Homepage

  • Welcome to
    The National Historical Society
    Dedicated to informing about our Nation’s history, its principles, and the people who built it.
    The original Star Spangled Banner,
    Smithsonian Institution.
  • Telling the American Story
    American Heritage has been the leading magazine of U.S. history for over 70 years.
    Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze, Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Telling the American Story
    We also publish Invention and Technology, the only popular magazine of the history of innovation and America's inventive spirit.
    Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag
    on the moon during Apollo 11. NASA
  • Telling the American Story
    Kirkwood High School students posed with the 60th Anniversary issue of American Heritage after using it in their classroom.
    American Heritage is widely used by teachers who trust its accurate and unbiased writing.
  • Help Us Tell America’s Story
    Our 501(c)3 nonprofit society is largely financed by donations.

    Please join with others who care about saving our Nation’s past and help us keep this 72-year tradition enduring.
    Help Support Us Now

History Lives Here

Our Mission

The mission of the new National Historical Society is to help millions of Americans learn more about our nation’s story.

The Society is taking over operation of American Heritage, the widely respected magazine of American history. For 73 years, it has connected Americans to their shared heritage with trusted, non-partisan writing by leading scholars.  

Who We Are

The National Historical Society (NHS) is 501-3(c) nonprofit organized “to foster, promote, and encourage interest in and the study of American history and culture, support research, and develop media to connect all Americans to their shared heritage.”

While there are many state and local historical societies in the U.S., there is no national organization. The newly formed Society will become the largest historical organization in number of members by assuming the subscribers and assets of American Heritage.

NHS will continue and build on the 73-year tradition of American Heritage by illuminating our nation’s past in new ways, across multiple media, to reach academic and non-academic audiences alike.

What We Do

Among our programs are:

  • American Heritage, the leading history magazine for 72 years.
  • Invention & Technology, the only popular magazine of the history of innovation.
  • Fourscore (4score.org), a major new educational system with thousands of trusted texts to assign students.
  • Over 250 books in print, audio, and ebook format.
  • HistoricTaverns.org, the first list of Revolutionary War taverns with photos, descriptions, and maps.
  • Heritage Sites, a listing of over 4,000 historic sites.

Why We Do It

As former American Heritage editor David McCullough says, our nation faces “collective amnesia.”  Numerous recent national surveys indicate a serious decline in knowledge of American history and civics among both youth and adults.

History offers narratives that frame our lives, animate the democratic process, and create ties that bind a diverse people. But 21st century America is adrift from her historical moorings. Technology has played a role, transforming history into trivial bits without context. The rupture between the past and present is national and also personal, robbing us of balance and separating us generationally. 

Schools are cutting back on teaching history and instructors often lack training in their field. On the rise have been alternative narratives, and scholarship in service of political agendas.

How You Can Contribute

Please help us tell America’s story – in these divided times, it is vital that we educate about our shared heritage. Especially for a new generation of Americans.

Become a Founding Member: You can be a critical part of the new effort to teach about America’s history.

Become a Founding Member

Donate for History’s Sake:  Help our volunteers continue to produce issues of American Heritage with its brilliant and insightful writing.

Donate Now

Our Sponsors

The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation

The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation believes that education is the gateway to opportunity. A world-class. education system ensures a vibrant, entrepreneurial economy, strengthens national security and public policy, and instills America's founding values in the next generation of citizens.

The mission of the Foundation is to promote national security, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, free enterprise, and to enhance quality of life by supporting the arts, education, global understanding, health advancements, and preservation of the environment.

Helmsley Charitable Trust

The early development of the Fourscore educational system was generously funded by a grant from the Leona M. and Harry 8. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in health and medical research, human services, education, and conservation. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant making, it has committed approximately $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Despite its more than $4 billion in assets, the Trust is a relatively new organization, and it expects to continue to expand in the coming years, as it adds to its assets and increases the number, scale, and impact ofits grants across an array of critical issues.

For more information on the Trust and its programs, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.