Departments

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Historians/History

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 9/13/2020

    How an American TV Mini-Series Helped the Germans Acknowledge the Holocaust

    by Robert Brent Toplin

    An American television minseries overcame initial skepticism by German authorities to rouse public conscience about the Holocaust and the complicity of ordinary Germans with persecution and genocide. Americans hesitant toward "political" popular culture should consider its contributions to truth and reconciliation.

  • 9/13/2020

    Making History with Music

    by Jason Burt

    PFC Richard Burt played the trumpet in a military band tasked with raising morale in the fight to retake the Philippines before a career as a music teacher. His grandson, a history teacher, wants to make him and his bandmates posthumous recording stars.

  • 9/6/2020

    On Labor Day, Think of Bread and Roses

    by William Lambers

    On Labor Day, remember the demands of striking textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Working people deserve more than bare subsistence; they're entitled to dignity and pleasure too.

  • 9/6/2020

    The Latest Resurgence of Ethnic Studies

    by Elwood Watson

    The history of ethnic studies as an academic movement is a cycle of rise and retrenchment; protest movements often push for more representative curricula, while forces of tradition and austerity seek to uphold a canon or push majors linked directly to the job market. Today's protest movements are pushing an ethnic studies renaissance despite the dire financial straits of many colleges and students.

  • 8/30/2020

    Is Gen Z Like the World War II Generation?

    by John R. Bawden

    It's necessary to go back to the time of the Great Depression, rationing and wartime austerity to see a generational experience like that of Gen Z. Will this formative time lead to a future of political consensus and social solidarity? 

  • 8/23/2020

    John Adams Knew When to Go Home

    by R.B. Bernstein

    One thing that John Adams never did was to voice a word of regret about leaving the presidency at his term’s end. None of his successors has ever violated or dishonored the precedent he established. And, if we are fortunate, none ever will.

  • 8/16/2020

    Was there a Third A-Bomb? A Fourth? A Fifth?

    by Don Farrell

    Japan's surrender makes the question a matter of speculation, but the history of military facilties built on Tinian in the Mariana Islands suggests that American military leadership was preparing to assemble many more atomic bombs should the Pacific war have continued. 

  • 8/16/2020

    The Paradox of Executive Underreach

    by Michael A. Genovese

    While the Constitution says more about limiting the overreach of the executive branch, functioning government must beware of an underreaching executive that abdicates responsibility. 

  • 8/16/2020

    Gassed: A Personal History

    by Ron Steinman

    I first experienced the horror of CS gas more than 50 years ago. Today when I think of CS gas I remember how badly I felt when tear gassed on the streets of Saigon, and in Northern Ireland.