Historians in the News

Harvard’s Drew Gilpin Faust takes on another controversy: Bars members of single-gender clubs from leadership roles

The first woman president of Harvard says the move will enhance "principles of non-discrimination."

Max Boot says the Republican Party is dead

by Max Boot

"Trump is an ignorant demagogue who traffics in racist and misogynistic slurs and crazy conspiracy theories."

Steve Fraser says Trump is sui generis

by Steve Fraser

In a wide-ranging interview he talks about his new book, Limousine Liberal, and the origins of Trumpian populism.

Yale’s Timothy Snyder denounces the Polish government for sabotaging the Museum of the Second World War

by Timothy Snyder

"The preemptive liquidation of the museum is nothing less than a violent blow to the world’s cultural heritage."

The Historian Whitewashing Ukraine’s Past

Volodymyr Viatrovych is erasing the country’s racist and bloody history — stripping pogroms and ethnic cleansing from the official archives.

Andrew Roberts wins $250,000 prize from the conservative Bradley Foundation

His books include Napoleon: A Life; Masters and Commanders: How Churchill, Roosevelt, Alanbrooke and Marshall Won the War in the West; and A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900.

Daniel Aaron, Critic and Historian Who Pioneered American Studies, Dies at 103

Professor Aaron was also the founding president of the Library of America, which has published 279 classic works.

Liz Covart's amazingly popular podcast helps her audience understand early American history

It’s downloaded 45,000 times a month.

Justus Rosenberg is still teaching at age 95

And that is not what’s most remarkable about this anti-fascist intellectual who battled Vichy.

Glenda Gilmore chides Yale for deciding to keep the name of Calhoun

by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore

"The decision to name residential colleges for Benjamin Franklin and Anna Pauline Murray, a black civil rights activist, does nothing to redeem this wrong."

The historian and cartographer Bill Rankin has developed a new way to visualize slavery

His maps show that the gradual decline of slavery in the north was matched by its explosive expansion in the south.

Paula S. Fass says young Americans need required national service

by Paula S. Fass

"I am proposing that our presidential candidates consider two years of required national service for all young Americans between 18 and 21 years of age."

Historians are now trying to show that the gay revolution also took place in the midwest

Scott Seyforth and Nichole Barnes are unearthing this history through oral interviews.

The Unconference Movement Grows – And Historians Are Taking the Lead

by Mary Rizzo and Molly Rosner

Increasingly scholars like attending conferences where the agenda is created on the fly. Here’s an example.

New appeal to "Bring Back Military History"

by Aaron B. O’Connell

It’s made by Aaron B. O’Connell, a cultural historian at the US Naval Academy.

Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger discusses his controversial career

Addressing his controversial record as former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger acknowledged “mistakes were made” by America in the Vietnam War but said he had no regrets about his actions in the war.

Annette Gordon-Reed subjects herself to Reddit, the “anything-goes” social media website

Ask Me Anything (AMA), she told them. They complied.

Historian Nick Turse says the Pentagon has blacklisted him for making multiple FOIA requests

True, he admits, he did file a lot of requests. But there was a reason.

A historian says it’s time to consider how Big Data could change historical research

by Geoffrey Belknap

Crowdsourcing research by ‘non-specialists’ could help historians investigate big-data archives, says Geoffrey Belknap.

Sidney Blumenthal -- Yes, that Sidney Blumenthal -- has a projected 4 volume biography of Lincoln

Historians James McPherson, Harold Holzer et al. are singing the praises of the first volume, which has just been published by Simon & Schuster.