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A photograph of Dennis Lehane next to the cover of his book, Small Mercies.

The Other South

Coming to terms with Boston’s racist legacy in “Small Mercies."
by Steve Nathans-Kelly, Dennis Lehane via Chicago Review of Books on May 11, 2023
The community organizer Sylvester Hoover and Nikole Hannah-Jones, Greenwood, Mississippi; from episode 6 of The 1619 Project.

History Bright and Dark

Americans have often been politically divided. But have the divisions over how we recount our history ever been so deep?
by Adam Hochschild via New York Review of Books on May 2, 2023
The sillhouette of a Civil War statue on a night sky.

The Spirit of Appomattox

Why is Shelby Foote's Civil War subject to so much contemporary debate?
by Jonathan Clarke via The Hedgehog Review on March 1, 2023
Uncle Tom’s Cabin jigsaw puzzle.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Jigsaw Puzzle: Jumbling the Pieces of Stowe’s Story

Understanding puzzles as agents of disorder runs counter to a common interpretation that associates puzzles with the quest for order.
by Patricia Jane Roylance via Commonplace on January 31, 2023
Stack of papers with an image of the Capitol building printed on the side.

What the January 6th Report Is Missing

The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on January 9, 2023
Illustration of Guitar, a Gun and Roses by Eric Hanson

The Bully in the Ballad

Was Mississippi John Hurt really the first person to sing the tragic tale of Louis Collins?
by Eric McHenry via The American Scholar on December 15, 2022
Mark Wallinger's "Self-Portrait," a painting showing black dripping paint in the silhouette of an unfurled scroll on a grey background

The Illusion of the First Person

The personal essay is the purest expression of the lie that individual subjectivity exists prior to the social formations that gave rise to it.
by Merve Emre via New York Review of Books on October 11, 2022
Pamphlet for "The Drunkard, or, The Fallen Saved" play with alcohol bottles drawn next to the title

Temperance Melodrama on the Nineteenth-Century Stage

Produced by the master entertainer P. T. Barnum, a melodrama about the dangers of alcohol was the first show to run for a hundred performances in New York City.
by Betsy Golden Kellem via JSTOR Daily on September 21, 2022
Illustration of fantasy elements including a maze and a crystal ball from a "choose-your-own-adventure" scene from a book.

The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books

How a best-selling series gave young readers a new sense of agency.
by Leslie Jamison via The New Yorker on September 12, 2022
Black and white photo of children holding signs about remembrance, at a depot in New York City to greet their parents after a mass strike parade in 1911.

The Building Blocks of History

A lively defense of narrative history and the lived experience that informs historical writing.
by Walker Mimms, Richard Cohen via The Nation on August 17, 2022

A Tale of Two Toms

The uses and abuses of history through the "diary" of Thomas Fallon.
by Jenny Hale Pulsipher via Commonplace on July 12, 2022
Mount Rushmore with painted crowd behind it

A Usable Past for a Post-American Nation

We are living through a time when we cannot take our shared identity—and therefore our shared stories—for granted.
by Johann N. Neem via The Hedgehog Review on July 8, 2022
A line of people holding each others' shoulders as they walk with their eyes closed on a sidewalk in front of a building.

Ukraine Yesterday & Tomorrow

Ukraine didn’t become an epicenter of world history all of a sudden; it became an epicenter again.
by Oksana Forostyna via European Review Of Books on June 13, 2022
Ada “Bricktop” Smith (far left) seated at table with other women, the New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1920 – 1929 (Courtesy of the Schomburg Center).

Behind and Beyond Biography: Writing Black Women’s Lives and Thoughts

Ashley D. Farmer and Tanisha C. Ford explain the importance of biographical writing of African American women and the personal connection involved.
by Ashley D. Farmer, Tanisha C. Ford via Black Perspectives on May 31, 2022
Poster for HBO documentary "Exterminate All the Brutes," featuring a human skull painted to look like a globe.

We Must Burn Them: Against the Origin Story

"History​ is written by the victors, but diligent and continual silencing is required to maintain its claims on the present and future."
by Hazel V. Carby via London Review of Books on May 26, 2022
Animals in pairs in the rain board a rocket ship, evoking Noah's ark. Fantastic October 1961, Mike Christie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

What If… Historians Were Honest About Counterfactuals?

A single choice can branch out to infinite realities.
by Adam R. Shapiro via Contingent on May 5, 2022
Cover of "Liberty Is Sweet," featuring a painting of a man holding a gun to two soldiers on horseback.

Fighting the American Revolution

An interview with Woody Holton on his new book, "Liberty is Sweet."
by Woody Holton, Tom Cutterham via Age of Revolutions on April 11, 2022
Two women stand in front of the Supreme Court building holding a sign that reads, "Keep Abortion Legal."

"The Family Roe" and the Messy Reality of the Abortion “Jane Roe” Didn’t Get

A new book juxtaposes dominant narratives about motherhood, women’s autonomy, and abortion with the weirdness of ordinary lives.
by Lara Freidenfelds via Nursing Clio on April 7, 2022
The site in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in 1964.

Burying a Burning

The killing of three civil-rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1964 changed America.
by Ko Bragg via The Atlantic on April 7, 2022
Illustration by Nilé Livingston of the many flags used throughout America as symbols of freedom, patriotism, and protest.

Scars and Stripes

Philadelphia gave America its flag, along with other enduring icons of nationhood. But for many, the red, white and blue banner embodies a legacy of injustice.
by Martha S. Jones via Philadelphia Inquirer on April 6, 2022
Ocean waves and cloudy skies.

The 1619 Project Unrepentantly Pushes Junk History

Nikole Hannah-Jones' new book sidesteps scholarly critics while quietly deleting previous factual errors.
by Phillip W. Magness via Reason on March 29, 2022
Left: stacks of The 1619 Project books; right: Daryl Michael Scott.

Grievance History

Historian Daryl Scott weighs in on the 1619 Project and the "possibility that we rend ourselves on the question of race."
by Daryl Michael Scott, Kevin Mahnken via The 74 on March 22, 2022
Photograph of John Gunther, an American journalist.

The Book That Unleashed American Grief

John Gunther’s “Death Be Not Proud” defied a nation’s reluctance to describe personal loss.
by Deborah Cohen via The Atlantic on March 8, 2022
Patricia Hearst in front of SLA flag, 1974; CSU Archives/Everett Collection/Alamy Stock Photo.

American Captivity

The captivity narrative as creation myth.
by Ed Simon via The Hedgehog Review on March 1, 2022
A collage piece that includes photographs of African Americans at work and leisure.

Stories to Be Told

Unearthing the Black history in America’s national parks.
by Sahra Ali via Sierra Club on February 20, 2022
A row of brightly colored newspaper boxes.
partner

The Black Press Provides a Model for How Mainstream News Can Better Cover Racism

Digging deeper, offering historical context and going beyond official narratives will better serve the audience.
by Olivia Paschal via Made By History on February 17, 2022
Photograph of Sam Chamberlain

Crossing the Blood Meridian: Cormac McCarthy and American History

McCarthy imagined a vast border region where colonial empires clashed, tribes went to war, and bounty hunters roamed.
by Bennett Parten via Los Angeles Review of Books on February 9, 2022
Photo of a man lying face down on a bed under a coat, and a sad woman sitting in a chair next to him. There is a hole punched out of the center of the photo.

The Kept and the Killed

Of the 270,000 photos commissioned to document the Great Depression, more than a third were “killed.” Explore the hole-punched archive and the void at its center.
by Erica X. Eisen via The Public Domain Review on January 26, 2022
A woman is surrounded by her children as she sits amid a pile of debris in the processing area towards Abbey Gate, as they wait to leave Afghanistan, Wednesday, August 25, 2021.

What We Miss When We Say a War Has “Ended”

Bringing to light the kinship among American wars—and, by extension, their true significance—requires situating them in a single historical framework.
by Andrew J. Bacevich via The Nation on January 25, 2022
Collage illustration showing many faces behind a zig-zagging line graph.

Without Context, COVID Tallies Are Misleading

Counting both uninfected and infected people helps us better understand a pandemic.
by Jim Downs via Los Angeles Times on December 19, 2021
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