The Editor's Reflections and Reports

Peter C. Rollins Editor-in-Chief Special Editor's Introduction | Editor's Corner The Editor's Reflections and Reports We of Film & History have been busy since our last journal issue and here are some recent highlights. Leftto right: ArthurAbraham, Peter Rollins, Clifton Johnson, and Robert B. Toplin. Inaugural Meeting of The Historical Society, 27-29 May, 1999 The Historical Society is a new organization dedicated to returning to the apolitical study ofthe past. Lead by Eugene D. Genovese, the first President of the organization, the group attracted some 300 scholars to its first national meeting—this year on the campus of Boston University along the banks of the River Charles during a beautiful weekend in May. Film & Historywas part of the book exhibit in the BU Student Union where we had a number of opportunities to meet with book representatives and old friends; Prof. Richard Raack, one of our mentors, was present for the Soviet Studies panels, but took time to attend the Film & History session in the BU Law School. Devoted to the film Amistad, the panel examined Steven Spielberg's film and discussed the role of Hollywood filmmaker as historian. The session was introduced by John E. O'Connor, founder of our journal and moderated by Peter Rollins. (See page 97.) Arthur Abraham ofYale University served as "cultural advisor" to the film and, as a native of Sierra Leone, knew the geographical, cultural, and linguistic background for the film. He provided the script writer, David Franzoni, with letter after letter, but found that his expert advice was ignored in favor of a script which would have an effective "dramatic arc." Clifton H. Johnson of the Amistad Archive (Tulane University ) explained that he, too, had provided copious information —indeed, boxes ofit—to the filmmakers, only to see historic characters flattened or misrepresented to serve contemporary (ie, 1990s) concerns. The two concluding speakers, Thomas Cripps (Morgan State U) and Robert Toplin (UNCWilmington ) were much more tolerant of the filmmaker's and the scriptwriter's needs and urged that historians complain less about minute details in such movies and be ready to accept films which encourage viewers to think about history. Film & History will continue to participate in The Historical Society's annual meetings and hopes that the efforts ofTHS will complement the work of the AHA, the PCA, and other professional organizations. I?MUKTCliftonJohnson defendstheTappan brothers. Biennial Meeting Leeds University, 14-18 July, 1999 The International Association for the Media and History(IAMHIST) met at the futuristic campus ofLeeds University , an industrial city in the north ofEngland famous historically for its textile weaving and dyeing - practical sciences still taught and still attracting students from across the globe. The conference was hosted by Leeds' Institute ofCommunication Studies, an academic and research unit begun in the 1960s by Nicholas Pronay and now directed by Philip Taylor. Graham Roberts served as program chair with wonderful assistance from Isabel Rich, Estelle Cousins and others. A number ofpublications were represented. David H. Culbert (Louisiana State U) is the Editor-in-Chief of the HistoricalJournal ofFilm, Radio, and Television, the interdisciplinary publication of the sponsoring organization. Delivering papers—but also representing their journal—were Vol. 29.3-4 (1999) | 1 Rollins I The Editor's Reflections and Reports David Ellwood, IAMHIST President and David Culbertofthe IAMHIST Journal. Editor-in-Chief, Jim Welsh (Salisbury State U) and John Tibbetts (Univ of Kansas). Copies of their The Literature/ Film Quarterly were available to scholars; both scholars took time to discuss future issues with participants. Film & Historywas again represented at IAMHIST - as it was in 1997. Susan Rollins prepared a table at the registration area of Roger Stevens Hall where she distributed flyers for Film & History publications, CDROMS , and special events. We met a great number of British and continental friends through this exhibit on Floor 12 and we have seen new subscriptions and orders for the Jim Welsh and John Tibbetts of The Literature/Film Quarterly. CD-ROM for 26 Years coming in afterward. Susan was particularly delighted by the favorable, early interest in our year 2000 conference on The Presidency on Film. (See page 4 for details.) Certainly the most poignant event of the conference was...