Current Events that Relate to History
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BiographyLouis Brandeis: The Empiricist
Louis Brandeis believed that facts could change lives and break excessive power where it accumulated.The American Prospect -
RetrievalA Rare Look at Black Catholic life Before the Civil War
Even if the Society of the Holy Family did not survive the antebellum period, it showed how a West African-rooted Catholicism could thrive in the United States.America Magazine -
OverviewBaseball’s Labor History Is Repeating Itself Once Again
When players recognize how much their strange jobs align with broader movements for civil and labor rights, their union is one of the strongest in the country.Defector -
Origin StoryThe Origins of the Beach Read
From 19th-century ‘moral debasement’ to BookTok, a cultural phenomenon still fills the vacant hours.Zócalo Public Square -
RetrievalHow Scottish Dissent Built American Liberty
Presbyterians played a large role in teaching North America the value of political independence.Law & Liberty -
Book ReviewExceeding the Bounds of the Black International
Race, religion, and colonialism created competing identities that complicated African American connections with Sudan.Black Perspectives -
LongreadDead at McDonald's
Between the Eastmont Town Center and Evergreen Cemetery, a broken down fast food joint is a relic of the moment things went bad in the Deep East.Oakland Review Of Books
From the HNN Archive
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Newsletter Features
Young Washington Is Old History
A new movie relies on 19th century myths to portray the very British George Washington as a moralistic proto-American ready to pursue independence. -
Excerpts
A Danger to Civilization
Lothrop Stoddard believed that the concept of “natural equality” between people was a threat to America. In the 1920s, it was hardly a fringe idea. -
Excerpts
The Bicentennial Made American History Look Ridiculous
Many Americans felt the U.S. had failed to live up to its ideals on its 200th anniversary. They hoped it might improve by the Declaration’s next big celebration. -
Newsletter Features
An Appeal for Inaction
On the United States’ 150th birthday, Calvin Coolidge said that the country’s work was done. Not everyone agreed. -
Newsletter Features
What Has His Billion Dollars Made of Him?
Finding shades of Elon Musk in Upton Sinclair’s 1937 novel about Henry Ford. -
Newsletter Features
Declaring “Revolution”
Even after the fighting started, it took years before American Patriots started calling their cause a “revolution.”