Memory

The 1776 Commission marks the depth of right-wing commitment to ideological pseudo-history that can be used to shut down meaningful conversation about racism.

A new biography of William Tecumseh Sherman questions his reputation as the brutal "prophet of total war."

Misunderstood historical imagery at the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Jonathan W. Wilson offers a constructively critical review of Wilfred McClay's American history textbook "Land of Hope."

We must be cautious of the inclination to find a “usable history” that proves those points we want to prove, that reinforces the lessons we want reinforced.

We don't know which images will become emblematic of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, but past movements have shown the dangers of a singular narrative.

Lepore’s framework insists that the “self-evident” truths of the nation’s founding were anything but.

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history.

The word “Plymouth” may conjure up visions of Pilgrims in search of religious freedom, but that vision does not reflect reality.

Sweeping the human story into a cosmic tale is a thrill but we should be wary about what is overlooked in the grandeur.

More than iron, stone, or oil, wood explains human history.

He devoted a lifetime to studying America’s foundation, witnessed its near-dissolution, and uncannily anticipated its evolution.

The West and the nation need worthier, more honest memorials.

Jack Kennedy, we hardly know ye—and to know ye is not to love ye.

Natural language processing reveals huge differences in how Texas history textbooks treat men, women, and people of color.

How the preeminent photographic record of the period excluded people of color from the nation’s self-image.

The chaotic quest to mythologize America’s past.

'Freedom!' tried to show the horrors of antebellum slavery and the courage of escaping slaves. But neither schools nor audiences were ready for it.

How does color influence our perception of time?

Dorothea Lange created a vast archive of the twentieth century’s crises in America. For years her work was censored, misused, impounded, or simply rejected.

"Rethinking Rufus" argues that enslaved black men were sexually violated by both white men and white women.

Throughout his career, Hamilton acted as a middleman for his family and friends to purchase enslaved people.

Should art heal the centuries of racial violence and injustice in the US?

Born out of the Cold War, the course has a great contradiction at its heart: why do we teach history?

The hope for historical vindication is loud now but not new.

It’s a hashtag, a talking point, a Trump rally riff. The inside story of a New York Times project that launched a year-long culture war.

It helped erode discrimination but also upheld racial prejudice.

More diverse regular history classes are the key to a historically literate population.

A lesson on contextualizing history.

Why did the historian come to fear the very movements he once would have celebrated?