American Antiquarian Society

**About** The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) cultivates understanding of the American past, grounded in its ever-growing collection of printed and manuscript sources. Through wide-ranging programs, community engagement, and generously supporting researchers and students of early American history, the Society works to cultivate a broad community of inquiry?locally and nationally. Since its founding in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas, AAS has assembled what is today the world’s largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, children's literature, music, and graphic arts material printed before the twentieth century in what is now the United States. The library of over four million items also includes a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, digital resources, and reference works. AAS is also a learned society with over 1,200 members, who are elected based on distinctive achievement in academic or public life. The Society was presented with the 2013 National Humanities Medal by President Obama in a White House ceremony. **Mission** The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) cultivates a deeper understanding of the American past, grounded in its ever-growing collection of printed and manuscript sources. The Society fosters a broad community of inquiry through inclusive programs and generous support of scholarship. **Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility** The following is an excerpt from a statement from the American Antiquarian Society Council and staff: "We recognize that a deeper understanding of the American past must be a more inclusive one. We recognize that the best stewardship of AAS’s unparalleled collections requires us to work to open our doors to readers with diverse perspectives. Innumerable histories remain to be told by researchers—including members of groups historically excluded by intention or custom from AAS’s reading room—who ask new questions, probing the silences in the documents and amplifying the voices unrepresented in the printed and manuscript record. Therefore, the Society has begun an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Initiative with the following vision: To welcome, recruit, support, and empower people of diverse backgrounds and experiences, AAS will confront systemic inequity, racism, and marginalization both within our institution and in the work of collecting, preserving, and sharing America’s and Americans’ diverse stories."