Roundup

The Discursive Power of the Pittsburgh Courier and the Black Press

by Adam Lee Cilli

The influential Black newspaper's publisher Robert L. Vann has been criticized as a self-promoting tribune of the Black bourgeoisie. A historian argues he should be reconsidered as a pragmatist building alliances in a time of upheaval for Black America. 

SCOTUS Ended the Eviction Ban, but not the Fight Against Eviction

by Maia Silber

Philadelphia's housing crisis during the first world war shows that worker and citizen activism is essential to compel governments to act to secure adequate affordable housing. 

A Conflict Among the Founders Still Shapes the Infrastructure Debate

by Susan Nagel

"The lack of a clearly defined constitutional role for the federal government in funding infrastructure improvements left it to the men who had been competing to enrich themselves to figure out what role the national government ought to play."

We’re Begging Students to Save Our Lives

by Amy Olberding

"We beg teenagers to think of our babies, to feel for our dead, and please not to kill us. Some of them oblige. Some do not — an alarming number do not. The university’s response so far amounts to: Beg better."

COVID Won't Change How Universities Work, but Antiracism Might

by James Mulholland

"Higher education, as a system, is driven by preserving advantages for those who have access to it. This is higher education’s most intractable problem."

‘Whiteness’ and the Humanities

by Simon During

Trends in antiracist scholarship are not the cause of the crisis of the humanities, but a response to it. Resolving the impasse between tradition and revisionist scholarship can only come from outside the academy through action to secure the place of the humanities in the university curriculum of the future. 

The Roundup Top Ten for September 3, 2021

by HNN Staff

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Black Women and Civil War Pensions

by Holly A. Pinheiro, Jr.

Widows and surviving children of Black veterans of the Civil War used their status as pensioners to claim belonging in the nation, but authorities frequently allowed notions of respectability rooted in white supremacy to undermine them. 

The U.S. Should Look to Cuba for Hurricane Mitigation

by Mikael Wolfe

Despite the comparatively meager resources available in the island nation, Cuba's civil defense systems, developed during the Cold War, have been remarkably successful in mitigating mass death and displacement from hurricanes. 

Don't Buy Egyptian Antiquities – Even Fakes

by Erin L. Thompson

Buying antiquities without due diligence into their provenance feeds a black market for looted archaeological objects. 

Comparative Reflections on the Fall of Kabul

by Ben Kiernan

In their rush to compare the fall of Kabul to the 1975 victory of the Vietnamese communists, observers neglect the more relevant comparison between the Taliban and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. 

The Pledge Our Students Deserve

by Kevin M. Levin

A widely circulated pledge for history teachers is right to resist efforts by state lawmakers to dictate curriculum and suppress ideas, but wrong to commit teachers to "truth" as a set of conclusions instead of an honest, open practice of inquiry.

How "Snake Oil" Got a Bad Name

by Caitjan Gainty

19th century snake oil was not necessarily less effective than the wares of orthodox medical professionals, but was unable to withstand changes in the medical marketplace driven by professional organizations. 

Socialist Actor Ed Asner Fought for Labor

by Jeff Schuhrke

Ed Asner fought for the representation of small-time actors in the Screen Actors Guild and protested American support for right-wing autocrats in Central America. 

What if the Coronavirus Crisis Is Just a Trial Run?

by Adam Tooze

The disjointed and haphazard global response to the COVID pandemic bodes poorly for the world's capacity for coordinated action to face inevitable crisies in the near future. The problem isn't a lack of means but a lack of commitment to collective action.

The Agency of the Irresponsible

by Sarah Swedberg

When universities bend to political pressure and adopt "personal responsibility" policies for vaccination, masking, and social distancing they give agency to the irresponsible and take it away from those who are actively working to protect public health. 

There's No "Labor Shortage," Just a Shortage of Wages and Worker Protection

by Lane Windham

American workers, especially women, aren't being lazy. They're taking part in an unrecognized general strike against low wages, inadequate childcare, and dangerous workplaces made more dangerous by COVID. 

Wartime Wisdom to Combat Inflation

by David Stein

Today, monetary policy controlled by the Federal Reserve is the only tool commonly used to control inflation, pitting controlling prices against full employment and wage growth. The history of the World War II Office of Price Administration reveals other possibilities. 

The Lincoln Family and Pennyroyal: Re-Evaluating Medicines in the Archive and Beyond

by Emma Verstraete

An examination of Abraham Lincoln's family purchases of medicinal herbs highlights the need to use the lens of oral history and folk knowledge to interpret sources. 

NC Teacher: Don't Give In to GOP Politics of Fear

by Anne P. Beatty

"To retreat from open, honest discussions about race and history is the last thing we should do. To retreat is to give into the fear mongering of this bill. Its goal is our silence."