We covered Trump’s executive order on American history here. Today at The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Blight offers his thoughts. A taste: According to the president, “objective facts” have been replaced with a “distorted narrative driven by […]
American history
Trump’s executive order on American history has little to do with history
Donald Trump recently released a new executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” Let’s break it down. Trump writes: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States […]
Albert Mohler is free to advance his Christian nationalism, but he should be more careful when using American history to do it.
Albert Mohler believes that the United States was built, and should continue to be built, on a Christian foundation. Read his entire argument here. The piece stems from his 2024 speech to the National Conservatism Conference. Let’s see how Mohler […]
Jack Hibbs says conservative pundits with big platforms, fame, and microphones should stop speaking on topics in which they have no expertise. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.
Here is Jack Hibbs on people “qualified” to speak on this or that topic in the news: Hibbs says: Jack Hibbs is the Christian Right pastor with a large following. He has a microphone. He is famous. And he has […]
Patrick Spero returns to the American Philosophical Society as CEO
The last time I talked to Patrick Spero he had just left his position as the Director of the Library and Museum at the American Philosophical Society (APS) and had taken a similar post at Mount Vernon. Now he’s back […]
National parks that help us remember the country’s darker moments
Here is Ben Railton at The Saturday Evening Post: On February 19th we commemorated a sad anniversary: the 72nd anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066, the proclamation that created the federal policy of Japanese American incarceration. We now have a new collective […]
Exploring the office home of Carter G. Woodson, founder of Black History Month
Over at The New York Times, Anna KodĂ©Â takes a deep dive into where Carter G. Woodson did his work. Readers who are interested in the workspaces of authors and intellectuals will find this piece absolutely fascinating. Here is a taste: […]
Have we reached the end of U.S. history?
Here is historian Steven Mintz at Inside Higher Ed: Recently, a leading editor at a major academic press said bluntly that she wasn’t aware of any breakthrough scholars in U.S. history under the age of 50. In response, I mentioned several […]
Florida replaces sociology with a “factual” U.S. history survey course
Here is Praveena Somasundaram and Hannah Natanson at The Washington Post: Florida will no longer allow a sociology course to count toward students’ graduation requirements at state universities, replacing it with a class that officials say will teach “factual history” in a […]
Historian Edward Ayers on “The Era of the New Nation”
What should we call the decades of American history between 1800 and 1860? Edward Ayers proposes “The Era of the New Nation.” He and his wife Abby have been traveling the country exploring the way we commemorate these decades. He […]
For the record, Robert E. Lee was not a founding father
Watch Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine explain this to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia:
Celebrating John Hope Franklin
If you are unfamiliar with the work of John Hope Franklin, check out our interview with University College, London historian Nick Witham in Episode 120 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. We talk about Franklin’s most important work, […]
Speech of the day
Are you listening to The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast?
We talk to authors, teachers, museum professionals, and historians. Over the years we have interviewed Jim Grossman, Daniel K. Williams, Yoni Appelbaum, Sam Wineburg, Tim Grove, Nate DiMeo, Paul Lukas, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter Onuf, Marc Dolan, Steve Edenbo, Ann Little, […]
Jack Hibbs is still talking about American history. And it’s getting worse.
Last week I called your attention to megachurch pastor Jack Hibbs’s atrocious handling of the history of the Continental Army at Valley Forge. Now he is back with more. Watch: OK, let’s break it down: 1:10ff: Hibbs says, with no […]
Responding to the critics of my piece “Kid Gloves” (1619 Project)
It looks like my feature we published on Friday at Current received some attention on Twitter. I’m glad people are reading it and, for the most part, taking it seriously. For the record, here is everything I have written at […]
“The Bartons are surrounded by tools but that fact doesn’t make them historians anymore than my tool collection makes me a mechanic.”Â
Warren Throckmorton on David Barton, Tim Barton, and Wallbuilders: I have tools and gadgets and parts that I don’t know how to use. Some of those tools are left over from my dad and some seem to have just appeared […]
Daniel K. Williams is the new Director of Teacher Programs at The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University
A big congratulations to Current contributing editor Daniel K. Williams who was just appointed the Director of Teacher Programs at The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. Dan is leaving his post at the University of West Georgia to assume the […]
Trump is indicted. Historians weigh-in.
Here is CNN: “The former president faces his first federal indictment for retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his own attorneys — a total of 37 counts.” Read an […]
Is Colonial Williamsburg going “woke”?
Some on the right believe that Colonial Williamsburg’s commitment to telling the full story of the 18th-century city means that the world’s largest living history museum is going “woke.” I would argue that Colonial Williamsburg is trying to tell a […]