The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John Wesley Powell.

The journal also maintains a website with essays, virtual issues, teaching resources, and supplementary material for print articles.

F. W. Hodge (1899–1910) John R. Swanton (1911) F. W. Hodge (1912–1914) Pliny E. Goddard (1915–1920) John R. Swanton (1921–1923) Robert H. Lowie (1924–1933) Leslie Spier (1934–1938) Ralph Linton (1939–1944) J. Alden Mason (1945–1948) Melville J. Herskovits (1949–1952) Sol Tax (1953–1955) Walter R. Goldschmidt (1956–1959) Edward H. Spicer (1960–1962) George D. Spindler (1963–1966) Ward H. Goodenough (1967–1970) Laura Bohannan (1971–1973) Robert A.

Manners (1974–1975) Richard B. Woodbury (1976–1978) David L. Olmsted (1979–1981) H. Russell Bernard (1982–1985) Thomas C. Greaves (1985–1986) H. Russell Bernard (1986–1989) Janet Keller (1990–1993) Barbara Tedlock & Dennis Tedlock (1993–1997) Robert Sussman (1998–2001) Susan H. Lees & Fran Mascia-Lees (2001–2005) Ben Blount (2005–2007) Tom Boellstorff (2007–2012) Michael Chibnik (2012–2016) Deborah A. Thomas (2016–2020) The four main subfields of anthropology include cultural, linguistic, archeology, and biological/physical.

[3] In 2010, then editor-in-chief Tom Boellstorff proposed that American Anthropologist be viewed as an "interdisciplinary" journal, arguing that the goal should be "to present the best work in 'anthropology'—as defined in the broadest possible sense.