The Latest 
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A Ghost of Galileo in the English Civil War
John Heilbron
An obscure English painting containing an image of Galileo's "Dialogues" launches a deep consideration of the political and intellectual stakes of free inquiry during the English Civil War.
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The "War on Cancer" at 50: The Most Fruitful Failure in Human History
Judith L. Pearson
Announced by Richard Nixon in 1971, the "War on Cancer" has not yielded a cure. But it has driven research that has deepened understanding of cancers and developed life-saving treatments, while erasing ignorance and stigma. It has been one of humanity's most successful failures.
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Photography Always Needed the Presidents
Cara Finnegan
In the 1840s, the new technology of photography staked its place in the culture as an authoritative, reliable recording of events through the creation of images of the presidents or, in the case of George Washington, pictures of pictures of the presidents.
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Twenty Years Ago, Rioters Tried to Stop a Presidential Vote Count – and Succeeded
Robert Brent Toplin
On November 22, 2000 a mob succeeded in deciding a presidential election.
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Is Virginia's Move to Abolish the Beginning of the End of the Death Penalty in America?
Rick Halperin
Virginia's move to abolish capital punishment is long overdue, and other states and the federal government should follow suit to restore American legitimacy on global human rights.
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An Unwanted Journey "Home": Black American Internees in World War II Europe
Eve Brandel
"Living in Europe in the interwar years, Black Americans enjoyed freedoms denied them at home, but, ironically, America’s entry into World War II meant arrest and internment for those who had not left in time."
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George Shultz: The Last Progressive
Ron Schatz
"A steadfast Republican committed to union-management cooperation, peace through treaties, competitive capitalism, and empowerment of African-Americans, George Shultz was the last old-fashioned Progressive."
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Blog
The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Joins a Proud Tradition
Jim Loewen
"Presidential libraries exist to get visitors to think well of their namesakes, not to think about them."
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The Original Storming of the Capitol
Stephen Dando-Collins
The January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol in Washington DC has eerie parallels with a much earlier event, the AD 69 siege of the Capitoline Mount in Rome.
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History and Film: Reflections on Konchalovsky’s “Dear Comrades!”
Walter G. Moss
Andrei Konchalovsky's film "Dear Comrades" examines the struggles of ordinary people in the Soviet Union to find truth amid ideology and fear.
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Racist Zoombombings the Latest Application of Technology by White Supremacists
Roy E. Finkenbine
White supremacist keyboard warriors appear to have declared a cyber war against Black History Month.
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The Politicization of the American Judiciary
James D. Zirin
Judicial elections are the latest target of GOP gerrymandering, spurred by the rejection of Team Trump's election lawsuits.
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The Roundup Top Ten for February 26, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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January 6, 2021: A Day of Populist Transgression
Robert A. Schneider
The Capitol riot included a small core of actors bent on destruction, with many more along for the ride reveling in a moment of transgression. In this way, it was a microcosm of the Trumpian movement that, now unleashed, will be difficult to contain.
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Cynicism and Political Blunder: A Postscript to “The January 6th Assault on Congress and the Fate of the GOP’s Faustian Bargain"
Jeffrey Herf
Mitch McConnell's decision to condemn Trump after voting for his acquittal wasn't just an act of cowardice. The acts taken together constitute a major tactical blunder in the emerging battle for control of the Republican Party.
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Don't Defend Democracy With Half-Truths About the Past
Brook Thomas
Although the Capitol riots raised deep concern about the rule of law, there is a deeper challenge ahead of the nation: to understand and change the undemocratic aspects of our foundational law and refuse half-measures in the name of unity.
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Who Deserves Credit for Inventing Vaccination? And Why Does it Matter Today?
John Rhodes
Historical honesty requires acknowledging the African and Asian inoculation practices that preceded and enabled Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. Telling this story more broadly might also encourage vulnerable communities of color to embrace the COVID vaccine.
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Trump Was Almost Re-Elected. What Does That Say About Us?
Walter G. Moss and Rick Shenkman
Joe Biden's popular vote and electoral margins were large, but only a small number of votes proved decisive. Moving ahead, it is necessary to understand what Trump's ongoing popularity says about America.
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Advice to POTUS 46 from POTUS 1
David O. Stewart
The author of a recent political biography of George Washington wonders how the first president would guide the most recent one.
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Must the Capitol Riots be Included in the Legacy of American Dissent?
Ralph Young
Teachers of history might feel a disconnect between praising American traditions of dissent and condemning the Capitol riots. They shouldn't. Historical evaluation of the grievances of dissenters, whatever their methods, finds real grievances, not lies, at the root of dissent.
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Blog
John Brown’s Body
Ann Banks' Confederates in My Closet
Who taught me “John Brown’s Body?” I don’t remember but I loved to sing it. I had no idea who John Brown was or what the song was about but I was drawn to it par...
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Neal Gabler's "Catching the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Liberal Hour"
James Thornton Harris
Neal Gabler's first volume of a biography of Ted Kennedy praises the long-serving senator as the driving force of a hugely consequential period of liberal legislative success. Those looking for gossip or consideration of his personal failures may be disappointed.
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From Red Finn Halls to The Lincoln Brigade: Class Formation on Washington’s “Red Coast”
Jerry Lembcke
If the current crisis revives interest in class as an analytical concept, a recent book on union organizing on the Washington state coast offers a model for reconstructing the work, community and social life of a community.
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"Hamilton" and Politics Today
Donald J. Fraser
The phenomenally successful "Hamilton" takes some liberties with its subject, but it still offers some valuable perspective on our politics today.
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The Roundup Top Ten for February 19, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
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History, Evidence and the Ethics of Belief
Guy Lancaster
Untrammelled freedom of belief has been enshrined as an American civic virtue. The nation, democracy, and possibly the planet are imperiled without a collective commitment to respect belief only to the extent available evidence supports it.
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Immigrant Families are the Second Casualty of War
Elliott Young
If truth is the first casualty in war, immigrants follow as a close second. During the first and second world wars, tens of thousands of immigrants in the United States were locked up in prisons as part of a geopolitical game beyond their control.
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Opportunities for a Catholic President, Then and Now
Patrick Lacroix
Polling of religious voters might encourage Democrats to give up on reaching them. John F. Kennedy's experience shows that Joe Biden, as the second Catholic President, could succeed in narrowing the gap.
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Trumpism after Trump: Beyond Fascism
Gavriel Rosenfeld
Understanding the future of the far-right grievance politics catalyzed by the Trump presidency, it might be helpful to think of it as "MAGA-ism," a 21st century American phenomenon.
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The Balance of Power in 2021 Rests with Two Senators
Michael Landis
The actions of pro-slavery northern "doughfaces" in Congress, led by Stephen Douglas of Illinois, helped to protect the expansion of slavery even as a national majority grew to oppose it. Today, Joe Manchin and Jon Tester will have to consider home state elections, their own conservative tendencies, and the fate of the Biden administration's policy agenda and act accordingly.
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Political Violence: Still as American as Cherry Pie
Alan J. Singer
SNCC leader H. Rap Brown declared that violence was "American as cherry pie" in 1967. Though his remarks were scorned then, he was correct, and no movement for justice can succeed without acknowledging it.
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What Becomes of a Broken Party?
James Robenalt
The Republican Party seems to be refusing the opportunity to save itself by rejecting Trumpism. His acquittal in a second Senate trial means he will be free to demand the party bend to his will or be destroyed.
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Blog
Understanding John F. Kennedy: A Conversation with Acclaimed Historian and JFK Biographer Professor Fredrik Logevall
Robin Lindley
Robin Lindley interviews Fredrik Logevall about the research and writing of the first volume of his praised biography of John F. Kennedy.
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A Lesson Unity and Renewal: George Washington and the Building of the Capital City
Robert P. Watson
The decision to create a national capital city and the execution of the plan was an underappreciated legacy of George Washington's leadership and a key force uniting a fragile new nation.
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Heed the Cornerman's Cry
Mike McQuillan
The failure to heed the warnings of the Kerner Commission in 1968 – of a society divided by racism and inequality – has led to ongoing suffering and a politics of resentment over an ethic of mutual care.
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King’s Final Book: Both Political Roadmap and Passionate Sermon
Fred Zilian
As Black History Month unfolds amid an atmosphere of crisis and division like that which prevailed in 1968, it's worth revisiting Martin Luther King's publication that year of "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community" – a call for reordering national priorities toward justice through politics and for renewed spiritual and ethical dedication to shared humanity.
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How Abraham Lincoln Can Inspire Peace for Yemen
William Lambers
The postwar "friendship train" campaign involved Americans personally in delivering food to the hungry in Europe, and symbolized the nation's larger commitment to the Marshall Plan. A similar broad effort could help advance the policies needed to end the humanitarian crisis of war and starvation in Yemen.
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Lincoln and the Lesson of Leading From Behind
Michael J. Gerhardt
Joe Biden's inaugural address signals his willingness to follow Abraham Lincoln in "leading from behind" by listening and lifting the voices of others.
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The Roundup Top Ten for February 12, 2021
The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.
News
- The Deep South Has a Rich History of Resistance, as Amazon Is Learning
- America’s Political Roots Are in Eutaw, Alabama
- University Finds 18th-Century Schoolhouse Where Black Children Learned to Read
- Searching for Our Urban Future in the Ruins of the Past
- Denied a Teaching Job for Being ‘Too Black,’ She Started Her Own School — And a Movement
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