Historians in the News

Phil Schaap, Grammy-Winning Jazz D.J. and Historian, Dies at 70

“They say I’m a history teacher,” he said in a video interview for the National Endowment for the Arts, which this year named him a Jazz Master, the country’s highest official honor for a living jazz figure, but he viewed his role differently. “I teach listening.” 

Group of Historians Challenges Woody Holton's Interpretation of the Significance of Dunmore's Proclamation

by Richard D. Brown et. al.

A group of scholars argues that the famous 1775 decree by Lord Dunmore that enslaved Virginians who joined the British forces would be emancipated was a desperate act that followed, not precipitated, the drive of white Virginians toward independence. 

Robert Middlekauff, Historian of Washington and His War, Dies at 91

Robert Middlekauff wrote what was long considered the best single-volume study of the American Revolution, "The Glorious Cause." 

Those Who Can Do: Rewriting the History of Literary Studies from Inside the Classroom

by Dennis M. Hogan

A new history of literature pedagogy reconsiders teaching as a site of intellectual ferment and makes important claims for the value of the academic humanities. 

Too Few Today Remember the Bloody Uprising of Miners at Blair Mountain

In a region still marked by rampant inequality, the public forgetting of the Battle of Blair Mountain seems like a concerted effort to suppress working people's history. 

How the "Job" Became the Center of American Life

"Since about the 1940s, Americans have been encouraged to look to their jobs for nearly all of life’s necessities: a living wage, health insurance, and retirement benefits, as well as intangibles like friendship, identity, and a sense of purpose." Historians Nelson Lichtenstein and James Livingston explain why. 

When the United States Almost Adopted a 30 Hour Work Week

Historian Benjamin Hunnicutt describes the political negotiations that took place during the Depression to shorten the work week to put more Americans to work. Could similar changes work today? 

Santa Fe's Historian Looks Ahead from Controversial Past

City Historian Valerie Rangel hopes to engage residents of Santa Fe with the complex and difficult histories of colonialism and racism that still shape the city and region. 

How Previous Presidents have Ended American Wars

With the U.S.'s longest war coming to an end, Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, to look back at how other U.S. presidents have handled ending conflicts.

Vietnam's Postwar Refugee Crisis

“The United States doesn’t take enough into account how refugee migration and displacement are a part of all of our foreign policy interventions,” says historian Phuong T. Nguyen. “We need to be prepared to handle the humanitarian crisis that inevitably follows.” 

The Rise of "UniverCity"

Universities wield increasing control over their surrounding communities. Historian Davarian Baldwin discusses the impact of that power for good and ill. 

The "Leesburg Stockade Girls" Locked Up in Georgia in 1963

15 girls aged 12-15 were locked up in appalling conditions, for 45 days or more, and often without their families' knowledge, in southwest Georgia in 1936. This is their story.

The 100th Anniversary of the Biggest Uprising Since the Civil War

by Samuel Fleischman

West Virginia coal country needs to recover the tradition of solidarity that developed during the state's deadly mine wars to move to a fair post-coal future. 

Histories of Violence: When Freedom Turns Ugly

American Studies scholar Elizabeth Anker's work examines "ugly freedom," in which the capacity of one group to dominate another is constructed as the positive social value of liberty. She discusses it with philosopher Brad Evans.

Can “Lottocracy” Save Democracy From Itself?: Hélène Landemore on Inclusive Governance

"One interpretation of our current predicament is thus that people are not rejecting democracy as an ideal but simply rejecting a system that claims to be a democracy but really isn’t. And if that’s the case, that’s healthy and a sign of democratic vitality, in my view."

Bouie: The Founders Lived in a Foreign World

Times columnist Jamelle Bouie draws on the work of historians Matt Glassman, Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, and Susan Dunn to argue that the Founders did not, in fact, get it right the first time – even for the society they lived in, let alone for ours.

The Economist Reviews Adam Tooze's Contemporary History of the COVID Economy

"The challenge of instant history is that its judgments can be overtaken by events."

How Racism Permeates the Politics of Guns

Historians Carol Anderson and Yohuru Williams are featured in a new documentary examining the ways that American gun rights discourse has been filtered through racism. 

New History of Chicanos in Ventura County

Historian Frank Barajas discusses his new book on Chicano activism in California's Ventura County with columnist Gustavo Arellano.

Podcast: Stephen Wertheim on the End of the Indispensable Nation

Since September 11, has the idea of America as an "indispensable nation" for the cause of liberty, democracy and peace done more harm than good? Historian Stephen Wertheim discusses foreign policy with Elmira Bayrasli.