Current Events that Relate to History
-
CommentThe Law Professors Aiding Trump’s War on Birthright Citizenship
A plain reading of the Constitution refutes Trump’s claims about the Fourteenth Amendment, but a new legal movement is doing what it can to muddy the waters.The New Republic -
Origin StoryThe Troubling Roots of Off-Year Gubernatorial Elections
Off-year elections were meant to insulate states from federal trends. That still matters.Made By History -
ComparisonLessons from La Guardia
Can Zohran Mamdani reshape New York—and national—politics like Mayor Fiorello La Guardia once did?Jewish Currents -
Book ExcerptFrom Chain Gangs to the “Modern” Southern Prison
Those who sought to modernize and reform prisons have expanded them in the process and more permanently entrenched a racialized carceral state.Inquest -
NarrativeThe Conspiracist Cotton Mather
The zealot who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials initially voiced restraint—what changed?The American Scholar -
Book ReviewAlternative Fictions: The New Lost Cause in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Revisiting the Lost Cause through post–Civil Rights Movement alternative histories.The Journal of the Civil War Era -
exhibitLiving With the Dead
From rituals of mourning to spirit mediums and ghost stories, Americans' varied attempts to connect with those who have gone before us.
From the HNN Archive
-
How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
If the Slipper Doesn’t Fit
A scorched shoe is a crucial part of Zelda Fitzgerald’s modern mythology. But there’s no proof it existed. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
Elevating the Few
What JD Vance excludes from the history of the Civil War and immigration. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
Solve for AI
What the history of the pocket calculator reveals about the future of AI in classrooms. -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Slamming America’s Door Behind Him
How a son of European immigrants fought to keep Indian immigrants out of America. -
Governing by Police
The Metropolitan Police Department in DC has been an essential component of Washington politics since its founding. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.