David Varel, History PhD Graduate (’15), Pens Article in ‘The American Historian,’ Sparking Change in the OAH as New Book is Celebrated.

 David Varel, PhD Alumnus (’15 - U.S. History) has a powerful article in this month's edition of The American Historian, which is now available online. The article, Those We Honor, and Those We Don’t: The Case for Renaming an OAH Book Award | The American Historian calls for the OAH to rename one of its major book awards, the Avery O. Craven Award. Because of the article and the case Varel has made, the executive board of the OAH recently announced that it has removed Avery Craven as the namesake of its book award in Civil War and Reconstruction history. As David wrote, “It's thus a rare moment where it feels like my work had a direct impact on the world.” 

Read the OAH Executive Board Action | The American Historian response.

Varel’s new book, his second, The Scholar and the Struggle: Lawrence Reddick’s Crusade for Black History and Black Power, has just appeared from UNC Press (Craven was Reddick’s problematic doctoral advisor, which is the connection to The American Historian article), and Varel’s book was named one of “The Best Black History Books of 2020” by the African American Intellectual History Society.