Historians/History

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• Treason, the Death Penalty, and American Identity

  by Carlton F.W. Larson

  The only capital sentence for treason carried out under United States law shows the way that racism is embedded in the idea of national belonging. 

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• 10/18/2020
  

  Fraught Family Reunification After the Holocaust

  by Rebecca Clifford

  "A tenth of Europe's pre-war population of Jewish children survived the Holocaust. Many sought and achieved reunification with their families, but reunification did not usually end the trauma endured by this "fragment of an entire generation."

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• 10/12/2020
  

  My Memories of Voter Suppression

  by Lawrence Wittner

  After witnessing firsthand the depth of struggle needed to secure the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the author says the 2013 Supreme Court decision to gut the VRA and subsequent acts by state governments to suppress the vote "betray the most basic principle of democracy."

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• 10/11/2020
  

  The Lenin Plot: The Concealed History of The US-Led Effort to Overthrow the USSR

  by Barnes Carr

  "The Lenin Plot was a massive embarrassment for the Allies, and they tried to cover it up. The denial continued for years."

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• 10/11/2020
  

  Winners, All: A Personal History of Soldiers at War

  by Ron Steinman

  Whether they knew it at the time, the wounded servicemen the author met at the 3rd Field Hospital outside of Saigon were the spirit of America. Winners all, they were not then suckers, losers, fools or mugs.  

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• 10/11/2020
  

  "Provided I Can Fuse on Ground Which I Think is Right": A Lincolnian View of the White House History Conference

  by Allen C. Guelzo

  "The fact that Americans have not always lived up fully to that Enlightenment universalism, or that ethnicity has often gotten bloodily in the way of it, merely shows that we are human, not that it is wrong."

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• 10/11/2020
  

  The Battle of Salamis Opened the Door for Ancient Greece’s Golden Age

  by Fred Zilian

  September marked the 2,500th anniversary of the Battle of Salamis, where the Greeks won a surprising naval victory over Persian forces, thwarted their efforts to conquer Greece, and set the stage for the golden age of Athenian civilization. 

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• SOURCE: WABC New York
  10/5/2020
  

  Video: Danger on the Right (1964)

  A 1964 news story on the rise of the John Birch Society and its political views.

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• 10/4/2020
  

  Corrected American History: The Cheery Colonial Period

  by Lawrence Baron

  Peruse a leaked lesson plan from the 1776 commission. 

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• 10/4/2020
  

  Will 2020 Place the US Alongside Apartheid South Africa in History's Hall of Shame?

  by Teresa Barnes

  The South African National Party won a parliamentary victory in 1948 and consolidated power quickly to institutionalize Apartheid and focus national politics on racial issues. This surprise turned into a half-century of hard right rule and stands as a warning to Americans today.

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• 10/4/2020
  

  The Etymology of "Jazz": A Cautionary Word About Digital Sources

  by Ken Lawrence

  Digitization projects have made historical newspapers much more readily accessible, but the process admits error and historians should be cautious making bold claims based on them. 

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• 10/4/2020
  

  Combatting History “Indoctrination” in 1945 and 2020

  by Brian M. Puaca

  As the new 1776 Commission begins to consider how to wield history as a weapon against indoctrination, America’s educational work in Germany can serve as a guidepost for a commitment to preparing vigilant young men and women to build and defend democracy.

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• 9/27/2020
  

  "Heroes of Our America": Reading a "Patriotic" History of the United States

  by Alan J. Singer

  Not long ago, history textbooks were written as patriotic fables. Examining one offers a warning about the cost of putting mythmaking ahead of historical learning.

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• 9/27/2020
  

  The Future of History in the Pandemic Age

  by Michael Creswell

  Historians need to consider and prepare for changes to the profession that will follow the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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• 9/27/2020
  

  Trump’s Comments on History Point Down a Stalinist Road

  by Walter G. Moss

  During the 1930s, Stalin directed historians and schools to teach patriotism to help convince Soviet citizens that, like earlier Russian leaders such as Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible, and Peter the Great, he was defending Russian interests.

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Woody Guthrie's Communism and "This Land Is Your Land"

  by Aaron J. Leonard

  The author of a new book on the FBI's surveillance of folk musicians argues that Woody Guthrie did join the Communist Party, though he was at odds with leadership over discipline. The affiliation is reflected in the lyrics of his most famous song. 

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Nostalgia and the Tragedy of Trump's Speech at Mount Rushmore

  by John Bodnar

  Trump's July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore, like his attacks on historians this week, embodied an escapist nostalgia that purges injustice, conflict, and violence. Abraham Lincoln's brand of nostalgia is more worthy of embracing. 

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Dirty Politics, Then and Now

  by George Herring

  Political mudslinging by presidential surrogates is nothing new. But Trump digs in personally to his social media smears in a way that is unprecedented and degrading to the office and the nation.

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Unlike the Germans We Have Failed to Recognize and Atone for Our Holocausts

  by Walter G. Moss

  Reconciling America's racial divisions requires honest reckoning with the past, and teaching history as a search for the truth, not an effort to inclulcate patriotism, placate parents, or pander to censorious textbook commissions.

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• 9/20/2020
  

  Dwight Eisenhower Built up American Intelligence at a Crucial Moment

  by Steve Vogel

  Dwight Eisenhower oversaw an aggressive building of American intelligence capability toward the USSR, moving espionage to a more prominent role in Cold War foreign policy. This included ordering the CIA to tunnel into East Berlin to tap Soviet phone lines.