Historians in the News

Beyond Marie Curie: The Women In Science History We Don’t Talk About

Historian Anna Reser: "I think one of the things that [coauthor Leila McNeill and I] had to do for this book, and that I think we need to do more broadly when looking at the history of women in science, is to rethink what counts as science."

Transcript: Race in America: History Matters with Erika Lee & Helen Zia

Historian Erika Lee and Asian-American civil rights activist Helen Zia discuss the way that COVID-19 has reignited hostility against Asian Americans. 

History Matters: Debates About Monuments Reflect Current Divisions

How should local governments approach the question of memorials? Historians can advise about the significance or meaning of historical figures, but community values and state laws are subject to partisan politics. 

How a Disaster Relief Program Changed the Roman Empire for the Better

The 10,000 Pompeiians who evacuated the city ahead of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD benefited from the redistribution of the property of nobles who didn't. 

What Is Happening to the Republican Party?

by Jelani Cobb

The historian and New Yorker writer consults a roster of political historians (including Marsha Barrett, Thomas Patterson and Heather Cox Richardson) to ask whether Trumpism has the potential to break the Republican Party as previous factional splits have disrupted prior incarnations of the American party system. 

Historian Richard Bell Talks Hamilton’s Facts, Fictions at Library Society

University of Maryland historian Richard Bell says that the hit play was welcome for drawing attention to the challenges of the founding era, but didn't really address the dynamics of racism in colonial society. 

‘Badass Women’ Of Chicago History Highlighted In Virtual Tour

Many Chicagoans wouldn't recognize the names of Enid Yandell, Bessie Coleman, Naomi Weisstein or Maria Tallchief. A new virtual tour hopes to change that. 

The History Of Voting Rights In America

Historian Julian Zelizer connects the history of voting rights activism to efforts by states today to make voting more difficult. 

What China's Last Major War Tells Us About How it Will Fight the Next One

An examination of the roots of war between Vietnam and China, which may suggest that Beijing is willing to initiate military action in the future. China's poor military performance in this conflict led to reform and modernization of the People's Liberation Army. 

The G.O.P. Isn’t Going to Split Apart Anytime Soon

by Jamelle Bouie

The Times columnist checks in with a number of political historians and argues that, while pundits are comparing today's GOP to the Whigs and Federalists, a more vital comparison is to the 19th century Democratic Party, which held on to power through aggressive use of anti-majoritarian institutions. 

‘We Had a Little Real Estate Problem’: Native American Comedians Get Their Due | Book review

Charlie Hill’s TV debut, making him the first Indigenous comedian in prime time, is one of the milestones that Kliph Nesteroff chronicles in We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, an illuminating and stereotype-busting history of Native Americans and comedy.

John Muir in Native America

by Rebecca Solnit

John Muir's conservationist vision erased the historical and ongoing presence of indigenous people on the land. Can the environmental movement and the national parks change direction? 

The Black Republic: African Americans and the Fate of Haiti

by National History Center

Professor Brandon Byrd's talk to the National History Center is now viewable online. 

He Risked His Life Filming A Mississippi Senator's Plantation In 1964

Senator James Eastland of Mississippi justified his segregationist politics with paternalism. Conditions on his family's plantation showed otherwise. 

Trinity College Reckons with Slavery Links as Ireland Confronts Collusion with Empire

Dublin's Trinity College is undertaking a review of its institutional ties to slavery, a project that involves acknowledging the participation of Irish merchants in the Atlantic slave trade. 

Black Spirituals as Poetry and Resistance

The author reflects on the experience of collecting oral history interviews from Black Brooklynites. The way her respondents understood death offers insight into the communal impacts of the COVID pandemic. 

How Black Women Brought Liberty to Washington in the 1800s

by Karin Wulf

Karin Wulf discusses Tamika Nunley's book on Black women in the nation's capital with the author. 

Part of Being a Domestic Goddess in 17th-Century Europe Was Making Medicines

Historians Sharon Strocchia, Stephanie Koscak, and Elaine Leong offer insight into the roles of women in producing and administering medicine in the early modern period, both in domestic and public settings. The subject may receive increased attention through a digitization project of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington. 

How Dr. Seuss Responded to Critics Who Called Out His Racism

by Rebecca Onion

If anyone wants to examine the particulars of Dr. Seuss Enterprises' decision to discontinue the publication of six of the late author's books before jumping in to culture war combat, writer Rebecca Onion's interview with children's literature scholar Philip Nel is a good place to start. 

Discovery Of Schoolhouse For Black Children Now Offers A History Lesson

The discovery of an 18th century schoolhouse on the campus of William & Mary offers a chance for public historians to explain the complexity of Black education in colonial Virginia, which taught reading in the hopes of indoctrinating both free and enslaved children with pro-slavery ideology.