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personal history



  • Having It Easy in the Beginning, Tough in the End

    by William J. Astore

    Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and historian William Astore makes it so vividly clear, recalling a prophesy of his own dad, that if demobilization remains our position in the tough times to come, we're going to be in deep, deep trouble.


  • 1,056 Feet: Why I Needed the 1619 Project Growing Up

    by Derek Litvak

    The 1619 Project is not interested in retelling America’s founding story. It seeks to forge a new one. The people who contributed to this effort know full well those like myself, who grew up in the drainage ditches of America, in the long shadow of a bright star, need to hear this history. Demands to “stick to the facts” often sideline or silence our story. 


  • Material History and A Victorian Riddle Retold

    by Amy G. Richter

    A historian of nineteenth-century American culture, I study the significance ordinary women and men gave to furniture, art, and decoration. Recently my mother's dementia challenged my scholarship by reminding me of the personal meanings of objects and the intimate work they do.