New perspectives on how history is made
As the nation’s highest court debated Native sovereignty, I was in the archives, uncovering family stories entwined with those debates.
Many founders expressed their hope that slavery would be abolished, while simultaneously exerting themselves to defend it.
How a subgenre of murder mysteries plays with the way real history is written.
Revisiting the Agrarian-Distributists and their fabrication of an American past.
Why were so many early European books laden with self-deprecation? Blame genre conventions.
Why have American abolitionists often been written out of the history of human rights?
An interview with the author of Cahokia Jazz.
The legacy of a radical summer camp in New Jersey tells a largely overlooked story about left-wing politics and Black culture.
How Europe reacted when Ethiopia tried to join the famed global sporting tradition at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
For every moment of historical significance, there is a figure — often hidden — who fed the figures we do remember.
What happened to privacy when Americans gained easy access to cameras in the Gilded Age?
When it comes to cicadas, the silence of the historical record can be deafening.
What to read to learn the deep and fascinating history of the United States’ most famous river.
For more than two decades, a community of committed internet users has been chewing over the famous Londoner’s diary.
To reconstruct the story of queer America, we need to open up its tabloids.
A reading list from the author of a new — and newly timely — book.
On the history of literature masquerading as primary source.
Reconsidering Earl Warren’s place in U.S. history.
A brief history of the textfile, and the production of conspiracy theories on the internet.
On the St. Louis theme park that never made it past the drawing board.
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