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American history

Ed Ayers takes “History on the Road”

John Fea   |  May 20, 2022

Learn all about Ed and Abby Ayers‘s “Discovery of America Tour’ here. A taste: My wife and I are embarking on a journey. We are looking for traces of America’s past from the first six decades of the 19th century,...

Is abortion “deeply rooted” in American history?

John Fea   |  May 6, 2022

In his leaked decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Samuel Alito wrote, “The inescapable conclusion is that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted into the Nation’s history and tradition.” Is this true? It is hard to define what “deeply...

The Gilder-Lehrman Institute teams-up with Gettysburg College to offer a new master’s degree in American history

John Fea   |  April 26, 2022

Here is the press release: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Gettysburg College have partnered to offer an affordable, fully online master’s degree program—led by renowned, award-winning historians—that brings together the leading non-profit American history organization and one of...

Putin and Ohio Republicans are rewriting history

John Fea   |  March 21, 2022

Here is Bowling Green State University historian Andrew Shocket at Ohio Capital Journal: Americans are united in denouncing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, including how he has justified it with a warped view of Ukrainian history and has crushed Russian...

Mia Bay and Mae Ngai win the Bancroft Prize

John Fea   |  March 17, 2022

It is American history’s most prestigious award. Here is Jennifer Schuesller at The New York Times: An innovative study of Black Americans’ struggle against discrimination in transportation and a sweeping examination of Chinese migration to goldfields across the Anglophone world...

What is going at Hillsdale College and the state of Tennessee’s education system?

John Fea   |  March 6, 2022

We wrote about Tennessee governor Bill Lee’s relationship with Hillsdale last month. We have also offered a few posts reviewing the 1776 Commission, a Trump-supported group tasked with creating a patriotic-oriented curriculum. Hillsdale president Larry Arnn led the commission and...

The latest Christian Right critique of the 1619 Project is full of problems. Let’s break it down.

John Fea   |  January 16, 2022

Jerry Newcombe is a writer and local Florida radio host who comes out of the D. James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale) wing of conservative evangelicals. He is also the president of a Christian nationalist historical organization...

Christianity Today announces 2022 book awards

John Fea   |  December 14, 2021

We are familiar with Christianity Today book awards here at Current. Our editor, Eric Miller, won the award in the History/Biography category in 2011 for Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch. Some good historians made the...

The Author’s Corner with Gabriel Loiacono

Rachel Petroziello   |  December 2, 2021

Gabriel Loiacono is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. This interview is based on his new book, How Welfare Worked in the Early United States: Five Microhistories (Oxford University Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write How...

How climate change is threatening the National Museum of American History

John Fea   |  November 27, 2021

Some of the strongest critics of climate change policy are also some of the people most concerned about how our kids learn American history. Here is Chrisopher Flavelle at The New York Times: Nearly two million irreplaceable artifacts that tell...

The Author’s Corner with John Bodnar

Rachel Petroziello   |  November 26, 2021

John Bodnar is Emeritus Professor of History at Indiana University Bloomington. This interview is based on his new book, Divided by Terror: American Patriotism after 9/11 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write Divided...

Has the phrase “Christian nationalism” lost its meaning?

John Fea   |  November 23, 2021

Over at The Week, Samuel Goldman makes some good points. Here is a taste: It’s easy to find criticisms of Christian nationalism, which dominate both academic and popular discussions of the subject. It’s far more difficult to locate advocates, at least...

The Author’s Corner with David Henkin

Rachel Petroziello   |  November 22, 2021

David Henkin is Professor of History at UC Berkeley. This interview is based on his new book, The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are (Yale University Press, 2021). JF: What led you to...

David Barton spreads blatant falsehoods about the AP US History course, state history standards, and a bunch of other stuff.

John Fea   |  October 17, 2021

David Barton, the Christian Right operative who talks about the past, recently spoke at Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, California. GOP representative Madison Cawthorn introduced Barton. The pastor of the church is Rob McCoy. Learn more about McCoy and...

Can one date define a nation?

John Fea   |  October 15, 2021

1619? 1776? 1865? 1940? 1964? Which date defines the nation? Here is McGill University historian Gil Troy at the Jewish News Syndicate: In August 2019, The New York Times launched the 1619 Project—pivoting American history around racism’s evils, starting with the first slave ship’s...

If you want to get a sense of how many white evangelicals understand American history, check out megachurch pastor Jack Hibbs’s Facebook page

John Fea   |  October 2, 2021

We have written about Hibbs before. He is the vaccine mandate-hating, Larry Elder-loving, pro-Trumper who pastors Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. Over the last several years, Hibbs seems to have become a bit of a history buff. In a...

Does Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” make students hate America?

John Fea   |  September 25, 2021

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have my issues with Howard Zinn‘s A People’s History of the United States. I stand by what I have written about this book over the last decade or so. We’ve covered him...

Nataliya Braginsky is the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History National History Teacher of the Year!

John Fea   |  September 15, 2021

Here is the press release: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is delighted to announce that Nataliya Braginsky, a social studies teacher at Metropolitan Business Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, has been named the 2021 National History Teacher of the Year. Braginsky...

Pew Research: “Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say increased attention to the history of slavery and racism is bad for the country”

John Fea   |  August 12, 2021

Here is a taste of the recent Pew Research study: Among U.S. adults overall, 53% say increased attention to that history is a good thing for society, while 26% say it is a bad thing and another 21% say it...

Josh Hawley’s “Love America Act.” Let’s break it down

John Fea   |  August 8, 2021

Last week we published a post on Missouri Senator Josh Hawley’s op-ed in The New York Post condemning critical race theory and promoting his personal view of what young Americans should learn in history class. His views are encapsulated in...

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