A. Collections and Libraries

Not applicable.

B. Programs

Phi Alpha Theta is composed of chapters in properly accredited colleges and universities. All students in those institutions who have completed the required number of history courses and are maintaining high standards in their college or university studies are eligible for membership.

Phi Alpha Theta is a professional society with the objective of promoting the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. Its mission is to bring students, teachers, and writers of history together intellectually and socially, and it encourages and assists historical research and publication by its members.

At its Biennial Convention, undergraduate and graduate students are provided an opportunity to meet with distinguished historians and to present papers. Phi Alpha Theta is one of the few honor and professional historical societies to encourage student paper presentations in its programs. A number of outstanding historians also appear on the program of every Biennial Convention, so that members have the opportunity to hear their contributions to historical scholarship. Through these meetings, students and professors have the opportunity to get acquainted with colleagues and to enjoy social and intellectual dialogue. The cost of transportation of a delegate from each attending chapter is partially underwritten. Each Biennial Convention is also the occasion for an active social program that generally includes a reception and tours.

The society also sponsors special programs at the annual meetings of the Organization of American Historians, the Southern Historical Association, the Western History Association, the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, the Southwest Social Science Association, and many state historical associations. Phi Alpha Theta is expanding its participation in other annual meetings as well.

On the local level, each of its chapters conducts many activities for the benefit and enjoyment of its members. The local chapter sponsors speakers, debates and seminars of a scholarly nature, book forums, and many other programs in cooperation with local and area historical societies. It serves in many ways as an adjunct to the department of history in its college or university and often is a helpful outlet for the expression of the opinions and wishes of the students of history in their relations with the department, the library, and the college. Through the local chapter’s promotion of social activities, students and faculty become better acquainted in an informal setting.

Another beneficial aspect of the society’s work is the regional activity of chapters located in close proximity. Some 35 regional meetings are held each year, and more than 700 student papers are presented and the members of numerous chapters are brought together. These activities are the lifeblood of the society.

Initiation into a chapter of Phi Alpha Theta confers lifetime membership. The initiation fee is the only financial expense for membership. However, there are three voluntary means of continuing to actively support the projects of the society. For $50 an individual receives both The Historian and The News Letter for one year, with the balance going to the endowment fund. For $30 a one-year subscription to The Historian is offered. A member may also elect to subscribe individually to The News Letter.

C. Publications

The society, as part of its mission to encourage historical study, publishes The Historian, a distinguished quarterly, whose pages are open to its members for the publication of the results of their studies in all fields of history. It also contains reviews of the most important current books. The Historian has the second-largest circulation among scholarly historical journals in the world. Each initiate receives a year’s subscription as part of the initiation fee.

A second publication, The News Letter, reaches subscribing members ten times a year and carries news items covering all activities (such as regional meetings and Biennial Conventions) and awards and grants of the society. It focuses on chapters and individual members.

Further information can be found on Phi Alpha Theta’s web site.

D. Fellowships and Awards

To promote the study of history, Phi Alpha Theta has established a number of prizes and awards for its members.

Six annual Paper Prize Awards are granted for papers written by society members. The George P. Hammond Award of $500 is presented for the best paper by a graduate student member; the Lynn W. Turner Award of $500 is awarded for the best paper by an undergraduate student member. Four additional $350 awards are available to student members of the society.

The papers in this competition may be devoted to any field of history. Each must be of high scholarly quality and recommended by the faculty advisor of the Phi Alpha Theta chapter to which the submitting student belongs or by the history department chair.

The prizewinning papers are reviewed by the editor of The Historian and, if of publishable quality, will be printed in The Historian at the author’s request. Interested members should consult the announcements of these awards for instructions as to format, deadlines, etc., on the web site at www.phialphatheta.org.

Phi Alpha Theta also offers its members graduate scholarship awards. The A. F. Zimmerman Scholarship in the amount of $1,250, the Thomas S. Morgan Memorial Scholarship of $1,000, and the William E. Parrish Scholarship of $1,000 are presented to student members entering graduate school for the first time for work leading to the MA degree in history. The Phi Alpha Theta Scholarship Award and the John Pine Memorial Award, each in the amount of $1,000, are awarded to graduate student members for final work leading to the PhD in history. The $1,000 Graydon A. Tunstall Jr. Award is for juniors majoring in European history.

The Gordon Morris Bakken Scholarship in Western History awards $500 to a graduate student in history researching the Trans-Mississippi West. Applications must detail the research questions, the agenda including travel to archives, and probable date of completion.

The Phi Alpha Theta Faculty Advisor Award offers a $1,000 award for research, writing, or travel to an outstanding faculty member who has served as faculty advisor for five or more years.

To encourage greater chapter activity, the society offers annual Best Chapter Awards, each in the amount of $250, for activities and projects carried on by the local chapter. The chapters are divided into six groups predicated upon the enrollment of the college/university where the chapter is established. A separate category has been created for multi-year winners.

To encourage publication in history, Phi Alpha Theta offers two annual $1,000 awards for books written by its members: one for the best first book in history and a second for the best second or subsequent one.

Another Phi Alpha Theta program is student internships. The Historian editorial office receives editorial internships, as does the book review editor’s office at the University of South Florida.

All applications or requests for further information should be directed to the executive director.