Historians in the News

Did Trump and His Supporters Commit Treason?

Carlton F.W. Larson has studied the legal history of treason. Until January 6, he argued that critics of Donald Trump were off base in leveling that charge. 

The Forgotten History of Wyoming’s Black Miners

African Americans were an important, but largely forgotten, presence in the mining industry of the far west, a story that connects race, national expansion, and labor politics in the Gilded Age. 

African Americans At St. Elizabeth’s — A Review Of Madness In The City Of Magnificent Expectations

Martin Summers' book on Washington's Saint Elizabeth's Hospital shows how early mental health institutions differentiated the Black and White psyches in diagnosis and care, exposing the role of psychiatry in maintaining and institutionalizing racial inequality, writes reviewer Debra Kram-Fernandez.

January 6: Not Who We Are?

Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson discusses the Capitol riots, arguing that violence has long been a part of the battle for political legitimacy and authority in America. 

How to Tell 400 Years of Black History in One Book

Early Americanist Karin Wulf interviews Keisha N. Blain about the unique "community history" approach of Blain and Ibram X. Kendi's new co-edited book "Four Hundred Souls." 

He Wants to Save Classics From Whiteness. Can the Field Survive?

Dan-el Padilla Peralta argues that the field of Classical Studies has been tied to the historical rise of white supremacy by emphasizing the Greek and Roman roots of European society, and leads a movement of revisionists. 

The Plan to Build a Capital for Black Capitalism

Thomas Healy's book "Soul City" looks at a short-lived experiment to create a capital city for Black capitalism in America, part of a long series of political debates about whether the pursuit of economic power by Black Americans would overcome racism. 

Historically Speaking: 400 Souls—A Conversation with Ibram Kendi and Keisha N. Blain – Tuesday, 2/2

Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain will join the NMAAHC for a discussion of their new book "400 Souls." 

The Real Meaning of Hillbilly

The work of historian Chuck Keeney is critical to recovering the radicalism of Appalachian miners and a "redneck" identity that is based in struggles for equality and shared dignity instead of reactionary individualism, says writer Abby Lee Hood. 

After Trump, the Crisis: David Roediger on White America at the Historical Crossroads

Salon's Chauncey DeVega interviews a founding figure of the study of American whiteness, who thinks White America is at a crossroads between an inclusive social-democratic politics or a turn toward the hard right. 

All the Lies They Told Us About the Filibuster

Columnist Jonathan Chait considers the politics of the Senate filibuster and Adam Jentleson's new book "Kill Switch," concluding that much of the mythology of the filibuster as a check on knee-jerk legislation is bogus. 

Scholars Talk Writing: Louis P. Masur

The Rutgers professor discusses the process of writing and the need for historical training to include multiple modes of writing and narrative. 

‘Robert E. Lee and Me’ Dismantles Confederate Mythology

Retired Brigadier General and West Point historian Ty Seidule was drawn to the military by growing up with the myth of the gentleman soldier embodied by Robert E. Lee. His new book deconstructs the myth through autobiography. 

The Republican Retreat From Governance

Dartmouth history professor Bethany Moreton argues that the GOP focus on social issues (and embrace by some of QAnon) isn't divorced from economic policy, but reflects the political decision to forego any social provision for child care and health. 

Can We Teach Our Way Out Of Political Polarization?

The AHA's Jim Grossman is among the experts discussing the prospects for civics education to alleviate political polarization and the plague of disinformation. 

UCLA Wins $3.65-Million Grant to Build ‘Age of Mass Incarceration’ Archive with LAPD Records

In addition to 177 boxes of LAPD records, which the university fought for and won access to in court, the project will seek out and include oral histories and other ephemera from community members who were affected by the region’s aggressive criminal justice pipelines, said professor Kelly Lytle Hernández.

A Monument Honoring Brooklyn Abolitionists Stalls Under Scrutiny

“Whatever we build in Downtown Brooklyn should rival the Statue of Liberty,” said Raul Rothblatt, who has fought to preserve the area’s history for nearly 20 years. He added: “But instead, the city is planning to build a dog park above where tunnels once connected abolitionist homes.”

The Persistence of Hate In American Politics

After Charlottesville, the historian Joan Wallach Scott wanted to find out how societies face up to their past—and why some fail. Aryeh Neier reviews Scott's comparative history of the Nuremberg Trials, the South African Truth and Reconciliation effort, and the debate over reparations to African Americans for slavery and Jim Crow. 

‘Despised’ Review: The Left and the Working Class

by Jonathan Rose

Historian Jonathan Rose reviews a book by British firefighter and "left conservative" Paul Embery which identifies the collapse of both working class communities and open debate in Britain as factors in the demise of Labour as a political force. 

How Mexico Reshaped the Global Economy: Interview With Christy Thornton

The Mexican government demanded a program of economic reparations to the developing world, but the system of international aid and trade that emerged worsened exploitation.