Historians in the News

How Racism and Sexism Intertwine to Torment Asian-American Women

Ellen Wu of Indiana University is among the scholars offering insight on the historical roots of the sexual fetishization of American women and its connection to violence.

The Princeton Historian Mugged by Reality

Xiyue Wang was released from an Iranian prison in 2019 after being detained for four months. The Princeton doctoral student is now a critic of softening American sanctions aginst Iran. 

The Quintessential Institutionalist

by Donald Alexander Downs

Walter LaFeber's legacy goes beyond scholarship to his work as a champion of academic freedom and open debate, writes his former colleague political theorist Donald Alexander Downs. 

The History of Freedom Is a History of Whiteness

by Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

"A conversation with Tyler Stovall about his recent book White Freedom and whether or not the legacy of liberty can break away from racial exclusion and domination."

The Future of L.A. is Here. Robin D.G. Kelley’s Radical Imagination Shows Us the Way

Historian Robin Kelley discusses the work of his mentor Cedric Robinson, whose discussions in "Black Marxism" offer a way to circumvent the reductionist tendencies of the class- and race-oriented wings of the left today. 

The Post-Trump Crack-Up of the Evangelical Community

Anthea Butler and Kristin Kobes Du Mez offer insight into how racial double standards within evangelical religion and the willingness of "insider" historians to craft a selective picture of evangelical political action has made it difficult to understand how many of today's evangelical leaders have made peace with (or even embraced) white supremacy.

Atomic Cover-Up

by Greg Mitchell

Greg Mitchell's Atomic Cover-Up premiers this month and tells the story of two film crews, one Japanese and one from the U.S. Army, whose footage of the human toll of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings was seized and suppressed by the U.S. goverment. 

Digging into the History of the Former Dixie Shirt Textile Business in Spartanburg

Founded by an immigrant Jewish family who moved to Spartanburg from New York City, the Dixie Shirt Company connected the histories of American Jews, labor, industry, and war mobilization in the South. Furman historian Diane Vecchio uncovered the story as part of a plan to redevelop the site. 

The Race to Collect COVID Ephemera Before It’s History

"Last year, on March 13th, as Americans began to restructure daily life in response to covid-19, one curator, Rebecca Klassen, had an idea."

Scholar of World War II Homefront Wins American History Book Prize

Tracy Campbell, the author of “The Year of Peril: America in 1942,” has been named the winner of the New-York Historical Society’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, which is given each year to the best work in the field of American history or biography.

Understanding a Political Cartoon: Nast & Reconstruction

Dr. Kimberly Kutz Elliott and Dr. Beth Harris take a close read of Thomas Nast's 1874 political cartoon, "The Union As It Was—Worse Than Slavery." (H/T to the Twitter feed of Kevin M. Levin!)

How Black Women Musicians Defined What We Call Culture

Daphne Brooks's new book "Liner Notes for the Revolution" examines the ways that Black women as creators, critics and consumers of popular music have advanced a political vision of transforming society. 

A Push to Save Landmarks of the ‘Great Migration’ — and Better Understand Today’s Racial Inequities

A south Chicago house once owned by legendary blues singer Muddy Waters is being rehabilitated as a museum of the city's Black music and culture, just one of many battles to preserve the built environment and material history of the African American "Great Migration" to Chicago and other northern cities. 

The Baddest Man in Town

by Eric McHenry

Writer Eric McHenry recounts picking up the documentary trail (started in the 1970s by John Russell David) of the notorious "Stagger Lee" Shelton, whose reign of terror in early 20th century St. Louis became immortalized in song and legend.

Rice is a 'Frequent Visitor' at Tables in the South, A New Cookbook Digs Up the Complicated Way it Got There

Food historian and chef Michael Twitty examines the cross-cultural and transatlantic history of rice in Southern cooking and culture. 

An Honest History of Texas Begins and Ends With White Supremacy

by Casey Michel

Amanda Vickery of the University of North Texas says that recent proposals in the Texas legislature for a curriculum of Texas patriotism won't acknowledge the way that slavery and white supremacy were central to the Republic of Texas. 

An Empire of Sanctions: A Syllabus from the Historians for Peace and Democracy

Members of the organization Historians for Peace and Democracy present a course dedicated to understanding the origins, ethics, and implications of using economic sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy. 

‘Imperially Nostalgic Racists’ Target Empireland Author With Hate Mail

The history of empire has become part of a growing British culture war, particularly since Black and brown British authors and historians have begun to weigh in with critical studies of imperialism. 

A Mansion Sale Built on the Myth of a Notorious Cow

The Chicago Fire of 1871 has been the wellspring of plenty of myths. A real estate listing for a southside mansion is just the latest. Historians Carl Smith and Ann Durkin Keating comment. 

Ken Burns Still Has Faith in a Shared American Story

"The most important thing about me talking about race now is to say that I am in a position where I have to be quiet. You have to be quiet. There are other voices that need to speak. The dismantling of white supremacy is not just white people continually talking about the dismantling of white supremacy. You have to shut up and listen."