Historians in the News

A Chapter In U.S. History Often Ignored: The Flight Of Runaway Slaves To Mexico

USC Historian Alice Baumgartner's book examines the stream of enslaved people who fled to Mexico between the 1830s and Emancipation, and the role of Mexico in international debates about abolition. Roseann Bacha-Garza of UT-Rio Grande Valley is an expert on the local networks of abolitionists and allies on the route.

The Deep South Has a Rich History of Resistance, as Amazon Is Learning

Columnist Jamelle Bouie draws on the work of historians Michael W. Fitzgerald, Paul Horton, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Robert Widell, Jr. which shows that Alabamians, and Black Alabamians in particular, have organized to fight both racial oppression and labor exploitation.

America’s Political Roots Are in Eutaw, Alabama

"The terror campaign of 1870 ended the promise of Alabama’s brief Reconstruction era, allowing the so-called Redeemers to pry Alabama from the hands of reform. This was the critical juncture that led to the way things are."

University Finds 18th-Century Schoolhouse Where Black Children Learned to Read

The discovery of a 260-year-old structure with such a deep connection to a little-known chapter of the history of Colonial Williamsburg, when the population was more than 50 percent Black and teaching slaves to read was legal, is especially significant, said history professor Jody Lynn Allen. 

Searching for Our Urban Future in the Ruins of the Past

Annalee Newitz's book on lost cities debunks the idea of sudden, catastrophic collapse. But the death of cities does show that humanity is vulnerable to change that makes centuries-old ways of life untenable. 

Fired for Tweeting?

"In a written statement to The Chronicle, Burnett said, “Collin College is a government organization that has unconstitutionally sought to punish me for my speech as a private citizen." 

With Free Medical Clinics and Patient Advocacy, the Black Panthers Created a Legacy in Community Health That Still Exists Amid COVID-19

by Olivia B. Waxman and Arpita Aneja

Sociologist and social movement historian Alondra Nelson explains that Black Panther Party community action to provide health services grew out of a mistrust of mainstream health institutions' willingness to direct resources to the needs of poor Black communities, a mistrust that remains today. 

Fight To Vote: The Woman Who Was Key In 'Getting Us The Voting Rights Act'

Historian Carol Anderson explains the contributions of Amelia Boynton to the Selma movement and the erasure of women's organizing work from many histories of the movement. 

After the Riot, What’s the Future of Art in the Capitol?

Art Historian Sarah Lewis suggests that damage to the artworks in the Capitol during the rioting presents an opportunity to rethink what subjects are included in a collection that signals inclusion in the national narrative. 

Auburn Professors Working to Preserve History of Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’

Richard Burt and Keith Hébert are leading a team of researchers to preserve the site of the historic attack on voting rights marchers by Alabama State Troopers on March 7, 1965, hoping that a better-preserved public monument will clear up misperceptions of the day's events. 

A Poisonous Legacy: New York City and the Persistence of the Middle Passage

by Gerald Horne

Historian Gerald Horne reviews John Harris's book on the role of New York merchants in the illegal last phase of the Atlantic slave trade, which persisted despite the law because trade in human beings enriched Americans throughout the nation. 

For Many, an Afro isn’t Just a Hairstyle

Journalist Ernie Suggs reflects on how hairstyles reflected his own family's history, with backing from historians Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and Noliwe Rooks. 

The Broken System: What Comes After Meritocracy?

by Elizabeth Anderson

Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson reviews Michael Sandel's critique of meritocracy, a book that locates an explanation for the Trumpian moment in the rise of competitive individualism in the platforms of both major parties. 

Supplement to Special Issue: Academic Integrity at Stake: The Ramseyer Article

by Alexis Dudden

The Asia-Pacific Journal is publishing a collection of letters in opposition to the controversial article by Harvard Law professor J. Mark Rameseyer which characterized the sexual abuse of Korean women during World War II as freely contracted sex work. 

Japanese Internment, Football, and a Legendary Team

Dave Zirin's Edge of Sports podcast hosts Bradford Pearson, the author of "The Eagles of Heart Mountain," the story of a group of interned Japanese American teens whose football team dominated the state of Wyoming. 

To Understand Contemporary American Culture, Look To Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee

Stan Lee's approach to comics, described in a new biography by Abraham Reismna, enabled the creation of denser universes of characters and also created a fan culture that affects how popular culture is made, enjoyed and discussed.

Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD) Launches a Virtual Speakers Program

35 scholars are part of this initiative to schedule virtual speakers on topics of political and social significance, without honoraria. 

'We Deserve More': An Amazon Warehouse’s High-Stakes Union Drive

Historians Joseph McCartin, Michael Innis Jiménez, and Kerri Leigh Merritt discuss the historic union drive at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama center and where it fits in the history of labor and civil rights in the south. 

New Exhibit Reckons With Glendale's Racist Past as ‘Sundown Town'

The suburban city of Glendale, CA has initiated a series of public programs confronting its legacy as a "sundown town" where minorities, particulary African Americans, were able to work but barred from living or socializing. 

How George Washington Didn’t Lead

Historians Lindsay Chervinsky, Noemie Emery, David Head and Craig Bruce Smith offer reflections in a virtual forum on the first president's leadership.