Historians in the News

How a woman raised without education became an Oxbridge historian

Tara Westover grew up in the Idaho mountains and was raised by a father who believed the end was near and a mom who'd treat even serious wounds with herbs.

Was This Technology historian plagiarized? Sure seems like she was.

For the third time this month, scholars are questioning the integrity of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest professional organization for the advancement of technology.

Meet the new authorized historian of Britain's communications intelligence agency

John Ferris recognized for his pioneering work in technical aspects of signals intelligence.

Lerone Bennett Jr., journalist and historian of African American life, dies at 89

Mr. Bennett wrote books that highlighted the struggles and achievements of African Americans throughout history, beginning with his comprehensive 1962 historical study, “Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, 1619-1962.”

What departments of history are doing about lower enrollments

Five historians reflect on the disciplinary, institutional, social and political challenges facing their subject.

Right after the Civil War, says Stanford's Richard White, Americans were really hopeful, then reality hit

By the 1870s the gulf between the ideal and the reality had widened considerably and would continue to widen for the rest of the century.

Yale's David Blight says the Right is co-opting Frederick Douglass

by David Blight

Douglass’s understanding of power could never confine him to advocacy of individualism alone.

Calling Academe's Bluff

Erin Bartram’s “quit lit” essay asks readers to consider what’s lost -- personally but especially in terms of disciplinary knowledge -- with so many scholars leaving a broken system behind.

Historians for Peace and Democracy publishes five Broadsides for the Trump Era

Broadside authors include: Linda Gordon, Geoff Eley, Jeremy Kuzmarov, Robert Oppenheim and Ellen Schrecker.

Trump FY19 Budget Proposes Drastic Cuts to History & Humanities Funding Again

by Lee White

But the cuts aren't likely to be made.

Historian Tom Nichols: I'm still a Republican, but my party needs to be fumigated

by Tom Nichols

"One day we'll be needed to recreate the GOP as a center-right party rather than a vehicle for inane populist keggers. For now, I hope Democrats win Congress in 2018.”

What Was the Most Influential Act of Protest in History?

Suggestions range from the Stamp Act to the Newburgh Conspiracy.

AHA Condemns Polish Law Criminalizing Public Discussion of Polish Complicity in Nazi War Crimes

The AHA has published a statement condemning Polish law criminalizing references to Polish complicity in Nazi war crimes.

The Scholar Helping America Grapple with Its Ugly History

Historian Keisha N. Blain knows Donald Trump and Dylann Roof didn't come out of nowhere.

Richard Hofstadter’s debt to his wife is suddenly a thing

"Thanks Are Due Above All to My Wife."

Duke Historian Nancy MacLean says many architects of the libertarian movement "seem to be on the autism spectrum”

by Troy Earl Camplin

The claim has aroused the ire of both libertarians and autistic people.

A historian of race descended from slaveholders confronts his own family’s legacy

by William Horne

"There is a conversation about race that white families are just not having. This is mine.” – William Horne

Harvard Hires First Professor of Native American History

History professor Philip J. Deloria, began teaching last month, after years of activists calling for Native American studies offerings.

Claim: Historians have got the demise of organized labor wrong

Labor was militant in the 1970s despite George Meaney’s cozy relationship with Nixon, says historian Lane Windham.

Black history is U.S. history — but some of my students don’t want to hear it

by Donald Earl Collins

History class should be the last place where we stop talking about race.