personal history — Bunk History

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Group of African-American World War I veterans

The Meaning of ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’

“I’d assumed this practice was a manifestation of military decorum.”

by Tracy K. Smith via The Atlantic on November 14, 2023

A collage in which a photograph of Blanche Ames Ames is superimposed on a photograph of John F. Kennedy.

How John F. Kennedy Fell for the Lost Cause

And the grandmother who wouldn’t let him get away with it.

by Jordan Virtue via The Atlantic on November 13, 2023

ACT UP protesters demanding the release of experimental medication for those living with HIV/AIDS.

Patient Rights Groups Are Learning the Wrong Lessons From ACT UP

These groups are invoking ACT UP's legacy to push for further deregulation of the FDA. Here's why they're wrong.

by Gregg Gonsalves via The Nation on November 9, 2023

Salvador Allende campaigning before Chile’s parliamentary elections, Santiago, February 1973.

Defending Allende

On September 4, 1973, an enormous multitude of Chileans poured into the streets of Santiago to back the besieged government of Salvador Allende.

by Ariel Dorfman via New York Review of Books on August 24, 2023

A worker in the Shinkolobwe mine.

The Dark History ‘Oppenheimer’ Didn't Show

Coming from the Congo, I knew where an essential ingredient for atomic bombs was mined, even if everyone else seemed to ignore it.

by Ngofeen Mputubwele via Wired on August 21, 2023

Photo collage of L.J. Davis, Jervis Anderson, and a street map

The Invention of a Neighborhood

In the early years of Brooklyn’s gentrification, a 1977 New Yorker piece by Jervis Anderson captured the process in a freeze-frame.

by Jonathan Lethem via The New Yorker on August 21, 2023

A herd of bison running.

Speaking Wind-Words

Tracing the transformation of the Great Plains to the widespread belief in “manifest destiny,” and weighing the power of words to shape landscapes.

by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder via Emergence Magazine on August 17, 2023

Jim LaBelle, 76, an Indian boarding school survivor.

‘12 Years of Hell’: Indian Boarding School Survivors Share Their Stories

Forced by the federal government to attend the schools, generations of Native American children were sexually assaulted, beaten and emotionally abused.

by Dana Hedgpeth via Retropolis on August 7, 2023

Black worker holding a bundle of metal rods.

'Working Class' Does Not Equal 'White'

What it means to be a Black worker in the time since slavery.

by Ibram X. Kendi, Blair LM Kelley via The Atlantic on August 7, 2023

Solving the Mystery of Arne Pettersen, the Last to Leave Ellis Island

All told, Arne overstayed his welcome at least four times — 1940, 1944, 1953 and 1954. It’s hard to say why.

by Megan Smolenyak via Megansmolenyak.com on July 6, 2023

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg leaving the courthouse in a prison van, 1951.

Not How He Wanted to Be Remembered

Two decades passed before the ghosts of the Rosenbergs came back to haunt Irving Kaufman, the judge who sentenced them to death.

by Linda Greenhouse via New York Review of Books on June 1, 2023

D-Day landing.

On the Enduring Power and Relevance of America’s Most Famous WWII Correspondent

by David Chrisinger via Literary Hub on May 30, 2023

Artwork of Sacagawea, surrounded by yellow flowers.

Getting Sacagawea Right

New evidence suggests that Sacagawea had a longer life than most historians have believed — fifty-seven years longer.

by Thomas Powers via New York Review of Books on May 18, 2023

Roland R. Griffith and psychedelic mushrooms..

Roland Griffiths' Magical Profession

His research ushered in the psychedelic renaissance. Now it's changing how he's facing death.

by Tom Bartlett via The Chronicle of Higher Education on April 10, 2023

Sam Yudin of the Jewish American Military Historical Society, left, and Joseph Golden of Temple Beth El in Beckley, W.Va., unveil a sign Monday near Fayetteville marking the 1862 Passover Seder by Union soldiers.

Jewish Soldiers Held a Makeshift Seder in the Middle of the Civil War

Union soldiers improvised a Passover celebration near what's now Fayetteville, W.Va. They're being honored with a sign at the approximate site.

by Gillian Brockell via Retropolis on April 5, 2023

Illustration of McCormick at his desk, hunched over a typewriter.

Hellhounds on His Trail

Mack McCormick’s long, tortured quest to find the real Robert Johnson.

by Michael Hall via Texas Monthly on April 4, 2023

A roll of cotton thread in the shape of an eye.

Slavery and the Guardian: The Ties That Bind Us

There is an illusion at the centre of British history that conceals the role of slavery in building the nation. Here’s how I fell for it.

by David Olusoga via The Guardian on March 28, 2023

Sha-Rock tells her story to a crowd at the Bronx Music Heritage Center, 2023.

"You Gotta Fight and Fight and Fight for Your Legacy"

Sha-Rock claims her place as the first female MC in hip-hop history.

by Sidney Madden, Rodney Carmichael, Mano Sundaresan via NPR on March 23, 2023

Graphic including images of Percy Julian.

Percy Julian and the False Promise of Exceptionalism

Reflecting on the trailblazing chemist’s fight for dignity and the myths we tell about our scientific heroes.

by Alexis J. Pedrick via Distillations on March 16, 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

Zoe Anderson Norris.

Meet Zoe Anderson Norris, the "Nellie Bly You've Never Heard Of"

Norris, who dubbed herself the "Queen of Bohemia," exposed the injustices of post-Gilded Age New York City—by going undercover.

by Ann Lewinson via Hell Gate on February 28, 2023

Bobby Seal and Huey Newton standig in front of a Black Panther Party sign

How Huey P. Newton’s Early Intellectual Life Led Him To Activism

The role of family in Huey P. Newton's educational journey.

by Mark Whitaker via Literary Hub on February 13, 2023

The statue Sons of St. Augustine depicting Alexander Darnes and Edmund Kirby Smith.

The Doctor and the Confederate

A historian’s journey into the relationship between Alexander Darnes and Edmund Kirby Smith starts with a surprising eulogy.

by Cynthia R. Greenlee via Smithsonian on January 10, 2023

Two rosin potatoes sitting on newspaper.

The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes

A talk with family, turpentine workers, historians, chefs, foresters, and beer brewers to get to the root of the rosin potato's origins.

by Caroline Hatchett via The Bitter Southerner on November 22, 2022

Black-and-white grainy photograph of Eugene Debs speaking and gesturing with his hands

In The Debs Archive

The papers of American labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) offer a snapshot of early twentieth-century politics.

by Matthew Wills via JSTOR Daily on August 15, 2022

Edna St. Vincent Millay poses for a portrait among magnolia blossoms.

The Wondrous and Mundane Diaries of Edna St. Vincent Millay

Her private writing offers another, more idiosyncratic angle to understand the famed poet.

by Apoorva Tadepalli via The Nation on August 3, 2022

Sign that reads "Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry living in the following area"

Memory Work: Reading and Writing Japanese American Incarceration

What new possibilities might arise if we were to consider history as ongoing memory work, rather than a set narrative of progress or as singular “truth”?

by Erin Aoyama via Los Angeles Review of Books on June 9, 2022

Images of European Immigrants arriving to America on Ellis Island.

The Myth of the Rapid Mobility of European Immigrants

Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan on the data illusion of the rags-to-riches stories.

by Ran Abramitzky, Leah Platt Boustan via Literary Hub on June 1, 2022

Crowd at Kentucky Derby

The Complicated Story Behind The Kentucky Derby’s Opening Song

Emily Bingham’s new book explores the roots of the Kentucky Derby’s anthem. It may not be pretty, but it’s important to know.

by Rebecca Gayle Howell via Washington Post on May 3, 2022

Oprah Winfrey speaking at a podium.

Oprah’s Shows on the L.A. Riots Reveal What We’ve Lost Without Her Program

The power of daytime talk shows — especially “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

by Leah Wright Rigueur, Kellie Carter Jackson via Made By History on May 2, 2022

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