Historians in the News

Julius S. Scott, Author of "The Common Wind" Dies at 66

“As a young African-American, I noticed other Black athletes from Africa, the Caribbean and South America, and I thought about their relationship to Afro-North Americans, and what were some of the important vehicles of communication between Black people in different parts of the Americas."

A Reunion of Maine Switchboard Operators Recalls Old Era of Telecommunications

"During the 1950s, more than 220,000 operators were employed by the Bell System alone. Most were women who were expected to be courteous, quick-thinking and patient under pressure."

Thomas Zimmer: One-Party Theocratic Authoritarian Takeover is a Real Risk

"I think the idea that Democrats could get the support of white conservative voters by focusing on governing well, by emphasizing “pocketbook issues,” underestimates the depth of the ideological struggle that we are witnessing."

Kathleen Belew on Her "Field Guide to White Supremacy"

Belew discusses the impact of the Charlottesville civil lawsuit verdict, the ongoing prosecutions of Capitol rioters, and the ongoing problem of white supremacist, neo-Nazi and right-wing extremist organizations. 

Smithsonian's John Grinspan on Histories of Americans Fighting For Democracy

Do we need to tolerate a decline in civility in order to ensure the kind of democratic participation that will keep Americans invested in working within our institiutions? 

Exchange: The Violence of Work

by Emily E. LB. Twarog

A group of labor historians consider whether violence – manifested in workplace injury and death – is an inevitable part of capitalist labor relations. 

Public Thinker: Destin Jenkins on Breaking Bonds

by Hannah Appel

"As your work so powerfully shows, the municipal bond market structures racial privilege, entrenches spatial neglect, and distributes wealth and power. American cities are dependent on financiers, rating agencies, and bond markets for nearly everything."

"When Harlem was in Vogue" at 40

by Shane Graham

"Because the book is, at its core, an institutional history, it probes deep behind the scenes of the Renaissance. Lewis focuses not just on the artists, but on the tireless efforts of a small group of people to promote and support those artists, and on the organizations and publications that made the whole movement possible."

Introducing “Disciplining The Nation”

by Matt Guariglia and Charlotte Rosen

"Rooted in racial slavery, settler colonialism, and U.S. empire, policing and incarceration in the United States were slowly and meticulously built over time for the purpose of subordinating, punishing, and exploiting populations –and historians have the documents to prove it."

Burying Leni Riefenstahl: Nina Gladitz's Lifelong Crusade

In 1982, documentarian Nina Gladitz examined Reifenstahl's use of ethnic Roma concentration camp inmates as extras in a feature film, actions which demonstrated her knowledge of and complicity in atrocities. It cost her dearly, professionally and personally, over a decades-long pursuit of the truth. 

This Paleoanthropologist is Unraveling the Mystery of How Humans Started Eating Meat

"Every time I got to pull a bone out of the ground it literally felt like reaching through time. I was touching a bone that hadn’t been touched for a million and a half years — it was magical" – Briana Pobiner.

The 1619 Project and the Demands of Public History

by Lauren Michele Jackson

"In spite of all of the ugly evidence it has assembled, the 1619 Project ultimately seeks to inspire faith in the American project, just as any conventional social-studies curriculum would."

Rise And Fall Of A Movement — A Review Of “The Young Lords: A Radical History”

by Leo Valdes

Johanna Fernandez's history of the Puerto Rican activist organization reconstructs the movement's roots and shows that an organization formed in 1969 still offers a useful diagnosis of an "urban crisis" rooted in experiences in housing, schools, hospitals, and jails. 

Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman on the Corrosive Effects of Disinformation (Podcast)

The early American press, the telegraph, and broadcast media have all been vectors of the kind of political disinformation we are plagued by today. 

What are Frantz Fanon's Lessons for Today?

by Pankaj Mishra

Taken at the moment of the Algerian fight for independence and other colonial liberation movements, "The Wretched of the Earth" was first seen as a beacon of liberatory thought. A new edition frames the ambivalences in Fanon's work on freedom.

Amy Shira Teitel: Why is Space Such a Boys' Club?

"Space skews predominantly male, especially Apollo-era space history because that was the era when little boys growing up were being told, 'You can be an astronaut, too'!"

Adam Tooze: How Sanctions Work (and Why they Often Don't)

On the "Ones and Tooze" Podcast, Adam Tooze examines economic sanctions against Iran, which have inflicted pain on the population without impacting the country's nuclear program. 

Can We Teach Grad Students in the Humanities to Collaborate?

by Leonard Cassuto

Historians “do everything alone,” said Professor Rita Chin of the University of Michigan. The archival work, the thinking, the writing — all are structured as solitary pursuits.

New Book Questions Value of Established Treatment Methods in Age of Fentanyl

Amy C. Sullivan tells the history of the "Minnesota Model" of inpatient treatment followed by sponsorship and 12-step recovery, but says the model isn't working for the opioid epidemic and a pragmatic "harm reduction" approach is needed. 

Blair Mountain, West Virginia Still Shows the Grip of the Coal Industry

“It was kind of weird growing up, knowing that there was a war fought here and nobody knew about it, and there’s no monuments to it,” Professor Chuck Keeney said. Others believe the story of the mine wars has been suppressed because it challenges the image of big coal as a benevolent force in the state.