Expanding Perspectives: Historians in Retirement

The May 2022 issue of the AHA’s newsmagazine, Perspectives on History, focused on the topic of historians in retirement. Seven historians wrote about the decision to retire, the choices they made in that process, and what they’re doing now. For most, the end of a career did not mean the end of their vocation as historians. These individuals continue to work on historical research, often projects long put off when job responsibilities took first priority.
In this 60-minute AHA Online roundtable, authors from this special issue, including Allison Blakely (Boston Univ., emeritus), Jim Gardner (US National Archives, ret.), Linda K. Kerber (Univ. of Iowa, emerita) and Joanne Reitano (LaGuardia Community Coll., emerita), discussed their experiences in retirement in conversation with 2021 AHA president Jacqueline Jones (Univ. of Texas at Austin, emerita).