Things Noted Here and There

Historian Mark Higbee is among the leaders of a group of faculty members at Eastern Michigan University, who are calling for the ouster of President John A. Fallon, III. There have been faculty/administration tensions at EMU for several years. For months, more recently, EMU's administration refused to acknowledge that there was suspicion of foul play in the death of a female student.

Peter Bronson,"‘Locomotive of History' derailed by PC Professors," Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 June, is the most recent account of the"demise of military history." Miami, Xavier, Cincinnati, Ohio State all get mentions. Thanks to David Fahey for the tip.

Gordon S. Wood,"Reading the Founders' Minds," NYRB, 28 June, reviews Lawrence Goldstone's Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution and Robin L. Einhorn's American Taxation, American Slavery. At Legal History Blog, however, Mary Dudziak points out that, in the process, Wood takes aim at a larger body of recent work by Leonard Richards, Don Fehrenbacher, Paul Finkelman, Garry Wills, Alfred and Ruth Blumrosen, and Gary Nash that places slavery at the heart of the Founders' struggle. Citing Bernard Bailyn, Wood charges these historians with the sin of"presentism". Dudziak's blog will feature responses by a number of scholars to Wood's review in the days ahead. For now, here are those of Robin Einhorn and Lawrence Goldstone. This is history blogging at its best.

James Campbell,"James Baldwin's Letters to Istanbul," TLS, 13 June, is a taste of the riches that would be in a critical edition of James Baldwin's letters,"the one great Baldwin masterpiece waiting to be published," according to Hilton Als. The only Baldwin letter online is his well-known"Open Letter to my Sister, Angela Davis" (19 November 1970). Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

John Steele Gordon,"Racial Role Reversal: What the Scottsboro Boys and the Duke lacrosse players have in common," Opinion Journal, 20 June, draws a comparison that I've resisted. Being rich is not like being poor, being white is not like being black, and being indicted is not like being convicted and serving long years in prison. In both cases, however, the popular media generally performed badly.

Philip Jenkins,"Europe's Christian Comeback," Foreign Policy, June, begins with Niall Ferguson's alarmism and concludes with a rather startling claim by Jürgen Habermas.

Finally, Rob MacDougall is"king of the geek/historians":