ABSTRACT
The very notion of "historical truth" is often considered hopelessly naive. Instead, the tendency is for people to insist that all interpretation is to be understood in essentially political terms. And in fact a particular brand of history is currently being "privileged." Just look at what goes on at the annual meetings of the main professional organizations, or what gets published in their journals. "A Dual-Gendered Perspective on Eighteenth Century Advice and Behavior"; "Constructing Menstruation"; "Rationalizing the Body"; "The Ambiguities of Embodiment in Early America"—these are the sorts of topics one sees all the time nowadays. The real battles, of course, will be fought in the universities, and an organization like this can scarcely change things overnight. But the new society can show through its example what historical work should be and what a professional historical organization should be. If it succeeds at that, it might well have a major impact on the future of historical culture in America.
