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James Watson

The Paradox of James Watson

The discovery of DNA was evidence of how deeply interconnected humans are, but the late scientist saw only difference.
by Kathryn Paige Harden, Eric Turkheimer via The Atlantic on November 10, 2025
Campaign signs.
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The Long History of the 'October Surprise'

Last minute disclosures or revelations can play an outsized role in the last weeks before an election.
by Robert B. Mitchell via Made By History on October 24, 2024
Woodrow Wilson working at his desk on May 1, 1917.

Don’t Be So Quick to Laud Woodrow Wilson

An effort is underway to restore President Wilson’s reputation as a great reformer. His best reforms were won by a mass movement, often pushing against Wilson.
by Henry Snow via Jacobin on March 14, 2024
Oscar Wilde

“A Nation of Lunatics.” What Oscar Wilde Thought About America

On the Irish writer’s grand tour of the Gilded Age United States.
by Rob Marland via Literary Hub on March 11, 2024
Martin Luther King Jr. giving a speech.
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The Problem With Comparing Today's Activists to MLK

Media coverage of the civil rights movement is a reminder that the deification of King has skewed public memory.
by Hajar Yazdiha via Made By History on January 15, 2024
John Marshall Harlan

We Shouldn’t Stop Talking About Justice John Marshall Harlan

Today, historical figures are held in deep suspicion, but refusing to acknowledge the heroes of the past diminishes our own sense of what is possible.
by Peter S. Canellos via Politico Magazine on July 11, 2023
George Gordon Meade

After Winning the Battle of Gettysburg, George Meade Fought With—and Lost to—the Press

The Civil War general's reputation was shaped by partisan politics, editorial whims and his own personal failings.
by Nicholas Liu via Smithsonian on July 3, 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
Car interior with Chuck Berry reflected in side view mirror.

An Anthropologist of Filth

On Chuck Berry.
by Ian Penman via Harper’s on May 4, 2023
A Metropolitan Museum official hands over a 13th-century wooden strut to Nepal’s archaeology department last year. Photograph: Aryan Dhimal/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock.

New York’s Met Museum Sees Reputation Erode Over Collection Practices

An investigation identified hundreds of artifacts linked to indicted or convicted traffickers. What does this mean for the future of museums?
by Spencer Woodman, Maria Politzer, Delphine Reuter, Namrata Sharma via The Guardian on March 20, 2023
Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant

Democratic Spirit: Ulysses S. Grant at 200

The foremost challenge of Grant’s day has not gone away. His response to it merits our attention.
by Andrew F. Lang via Current (religion and democracy) on July 19, 2022
Illustration of Abraham Lincoln getting ready to give a speech.

Re-imagining the Great Emancipator

How shall a generation know its story, if it will know no other?
by Ralph Lerner via National Affairs on March 21, 2022
A drawing of President Abraham Lincoln with African Americans outside of the White House.

Guests of the Great Emancipator

Lin­coln’s interactions with black Americans provides a valuable resource for understanding a more farseeing Lincoln than the voices of despair have described.
by Allen C. Guelzo via National Review on March 17, 2022
Nixon in front of presidential photographs.

Daniel Schorr and Nixon’s Tricky Road to Redemption

Nixon portrayed himself as a victim of the press. But from the 1952 Checkers speech through his post-presidency, he proved to be an able manipulator of the media.
by Ryan Reft via Tropics of Meta on February 25, 2022
William Faulkner in front of bookshelf

William Faulkner’s Tragic Vision

In Yoknapatawpha County, the past never speaks with a single voice.
by Jonathan Clarke via City Journal on January 4, 2022
Picture of Claudette Colvin

Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus. She’s Still on Probation.

Colvin, 82, is headed to court in Montgomery, Ala., to petition for her record to be cleared.
by Michele Norris via Washington Post on October 26, 2021

The Real Calamity Jane Was Distressingly Unlike Her Legend

A frontier character's life was crafted to be legendary, but was the real person as incredible?
by Sam Leith via The American Spectator on February 6, 2020
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Rethinking the Construction of Ronald Reagan's Legacy

Conservatives created a rosy image of Reagan to further their political project.
by Sarah Thomson via Made By History on August 12, 2019
Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

Information the FBI Once Hoped Could Destroy Martin Luther King Jr. Has Been Declassified

Revealing these materials could be considered “Hoover’s revenge.”
by Trevor Griffey via The Conversation on May 30, 2019

Martin Luther King: How a Rebel Leader Was Lost to History

Fifty years after his death, King is a national treasure in the US. But what happened to his revolutionary legacy?
by Gary Younge via The Guardian on April 4, 2018
Thomas Hamblin

Reflections on 1830s Theater Manager Thomas Hamblin in the #MeToo Era

Over the 1830s, Hamblin transformed the fortunes of the Bowery by featuring melodramas starring young women, but this wasn't without issues.
by Sara Lampert via Nursing Clio on February 8, 2018
Bob Dylan.

Legacy of a Lonesome Death

Had Bob Dylan not written a song about it, the 1963 killing of a black servant by a white socialite’s cane might have been long forgotten.
by Ian Frazier via Mother Jones on May 8, 2010
Theodore Roosevelt speaking with three reporters.
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The President and the Press Corps

Theodore Roosevelt was the first White House occupant to seek control over how newspapers covered him.
by Jordan Friedman via JSTOR Daily on November 6, 2025
Bruce Springsteen

What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Springsteen

The new Boss biopic robs his music of its mythic American qualities.
by Mark Asch via The Atlantic on October 24, 2025
"Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution" book cover

What Hamilton—and the Book It’s Based On—Missed About Eliza and Angelica Schuyler

How Amanda Vaill gave Eliza and Angelica Schuyler their due.
by Elizabeth Stone via Slate on October 21, 2025
Illustration of Rip Van Wrinkle.

Wake Up, Rip Van Winkle

Washington Irving’s story isn’t just about a very long nap. It’s about the making of America.
by John Swansburg via The Atlantic on October 10, 2025
Postcard of West Texas State College, 1946.
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The Most Integrated Institution in West Texas

What happened after West Texas State College desegregated its football team in the 1960s.
by Jeff Roche via HNN on October 8, 2025
LAPD Chief Daryl Gates in 1991.

When Antipathy to the LAPD’s Chief Was the Great Unifier

A memoir explores L.A.'s political culture after the Rodney King beating.
by Danny Goldberg via Truthdig on October 3, 2025
An illustration of three schools on a podium and ranked from first place to third.

College Rankings Were Once a Shocking Experiment

Now they’ve become an American ritual.
by Jake Lundberg via The Atlantic on October 2, 2025
Four cut out images of people.

How Viking Introduced John Steinbeck, James Joyce and More to American Readers

On Pascal Covici, the editor who nurtured some of the most iconic names in literature.
by Paul Slovak via Literary Hub on September 16, 2025
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