Recently Published

Trump’s Misguided and Empty Promise of Protectionism Dovetails with His Appeal to Isolationism

by Christopher McKnight Nichols

It’s an old formula. It should be resisted.

Mercy Street in Context: Historian Pamela Toler on the Real Nurses of the Civil War

by Robin Lindley

Historian Pamela D. Toler provides historical context for the PBS series in her new book "Heroines of Mercy Street: The Real Nurses of the Civil War."

How the Columbine Memorial Missed an Opportunity We Should Have Seized

by Harriet F. Senie

Wouldn't we honor the dead (and their families) more by building memorials that also provide a safe place to consider the causes and implications of the events that cost them their lives?

What Would Eleanor Roosevelt Think of the Fight for Equal Pay for Equal Work?

by Brigid O’Farrell

We don’t have to guess. We know.

Will the GOP Crown Paul Ryan as Its Presidential Nominee?

by Ronald L. Feinman

If it does, it will be a sharp break with history and not for the reasons you think.

Who Really Discovered America?

by Ed Simon

That’s a complicated and fraught question that no fresh discovery of the Vikings’ presence, however important, can answer.

Could the Hulk Hogan Case Change Journalism?

by Samantha Barbas

The Hogan lawsuit could be the beginning of something big.

The Republican Party Isn’t Collapsing

by Corey M. Brooks

The end of the Whig Party shows why.

The Supreme Court Mystery We Couldn’t Solve

by Brian Johnson

The Obama administration claims that every nominee to the Court since 1875 has received a hearing or an up or down vote. So what happened in 1875? Nothing as far as we could determine.

At Least Trump Got One Thing Right. There Were No WMDs in Iraq.

by Brian Glyn Williams

That’s more than can be said of the majority of GOP voters, who still think WMD were found.

The Surprising Similarity in the Crises Facing Both Wheaton and Oberlin

by Louis B. Gallien, Jr.

One school’s hard Christian right. The other’s devoted to social justice causes. But the trouble they’re facing is rooted in a similar past.

One Reason Why Blacks Rallied to Harry Truman in 1948

by Jennifer Scanlon

It was because of the unheralded work of Anna Arnold Hedgeman, a liberal black activist.

Why Thucydides Is (Sadly) So Relevant Right Now

by Eric Orlin

“War is a violent teacher, and brings most men's passions to the same level as their circumstances.”

North Carolina's Brutal Tradition of Sexual and Gender Discrimination

by Marc Stein

The state rejects lavender and purple state politics and turns a bright shade of red.

The Rosenbergs Were Blamed for Starting a War. It Wasn’t True.

by Lori Clune

That was just one of the egregious flaws in the trial that ended in their deaths.

We’ve Had a Dealmaker as a Candidate for President. It Was Stephen Douglas. Lincoln trounced him – with good reason.

by Harold Holzer and Norton Garfinkle

Lincoln trounced him – with good reason.

Does the GOP Have a Moral Obligation to Nominate Trump just Because He’s the Front Runner?

by Ronald L. Feinman

History suggests the answer is no.

This Year’s Reminding Me a Lot of 1968. That’s Scary.

by Ron Briley

If we are not careful we may reap a whirlwind more threatening to American democracy than the 1968 winter of discontent.

Why Bernie’s Right About Glass-Steagall

by Edward Morris

History may not repeat itself, but why take the risk it will?

Why Historians Should Teach the Future

by Peter Bishop, David Hochfelder, Joe Sears, and David Staley

"We teach about the past, don’t we? Why can’t we teach about the future?”