Category talk:Historians of aviation

Rename this list "Aviation historians"

Just got notification of the merging of the list "Aviation historians" with this "Historians of Aviation" list. Apparently it was decided suddenly, with almost no community input. Regret not getting to engage in the discussion before it was closed and archived.

I've been a nationally/internationally published aviation industry journalist and historian since the 1970s (including for multiple peer-reviewed aviation history journals), have functioned as my state's aviation history speaker, chairman of multiple aviation historical events, consultant to multiple aviation historical organizations, aviation history lecturer to both aviation and general museums, libraries, colleges and universities, and serve on a board of the leading U.S. aviation history association. To the best of my recollection of 50 years in the business, I've NEVER heard the term "Historians of aviation" (singular or plural) -- not even from non-aviation historians referring to our field.

The traditional, and essentially universal term is "AVIATION HISTORIAN." It's used as the self-description of every "historian of aviation," and it is how they are referred to by everyone else I've ever read or heard on the subject. For every example for which you can find that uses "Historian of aviation," I can easily and quickly cite a dozen (or dozens, maybe a hundred) examples of the term "Aviation historian," online and/or in print.

• American Aviation Historical Society, About us: "For the aviation historian,..."
• Royal Aeronautical Society (one of the world's oldest and foremost aviation org's): a Google site search of their website found NO examples of the phrase "historian of aviation" nor "historians of aviation"; but 26 examples of the term "aviation historians" (with more offered by Google, but not initially listed because of near-duplication of content).
• Air Force Historical Foundation: a Google site search of their website found ONE example of the phrase "historians of aviation"; but 25 examples of the term "aviation historians" (with more offered by Google, but not initially listed because of near-duplication of content).
• Society for Aviation History, Past NorCal AAHS General Meetings,: "As an pilot and aviation historian..."
• League of World War I Aviation Historians identified in their historical journal: Over the Front,: ("Aviation Historians" is in their name)
• Commemorative Air Force, News, "CAF Capital Wing Uncovers Combat History of Assigned L-5": "...one of the world's leading military aviation historians,..."
• A Google search of all ".edu" (academic institution) domains -- including National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Air University of the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps U., Columbia, Yale, Georgetown, M.I.T., Purdue, Monash (Australia), University of Texas, and many more -- found:
  • 75 examples of the term "aviation historian"
    vs.
  • 27 examples of the term "historian of aviation"
• and:
  • 108 examples of the term "aviation historians"
    vs.
  • 18 examples of the term "historians of aviation"

(with, in each case, more offered by Google, but not initially listed because of near-duplication of content).

If you must use a more "elegant" term, use "Aerospace historians":

• National Air and Space Museum, “A Company of Scholars”: A Brief History of the National Air and Space Museum’s Fellowship Program: "...aerospace historians..."
• Aerospace Historian was, for many years, the title of a forerunner of the current Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation.

So, as User:Mason suggested in the merge discussion, let's now properly, accurately, conventionally rename these merged lists as "Aviation historians".

~ Zxtxtxz (talk) 02:17, 5 September 2024 (UTC)