Historians in the News

50 Years Later, Mexican American Vietnam War Vets Recall Protests That Conflict Inspired

At the 50th anniversary of the 2nd Chicano Moratorium protest against the Vietnam War, Mexican American veterans and historians reflect on how the war and the protests affected Mexican Americans. 

Black Americans Worry Postal Changes Could Disrupt History Of Secure Jobs

Historian Philip Rubio comments on the historic importance of public employment, especially in the postal service, for Black Americans to avoid hiring discrimination and achieve economic security--gains threatened by plans to privatize the Post Office. 

‘Ten Days in Harlem’: An Interview with Historian Simon Hall

An interview with historian Simon Hall examines the links between revolutionary Cuba, anticolonial rebellion, and civil rights militancy in the United States as revealed by Fidel Castro's 10-day visit to Harlem and the United Nations in 1960.

Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz – Blaming Teachers: Professionalization Policies and the Failure of Reform in American History 6:00 PM Monday, August 31

Education historian Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz discusses the ways that public policy undermines teachers' authority and blames them for systemic problems with education, sponsored by Politics and Prose bookstores. Live at 6:00 PM Monday, August 31. 

2021 ANNUAL MEETING CANCELED

The American Historical Association has canceled its annual meeting in January 2021; the organization will work to develop virtual programming in the next several months. 

Anne Fleming: Business Historians Remember

Anne Fleming is remembered as an outstanding scholar and generous colleague. 

Florence Nightingale, Data Visualization Visionary

Today's biggest news stories are often told through data visualization. Telling stories through data-based pictures has a surprising source. 

Records From Once-Secret Archive Offer New Clues Into Vatican Response To Holocaust

Historian David Kertzer has published work based on newly available documents from the Vatican's archives, which suggests Pope Pius XII was motivated by political concerns to accept persecution of Europe's Jews and obstructed the reuniting of Jewish orphans with their families after the war.

After 90 Years, Columbia Takes Slave Owner’s Name Off a Dorm

Eric Foner, who led an internal research project to help Columbia assess its historical relationship to slavery, described Samuel Bard as a "pretty significant slave owner by New York standards."

Protests, Yesterday and Today

Historian Lorena Oropeza discusses the Chicano Moratorium protests against the war in Vietnam and the denial of opportunity to ethnic Mexican people in Los Angeles and elsewhere. 

Tribute to Women: Spotlighting the 6 Women Honored During the First March on Washington

Many news outlets wrongly reported that John Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This ignores the Black women who worked to organize the march and fought for even a few words at the microphone. 

Unsealed Archives Give Fresh Clues to Pope Pius XII’s Response to the Holocaust

Reports by historian David Kertzer that documents in the Vatican archives reflect on the antisemitism of Pope Pius XII and his advisors have sparked countercharges by church historians that reports based on newly available sources will give priority to sensational findings. 

The Massacre That Emboldened White Supremacists

by William Briggs and Jon Krakauer

The Colfax Massacre, sparked by white supremacists' refusal to accept a state election result, set in motion a series of legal rulings that made it virtually impossible for the federal government to prosecute civil rights violations by private citizens, ensuring that mob violence and racial oppression would continue. 

BLM Organizers See the 1972 National Black Political Convention as a Model. What Can They Learn From It?

The 1972 National Black Political Convention sought to chart a path for Black empowerment that reflected both protest and institutional politics. Its history has lessons for organizers today. 

White Vigilantes Have Always Had A Friend In Police

American Studies scholar Nick Estes argues that the acceptance of vigilante groups by the police reflects a long history of cooperation between official law enforcement and informal groups to defend white supremacy. 

Why the Fight Over Statues Will Never End (video)

Art historian and "art crime" expert Erin Thompson offers insight into the history of iconoclasm and why social change makes arguments about statues and public memorials inevitable.

Crowd-Sourcing the Story of a People

Tiya Miles is professor of history and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the new director of the Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard. She discusses the practice, teaching, and value of public history as "a boisterous, crowd-sourced endeavor."

#ScholarStrike

Professors are planning a work stoppage and virtual, public teach-in on police violence and racism next month.

How Reagan Captured the Presidency, and the Right Captured Politics (Review)

by Michael Bobelian

Rick Perlstein's latest history of American conservatism is reviewed as a lens on today's aggrieved conservatism. 

‘Ax Handle Saturday’: The Klan’s Vicious Attack On Black Protesters In Florida 60 Years Ago

Historian Clayborne Carson notes that this incident marked a shift in the nature of racist backlash during the sit-in movement.