During the Progressive era, as today, American education reformers examined the connection between schooling and the cultural and political divisions affecting the nation. Today's conservative agenda, however, openly rejects the idea of public schools as a force for unity and democratic culture.
Although Charlene Mitchell's candidacy with the Communist Party gained few votes, her campaign reflected an effort to advance a critique of capitalism that addressed the American context of racial inequality and oppression.
With multiple votes, partisan hostility, and charges of an electoral "steal" in the air, the House Speaker battle of 1839 offers a compelling comparison to today.
Harnessing cold – both natural and artificially-created—has been a key support for human flourishing, but also a factor in the consumption of resources that imperils the environment.
Although the United States has refused to accept the principle that it owes global reparations for past damage to the atmosphere, could reframing the issue as one of global leadership, instead of punishment, appeal to the nation's better instincts?
The notion that the American Santa Claus evolved naturally from the European Saint Nicholas conceals an origin story for the character that's both simpler and more complex.
Italians' recollection of Mussolini and the Fascist regime embody the replacement of historical memory with national mythology—a mythology that dismisses both the violence of the dictatorship and Italians' collective responsibility for it and enables the resurgence of the far right today.
Local volunteers excavating near the site of Fort Mercer in southern New Jersey discovered new evidence of the participation of Hessian mercenaries in a key battle in the British attempt to seize Philadelphia in 1777.
A recent plot point in Netflix's "The Crown" was based on a falsification of historical events. Historians who want to influence public knowledge of history need to be able to match the narrative appeal of television with a commitment to telling the truth.
It's entirely fair for the Nets' guard to face criticism for his boosting of an antisemitic film, but the uproar carries the risk of silencing athletes who might otherwise use their public platforms for political advocacy.
One in four K-12 students today is an immigrant or a child of immigrants. A high school history teacher in an immigrant-serving school argues that we need to remember the examples of past educators who defied law and prejudice to make schools places where immigrants became Americans.
Governor Youngkin's allies on Virginia's commission to review state social studies standards have hijacked the process to advance a right-wing vision of history education in the state that expunges "divisive concepts" from the curriculum.
The Gadsden Flag originally symbolized the unity of the American colonies against oppression by the Crown and Parliament. It's an irony of history that the symbol has been adopted by some who reject centralized authority.
As a child, the author developed an interest in history by hearing his father's stories on the journey from parachuting in to Normandy to the Brandenburg Gate and the occupation of Berlin. But he waited until retirement to research and write about them.
Although Biden, Trump, and other prominent elected officials represent a political leadership that's unprecedented for advanced age, it's not clear we can—or should—do anything about it.
The Republican Party's fracturing between the remaining neocons and a younger group of isolationists comes at a critical moment when Russia is testing the possible limits on its expansive ambitions.
