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The Memorial Chapel of the Épinal American Cemetery in Lorraine, France.

How the U.S. Designed Overseas Cemeteries to Win the Cold War

Building large memorials to display power and dominance, the US government hoped to inspire Judeo-Christian and capitalist ideals with their cemeteries.
Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson: Our First Populist President

He never denounced slavery and was brutal towards American Indians, but remains a popular figure. Why?
Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass, Abolition, and Memory

On Douglass’s monumental life, the voice of the biographer, memory and tragedy, and why history matters right now.
Stack of biographies.

Arguing Biography

An university press editor considers the merits and limitations of biography as a scholarly form.

Revisiting the Prayer at Valley Forge

The fable of George Washington's prayer was meant to foster religious tolerance, not paint him as a pious leader.

Did George Washington ‘Have a Couple of Things in His Past’?

A historian assesses Donald Trump’s claim that the first president faced his own allegations of sexual assault.
James Longstreet's daughter visits his statue at Gettysburg.
partner

The Missing Statues That Expose the Truth About Confederate Monuments

Why Confederacy supporters erased the legacy of one its most accomplished soldiers.

Aretha Franklin’s Revolution

The soul singer was an architect of the civil-rights movement as much as a witness to it.
Photographs of Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman.

When Wilde Met Whitman

As he told a friend years later, "the kiss of Walt Whitman is still on my lips."

Remembering Philip Roth

Philip Roth's work could only have been written by someone who came of age during the peak of postwar liberalism.

The Court’s Supreme Injustice

How John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Roger Taney strengthened the institution of slavery and embedded in the law a systemic hostility to fundamental freedom and basic justice.

Rewriting My Grandfather’s MLK Story

In excavating the story of King’s visit to Harlem Hospital, I uncovered my grandfather’s own fight for civil rights.

The Black Monuments Project

America is covered in Confederate statues. We can do better — and here’s how.

The ‘SNL’ Sketch That Predicted Our Nerd Overlords

In 1986, William Shatner told a roomful of spoof Trekkies to "get a life."
An American flag at the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall.

Exceptional Victims

The resistance to the Vietnam War was the most diverse and dynamic antiwar movement in U.S. history. We have all but forgotten it today.

Why Do We Salute Volunteer Soldiers but Scorn Professional Warriors?

Since the Mexican-American War, Army regulars haven't always been treated as heroes.
Robert E. Lee statue

The Fight Over Virginia’s Confederate Monuments

How the state’s past spurred a racial reckoning.

A Birthday Party for This Patsy?

Every year, a group in New Orleans gets together to celebrate the birthday of Lee Harvey Oswald, who they believe was framed.

How John Wayne Became a Hollow Masculine Icon

The actor’s persona was inextricable from the toxic culture of Cold War machismo.

The Murderer Who Started a Movement

David Gunn’s murder was the first targeted killing of an abortion doctor in America. His killer now has an opportunity for parole.

How Southern Socialites Rewrote Civil War History

The United Daughters of the Confederacy altered the South’s memory of the Civil War.

The History Behind the Movement to Replace Columbus Day

Though the first Indigenous Peoples’ Day was celebrated in the early 1990s, the idea took shape many years earlier.

Marx in the United States

A conversation with the author of a forthcoming book about the twists and turns of Marx's legacy in America.
Painting of the signing of the Constitution.

The Gun Argument That’s Not Even Wrong

Why the “Founders’ Intent” doesn’t matter.

Thomas Jefferson and Us

The resurgence of the debate over the Sage of Monticello's legacy: Is Jefferson the ultimate patriot or ultimate hypocrite?

Hugh Hefner Was Never The Star of Playboy

Perhaps the only true generalization to make about Hefner is that he is given too much credit for his role in American history.
Microphone hovers over a portrait of George Washington.
partner

What Trump — And His Critics — Get Wrong About George Washington and Robert E. Lee

The two men owned slaves — but at vastly different moments in American history.

Alexander Hamilton: Statesman, Dueler, Birthday Party Theme

Projected to earn $1 billion and earning Tony-Award glory, 'Hamilton' the musical is still going strong in backyards and classrooms across the country.

Prayers for Richard

Reflections on the life of Little Richard, the star who mistook a satellite for a ball of fire.
Photograph of Boston Corbett

The Insane Story of the Guy Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln

Meet Boston Corbett, the self-castrated hatmaker who was John Wilkes Booth's Jack Ruby.

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