The approximately 300 members include professional historians, independent scholars, journalists, film and documentary makers, novelists, poets, and biographers, all of whom were selected for membership based on the literary excellence as well as the intellectual strength of their writing or presentation of American history.
[11] Nevins, who taught history for over 35 years at Columbia University, was the author of more than 50 books, including an eight-volume history of the American Civil War and biographies of John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Grover Cleveland (which won the 1933 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography).
A journalist for fifteen years before coming to Columbia (he never earned a Ph.D.), Nevins was the master of a robust and readable style, and continued throughout his life to write for radio and the popular press.
[12] In 1954, in an effort to bring good historical writing to a wide audience, the Society collaborated in establishing the magazine American Heritage as a popular illustrated bimonthly.
Its administrative office is located at Columbia University; it is supported largely by annual dues from individual and publisher members.