This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: University of Maryland website
9-15-08
"The situation we face in financial markets today was largely the creation of a Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan's long tenure," says University of Maryland business and economic historian David Sicilia. "It's a shame he wasn't as forthright then as he is now as a prominent private citizen."
Newswise — University of Maryland historian David Sicilia, a specialist in economic and business history and author of The Greenspan Effect: Words that Move the World's M
Source: BBC
9-15-08
It's the most exciting US election campaign for decades but, as a
historian, I'm also struck by deeper currents under the surface of events.
My new series for BBC Radio 4 America, Empire of Liberty takes as its
title Thomas Jefferson's prediction in the 1800s that the United States
would be a great"empire of liberty".
Empire and liberty have been recurrent and often conflicting themes in
America's development and I think they're also reflected in this year's
rival presidential
Source: Bristol Herald Courier
9-14-08
If presidential approval ratings are an accurate portrayal of American opinion, then President Bush will go down as the most unpopular president in American history to date, a prominent historian said here Saturday.
But history changes things. And decades from now, the Bush legacy could be one of high-regard and reverence, he added.
“The way presidential history works is that the longer you wait, the fairer the judgment,” said Michael Beschloss, one of the country’s pre
Source: Jim Sleeper at TPM Cafe (blog)
8-28-08
[Mr. Sleeper, a journalist, is a lecturer at Yale.]
As Bill Clinton was squashing most of the media's hopes for a Clintonista uprising against Barack Obama last night, Charles Kaiser, the veteran reporter and scourge of bad faith in journalism, was up in Newsweek squashing a perverse Clinton dead-ender, the increasingly and pathetically power-hungry Princeton professor Sean Wilentz.
As late as this week, Wilentz was sti
Source: Michael Johnson in the International Herald Tribune
9-11-08
I didn't follow Julien Sorel into the military or the seminary but I have stayed with his creator, Henri Beyle - better known by his nom de plume, Stendhal - throughout my life. I have just rediscovered his novel "The Red and the Black" in a pungent new translation.
"R&B," as it is known to fans, has been regarded as a classic for 150 years and still crosses cultural boundaries with ease. I first read it in church, holding it concealed in the dust jacket of a
Source: Robert Bateman in the WaPo
9-11-08
Each of us has our own story about where we were and what we were doing on that bright September day seven long years ago. "Where were you?" is a question that will follow everyone who was alive and sentient at the time. We will tell our stories to our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren, and each story will be unique. Together, however, these fragments constitute a whole. A mosaic of personal tales which, taken together, will help future generations understand.
I wi
Source: http://www.apanews.net
9-12-08
Africans could claim a "Marshall Plan" that would allow them to set the foundations for an economic take-off by investing heavily in health, education, roads, agriculture and water, Niger historian Djibo Hamani said on Thursday in Niamey.
"I think that Africans have the right to claim reparations from European countries for the 60 million African slaves taken to America from the 16th to 19th century, and for the colonization and forced labour,\" he said during a
Source: Telegraph
9-12-08
On Monday afternoon, Radio 4 launches one of its most ambitious history
projects of recent years. America, Empire of Liberty will tell the story
of the United States – from the times of the first settlements in the
country back in 12,000 BC, through to the present day. It will consist of
90 fifteen-minute episodes, split into three runs of 30 episodes each.
Among Radio 4’s history series, only the Nineties’ This Sceptred Isle, a
history of Britain, and Neil MacGregor’s forthcoming history
Source: Russell Jacoby in the Chronicle of Higher Ed
9-19-08
"Any of us from the progressive side of academia who runs into Sean Wilentz," writes a leading Harvard political scientist, "should cross to the other side of the street and keep moving!" Why? Wilentz is a Princeton historian of great vigor and ability. He has published a number of scholarly books on American history. He also writes frequently on political issues for magazines including The New Republic and Rolling Stone. He is a liberal activist, and a friend of the Clintons
Source: National Parks Traveler Online
9-10-08
Once a decision is made, it's left to the historians to decide how sound
it was. After all, history can speak volumes. It can point to incredibly
great decisions, as well as point out some horrendous ones.
Dr. Dwight Pitcaithley's lengthy National Park Service career wrapped up
with a decade during which he served as the agency's chief historian. Now
retired and teaching at New Mexico State University, Dr. Pitcaithley
recently was interviewed by the Thunderbear, a web-zine whose
sel
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
9-10-08
The State Department Historian last week released a new electronic volume
of Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), the official documentary
record of U.S. foreign policy, devoted to events in Eastern Europe from
1973-1976.
While every FRUS publication is of interest, the latest E-volume
reinforced concerns about diminishing quality control in the venerable
series.
"I was taken aback by how skimpy it is," said Mark Kramer, director of the
Harvard Project on ColdWa
Source: Campus Watch
9-10-08
"The American empire is going down."So declared history professor and former president of the Middle East Studies Association, Joel Beinin, on the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center (PPJC) cable television program,"Other Voices" (watch
Source: Yale Daily News
9-9-08
Memories of Yale in the 1960s echoed through the Branford master’s house Monday afternoon as historian Thurston Clarke ’68 told students about a “time of great turmoil” in recent American history.
Using his new book about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 bid for the presidency, “The Last Campaign,” as a starting point, Clarke crafted a narrative of a decade whose upheaval and turbulence mirror that of the present.
“When I do these micro-histories,” said Clarke, the author of 10
Source: Australian
9-10-08
THE latest chapter in the history wars returns one of its chief protagonists, Stuart Macintyre, to the front line, with his appointment by the National Curriculum Board to draft the course for schools from the first year of school through to Year 12.
Professor Macintyre, the Ernest Scott professor of history at Melbourne University and chairman of Australian Studies at Harvard, was sidelined by the Howard government in its pursuit of a national curriculum for Australian history.
Source: http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com
9-2-08
It is with profound sadness, and a deep and abiding sense of obligation, that the community of indigenous historians of Sierra Leone, and allied enthusiasts, has received news of the passing of the much-revered Dean of the history of Sierra Leone, Christopher Fyfe.
Christopher devoted enormous energies, time, and resources to his research and writing on Freetown and its Krio community, and the ties between that group and the other ethnic societies of Sierra Leone. With great insight, prof
Source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
9-9-08
On June 25, 2008, the House Appropriations Committee cleared the Financial Services and General Government fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill that includes funding for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). NARA received $423.8 million, a significant $23.6 million increase over the FY ’08 enacted amount. And the NHPRC not only staved off elimination, but also received its fully authorized amount of $10 mi
Source: Foreign Policy
8-1-08
He is one of the world’s foremost scholars of Islam and the Middle East. Bernard Lewis shares his thoughts on Iraq, “Islamofascism,” the roots of terrorism, and the two biggest misperceptions about the Muslim faith.
Foreign Policy: What do you see as the biggest misperception about Islam?
Bernard Lewis: Well, there are two. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, predominates. It depends when and where. I would call them the negative one and the positive one. The negative
Source: National Security Archive
9-9-08
More than 50 years after the historic but controversial execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were convicted of atomic espionage, the U.S. government this Thursday, September 11, is expected to make public long shrouded grand jury testimony from its prosecution of the Rosenbergs, which will be the subject of a press briefing on September 11, 2008.
Several noted Cold War scholars will provide expert analysis of the newly public documents at the briefing, organized by the National Security
Source: Piper Fogg in the Chronicle of Higher Ed
9-12-08
... Ann M. Little, an associate professor of history at Colorado State University at Fort Collins who writes a popular blog called Historiann, decided she wanted to speak up. She recently wrote a post on her blog about bullying, suggesting that people cut and run if their situation is dire, as hers was. "My major foe at my former university was someone who was tenured, but simultaneously (and humiliatingly)" was denied promotion to associate professor, Little wrote. "Unfortunately
Source: Atlanta-Journal Constitution
9-9-08
Philip Lee Secrist loved the Civil War and everything about it.
He displayed a collection of relics and artifacts at his Marietta home. He wrote two books on the war and taught history 48 years at the high school and college level.
“His passion for his life and career was all about the Civil War,” said his daughter Barbera Secrist Schmedes of Marietta. “I can remember very well as a child that every summer vacation entailed a visit to some Civil War battlefield here in
