About this Network

 

Welcome to H-HOAC, the H-Net network for Historians of American Communism.

I. The H-HOAC Network: Purpose. Scope, Content, Membership.

It is the purpose of H-HOAC to provide a forum for those who want to participate in a scholarly discussion of the history of American communism and domestic anticommunism encompassing the history of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA), groups that split from the CPUSA, and competing radical movements. Foreign policy and Cold War diplomacy will not be a subject except when there is some relevance to domestic political history. Similarly, Soviet communism and the Communist International will be a topic only to the extent that there is relevance to the history of the domestic Communist movement. The network will provide a place to report on research in progress, recent publications and openings of archival resources, raise research questions, open scholarly dialogue, and provide information about conferences and symposia.

Membership to H-HOAC is open to:


(1) Those who hold an advanced degree (M.A. or Ph.D.) in history, the social sciences, the humanities, or related fields and whose focus in research, writing, or teaching includes topics related to the history of domestic American communism and anticommunism. (Graduate students actively pursuing such degrees are also eligible.),
(2) Those who do not have such academic training but who have accomplished significant scholarly research, preferably including publication, on aspects of the history of American communism and anticommunism, and
(3) Other applicants, who should supply a clear statement of interest and purpose that explains the professional or educational objectives they wish to promote through membership, and the kinds of contributions to the group that would foster those objectives.

To put it simply, H-HOAC is a list that has been organized by and for advanced academic specialists in and serious students of this area, for the primary purpose of exchanging professional information. It is not a list for general discussions of issues regarding communism as an ideology, philosophy, or political program (a wide variety of lists on the internet already serve those purposes). Those who are not eligible for membership but who wish to read H-HOAC posting are invited to do so at H-HOAC's discussion logs available through this website.

H-HOAC is built on the work of "The Historians of American Communism" an organization founded in 1982.  In 2002 HOAC sponsored the creation of a new scholarly journal, American Communist History, edited by Dan Leab of Seton Hall University and published by Routledge <http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14743892.asp>.  Membership in the Historians of American Communism includes subscription to American Communist History. For membership information contact Dan Leab atdanleab@earthlink.net.

II. Editors.
  The editors serve two-year renewable terms, with the approval of the H-Net Executive Committee.   The editors will solicit postings, will assist people in managing subscriptions and setting up options, will handle routine inquiries, and will consolidate some postings. Anyone with suggestions about what H-HOAC can and might do is invited to send in ideas. The editors will solicit and post newsletter-type information (calls for conferences, for example, or listings of sessions at conventions).  Like all H-Net lists, H-HOAC is moderated to edit out material that, in the editors' opinion, is not germane to the list, involves technical matters (such as subscription management requests), is inflammatory, or violates evolving, yet common, standards of Internet etiquette. Please read section III below for details about ownership, style, formatting, and content of your messages. H-Net's procedure for resolving disputes over list editorial practices is Article II, Section 2.20 of our bylaws, located at: http://www.h-net.org/about/by-laws.html

Current Editors:

Online editor:  John Haynes, retired, formerly 20th Century Political Historian, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Back-up online editor, subscriptions editor:  Robert Cherny, Professor of Historyemeritus, San Francisco State University

Reviews editor:  Vernon Pedersen, Professor of History, University of Great Falls

III. Communicating Through the List.


A. Copyright notice. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. H-Net considers all messages posted to its lists to be a form of publication. All contributions to H-HOAC fall under Art. III, Sec. 3.01-3.08 of the H-Net Council Policies concerning copyright and intellectual property: "H-Net is a nonprofit communications service intended to advance the teaching, research, and service of scholars, educators, and students. Preserving copyright rights is a collective responsibility: H-Net users and editors must respect the intellectual property of others. Consistent with the objective of encouraging creativity in scholarship and education, editors and users are encouraged to transmit copyrighted works to or through H-Net, with the express permission of the copyright holder or in accordance with the fair use provisions of copyright law. H-Net considers posting to H-Net lists or Web, as contrasted with private e-mail correspondence, to be a form of publication." In general, the author retains copyright rights to publication of any submission to the list, and grants to H-HOAC and H-Net permission to store, disseminate with full attribution, and make available to subscribers such submissions without further permission. Postings (such as H-Net reviews) that are commissioned by H-Net are copyrighted by H-Net and may be reprinted for nonprofit, educational purposes with proper attribution to the author, location, and H-Net. A full copy of the H-Net Constitution and Bylaws and other important information may be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.h-net.org/about/.

B. Contributions:

"Netiquette." The tone and content of H-HOAC depend directly on subscribers. The editors want to encourage lively, informal, productive discussion and exchange of information. To that end, we ask that contributions be considerate of the needs of a busy audience of scholars, many of whom must pay for their access to the internet. A number of excellent guides to online behavior and style are available on the World Wide Web; we invite you consult them.

  • ALL CONTRIBUTIONS MUST BE SIGNED. The editors will delay posting until authorship and email address are confirmed.
  • CONTENT: Editors retain the right to review material for its pertinence, tone, style, and relevance to the list's mission. Ad hominem comments, unattributed quotations or innuendo, private messages forwarded for posting without permission, or messages that violate the norms of civility and professional courtesy will be rejected. Persistent violators can be removed from the subscription list.
  • STYLE: the default editorial style for the list is that of a letter to the editor. Your remarks can be crafted to suit the tone of an existing discussion thread, but in any case they should address the editor and not make direct personal references to others, except where you are replying directly to a simple query (e.g., "you can find this information in Webster's Third International Dictionary."). Avoid excessive quotation of messages you refer or reply to.
  • FORMAT: Please send messages in plain text: no styles, html, special fonts, graphics files, or nonstandard characters (except diacriticals, which are acceptable). Signature files are subject to editing for content and length. Advertisements in signatures will be removed. Remove or turn off .vcf, digital signatures, or other automatic attachments. As a rule, editors do not redistribute attachments to the list; consider posting the material at a web site, or consult with the editor concerning proper venues for publication.

IV. Technical Information.  
When you subscribe, H-Net will send you a confirmation message containing important information about managing your subscription. Please save this message for future reference.

V. Advisory Board.
  H-HOAC's daily activities are managed by the editors. Its long-term policies are developed by the advisory board. If you are interested in serving on the board, please contact the current editor. Board members referee incoming articles, reviews, and teaching materials; establish basic subscription restrictions and policy; advise the editors on disputes among editors and subscribers; monitor the list and make active contributions to discussion; and serve as the subscribers' voice in H-Net affairs.

The current advisory H-HOAC board consists of the following members in addition to the editors (Haynes, Cherny, Pedersen):

James Barrett, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Benjamin Harris, Professor of Psychology, University of New Hampshire

Maurice Isserman, Professor of History, Hamilton College

Harvey Klehr, Professor of Political Science, Emory University

Kathryn Olmsted, Professor of History, University of California at Davis

Ronald Radosh, independent scholar, the Hudson Institute

James G. Ryan, Professor of History, Texas A&M University at Galveston

VII. Our Parent Organization: H-Net

H-Net is an international consortium of scholars in the humanities and social sciences that creates and coordinates electronic networks, using a variety of media, and with a common objective of advancing humanities and social science teaching and research. H-Net was created to provide a positive, supportive, egalitarian environment for the friendly exchange of ideas and scholarly resources.

The goals of H-NET networks are to enable scholars to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to share information on electronic databases; and to test new ideas and share comments on the literature in their fields.

H-Net's Council Policies and Bylaws, along with a list of its officers and committees, is available at: http://www.h-net.org/about/

Among H-Net's many services are:

- Book and software reviews: timely, exhaustive, authoritative, professional, fast. Mailed through our lists and stored in searchable, printable, retrievable format on our site at http://www.h-net.org/reviews.

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- H-Net calendar: announcements of conferences, papers, and professional activities, archived and searchable at our web site. You can visit our site and sample these and other services, at: http://www.h-net.org/announce

CONTACTING H-NET FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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Jesse Draper

Interim Director and Associate Director of Networks

Email: draperje@mail.h-net.org