Americas, The

The scholarly journal The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History was founded in 1944, with the first issue appearing in July of that year. Founded under the auspices of the Academy of American Franciscan History (AAFH), it was intended to provide a forum for "authoritative contributions by outstanding scholars of all the Americas," to create "deeper understanding, mutual respect and amity among all institutions of learning." The journal has focused largely on issues dealing with Latin America, in the broadest sense of the term, including the borderlands (the largely Hispanic areas on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border) and French-speaking Canada. The overwhelming majority of articles appear in English, with a few exceptions. Although sponsored by the AAFH and housed at the Catholic University of America, the journal has never been uniquely dedicated to issues of church history, but rather deals with cultural history in general. In addition to articles, the journal publishes scholarly book reviews, historical documents, and "Inter-American Notes," traditionally an important venue for professional announcements. In the more than sixty years of its existence it has had ten editors. Of these, in the first forty-five years, all were Franciscans, with Fr. Antonine Tibesar, OFM (1909–1992), having served the longest, a total of twenty years. Since 1988 none of the editors has been a Franciscan, but lay persons and leading scholars of Latin American history serving five-year terms. In 1998 Judith Ewell became its first woman editor, and the first woman to edit a major scholarly journal dealing with Latin America. The journal boasts a very thorough editorial review process. Nearly all submissions are read by the editorial board (the editor and associate and assistant editors) before outside referees are sought. Their comments are then scrutinized by the board before it reaches a final decision. The editors call upon professionals in the field to evaluate submitted articles and provide book reviews, particularly those in two groups of outside editors, the area editors and senior editors. The journal participates in Project MUSE for its recent issues, and JSTOR for earlier issues. The Conference of Latin American History awards an annual Tibesar Prize for the best article published in the journal during the previous year.

See alsoFranciscans .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History. Available from http://www.drexel.edu/coas/theamericas/.

                                 John F. Schwaller