The American Historical Association (AHA) is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress in 1889 for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research.

As the largest historical society in the United States, the AHA serves as the umbrella organization for historians. In this role, it conducts an active scholarly and professional program for historians interested in every period and geographical area. Among its 15,000 members are faculty at secondary schools and two– and four–year colleges and universities, independent historians, and historians in museums, historical organizations, libraries and archives, government, and other areas.

The Pacific Coast Branch (PCB) was organized in 1903 to serve members of the American Historical Association living in the Western States of the United States and the Western Provinces of Canada. All members of the AHA living in those areas, therefore, are also members of the Branch. Dues of the parent and branch association are handled by the Executive Director of the AHA, 400 A Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.

Independent of the AHA itself, the Pacific Coast Branch maintains business offices at:

Michael Green
Department of History
UNLV
Box 455020
Las Vegas, NV 89154-5020

The Pacific Coast Branch also publishes the Pacific Historical Review (PHR), which carries all information on Branch affairs. Individual subscribers of the PHR are also voting members of the PCB. Subscriptions to the Review are made through the Journals Division, University of California Press, Oakland, CA 94612.