At its meetings in New York on January 2 and 5, 2009, the Council reached the following decisions:

• Approved the minutes and actions of all Council meetings and activities between June 5 and December 1, 2008.
• Approved foundational document for a capital campaign.
• Approved the annual outside auditors’ report for the 2007–08 fiscal year.
• Approved all appointments to AHA recommended by the Committee on Committees.
• Accepted the applications for affiliation from the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship and the Disability History Association.
• Approved the formation of task forces on the concerns of K–12 teachers and community college faculty.
• Established a new privacy policy for electronic communications.
• Formed a subcommittee of the Council to explore whether there should be subgroups or sections within the Association.
• Established a new Raymond J. Cunningham Prize for the Best History Undergraduate Paper Published in a History Department Journal.
• Accepted updates to language about disability in five AHA documents.
• Tabled a document prepared by the Professional Division on “Recommendations for Review, Promotion, and Tenure.”
• Constituted a Task Force on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Historians.
• Vetoed a resolution approved by the business meeting, and approved a slightly modified version of the same resolution, reading:
  • WHEREAS, The AHA is committed to equity in the workplace and equal rights regardless of race, ethnicity, religious belief, disability, gender, or sexual orientation;
  • WHEREAS, It is one aspect of the mission of the AHA to bring historical expertise to bear on issues of pressing public concern;
  • WHEREAS, The Council concurs with the spirit of the resolution approved by the 2009 business meeting; and
  • WHEREAS, A boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego in 2010 would actually benefit the owner financially, but would cause severe financial loss for the AHA;
  • Resolved, That the AHA will implement the following strategies that it believes will more effectively bring attention to this issue:
    1. Form a working group to collaborate with the 2010 Program Committee and the LGBTQ Task Force to create a series of sessions and special events that will address issues of equity and place questions of marriage and family in historical perspective.
    2. Set aside $62,500 of AHA funds, and up to $100,000 if needed if matching funds from members and outside donors are not raised, to support initiatives in this vein proposed by the working group, Program Committee, or LGBTQ Task Force.
    3. Arrange press coverage and invite public participation from San Diego and the surrounding communities to publicize the AHA’s position on equity and equal rights, as fully as possible. The American Historical Association proposes to use this Annual Meeting as an opportunity to educate its members and the public on this issue.
    4. Make hotel rooms available in convenient alternative venues for AHA members who do not wish to patronize the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego
• Approved a proposal for future initiatives of the Committee on Women Historians.
• Named Michael Fisher, Oberlin College, as chair of the 2011 Program Committee.
• Named six members to the Archives-Wiki Advisory Board.