It was co-founded in the fall of 2012 by Benjamin Breen, Felipe Cruz, Christopher Heaney, and Brian Jones.

A stated goal of the journal is that "scholarly and popular history need to come together.

[2] The journal featured articles from historians, anthropologists, artists, journalists, and other writers.

The journal has been praised by Lapham's Quarterly,[citation needed] The Public Domain Review,[citation needed] Dan Cohen,[3] and the blog of the American Historical Association.

[citation needed] Material from The Appendix has been featured on the websites of The Atlantic,[4] Slate,[5] Jezebel,[6] and the Smithsonian Magazine.