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Making Sense of Robert E. Lee

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”— Robert E. Lee, at Fredericksburg
by Roy Blount Jr. via Smithsonian on July 1, 2003
Caricature of Martin Luther King's head

The House of the Prophet

Martin Luther King Jr. was the galvanizing voice of the civil rights struggle, an uncompromising, complicated figure who soared in the pulpit.
by Kwame Anthony Appiah via New York Review of Books on April 11, 2002
Henry Ford

Ford and the Führer

Ford Motor Company claims its Cologne plant was confiscated by Nazis, but newly discovered documents and correspondence prove otherwise.
by Ken Silverstein via The Nation on January 6, 2000
Painting imagining John Brown (bearded man embracing Black child), being escorted by authorities.

Eugene Debs’s Stirring, Never-Before-Published Eulogy to John Brown at Harpers Ferry

In 1908, Eugene Debs eulogized John Brown as America's "greatest liberator," vowing the Socialist Party would continue Brown's work. We publish it here in full.
by Eugene V. Debs via Jacobin on October 1, 1908
Clark Mills’s statue of Andrew Jackson, Lafayette Park, Washington D.C., circa 1910–1925

Vance’s Junk History

When Donald Trump and his followers go in search of historical forerunners to justify their regime, they turn with striking regularity to the presidency.
by Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on April 25, 2025
Ken Burns speaking into microphone (left) and Donald Trump (right).

Ken Burns, Donald Trump, and the Lies that Bring Us Together

It may sound counterintuitive, but Ken Burns’ version of U.S. history actually has quite a bit in common with Trump’s version.
by Akim Reinhardt via 3 Quarks Daily on February 24, 2025
Painting imagining Washington shaking hands with Lincoln in front of liberty's flame.

Praising Washington in Lincoln’s Day

At the time of the Civil War, many Americans revered the nation’s Founding Fathers, and both supporters and opponents of slavery recruited them to their sides.
by Livia Gershon, Jeffrey J. Malanson via JSTOR Daily on February 12, 2025
Ronald and Nancy Reagan smiling and waving at victory celebration.

Honey, I Forgot to Duck

Reagan’s capacity to inhabit and generate legend stemmed from his own impulse to substitute pleasing fictions for inconvenient facts.
by Jackson Lears via London Review of Books on January 15, 2025
A still of Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan overlaid on the seal of the United States.

The Thin Line Between Biopic and Propaganda

The success of “Reagan” reflects the market demands of a more fragmented moviegoing public—and reality.
by Zach Schonfeld via The Atlantic on November 18, 2024
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in a flight suit with an airplane.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Was a Family Star Until Tragedy Struck in 1944

Eighty years ago this month, the Kennedy who might have been president was killed on a secret mission over England.
by Michael E. Ruane via Retropolis on August 1, 2024
A colorful illlustration of Texas Rangers, three Tejano men, guns, and alcohol bottles.

After a Borderland Shootout, a 100-Year-Old Battle for the Truth

A century after three Tejano men were shot to death, the story their family tells is different than the official account. Whose story counts as Texas history?
by Arelis R. Hernández, Frank Hulley-Jones via Washington Post on May 15, 2024
A drawing that depicts statues of colonial figures on top of pillars.

Messy, Messy Masculinity

The politics of eccentric men in the early United States.
by Ben Bascom via OUPblog on May 7, 2024
Side by side photos of Columbia University protests in 2024 and 1968.

America’s Colleges Are Reaping What They Sowed

Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses. Students took them at their word.
by Tyler Austin Harper via The Atlantic on May 2, 2024
Christy Mathewson, a pitcher for the New York Giants from 1900-1916.

When New York Made Baseball and Baseball Made New York

The rise of the sport as we know it was centered in Gotham, where big stadiums, heroic characters, and epic sportswriting produced a pastime that bound a city together.
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on March 25, 2024
Ivory Perry.

Ivory Perry, the Forgotten Civil Rights Hell-Raiser

Activists are often held up as exemplars of personal morality — but in every social struggle, ordinary people with complex lives rise up as leaders.
by Devin Thomas O’Shea via Jacobin on January 15, 2024
A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. stands larger than life in the center of the frame; two small figures view it in the foreground

The Struggle for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Memory

How political misappropriations of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy fuel right-wing movements.
by Hajar Yazdiha via Contexts Magazine on January 15, 2024
Tom Wolfe in profile against the New York City skyline.

The Electric Kool-Aid Conservative

Tom Wolfe was no radical.
by Osita Nwanevu via The New Republic on January 5, 2024
Betty Friedan circa 1975.

What Betty Friedan Knew

Judge the author of the “Feminine Mystique” not by the gains she made, but by her experience.
by Hermione Hoby via The New Republic on December 1, 2023
Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America's Ruling Class, Finally Dies

In a demonstration of why he was able to kill so many people and get away with it, the day of his passage will be a solemn one in Congress and newsrooms.
by Spencer Ackerman via Rolling Stone on November 30, 2023
Colonists in front of the Old State House in Boston.

‘King Hancock’ Review: The Biggest Name in Boston

More than an artful calligrapher, John Hancock forswore the austerity of his fellow Bostonians, and their extremism.
by William Anthony Hay via The Wall Street Journal on October 6, 2023
Photo of the Hermann the German Monument in New Ulm, Minnesota

Hermann the German: Settler Colonial Inscription in Minnesota

What does Hermann’s watchful position over New Ulm—stolen Dakota homelands— reveal about settler colonialism and the geography of memory?
by Ryan Hellenbrand, Alexandra Sterling-Hellenbrand via Edge Effects on September 21, 2023
Covers of popular history books.

Who Is History For?

What happens when radical historians write for the public.
by David Waldstreicher via Boston Review on July 25, 2023
President Theodore Roosevelt raising his hat to wave.

The Curse of Bigness

Until more Americans know what happened in periods such as the Gilded Age, they can’t protect themselves from those who abuse history to advance poor policy.
by Amity Shlaes via National Review on July 10, 2023
Daniel Ellsberg speaking at a press conference, 1972.

Daniel in the Lion's Den

On the moral courage of Daniel Ellsberg.
by Erik Baker via The Baffler on June 17, 2023
African American school children at Horatio Greenough’s statue of George Washington at the US Capitol, 1899.

Why the Age of Revolution Loved the Classical World

Radicals in the Age of Revolution saw the classical world as a common inheritance that could aid their fight for liberty.
by Francesca Langer via Aeon on May 30, 2023
A portrait of Jackie Robinson in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, circa 1945.

Jackie Robinson Was More Than a Baseball Player

Jackie Robinson is popularly portrayed as the man who broke baseball’s color line by quietly enduring racist abuse. But that narrative is much too narrow.
by Michael Arria, David Naze via Jacobin on May 12, 2023
Boxing great Joe Louis stands in a gymnasium boxing ring as if ready for a match.

How Racist Car Dealers KO’d Joe Louis

A never-before-published tranche of letters reveals the white-collar racism that prevented the world’s most popular athlete from selling Fords.
by Silke-Maria Weineck via The Nation on May 8, 2023
Connie Converse playing a guitar

The Lost Music of Connie Converse

A writer of haunting, uncategorizable songs, she once seemed poised for runaway fame. But only decades after she disappeared has her music found an audience.
by Jeremy Lybarger via The New Republic on April 24, 2023
The Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas, consumed by flames.

What Really Happened at Waco

Thirty years later, an avoidable tragedy has spawned a politically ascendant mythology.
by Rachel Monroe via The New Yorker on April 12, 2023
15 women involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Rosa Parks's mugshot is the center.

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

We've heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role, but Parks was just one of many women involved.
by Karen Grigsby Bates via NPR on March 22, 2023
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