Historians in the News

The Predictable Backlash to Critical Race Theory: Jon Weiner Interviews Kimberlé Crenshaw

"This is about a contemporary agenda controlling narratives of the past in order to limit what has been unfolding in this country for the past year."

What The Haitian Revolution Tells Us About The U.S. Movement For Racial Equality

Historian Marlene Daut on the significance of the Haitian Revolution for America's unfinished struggle for racial equality. 

Looking for Nat Turner

Christopher Tomlins' new book takes seriously the apocalyptic Christianity of Nat Turner, viewing it not as a metaphor for liberation but a key part of how Turner understood freedom. 

The Battle for 1776

How will the re-emergence of history as a culture war battle front impact the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? Annette Gordon-Reed, Jane Kamensky, Michael Hattem, Kevin Gover, Philip Mead, Robert Parkinson and Alan Taylor are among the historians commenting.

Presidential Historian Jeffrey Engel Reviews Film Portrayals from "Lincoln" to "Nixon"

Being the POTUS is hard. Playing one on screen isn't easy either. Jeffrey Engle of SMU rates some presidential portrayals. 

The ACLU on Fighting Critical Race Theory Bans: ‘It’s About Our Country Reckoning with Racism’

Historian Adam Laats give background to an interview with ACLU Staff Attorney Emerson Sykes about the climate of backlash and censorship around teaching the history of racism in America, comparing it to the 1920s uproar over the teaching of evolution. 

The Resurrection of Bass Reeves: Was the Real "Lone Ranger" Black?

Only recently has popular culture revived interest in Bass Reeves, one of the first Black men to serve as a US Marshal, and the scourge of Texas fugitives. 

The Republican Plot to Ban LGBTQ History in Public Schools

So-called "Don't Say Gay" laws seek to restrict the teaching of LGBTQ history in schools or allow students to opt out of individual lessons. Historians Anthony Mora, Marc Stein and Charles Kaiser discuss the politics of moral panic.

How Atlanta’s Public Housing Created Space for Black Women to Organize

City Planning Professor Akira Drake Rodriguez discusses her research on women's tenant organizing in public housing in Atlanta, which became more important as the city withdrew support for its low income housing program. 

With Discovery of Unmarked Graves, Canada’s Indigenous Seek Reckoning

The discoveries of the remains of hundreds of First Nations children at the sites of boarding schools intended to separate them from indigenous language and culture are forcing Canadians to confront the brutality of the nation's history. 

New Research Shows Slavery’s Central Role in U.S. Economic Growth Leading up to the Civil War

Historian Sven Beckert and economist Mark Stelzner's collaborative research applies new methods for quantifying how much the labor productivity of enslaved people contributed to economic output, as well as identifying the gap between white households with and without slaves as a driver of inequality. 

When Henry VIII Wrestled the King of France—and Lost

A wrestling match between Henry VIII and Francis I may never have happened, but it's an enduring, if apocryphal, explanation for the failure of diplomacy between England and France. 

A Maryland Attic Hid a Priceless Trove of Black History. Historians and Activists Saved it from Auction

The discovery of a trove of documents related to the slavery-related business of a Maryland family was just the beginning, as historians and activists had to raise money to buy them to keep them as a community history resource. 

Revealed: Neo-Confederate Group Includes Military Officers and Politicians

Despite its denial of links to far-right groups, the Sons of Confederate Veterans has considerable overlap with them, and was a key player in the fight over statues that led to the notorious "Unite the Right" assembly in Charlottesville in 2017. 

The Unknown History of Black Uprisings

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor reviews Elizabeth Hinton's new "America on Fire" and explains how it shakes up established accounts of a "good" and "nonviolent" civil rights movement giving way to protest and violence.

A Scholarly Screw-Up of Biblical Proportions

by Ariel Sabar

The author of a book on the high-profile forgery of papyrus fragments indicating Jesus had a wife discusses how an article based on those fraudulent documents passed peer review. 

A New History Changes the Balance of Power Between Ethiopia and Medieval Europe

by David Perry and Matthew Gabriele

Verena Krebs's new book on medieval Ethiopian contact with Europeans reverses the lens to argue that the African kingdom engaged with Europeans from a position of strength. 

Many Children Left Behind: How American Schools Became so Unequal

Christina Groeger's new book upends the American faith in education as an engine of social mobility and a cure for inequality. 

Fists of Freedom: A Storymap of Responses to the Olympics Protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith

by Lou Moore

Louis Moore presents an interactiv graphic exploration of media responses to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics protest of American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith. 

Capitalism American-Style: A Financial History of the United States

“Ages of American Capitalism" by Jonathan Levy sheds light on U.S. history as seen through a financial lens.