Editor’s Page

Membership and Support—Now’s the Time

Annual memberships are about to expire! A handy renewal form is included in this issue, so take a minute and rejoin (or, indeed, join for the first time). Or you can subscribe online. You’ll get advance notice of the annual conference, a 30 percent discount on Penn Press books, and, of course, the timely articles and book reviews delivered to your door.

And while you’ve got pen in hand, consider becoming a Friend of SHEAR. So many of you have already:

• Friends of SHEAR

  (Contributions received as of February 1, 2010)

• Sojourner Truth Friends ($500 or more),

  John Brooke, Jennifer Goloboy, Robert A. Gross, Mary Kelley, Gary Kornblith, Sidney Lapidus, Carol Lasser, Bruce H. Mann, Jack Rakove, Andrew W. Robertson, Donald Roper, Rosemarie Zagarri

• Thomas Skidmore Friends ($250–$499)

  Donald D. Blinka, Ruth A. Doan, Jane N. Kamensky, John M. Murrin, Barbara Oberg, James B. Stewart, Harry L. Watson

• Nicholas Biddle Friends ($150–$249)

  Catherine Allgor, Douglas M. Arnold, Martha Tomhave Blauvelt, Fred Blue, Anne Boylan & Peter Kolchin, Scott Browne, Rand Burnette, James Buss, Andrew Cayton, Ira Cohen, Patricia C. Cohen, Vivian B. Conger, William C. Cook, Kathleen DuVal, Carol Faulkner, Craig Thompson Friend, Paul A. Gilje, Myra Glenn, Stephen E. Gottlieb, Amy Greenberg, Richard Greene, Suzanne Cooper Guasco, C. Dallett Hemphill, Ronald Hoffman, Robert Imholt, Thomas N. Ingersoll, Lawrence Kaplan, Linda K. Kerber, Susan E. Klepp, David Konig, Kathleen S. Kutolowski, John Larson, Robert McColley, Michael A. Morrison, Marion C. Nelson, Gregory Nobles, Elaine W. Pascu, Michael Pierson, Daniel Preston, John W. Quist, Martin Quitt, Daniel K. Richter, Richard Samuelson, Jonathan Sassi, Randolph F. Scully, Sheila L. Skemp, H. E. Sloan, Gene Allen Smith, Keiji Tajima, Tamara P. Thornton, Mariam Touba, John K. Van Atta, Clarence E. Walker, Ronald G. Walters, Samuel J. Watson, Julie Winch, Barbara C. Wingo

Among the initiatives that these generous donations allow is the Graduate Student Conference Awards. Awarded for the first time in 2010, these cash grants, in amounts up to $250, help support travel expenses for graduate students giving papers at the conference. Twenty-four students applied to the Program Committee and the following six students were selected: Gregory Ablavasky, University of Pennsylvania; Adam Constanzo, University of California, Davis; David M. Greenspoon, Pennsylvania State University; Jennifer Hull, University of Wisconsin; Whitney Martinko, University of Virginia; and MacKenzie Moore, University of California, Berkeley.

Long-time members of the organization were honored at a breakfast at the conference, another initiative that met with an enthusiastic response and that promises to benefit the organization.

So do send in your membership form or join online. Consider a donation. Send checks to Amy Baxter-Bellamy, our executive coordinator, or contact her with questions about membership and gifts at SHEAR, 3355 Woodland Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4531.

Another benefit of membership: the Spring issue of the JER will have Rosemarie Zagarri’s Presidential Address, “The Significance of the ‘Global Turn’ for the Early American Republic”—you’ll certainly want to read it—plus other news from the Rochester meeting.

Hello, hello; goodbye, goodbye

Robert S. Cox and Rachel K. Onuf marked their fifth year as the very able and hard-working coeditors of the book review section in July of 2010. They expressed some interest in passing the torch. At the same time David Waldstreicher and Jon Wells, both of Temple University, were declaring themselves interested in the post. The resulting shift in editors will allow all editorial and administrative functions of the JER to be consolidated in Philadelphia. Temple’s history department has agreed to provide a part-time graduate assistant to support the operation. So look in the book review section for the transition to new leadership. Our heartfelt thanks to Rob and Rachel for their years of service and thanks too to those who have provided for a smooth transition.

Welcome to Harry Watson, the new president of SHEAR, and to Drew Cayton as president-elect. Rosemarie Zagarri will continue as past president, while Paul Gilje, the former past president, rotates off the board with thanks for his service.

The 2011 Conference

SHEAR will be back in...