Welcome to The Historians of American Communism (HOAC)

About Us

The Historians of American Communism (HOAC) was founded in 1982 by a gathering of interested scholars at the Organization of American Historians Conference in Philadelphia. It promotes the scholarly study of the American Communist Party (CPUSA), its antecedent organizations and splinter groups with particular emphasizes on exploring the organization’s impact on American society, its support for social justice and civil rights issues and its ties with the Soviet Union and other international organizations.

Its first president was Hy Berman of the University of Minnesota assisted by the General Organizing Board consisting of Lowell Dyson, Max Gordon, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and William Pratt. The current officers are Vernon L. Pedersen, President, Denise Lynn, Vice-President and Editor of American Communist History, and James G. Ryan, Katherine A. S. Sibley and Jason Roberts, Executive Board members.