Dear SHEAR friends,

I’m writing to let you know about some changes at the JER. At the end of July, Andrew Shankman will be stepping down as JER co-editor. He has shepherded the JER through a complex time of change. Under his stewardship, the JER launched two new series—“Engaging Historiography” and “Critical Engagements”—and started the hard work of encouraging the editorial team to work together to develop original material. In doing so, he helped diversify the journal in many ways. For those of us who work at the JER, he has also been a mentor, always supporting us as individuals and encouraging us. I have heard many JER authors express their appreciation for Andy’s astute guidance and his deep care. He will be missed.

We are excited that Ronald Angelo Johnson will be joining the JER as co-editor in August. Ron is Associate Professor of History and holder of the Ralph and Bessie Mae Lynn Chair at Baylor University. He is author of a book that many of us know and admire, Diplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance (University of Georgia Press, 2014). With Ousmane K. Power-Greene, he edited the important collection In Search of Liberty: African American Internationalism in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World (University of Georgia Press, 2021). He is completing a new book entitled We Are All Equal: Racialized Relations between the United States and Haiti in the Age of Revolutions.

For those of you who know him, you already know why all of us at the JER are so excited to have him join our team. His work as co-chair of SHEAR’s D/E/I committee, his capacity to truly listen to diverse viewpoints, and his empathy and care for other people are going to make him a real asset to our journal. His scholarship—on African American history, diplomatic and intellectual history, and Atlantic and Caribbean history—bring new strengths to our journal. In his interview, Ron made clear how committed he is to help the journal navigate changing times, especially finding ways to bring in new voices and to support junior scholars, many of whom may not have tenure-line positions. We look forward to working with Ron to expand the journal’s offerings and to innovate in creative ways so that we can expand who can find their way into our pages.

I want to offer a big thank you to Andy for all that he has done for the JER and for me personally, and to let everyone know how grateful we are that Ron responded to our call for a new editor. I am so looking forward to working with him and I know that he will push us to make the JER even better.

Sincerely, Johann Neem

Co-Editor, Journal of the Early Republic