ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: ELIZABETH BLUEMINK LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
WHEN HE TAKES OVER as president of the American Historical Association, Joseph Miller will emphasize openness.
When University of Virginia historian Joseph Miller visited Portugal in the late 1960s to gather research for his doctoral dissertation on the Portugues slave trade, he ran up against government resistance to releasing incriminating historical state documents.
``At that point, Portugal was still under a dictatorship and the secret police had enormous influence,'' Miller said. ``They were very embarrassed about their history as slave traders. I learned that in order to obtain the information I needed, I always had to find a way to talk around slavery and the slave trade.''
As Miller prepares to assume the presidency of the American Historical Association, he said, he will continue to emphasize greater openness - both within the discipline of history, and from government officials to improve historians' access to sensitive documents.
The association is a national group of 15,000 professional historians and teachers.
Miller, a scholar of African history and the international slave trade, has taught at UVa since 1972. He served as dean of UVa's College of Arts and Sciences from 1990 to 1995.
Now president-elect, he will become president of the AHA for one year, beginning in 1998. He previously served in the association's research division and on its committee on the future of the profession.
Miller believes his term might encompass some of the most demanding years the organization has faced. ``We have seen some profound changes,'' he said.
For example, as some historians expand the discipline to include non-Western perspectives, they have been swept up in a national debate over cultural values.
Miller pointed to the controversy over the Goals 2000 program, which has introduced some new global perspectives into elementary schools.
``Overall, the history curriculum has been very contentious over the past several years,'' Miller said, adding that some critics have identified the new curriculum standards as ``anti-American and anti-West.''
As an African historian, Miller said he stands behind the introduction of a variety of perspectives. But as president of the historical association, he said, he will not take a political stance.
The group ``tolerates all views'' and allows the nation's historians to participate in an open forum for free expression, he said.
``AHA is not a political organization. As a national umbrella for professional historians, we need to represent our diverse interests around our shared interest in history,'' he said.
Miller said he also will work during his term to improve historians' access to public records at home and abroad, especially as an increasing number of government actions are being recorded electronically.
The AHA, he said, performs an important watchdog function by calling national attention to government attempts to limit access to official records.
``Historians should have a voice in these issues and how they are decided, on the premise that the profession makes a valuable contribution to society through recovery and study of historical information,'' he said.
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