To Our Readers

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) is very proud of Common-place and the contributions it makes to scholarship and a broader public. We believe it is the premier on-line journal of early American history and culture and we are convinced that its editors, beginning with Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, and continuing with Edward Grey, Cathy Kelly, Anna Mae Duane, and Walt Woodward, are chiefly responsible. We remain deeply indebted to Jane and Jill for their inspiring conception and leadership of the journal from its formation seventeen years ago. Truly Common-place has served as a common forum between the academy and the general public – illuminating, educating, and engaging a wide variety of people in many aspects of America’s past.

Over the next twelve months the American Antiquarian Society is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of all our programs so as to create a strategic plan to provide a fresh, forward looking road map for how we will engage and serve all our constituents in the coming decade. To do so, we are including Common-place in our assessment of the current state of electronic publishing and the Society’s strengths and capabilities.

Here is the current plan: Anna Mae and Walt Woodward will remain as editors through Volume 18, Issue 2, to appear in the spring of 2018. That will be followed by two special issues in the summer and fall of 2018. As of October 2018, the strategic plan including Common-place will be completed and it is our expectation that a plan for the journal’s direction and control will be in place.

We encourage everyone to join us in this examination of Common-place. Please contact James David Moran, AAS vice president for programs and outreach, at jmoran@mwa.org with your thoughts about Common-place and the Society’s program evaluation and planning. To all of you who have created the Common-place community we extend our deepest appreciation and thanks, your help going forward will, we trust, make the AAS an even more productive contributor to the understanding of American history and culture.