Recently Published

The Enduring Fascination – And Challenge – Of World War II

by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

This Memorial Day offers the chance to read about and reflect on World War II, particularly the stories of ordinary people trying to understand world-changing events, and consider our time's connections to past and future. 

In 1844, Nativist Protestants Burned Churches in the Name of Religious Liberty

by Zachary M. Schrag

Rick Santorum's dismissive take on Native American history led to his ouster at CNN. But his remarks also glossed over a violent history of Protestant intolerance that should be a warning to us today about the danger of the idea that only one creed is truly American.

Preserving the Stories of the Second World War

by Colin Heaton

Colin Heaton's latest book of oral history (with Anne-Marie Lewis) is based on oral histories he conducted with five significant Allied Airmen from World War II. Here, he discusses his work collecting veterans' stories from all sides of the airborne war and why those stories matter. 

75 Years of CARE Demonstrate Americans' Potential for Compassion

by William Lambers

CARE, along with a group of charities, calls for world leaders to dedicate at least one day’s worth of military spending toward food aid.  There should be less resources for heavy armaments and more for programs like infant feeding. 

For Israel and the Palestinians, Reconciliation Must Precede a Peace Process

by Alon Ben-Meir

If the recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas holds, many may be tempted to push for renewing a negotiated peace process. This is skipping the vital and difficult work of reconciliation that is necessary to a just peace.

Political Riots are an All-American Phenomenon (But Ignoring them Shouldn't Be)

by Ron Steinman

The partisan resistance to the formation of a commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection echoes the official indifference to the race riots that overthrew Reconstruction; the nation needs the truth and needs accountability.

The Ethics of the "N-Word" in the Classroom

by Alan Singer

Neither censorious expungement nor free speech absolutism offer good practical guidelines for teaching historical sources that include racial slurs. A professor of history education explains his approach. 

What's Controversial about California's Model Ethnic Studies Curriculum?

by James Thornton Harris

At its root, the controversy over California's ethnic studies model curriculum (which no school district is compelled to implement) is whether the lived everyday experiences of people, including Californians of color, are a worthy subject of study. 

Cultures of Resentment among the Hitlerites and Trumpers

by Walter G. Moss

Recent essays have begun the work of understanding the resentments of Trump supporters. If this movement is to be stopped, proponents of liberal democracy need to address some of them, without necessarily condoning their motivations.

Jerusalem: A Divided and Invented City

by James A.S. Sunderland

Both Hamas and the Israeli right base their claims to Jerusalem on understandings of the city as shaped by the orientalist and segregationist values of British governors during the Mandate period, and not on the city's longer heterogenous and multicultural history. Peace activists look to that history as an example of coexistence. 

The Age of Reason and the Restless Masses: Censoring Class Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century

by Eric Berkowitz

The ruling classes of nineteenth century Europe were gravely concerned about the potential of mass media to help upend the class structure or incite workers to revolution. Their actions didn't seek to expunge taboo ideas, but to restrict their circulation to the elites. 

Racial Epistemology and its Discontents: What Really Makes Concepts "Divisive"

by Guy Lancaster

American whiteness has always included a kind of epistemic closure, refusing testimony about the world from nonwhites. Today, it is this epistemic closure that makes some state legislatures legislate against "divisive" ideas. 

FDR's Indispensable Right-Hand Woman Portrayed Unfairly – Again

by Kathryn Smith

A new PBS series on the Norwegian Royal Family's contact with FDR at the outset of World War II takes some liberties with the facts, but is particularly unfair to Marguerite LeHand, who was Roosevelt's de facto chief of staff for years. 

Reverberations of the Photography of Jazz

by Jeffrey Mifflin

The photographs of William Gottlieb and other observers of jazz's golden age deserve more attention for capturing and creating the aesthetics of the music. 

The Rebuilt Berlin Palace Embodies the Tensions of the City's History and Future

by Barney White-Spunner

While Berliners have incorporated the city's notorious wall into museums and public art, restoring the site of the Berliner Schloss of the Hohenzollerns and then the Palast der Republic of the East German government has been much more contentious. The Humboldt Forum has been criticized, but its design and reception exemplify the tensions inherent in democracy.

Vaccine Skeptics Should Heed George Washington’s Example

by Robert Brent Toplin

With the American Revolution hanging in the balance, Washington ordered the mass inoculation of the Continental Army against a smallpox pandemic. Would today's vaccine skeptics accuse him of trampling freedom? 

Historians' Perspective on Media Bias: Where it Came from, and What Can be Done?

by Walter G. Moss

Historical perspective shows that media bias is nothing new, but the stakes for democracy are high today. Can historians teach and practice better ways of reading and debating to fight polarization and misinformation?

Are Campus Bookstores Undermining Student Learning?

by Elizabeth Stice

Today’s undergraduates are increasingly being cornered into ongoing financial commitments for everything, while they never take possession of anything. Rejecting digital book programs run by campus bookstores outsourced to third parties could help reverse this trend.

Mudlarking: Searching for Lost Treasure – and History – on the Banks of the Thames

by Jason Sandy and Nick Stevens

The Thames River's silty bottom and tidal patterns make its banks a repository of historical artifacts. Today's "mudlarks" have turned the old tradition of scavenging the banks for subsistence into a public archaeology project. 

India's COVID Crisis Has Roots in its Colonial-Era Tax Structure

by Roderick Matthews

India's COVID crisis is being exacerbated by a health system that uses an anemic 3.5% of GDP. Continuities from the era of the British Raj, when powerful rural landowners went untaxed, are a big part of the problem.