Historians in the News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/16/2020
  

  52 Years Ago, Thelonious Monk Played a High School. Now Everyone Can Hear It.

  Digitally restored and widely available for the first time on Friday, “Palo Alto” captures a band hitting a high note, even as Monk battled personal and professional turmoil. Historian and Monk biographer Robin D.G. Kelley puts the gig in context.  

• 
• SOURCE: Hyperallergic
  9/16/2020
  

  From MLK to Whistleblowers, the FBI’s Trouble with Dissidents

  The films MLK/FBI and Enemies of the State offer contrasting looks at government oppression.

• 
• SOURCE: Harvard Kennedy School
  9/15/2020
  

  If the Electoral College is a Racist Relic, Why has it Endured? (podcast)

  Harvard professor Alex Keyssar's book examines the persistence of the electoral college against rising calls for its abolition, and the influence of racism on the institution. 

• 
• SOURCE: Untapped New York
  9/16/2020
  

  It’s the 100th Anniversary of the Wall Street Bombing

  Though authorities blamed Italian anarchists and other radical sympathizers for the destructive bombing, the case was never solved. 

• 
• SOURCE: National Parks Traveler
  9/16/2020
  

  Ed Bearss, Past Chief Historian Of National Park Service, Dies At 97

  Ed Bearss was one of the most important figures in the preservation of Civil War battlefields as sites for the American public to learn about history.

• 
• SOURCE: Brennan Center for Justice
  9/17/2020
  

  Online Discussion: The Fight To Vote Feat. Carol Anderson (9/24/2020)

  The Brennan Center for Justice, the NYU Brademas Center, and NYU Votes sponsor an online discussion of voting rights featuring Emory University Professor Carol Anderson and Brennan Center Senior Fellow Theodore R. Johnson. 

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  https://time.com/5889051/history-curriculum-politi
  

  Trump's Threat to Pull Funding From Schools Over How They Teach Slavery Is Part of a Long History of Politicizing American History Class

  by Olivia Waxman

  "The teaching of U.S. History in public schools has always been political, and such concerns about whether curricula are “anti-American” are par for the course in moments of turmoil."

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  9/16/2020
  

  In a Horrifying History of Forced Sterilizations, Some Fear the US is Beginning a New Chapter

  Historians and ethnic studies and legal scholars Natalia Molina, Alexandra Minna Stern, Alan Kraut and Maybell Romero comment on recent whistleblower allegations that ICE detention facilities forced migrant women to have hysterectomies. American racism has long showed itself around questions of who gets to control their own bodies.

• 
• SOURCE: Belt
  9/1/2020
  

  Cleveland and Chicago: Cities of Segregation

  "Berlin had a wall, but they took to it with hammers and pickaxes and tore it down. Cleveland and Chicago have walls too, but not the kind you can tear down with a pickaxe. They’ve been erected in places that are harder to reach than a river or a street: bitter, entrenched hearts and minds, both black and white, going back for generations, on either side of town."

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/16/2020
  

  Where Conspiracy Reigns

  Historians Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta and Federico Finchelstein offer insight into how the political right has used rumors of communist plots to maintain power in Brazil, and why the country's political culture today is vulnerable to fake news and conspiracy theories. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  9/13/2020
  

  Black Lives Matter But Slavery Isn’t Our Only Narrative

  by Aretha Phiri and Michelle M. Wright

  "Black folks are astonishingly diverse in their cultures, histories, languages, religions, so no single definition of Blackness is going to fit everyone. When we fail to consider this, we effectively leave many Black people out of the conversation."

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/16/2020
  

  The Man Who Made Us Feel for the Animals (review)

  A new book uses the life story of ASPCA founder Henry Bergh to illustrate the interdependence of humans and non-human animals in urban society. 

• 
• SOURCE: Public Books
  9/16/2020
  

  Public Thinker: Marcia Chatelain on Feminism, Fast Food, and First Gens

  Georgetown University Historian Marcia Chatelain talks research, publishing, podcasting, and connecting with first-generation college students in a wide-ranging interview. 

• 
• SOURCE: Catholic University of America
  

  Virtual Lecture: “The Bombs that Drop in El Salvador Explode in Mount Pleasant”: Wednesday, 12:30 PM

  Historian Patrick Scallen offers a virtual lecture on the transnational history of the Salvadoran community in greater Washington, D.C., presented by the history department of the Catholic University of America.

• 
• SOURCE: Contingent
  9/15/2020
  

  Kevin Gannon’s “Radical Hope”: A Roundtable Introduction

  by Marc Reyes

  Contingent Magazine assembles a discussion of Kevin Gannon's teaching manifesto "Radical Hope" and urges us to think about how the work of teaching can make a better future. 

• 
• SOURCE: National History Center
  9/14/2020
  

  JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 (Video)

  Author Fredrik Logevall discusses his new political biography of JFK in a virtual seminar with the National History Center.

• 
• SOURCE: JSTOR Daily
  9/15/2020
  

  Where Did the Term “Hispanic” Come From?

  The designation "Hispanic" came about through the desire of Mexican American civil rights organizations to gather authoritative data about the status of the group in society. The political work engaged Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and other allies, bringing distinct ethnic groups under a common identifier. 

• 
• SOURCE: Environmental History Now
  9/8/2020
  

  Historical Black Lives Matter: What A Single Story Can Reveal About People & Landscapes

  by Natascha Otoya

  A primary document from the developing Brazilian oil industry demonstrates that the country's transition from slavery to "free labor" was anything but clear-cut. 

• 
• SOURCE: Slate
  9/13/2020
  

  When 194,000 Deaths Doesn’t Sound Like So Many

  by Rebecca Onion

  Historian Jacqueline Wernimont explains that the rise of quantification helps to obscure the human beings behind the numbers and makes the COVID-19 toll seem more acceptable. 

• 
• SOURCE: KERA
  9/14/2020
  

  Hollywood’s Colorblind Illusion (audio)

  American Studies professor Justin Gomer, author of "White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights" discusses the political impact of Hollywood's treatment of race.