Historians/History

If Greeley and Lincoln Were Alive Today, They Wouldn't Recognize the Republican Party

by Johann Neem

The Maine Republican party has recently adopted a new platform that challenges the principles of national sovereignty and active federal govern

Eisenhower and My Father, Stephen Ambrose

by Hugh Ambrose

The recent accusation that the late historian Dr. Stephen E. Ambrose, the author of numerous national bestselling books, was guilty of “fabricating” a relationship with former President Eisenhower has left readers to ponder its meaning.  An examination of the evidence reveals a few mistakes which, while regrettable, hardly outweigh a towering legacy:  through decades of scholarship, Ambrose pioneered the evaluation of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s career as a gener

The Year 1877 Looks Awfully Familiar Today

by Michael A. Bellesiles

At the corner of Broad Street and Exchange Place in New York, on a hot summer day in July, 1877, Major A. A. Selover, a Christ Church vestryman and stockbroker, walked up to one of the richest men in America and threw him i

An Open Letter to the President: Stop Recognizing the Sons of Confederate Veterans

by Edward H. Sebesta

May 5, 2010 Edward H. SebestaPresident Barack H. Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500Dear President Obama:I am a re

Ambrose and Eisenhower: A View from the Stacks in Abilene

by Timothy D. Rives

I am the deputy director and supervisory archivist of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abliene, Kansas. In the April 26, 2010, edition of the New Yorker magazine, I was quoted extensively in an article (“Channeling Ike,” by Richard Rayner) about claims made by the late Stephen E. Ambrose and his purported relationship with President Dwight D. Eisenhower; there are problems relating to the dates Ambrose claimed he interviewed Ike and the scholarly annotati

Stephen Ambrose's Falsifications of the Rosenberg Execution

by Lori Clune

I met Stephen Ambrose when I was a young, idealistic graduate student attending my first American Historical Association conference in the late 1980s.  He graciously shared his paper – and enthusiasm – with the groupies he attracted.  Years later, his Rise to Globalism was on my coffee table so often that I have a photo of my then two-year-old son “reading” it.  It is safe to say his work played a role in my decision to study history.  The New Yorker’s recent a

Ambrose on Eisenhower: The Impact of a Single Faulty Quotation

by Ira Chernus

Everyone who follows the news in the historians’ world now knows that Stephen Ambrose spent far less time interviewing Dwight D.

History and Technology are Rapidly Converging, Says Documentarian Eric Stange

by Jill O'Neill

Eric Stange is the executive producer and founder of Spy Pond Productions, an award-winning independent documentary film producer, and a director and writer who specializes in history and science subjects.  His work has been broadcast on PBS, The Discovery Channel, and the BBC.  Before becoming a filmmaker, he wrote about art and culture for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic Monthly and other publications.  Eric has been the rec

Evan Thomas Asks Why We Fought Spain in 1898

by Aaron Leonard

Evan Thomas has just published The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst and the Rush to Empire 1898 (Little, Brown 2010). Through unfolding the lives of three characters -- soon-to-be-President Theodore Roose

Highlights of the 2010 Annual Convention of the American Historical Association in San Diego

by David Austin Walsh

Index Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 News Bloggers VideosRelated Links HNN Coverage: Past AHA & OAH Conferences HNN Hot Topics: Gay Marriage

OAH President Elaine Tyler May's Fascination with Domesticity

by David Austin Walsh

Elaine Tyler May is Regents Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Minnesota. She received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from UCLA. 201

An Incomplete Version of the Past that Silences Important Struggles

by Kirsten Gardner

The Texas state curriculum plays a significant role in determining what my students learn prior to entering the college classroom.  In my experience, students (the vast majority are educated in Texas high schools) enter the classroom with a strong desire to learn and succeed.  Although some are prepared for the analytical challenges of a college history course, many more need to learn the basic conceptual building blocks of history.  This is information that can and should be taught at

The God in Whom We Should Trust

by John Willingham

At last, after a contentious series of meetings over many months, the Texas State Board of Education is set to take a final vote on social studies standards when it reconvenes in Austin on May 18-20.  The Board’s actions have been controversial, defying the views of professional historians in favor of a narrow version of the American experience that restricts the contributions of women, minority groups, and activists outside the mainstream.Social conservativ

A Sanitized History

by Roberto R. Calderón

I reviewed the social studies curricular proposals available for public comment and, like anyone concerned about public education in Texas, I have read many different published articles and opinions.  I have also participated informally in discussions over the merits of the proposed new curriculum standards with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.  Clearly, there is an overriding mantra throughout the proposed curricular standards that is repeated often, beginning in the elem

A Pattern of Neglect and a Missed Opportunity

by Emilio Zamora

My natural inclination is to stay away from noting the obvious gaps in the proposed public school curriculum, because the discussion can degenerate into a haggling over this or that person, event, or concept.  Glaring omissions and deletions, however, reflect more serious problems of representation, diversity, and perspective that require our attention.  A cursory review of the historical figures that are required by the designation of “including,” for instance, demonstrate

An Almost Impossibly Large Set of Standards Produced by a Problematic Process

by Jesús F. de la Teja

As one of the appointed expert reviewers, I have had an opportunity to read through the existing standards, review two sets of changes, speak directly with the appointed writing committees, and had interaction with some of the Board members.  Before my appointment as an officer of the Texas State Historical Association, a college and K-12 textbook author, and as a professor and chairman of the Department of History at one of the leading state universities for teachers preparation,

An Overstuffed Laundry List that Treats Seniors like Kindergartners

by Keith A. Erekson

Everybody hates textbooks.  Conservatives say they are too multicultural; liberals say they are too conservative; “researchers criticize teachers for not using primary sources, teachers criticize students for not wanting to learn, and students criticize textbooks for being deadly boring.” (1) Governor Perry recently declared his special hatred for textbooks that still list Ann Richards as governor of our state. (2) The Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) provide the blueprint

Plagiarized Work

by Michael Soto

I agree with the consensus emerging that the proposed social studies standards distort American history and society to advance a lopsided agenda, often at the expense of adequate and appropriate representation of America’s racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.  This is especially troubling to me because my son belongs to the group of students—Texas first graders—who are the first Latino-majority cohort in Texas public school history.  But let me highlight just one of the

Introduction to the Feature

by Keith A. Erekson

For nearly a year and a half, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has overseen a process of revising the state’s social studies standards—the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).  The process has rightfully gained national attention, as the results will not only reshape the entire Texas social studies curriculum but also reverberate outward to every school district that seeks to buy textbooks and to every college or business populated by Texas high school graduates.

A Culturally Irrelevant History of "Melodramatic Minutiae"

by Iliana Alanís

As president of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE), I am not only concerned with the content of the state’s social studies curriculum, but I am also appalled at the state’s curriculum development process.  For even before experts and teachers finalized their work on the proposed social studies standards, members of the far right hijacked the process by inserting evangelical political activists to scrub the curriculum of such crazy notions as the inclusion of min