Historians in the News

The Unfinished Business of Women’s Suffrage

by Melissa Gira Grant

Historian Lisa Tetrault's book "The Myth of Seneca Falls" documents how white women leaders of the suffrage movement both excluded nonwhite women from leadership of the suffrage struggle but wrote the movement's founding histories to justify their position. These exclusions blind us to the way that millions of women's right to vote is restricted today.

100 Years Later, These Activists Continue Their Ancestors’ Work

The New York Times highlights a group of contemporary scholars, writers who are direct descendants of leading figures in the movement for women's suffrage and racial equality in voting rights.

A Black Nurse Saved Lives. Today She May Save Art

Graduate student Laura Voisin George discovered an image of Biddy Mason, a Black woman born in slavery who became a founding figure in Los Angeles's African American history, in a set of WPA murals in an auditorium at the University of California-San Francisco. The discovery may help preserve the murals. 

He’s Sharing the History of Black New York, One Tweet at a Time

Oluwanisola “Sola” Olosunde is an urban planning graduate student whose Twitter feed is a chronicle of the everyday life of Black New York. He helped bring to light a recent viral video of white Queens residents yelling racist abuse at young Black girls during a period of resistance to desegregation in the 1970s.

Citizen's Arrest: How is This Still a Law? (video)

Hofstra professor (and HNN contributor) Alan J. Singer explains to Roy Wood, Jr. why "citizens arrest" is a legacy of the era of slavery and white supremacy. 

Kamala Harris isn’t the First Black Woman to Run for VP. Meet Charlotta Bass

Historians Martha S. Jones, Eric McDuffie and Denise Lynn identify the Los Angeles newspaper publisher and civil rights activist of the mid-20th century as a key figure paving the way for Kamala Harris and contemporary women of color in politics. 

‘She May Very Well Hold The Key To Biden’s Win’

A group of women scholars and activists including Keisha N. Blain, Jo Freeman, Oneka LaBennett and Treva Lindsey give perspective on Kamala Harris's selection as the Democratic vice presidential candidate.   

Thousands of Women Fought Against the Right to Vote. Their Reasons Still Resonate Today

Anya Jabour and Susan Goodier offer insight into the motives of women who opposed female suffrage.

After Falwell Stumbles, His Hometown Sees a Leader in Need of Redemption

Historians of religion including Grant Wacker, Anthea Butler and John Fea comment on the significance of Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s recent public scandals and the position of Liberty University in the evangelical world. 

White Author Reflects On Finding, Bringing Together Descendants Of Enslaved People In His Family (Audio)

Author Edward Ball discusses his two books examining the relationship of his white family to slavery and the Ku Klux Klan and the role of white Americans in racial reconcilation. 

A Milestone for Palestinian Studies

Brown establishes what it says is the first endowed professorship in Palestinian studies at a U.S. research institution, held by Beshara Doumani.

Paul Seaver, Leading Historian of Early Modern England, Dies at 88

Paul Seaver, a distinguished historian of early modern England and dedicated university citizen, died Aug. 1. He was 88.

Trump has Never Even Read a 'Children's Book' about Abraham Lincoln: Douglas Brinkley (Video)

Douglas Brinkley recounts part of an interview with Trump in which the President's lack of erudition was revealed. 

Taking My Children to See Frederick Douglass

by Clint Smith

“It is always a fact of some importance to know where a man is born, if, indeed, it be important to know anything about him.” So wrote Frederick Douglass in his 1855 autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom. It was with these reflections and Douglass’s words in mind that, on Juneteenth, I got in the car with my family and drove from our home, outside Washington, D.C., to Talbot County, Maryland, where Frederick Douglass was born.

How the GOP Became the Party of Resentment

Historian Patrick Iber reflects on "Reaganland," the concluding volume of Rick Perlstein's genre-defining series of books on American conservatism, and urges readers to consider how the movement mobilized anger and resentment as opposed to high principle. 

The Nation’s First Civil-Rights Law Needs to Be Fixed

Congress can amend the nation's first civil rights law to make explicit that it protects against both intentional discrimination and policies that perpetuate racial inequality. 

Experiencing War Far From the Battlefield

Two new books examine unexpected facets of World War II. 

Isabel Wilkerson’s World-Historical Theory of Race and Caste

Wilkerson's book contends that what we know as racism must be understood as a system of social domination, not as a matter of group conflict or prejudice.

Queens Powhatan and Pocahontas Democratic Club Considers Name Change

Columbia professor Mae Ngai, co-director for the school’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, called the use of Pocahontas’ name “clueless.”

Eminent Scholar of Early U.S., Bernard Bailyn, Dies at 97

An acknowledged landmark in scholarship, Bernard Bailyn's “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution” won the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize in 1968.