From the Managing Editor

What a Difference Fifteen
Years Makes

Michael Regoli

Reprinted from the OAH Magazine of History
15 (Fall 2000). ISSN 0882-228X
Copyright (c) 2000, Organization of American Historians

You are holding in your hands the fifty-fifth issue of the OAH Magazine of History. Since its inaugural issue in April 1985, the Magazine has set out to provide you--teachers, students and researchers--with the latest historical scholarship, written in an accessible style, on a variety of themes in American history. Our thematic issues have sometimes been broadly defined (the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Presidency, the Frontier), but have also included some newly developing subfields and specific topics such as the History of Sport, Environmental History, Geography and History, and more recently Migrations, Oral History, and the Korean War. However, with each published issue, our mission has been clear: find the most qualified scholars, historians, and teachers and present this material in a way you can use, with lesson plans, historiographies, and teaching strategies easily adopted for use in your classroom.

I have had the pleasure of being involved with the Magazine since its inception. I've seen it rise from a collaboration in the mid 1980s between historians and educators looking to create a newsletter for history teachers, to the valued research tool and teaching aid that you see today. I have managed the handful of careful, creative, and intelligent assistant editors; its multitudes of undergraduate editorial interns; and helped guide the dozens of expert guest editors. By my count, I have managed the publication of 498 articles and 181 lesson plans in 3,252 printed Magazine pages. Together with my assistant editors, we have moved from traditional paste-up using wax and paper strips, to the latest in computer page composition and layout. For those longtime readers, you and I have seen the Magazine stumble and nearly lose its foothold. We've also seen it soar, both in terms of its research value and its usefulness to teachers who, with scant free time on their hands, must stay abreast of the latest in historical scholarship.

Using the beginning of our fifteenth volume as inspiration, you will find in this issue a pullout supplement containing our second (ever) Reader Survey. We felt it time to canvass you, our readers, to learn more about who you are, where you teach, and how you use the Magazine. We need to know how useful you find our articles, the lesson plans, and other features. We also seek answers to questions regarding content, focus, and emphasis. Would more reviews benefit you, or should we concentrate more on lesson plans, historiographical essays, or web site lists? And, more important, do you value the theme-based issues, or would you like to see each issue devote less time to one topic and more to particular historical eras? Please don't miss this important opportunity to provide us with your thoughts and advice.

The future looks bright for the Magazine. Thanks to the thoughtful stewardship of OAH executive directors Joan Hoff (1981-1989), Arnita A. Jones (1990-1999), and now Lee Formwalt, and the nurturing guidance of OAH past presidents Louis Harlan, Eric Foner, Gary B. Nash, Michael Kammen, Linda K. Kerber, and others, the Magazine now has its own budget line and is fully incorporated in the organization's financial structure. In addition to the firm support of the OAH, it stands on solid ground with a board of advisors whose thoughtful attention has helped the Magazine evolve into the publication it is today. We continually explore the strengths of the Internet, both as a teaching and research tool, and bring this information to you in each issue. We are also working to bring older back issues and out-of-print issues of the Magazine online (http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/). And more important, we continue to enjoy a strong and loyal core of readers whose continued support will allow us to publish another fifteen volumes. On behalf of the OAH and the production staff of the Magazine, I want to thank you for your continued praise and support of our efforts.

Michael Regoli is director of publications at the Organization of American Historians and serves as the managing editor of the OAH Magazine of History. He can be reached via e-mail at <magazine@oah.org>.