The College Board has a new opponent in their fight to whitewash American history — a large group of distinguished scholars.

Stanley Kurtz writes at National Review:

55 Scholars Protest AP U.S. History Changes

Defenders of the College Board’s controversial new AP U.S. History (APUSH) framework like to paint their opponents as ignorant chauvinists who want to censor the bad bits out of American history. That’s going to be awfully hard to do now that 55 distinguished historians, Americanists, and education specialists have issued a powerful condemnation of the College Board’s revisionist history.

The statement’s signatories make it clear that they favor a “warts and all” account of American history that nonetheless emphasizes the ways in which “we remain one nation with common ideals and a shared story.” I cannot improve upon this statement, which will almost certainly stand as a landmark in our public debates about what sort of country we are and want to be. I recommend that you read it forthwith, along with the excellent commentary on it by Peter Berkowitz. (Note that the bottom of the statement contains instructions for those with professional competence in the study or teaching of American history who wish to add their names to the list of signatories.)

Having taken on the College Board’s ill-advised U.S. history changes on numerous occasions (eg. here, here, here, and here), I don’t pretend to neutrality on this statement. In fact, several of the statement’s signatories consulted me on the issue, and I helped alert several others to the project.

I’ll have plenty more to say about the APUSH battle in the coming weeks, since the controversy is going to come to a boil this summer. For now, I want to take a closer look at the scholars who signed this statement. If you want a quick tour of American historical scholarship that runs against the progressive grain (along with links to some important historical work that deserves to be better known), read on.