Historians in the News

Read Thousands of Abraham Lincoln’s Newly Transcribed Letters Online

The missives, preserved by the Library of Congress, include notes to and from the beloved president.

The ‘Rage Moms’ Democrats Are Counting On

“Women are mobilized on a bigger scale than we’ve seen in a generation at least,” said historian Annelise Orleck.

The Texas Rangers' Lore Spurred Cultural Fawning and Sports Namesakes that have Long Masked a History of Violence and Racism

John Morán González (University of Texas) and Benjamin Johnson (Loyola University, Chicago) founded Refusing to Forget, an organization that hopes to educate people about state-sanctioned violence against Tejanos in the early 20th century, including by the Texas Rangers.

When Trump Calls a Black Woman ‘Angry,’ He Feeds This Racist Trope

Michael Eric Dyson, Brittney Cooper and other scholars discuss how Trump's insult of Senator Kamala Harris fits a historial stereotype of Black women who assert themselves as angry. 

'It's a Struggle They Will Wage Alone.' How Black Women Earned the Right to Vote

by Olivia Waxman

Historian Martha S. Jones discusses her new book "Vanguard" and the way that the 19th Amendment marked a beginning, rather than an end, of the struggle to secure the vote for all women. 

A Saint's Sins

Columnist Elizabeth Breunig consults historians including James Sandos, Robert Senkiewicz and Steven Hackel to evaluate how the canonization of Father Junipero Serra among Catholics and his memorialization by Californians squares with recognition of atrocities committed against Native Americans by Spanish colonizers. 

Rick Perlstein: 'If you're not writing about the berserk, you're not writing about America' (Interview)

The historian has completed his epic on the rise of the US right – just in time for Donald Trump’s attempt to hold on to his throne.

How Queer Women Powered the Suffrage Movement

Many of the women who fought for representation were rebels living nonnormative, queer lives.

He Set out to Show His Son the D.C. Area’s 68 Civil War Forts. Protests Made it More than a Diversion.

D.C.'s Black Lives Matter protests taught historian Graham H. Cornwell and his son that the Civil War cannot be studied in abstraction.

Shirley Chisholm’s Historic Presidential Run Helped Lead To This Moment

“She bridged so many different constituencies and she was an excellent model of the power of grassroots campaigns,” Miami University historian Tammy Brown told Vox.

How Trump’s Attack on the Post Office Could Backfire

If the USPS slows down, mail-in ballots won’t be the only collateral damage, says historian Philip Rubio.

In Women’s Suffrage, a Spotlight for Unsung Pioneers

The New York Times will run a special section highlighting the contributions of lesser-known champions of suffrage and the political rights of women. 

A Powerful New Memorial To UVA’s Enslaved Workers Reclaims Lost Lives And Forgotten Narratives

The memorial's design uses "memory marks" to stand in for the names of enslaved people whose labors built the university.

Network of Concerned Historians Releases 2020 Annual Report on Global Incidents of Repression of Historians

The Network of Concerned Historians releases a comprehensive report of global incidents of censorship, government suppression, archival restriction, or private harassment campaigns against historians for the past year. 

A History of Presidential Lies (video)

Author Eric Alterman discusses the history of presidential lying and connects the increased power of the executive to the tendency to propount "alternative facts." 

‘No Slavery in Australia’? These Pacific Islanders Tell a Different Story

The Black Lives Matter movement has offered a rare moment for the descendants of plantation laborers brought aboard ships in the 19th century to make their family histories known.

For Black Suffragists, the Lens Was a Mighty Sword

Photographs of generations of Black suffragists offer invaluable documents about their thwarted and central roles in the history of women’s rights.

Unearthing New Histories of Black Appalachia (Review)

by Jillean McCommons

Tension between Black and white memory of the founding of Liberia, South Carolina drives John M. Coggeshall’s study, which adds significant insight to the history of Black Appalachia.

A Black Nurse Saved Lives. Today She May Save Art

Graduate student Laura Voisin George discovered an image of Biddy Mason, a Black woman born in slavery who became a founding figure in Los Angeles's African American history, in a set of WPA murals in an auditorium at the University of California-San Francisco. The discovery may help preserve the murals. 

He’s Sharing the History of Black New York, One Tweet at a Time

Oluwanisola “Sola” Olosunde is an urban planning graduate student whose Twitter feed is a chronicle of the everyday life of Black New York. He helped bring to light a recent viral video of white Queens residents yelling racist abuse at young Black girls during a period of resistance to desegregation in the 1970s.