Historians in the News

Ellen Schrecker says professors should be worried about a New McCarthyism

by Ellen Schrecker

Linking the campaign against PC to the threat of terrorism could start a new academic witch hunt, she warns.

Malcolm Gladwell, historian

In his new podcast on history Gladwell uses history to illuminate lessons about human behavior.

Jim Green, activist and historian, has died at age 71

He believed in pursuing history “with a purpose.”

George Chauncy, the historian as expert witness

How his work as a historian helped his side win case after case against gay bigotry.

Historians complain that a Trump Syllabus is as white as the man himself

The syllabus was featured on the website of the Chronicle of Higher Ed, which has apologized for its white bias.

New president of Iceland? A historian.

Guðni Johannesson, who teaches at the University of Iceland, is a political novice.

Emory historian pens an op ed in the WaPo that goes viral and a book is born

The book is "White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide.” The author is historian Carol Anderson.

Nancy Unger hails California law that requires the teaching of LGBT history

by Nancy C. Unger

She says it’s a model other states should follow.

Amateur historians are finding how local newspapers reported on the Holocaust

It's a project of the Holocaust Museum.  It's already turned up 2,000 articles. 

Grove City College's AAUP censure lifted after 53 years after school apologizes for firing Larry Gara

Gara, a pacifist, was fired in 1962 at the height of the Cold War. The apology came after the AP highlighted his case last year. He’s now 94 years old.

In an interview Flora Fraser recounts the 3 lessons she hopes readers learn from her book about George and Martha Washington

"I was intrigued by the journey into radicalism on which this loyal British couple subsequently embarked."

Judith Stein says in an interview that liberals overestimate the racism of the New Deal and misunderstand why the Democratic Party moved right

by Judith Stein

Contrary to today’s liberals, Stein argues that it wasn’t the racism of white workers that forced the Democratic Party to the right on economics. It was powerful political and business elites, who chose to abandon organized labor and turn the Party of Roosevelt into the Party of Clinton.

This historian says the public shouldn’t care what historians think about Brexit

by Tim Stanley

"What is frustrating is the idea, encouraged by the media, that historians have some special, purely objective insight on the modern world thanks to their familiarity with the past. We don’t.” — Tim Stanley

Historian Douglas Charles explains why the old FBI went after gay people

In an interview he says the FBI regarded gays as a threat to the family the New Deal was trying to protect.

Historians of slavery are now looking at their own institutions

That’s a change from the past when this kind of research was largely ignored.

What Happened the Last Time the Earth Went Through Climate Change Was Horrifying

by David L. O’Connor

The economy collapsed and thousands of people were burned as witches.

The Scholar Who Discovered the ‘Jesus's Wife’ Fragment Now Says It's Likely a Fake

Karen King now says she was wrong.

Douglas Brinkley calls on President Obama to make Stonewall America’s first gay rights monument

"Obama should make his human rights stand on behalf of the grief-stricken LGBT community more Day-Glo. Not only should he march in New York City's upcoming gay pride parade on June 26, but he should also sign an executive order that Sunday establishing Stonewall National Monument."

Rhoda Blumberg, Whose Children’s Books Brought History to Life, Dies at 98

Turning to history in her mid-50s, Ms. Blumberg infused her nonfiction with enlightening nuggets that tantalized young readers.

Annette Gordon-Reed vs. Sam Haselby: Was Jefferson a Christian?

In an interview Haselby recounts his differences with Gordon-Reed over Jefferson’s religious beliefs.