Historians in the News

Remaking Radicalism with Dan Berger and Emily M. Hobson

Historians Dan Berger and Emily Hobson discuss their new primary source anthology on grassroots social movements in the last quarter of the 20th century. 

On Popular History: Rebecca Traister

by Alexis Coe

Historian Alexis Coe interviews writer and essayist Rebecca Traister on the historical research informing her work and the links between popular and academic audiences for historical knowledge. 

How Amalia Levi Does History

Amalia Levi's work as a freelance archivist with cultural organizations in several countries shows that much greater resources are needed to make a wealth of historical documentation accessible, and many talented workers could put those resources to work. 

Much More Than Muffins: The Women Scientists Who Invented Home Ec (Review)

Journalist Danielle Drellinger's book on the invention and evolution of the disicpline of Home Economics calls it a uniquely American blend of pragmatism and research, but historians who read it may wish it examined the racial and gender assumptions underlying the "best way" of keeping a home. 

Niall Ferguson Examines Disasters of the Past and Disasters Still to Come (Review)

Niall Ferguson's synthetic overview of disaster in human history is ambitious and accessible, but it makes some odd decisions, including dismissing the severity of the climate change threat to focus on less predictable potential threats. 

11 Moments From Asian American History That You Should Know

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has begun. Historians Emily Lawsin, Andrew Leong, Jason Chang, Jane Hong, Charlotte Brooks, Vivek Bald, Chris Suh, Meredith Oda, Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, Helen Zia and Richard S. Kim discuss episodes all Americans should know about. 

“This Is Our Community” With Help From its Historic Black University, Elizabeth City Confronts the Tragedy it Tried to Prevent

Historian Melissa Stuckey of Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina has researched and taught about the town's history of racism and civil rights protest, knowledge that has been made tragically relevant by the police killing of Andrew Brown, Jr. 

The Fascinating History Behind the Popular ‘Waving Lucky Cat’

The popularity of the beckoning feline figurines reflects what happened when Japanese folkoric traditions met the rest of Asia and the world in commerce. 

FDR’s Second 100 Days Were Cooler Than His First 100 Days

by Jordan Weissmann

The first 100 days of the New Deal could be described as disaster response. The second 100 days, according to historians William Leuchtenberg, Erich Rauchway and David Kennedy, were when the administration took steps that transformed labor relations and birthed a modern social welfare state. 

From the Past, a Chilling Warning About the Extremists of the Present

“Do they want armed revolution and race war or are they seeking to enter politics?” said historian Kathleen Belew. “Do they want to burn it down or do they want to take over?”

Ancient Egypt for the Egyptians

New books and a documentary consider the entanglement of colonialism with the rise of academic Egyptology.

L.A.’s History is Often Whitewashed, Romanticized and Censored. A New Push to Tell the Truth

Christopher Hawthorne leads a Civic Memory Working Group convened by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, that works to reverse the city's tendency to boost myths in the place of public history. 

How Israel Quashed 1982 Efforts to Recognize the Armenian Genocide

A host of political concerns led the Israeli Foreign Ministry to try to sabotage a 1982 conference comparing the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. 

‘A Tale of the Forgotten Patriots’: New Brooklyn Tour Explores History of British Prison Ships Moored in NYC During the American Revolution

New York's East River was a mooring site for British prison ships where Colonial revolutionary prisoners were held in dangerous (and disgusting) conditions. 

The Case for Reparations, In Pictures

by Karl Kusserow

A curator looks through the visual depictions of American history to highlight key moments in advocacy for reparations. 

How World War I Fueled the Russian Revolution

Stephen Miner of Ohio University says that while the collapse of Czarist Russia was likely without the first world war, the conflict made it virtually inevitable. Lynne Hartnett of Villanova says war exposed the weaknesses of the regime. 

'History Is Written By The Victors,' But The Texas Freedom Colonies Project Works To Change The Narrative

Andrea Roberts leads the Texas Freedom Colonies Project to recover the history of post-Civil War Black communities which were important sites of mutual security, economic development, and culture in the state, but have largely been erased by the seizure of land from the occupants. 

‘I’ve Lost Everything to the Beast’: Reviewing 4 Books on MS-13

by Rachel Nolan

While the specter of the MS-13 gang has been central to political panics about immigration, the group's origins are American. A Latin American historian reviews four new books. 

Call for Submissions: The Centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre

Black Perspectives, the blog of the African American Intellectual History Society seeks submissions of original work on the themes of racial violence, racial justice, wealth, inequality and reparations for a special issue commemorating 1921 Tulsa racist massacre.

My Grandparents’ Immigration Lies Shaped My Father’s View of Justice

by Daniela Gerson

"My father knew all too well what happens when legal pathways do not exist for people to enter this country: They find alternative ways in, just as his own family had."