Historians in the News

The Trump Presidency Is History. They’re Writing the First Draft

“The challenge with President Trump is understanding the foundational elements of his presidency as deeply rooted in basic features of American history,” Julian Zelizer said, while also noting the places “where the presidency jumped the shark.”

He Redefined ‘Racist.’ Now He’s Trying to Build a Newsroom

Ibram X. Kendi's new venture, inspired by reflection and argument among journalists about the role of the press in covering movements for change, will update the mission of the Willam Lloyd Garrison and abolitionist press of the nineteenth century. 

U of M Professor Testifies During Hearing on Anti-Asian Violence

Historian Erika Lee testified to Congress on Thursday about anti-Asian violence in the United States, in a hearing scheduled before the killing of eight people in metro Atlanta highlighted the urgency of the issue.

The Princeton Historian Mugged by Reality

Xiyue Wang was released from an Iranian prison in 2019 after being detained for four months. The Princeton doctoral student is now a critic of softening American sanctions aginst Iran. 

The Race to Collect COVID Ephemera Before It’s History

"Last year, on March 13th, as Americans began to restructure daily life in response to covid-19, one curator, Rebecca Klassen, had an idea."

Scholar of World War II Homefront Wins American History Book Prize

Tracy Campbell, the author of “The Year of Peril: America in 1942,” has been named the winner of the New-York Historical Society’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, which is given each year to the best work in the field of American history or biography.

Racism, Sexism Must be Considered in Atlanta Case, Experts Say

Historian Ellen Wu explains that the particular racial and sexual stereotyping of Asian American women derives from the history of immigration, moral panics over prostitution, and the involvement of the United States military in a series of wars against Asian people. 

Why Did the Slave Trade Survive So Long?

by James Oakes

James Oakes reviews John Harris's new book "The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage," and praises its insight into the late years of the slave trade and slavery's relationship to capitalism. 

The Deep History of Anti-Asian Violence in the U.S.

Beth Lew-Williams of Princeton discusses the long history of violence against Asian immigrant communities with WNYC's "The Takeaway."  

How Racism and Sexism Intertwine to Torment Asian-American Women

Ellen Wu of Indiana University is among the scholars offering insight on the historical roots of the sexual fetishization of American women and its connection to violence.

Neil Gorsuch Supports an Originalist Theory That Would Destroy Modern Governance

Julian Davis Mortenson and Nicholas Bagley put forth a sweeping argument: an ascendant legal theory championed by conservative originalists has no actual basis in history.

The Quintessential Institutionalist

by Donald Alexander Downs

Walter LaFeber's legacy goes beyond scholarship to his work as a champion of academic freedom and open debate, writes his former colleague political theorist Donald Alexander Downs. 

The History of Freedom Is a History of Whiteness

by Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

"A conversation with Tyler Stovall about his recent book White Freedom and whether or not the legacy of liberty can break away from racial exclusion and domination."

Liberty’s Discontents: The Contested History of Freedom

Annelien de Dijn's book examines the tensions and contradictions inherent in the idea of freedom, arguing that the individualistic, liberty-focused ideal is a recent phenomenon and has obscured ideas of freedom rooted in democracy and collective security. 

When Nature is Valued over Human Life

A review of Jacob S. T. Dlamini’s "Safari Nation: A Social History of Kruger National Park" examines how the government of South Africa used tourism promotion to justify the establishment of its apartheid regime. 

The Post-Trump Crack-Up of the Evangelical Community

Anthea Butler and Kristin Kobes Du Mez offer insight into how racial double standards within evangelical religion and the willingness of "insider" historians to craft a selective picture of evangelical political action has made it difficult to understand how many of today's evangelical leaders have made peace with (or even embraced) white supremacy.

A Push to Save Landmarks of the ‘Great Migration’ — and Better Understand Today’s Racial Inequities

A south Chicago house once owned by legendary blues singer Muddy Waters is being rehabilitated as a museum of the city's Black music and culture, just one of many battles to preserve the built environment and material history of the African American "Great Migration" to Chicago and other northern cities. 

Atomic Cover-Up

by Greg Mitchell

Greg Mitchell's Atomic Cover-Up premiers this month and tells the story of two film crews, one Japanese and one from the U.S. Army, whose footage of the human toll of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings was seized and suppressed by the U.S. goverment. 

Rice is a 'Frequent Visitor' at Tables in the South, A New Cookbook Digs Up the Complicated Way it Got There

Food historian and chef Michael Twitty examines the cross-cultural and transatlantic history of rice in Southern cooking and culture. 

The Future of L.A. is Here. Robin D.G. Kelley’s Radical Imagination Shows Us the Way

Historian Robin Kelley discusses the work of his mentor Cedric Robinson, whose discussions in "Black Marxism" offer a way to circumvent the reductionist tendencies of the class- and race-oriented wings of the left today.