The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) was founded in 1967 in order to "promote excellence in research and teaching of American foreign relations history and to facilitate professional collaboration among scholars and students in this field around the world." SHAFR organizes an annual conference, and publishes the quarterly Diplomatic History. It also publishes a triennial newsletter, Passport. SHAFR has increasingly fostered connections with international historians and organizations.
History SHAFR was founded in April 1967, as a result of the efforts of Joseph O'Grady, Betty Miller Unterbeger, Armin Rappaport, and David Trask. The first meeting took place during the meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Chicago, Illinois, and was attended by around 75 scholars in the field. Its first stand-alone national conference was held at Georgetown University in 1975. A volume that included some of the papers presented at that conference included an all-male cast of authors and papers focused on male foreign-policy actors such as George F. Kennan, Charles E. Bohlen, and James G. Blaine.Perspectives in American Diplomacy: Essays on Europe, Latin America, China, and the Cold War, ed. Jules Davids (New York: Arno Press, 1976).
Founded in the midst of tremendous social and political change, the Society sought to support new understandings of the U.S. role in the world, and to attract attention to the study with foreign relations of other countries. Finding an audience interested in such an approach, the Society grew. In 1976, it announced that, after a debate lasting since the beginning of SHAFR, the organization would publish a journal; this journal would be Diplomatic History, the first issue of which was published in January 1978.
SHAFR has benefitted from the benevolence of Gerald and Myrna Bernath, who donated money to the organization in memory of their son Stuart L. Bernath. These funds are used to support graduate students and new scholars.
Besides its own official activities, SHAFR cooperates with other academic and public history organizations. For example, SHAFR is a member of the National Coalition for History and has representatives on the Historical Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian. Notably, SHAFR also hosted events at the meeting of the American Historical Association until 2024.
In 1986, Betty Miller Unterberger of Texas A&M University became the first woman president of the organization, then 99 percent male in membership. Since then, the organization has had seven more women presidents: Emily Rosenberg (Macalester College, 1997), Marilyn B. Young (New York University, 2011), Mary L. Dudziak (Emory University, 2017), Barbara Keys (University of Melbourne, 2019), Kristin Hoganson (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2020), Laura Belmonte (Virginia Tech, 2022), and Mary Ann Heiss (Kent State University, 2023). Keys was the first president in the organization's history to be based at a university outside the United States. Cambridge University historian Andrew Preston was elected vice president/president-elect in 2019; in 2021 he became the first SHAFR president not to hold U.S. citizenship.
Leadership
SHAFR Officers The SHAFR Business Office is located at Middle Tennessee State University, where Executive Director Amy Sayward is a history professor. The president is Mitchell Lerner, The Ohio State University.
Past Presidents 2023– Mary Ann Heiss, Kent State University 2022– Laura Belmonte, Virginia Tech 2021– Andrew Preston, Cambridge 2020– Kristin Hoganson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2019– Barbara Keys, University of Melbourne 2018– Peter L. Hahn, The Ohio State University 2017– Mary L. Dudziak, Emory University 2016– David Engerman, Brandeis University 2015– Tim Borstelmann, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 2014– Fredrik Logevall, Harvard University 2013– Mark Philip Bradley, University of Chicago 2012– Thomas Zeiler, University of Colorado, Boulder 2011– Marilyn B. Young, New York University 2010– Andrew J. Rotter, Colgate University 2009– Frank Costigliola, University of Connecticut 2008– Thomas A. Schwartz, Vanderbilt University 2007– Richard Immerman, Temple University 2006– Randall B. Woods, University of Arkansas 2005– David L. Anderson, California State University, Monterey Bay 2004– Mark A. Stoler, University of Vermont 2003– Michael J. Hogan, The Ohio State University 2002– Robert L. Beisner, American University 2001– Robert J. McMahon, University of Florida 2000– Robert D. Schulzinger, University of Colorado, Boulder 1999– Walter LaFeber, Cornell University 1998– Arnold Offner, Lafayette College 1997– Emily Rosenberg, Macalester College 1996– Mark Gilderhus, Colorado State University 1995– Robert Dallek, University of California, Los Angeles 1994– Melvyn Leffler, University of Virginia 1993– Warren Kimball, Rutgers University-Newark 1992– John Lewis Gaddis, Ohio University 1991– Gary Hess, Bowling Green State University 1990– Michael Hunt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 1989– George C. Herring, University of Kentucky 1988– Lloyd Gardner, Rutgers University 1987– Thomas G. Paterson, University of Connecticut 1986– Betty Unterberger, Texas A&M University 1985– Warren F. Kuehl, University of Akron 1984– Warren I. Cohen, Michigan State University 1983– Ernest R. May, Harvard University 1982– Lawrence E. Gelfand, University of Iowa 1981– Lawrence S. Kaplan, Kent State University 1980– David M. Pletcher, Indiana University 1979– Paul A. Varg, Michigan State University 1978– Akira Iriye, University of Chicago 1977– Raymond A. Esthus, Tulane University 1976– Robert A. Divine, University of Texas, Austin 1975– Armin H. Rappaport, University of California, San Diego 1974– Bradford Perkins, University of Michigan 1973– Wayne S. Cole, University of Maryland 1972– Norman A. Graebner, University of Virginia 1971– Robert H. Ferrell, Indiana University 1970– Richard W. Leopold, Northwestern University 1969– Alexander DeConde, University of California, Santa Barbara 1968– Thomas A. Bailey, Stanford University
Committees Elected Committee Nominating Committee Permanent Committees Annual Meeting Program Committee Ways and Means Committee Board of Editors, Diplomatic History Editorial Advisory Board, Passport Standing Committees Committee on Digital Resources and Archival Sharing Committee on Historical Documentation Committee on Access, Representation, and Equity (CARE) Committee on Women in SHAFR Conference Committee Code of Conduct Reporting Team Development Committee Graduate Student Committee Membership Committee Teaching Committee Award and Prize Committees Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize Stuart L. Bernath Scholarly Article Prize Dissertation Prize Committee Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize Norman and Laura Graebner Award Peter L. Hahn Distinguished Service Award Committee Michael H. Hunt Prize for International History Link-Kuehl Prize for Documentary Editing Grant and Fellowship Committees Myrna Bernath Book and Fellowship Awards Graduate Student Grants & Fellowships Committee Michael J. Hogan Foreign Language Fellowship William Appleman Williams Emerging Scholar Research Grants Marilyn Blatt Young Dissertation Completion Fellowship Taskforces and Ad-Hoc Committees National Coalition for History delegate Task Force on Internationalization
Publications
Diplomatic History Diplomatic History is "devoted to U.S. international history and foreign relations, broadly defined, including grand strategy, diplomacy, and issues involving gender, culture, ethnicity, and ideology." The journal was first published in 1977.
Current Editors: Anne Foster, Indiana State University, and Petra Goedde, Temple University
Passport "Passport publishes reviews, historiographical essays, articles on pedagogical issues relating to the teaching of U.S. foreign relations, and research notes, and explores other issues of interest to SHAFR members." It started as the organization's newsletter but is now published on SHAFR's behalf by Oxford University Press. It has three issues per year.
Passport Editor: Andrew Johns, Brigham Young University
Past Editors: Mitchell Lerner, Ohio State University; Peter Hahn, Ohio State University; William Brinker, Tennessee Technological University
The SHAFR Guide "The SHAFR Guide Online: An Annotated Bibliography of U.S. Foreign Relations since 1600 is a near-comprehensive, 2.1 million-word online annotated bibliography of historical work covering the entire span of U.S. foreign relations." The publication was originally put together by Robert L. Beisner, and then a second edition was edited by Thomas W. Zeiler. The third edition, The SHAFR Guide, is edited by Alan McPherson, and is available online. It "cover[s] all eras in U.S. history from colonial days through the Barack Obama presidency as well as all geographical areas of the world."Ibid. These publications are meant to be a helpful starting point for researchers of all ages who are creating a bibliography about diplomatic studies.
Annual Meetings SHAFR annually hosts an academic conference in June. Every other year, the conference is held in the Washington, D.C. area; in even-numbered years locations vary, and have recently included Philadelphia, PA and New Orleans, LA. The organization also hosted two virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021.
In addition to a variety of discussion panels, the conference feature addresses by experts in foreign relations, including those outside of academia. Recent speakers have included General David Petraeus (KKR Global Institute, 2018), Hoda Hawa (Director of Policy and Advocacy, Muslim Public Affairs Council, 2019), Barbara D. Savage (University of Pennsylvania, 2021), Gry Tina Tinde (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, Newspeak and Sexual Misconduct, 2022), and Thomas S. Blanton (National Security Archive, 2023). Starting in 2024, the annual Bernath Lecture and the annual SHAFR Presidential Address will be the primary addresses at the conference.
Awards, Fellowships, and Grants
Awards Source: The Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize: Created to recognize research of American foreign relations The Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize: Created to recognize younger scholars who work in the field of foreign relations. The Stuart L. Bernath Scholarly Article Prize: Created to recognize junior scholars with distinguished writing in the field of diplomatic relations. The Myrna F. Bernath Book Prize: Created to encourage women and women-identifying scholars to produce work about the history of US foreign relations. Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize: Created to recognize distinguished work in the history of America foreign relations. The Norman and Laura Graebner Award: Created to recognize the lifetime achievements of senior historians of United States foreign relations. The Betty M. Unterberger Dissertation Prize: Created to recognize the work of graduate students in the field of diplomatic history. The Oxford University Press USA Dissertation Prize in International History: Created to recognize rising scholars who study international history. Robert A. and Barbara Divine Graduate Student Travel Fund: Created to support graduate students who travel to SHAFR's annual meetings. Arthur S. Link-Warren F. Kuehl Prize for Documentary Editing: Created to recognize "outstanding collections of primary source materials in the fields of international or diplomatic history."Ibid. The Peter L. Hahn Distinguished Service Award: Created to recognize senior historians who have provided significant contributions to SHAFR during their careers. The Michael H. Hunt Prize for International History: Created to recognize scholarship that offers new perspectives on international or global history.