Historians in the News

Revisiting Saidiya Hartman on the Meaning of Freedom

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

A quarter century after publication, "Scenes of Subjection" still shows how Americans have embraced emancipation as a national expurgation of the sin of slavery, without stopping to consider the substantive meaning of freedom. 

Rana Mitter on Xi Jinping's Place in Chinese History and Politics Today

"All of the last 10 years has been about making sure, as you might put it, that it's Xi Jinping's China. It's Xi Jinping's party, everyone else is just living in it."

Nuclear Fears 60 Years After the Cuban Crisis

From the actions of Soviet naval officers to the real-time recommendations of Robert F. Kennedy, the official story of the 1962 crisis is due for some updates according to historians who've published recent work on the subject. 

The Crossroads: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on the Inadequacy of Politics as Usual

"Today, we have lived through two terms of a Black presidency and the highest concentration of Black elected officials in Congress and beyond in American history. So the question of whether we can vote our way into liberation is no longer an abstraction."

The Tortured Confession of a "Werewolf" Horrified 1500s Europe

In centuries where Europe was plagued by war, famine and plague, the supernatural became luridly appealing. Unlike more common trials for witchcraft, werewolf prosecutions remain more of a historical mystery. 

Do Documents Clear Chaucer's Name Over Accusations of Rape?

Although the belief that Chaucer was accused of the crime spurred a significant wave of feminist critical studies of sex and power in his writing, scholars have recently argued that the documents used to support the charge have been misinterpreted. 

BOE Member who Wrongly Identifies Nazis as "Socialists" Shapes How Colorado Students Learn Holocaust History

Historians and teachers argue that tying limited space for Holocaust and genocide education in the curriculum to a crusade against leftist politics is distracting and an antisemitic hijacking of education by politics. 

Released FBI File Shows Extent of Government Spying on Aretha Franklin

Beverly Gage says the surveillance was par for the course under J. Edgar Hoover's leadership, when Black figures with any suspected links to civil rights or militant politics was a target.

Democracy v. The People: Jan-Werner Muller on Populism

by Alberto Polimeni

A leading historian and theorist of populism looks beyond psychology or brainwashing as explanations for the appeal of such movements, but still focuses on the ways elites can better lead the people instead of what people may want. 

Herschel Walker Can Take Some Comfort: October Surprises are Overrated

Political and media historian David Greenberg describes the way that political insiders created the idea of a last-minute news bombshell but says such surprises don't usually disrupt the core dynamics of an election. 

Historians Among 2022 Crop of MacArthur Grant Recipients

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Monica Kim and Steven Ruggles are among the 2022 Class of MacArthur fellowship awardees, commonly known as "Genius Grants."

Penn Students Questioned the University's Comforting Story about its Relationship to Slavery

The University of Pennsylvania embraced an origin story involving George Whitefield as a way to claim to be older than rival institutions. When it came to acknowledging Whitefield's advocacy for slavery, the university raised its Quaker roots as a shield. Kathleen Brown and students are trying to change the story.

Review: When the GOP Lost Control of Itself

by Claire Potter

After a long dance with the far right, the Republican party lost – or abandoned – its desire to control the fringe, shifting from an institutional party to a set of media platforms running on a political platform of pessimism and anger, argues Nicole Hemmer. 

Ancient Flood Tales May be More than Myth

The climate crisis is pushing some historians and folklorists to reconsider indigenous societies' origin stories of flooding and geographic cataclysm. Should science take this perspective into account? 

Is this Labor Surge a New CIO Moment?

Do militant worker actions signal a wave of mass organizing like occurred in the 1930s, when workers established unions regarded as unorganizable took matters into their own hands? Labor historian Erik Loomis and scholar Marilyn Sneiderman discuss how to turn anger into strategy and strategy into organization.

What Freedom Meant to Black People in Nashville During the Civil War

Incoming AHA President Thavolia Glymph discussed how the actions of Black refugees who moved behind Union lines at Fort Negley and other locations changed the meaning of the war and ensured that it would ultimately abolish slavery. 

Lina-Maria Murillo: Abortion in Iowa has Always Been Political

Although abortion has always been tied up with the political controversies of the day, its entanglement with specifically religious views is relatively new. 

Higher Ed Reacts to Ben Sasse's U of Florida Presidential Prospects

Supporters have praised Sasse's vision for transforming higher education institutions, while detractors have questioned whether he is interested in resisting or enabling the politicization of Florida's universities and whether he's familiar enough with high-level research universities.

A Missed Opportunity to Honor Black Troops in Base Renaming Process

Dwight Eisenhower was a visitor to Fort Gordon en route to golf outings at Augusta National. Critics wonder if Ike was the best choice for renaming the base. Military historian Ty Seidule defended the naming process as open and suggested complete consensus was not possible. 

Scholars: Election Denial Becoming Official Republican Policy

Ruth Ben-Ghiat argues that the Big Lie is part of a process of normalizing the rejection of election results.