implications that those unfamiliar with Western historiography may takeaway is that this is a new phenomenon – that early American Western history hasn’t been happening before, when in fact it has been for years. True, the field is doing well in the awards department as of late, but there is a deep and rich tradition from Western historians of taking early American history and stretching across the continent.(I might add, that borderlands and transnational scholars – self high 5! – are undertaking a similar project of stretching American history into a broader North American or even hemispheric history) Thankfully, people are taking notice.
More importantly, the article does raise a very important problem: can one successfully present themselves as an “Early Americanist” when researching/writing Western topics? Or, to just be as blunt as possible, can one get a job as an Early Americanist doing Western history. From a number of colleagues I have currently trying to do just that, it appears to be difficult. Hopefully the trend in awards will help to reestablish Western history as a fundamental pillar in American history, in the academy, and be thus represented in tenure-track and tenured department faculty lines. Western history isn’t a cute, insular, regional sub-field. It holds essential elements to understanding so many portions of broader American history. If it is relegated to a backwater, we all suffer.
So – department heads, administrators, and committees. Would you like to have new scholars join your department that are doing ground-breaking work, winning national awards, and generally revolutionizing a number of affiliated fields of study? If yes, consider hiring a Western historian. We’re a pretty nice bunch.