Kamensky comes to Charlottesville from Harvard University’s history department. Here is the press release: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private nonprofit that owns and operates Monticello, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jane Kamensky, Ph.D., as...
Dennis Todd is Professor Emeritus of English at Georgetown University. This interview is based on his new book, Patriarchy in Peril: William Byrd II and Slavery in Early Virginia (University of Tennessee Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write...
Aniko Bodroghkozy is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. This interview is based on her new book, Making #Charlottesville: Media from Civil Rights to Unite the Right (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led you to...
Travis McDonald is Director of Architectural Restoration at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. This interview is based on his new book, Poplar Forest: Thomas Jefferson’s Villa Retreat (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write Poplar Forest? TM:...
Here is the Columbia University historian on how to think historically about 17th-century Virginia:...
Travis A. Rountree is Assistant Professor of English at Western Carolina University. This interview is based on his new book, Hillsville Remembered: Public Memory, Historical Silence, and Appalachia’s Most Notorious Shoot-Out (University Press of Kentucky, 2023). JF: What led you...
The Negro Motorist Green Book (or simply Green Book) was an annual guidebook that included businesses–hotels, restaurants, etc.– friendly to African American travelers. Last month Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law a bill that designates surviving Green Book locations...
Watch UVA go all in for April Fools Day (with an endorsement from historian Chris Gehrz): Thanks for stopping by. If you want to learn more about CURRENT, check out our home page and our About page. We are supported...
Alison Bell is Professor of Anthropology at Washington and Lee University. This interview is based on her new book, The Vital Dead: Making Meaning, Identity, and Community through Cemeteries (University of Tennessee Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write The Vital Dead?...
More and more colleges and universities are coming to grips with their connections to slavery. Here is historian Jody Lynn Allen at Perspectives on History: In the 1930s, William & Mary (W&M) constructed a four-foot brick wall around the oldest...
The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia will decide the fate of Richmond’s Robert E. Lee monument. Here is Michael Paul Williams at Richmond.com: The prophesy that John Mitchell Jr. issued about the Robert E. Lee monument continues...
Washington Post writer Dana Milbank got his hands on a 7th grade Virginia history textbook used in the commonwealth’s public schools from the 1950s through the 1970s. Here is a taste of his piece: Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin opened a tip line so...
A delegate of the General Assembly of Virginia wants better citizenship education for the students of the Commonwealth. Earlier this week Wren Williams proposed a bill (House Bill 781) to amend the Code of Virginia to strengthen “student citizenship skills.”...
They have been looking for this thing since September. Here is ABC News: After a time capsule found last week proved to be a letdown, another one has been found in the pedestal of a now-removed Robert E. Lee state...
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center will melt it down and turn it into a new piece of public art. Here is Eduardo Medina at The New York Times: The City Council of Charlottesville, Va., voted on Tuesday to...
Here is Yahoo News: Hundreds of churches across Virginia are set to air a political ad starring Vice President Kamala Harris — a move that has raised eyebrows regarding the legality of bringing political campaigns into houses of worship. Between...
The 1887 time capsule was supposed to be buried under the recently removed Richmond, Virginia Lee monument. Here is Gregory Schneider at The Washington Post: Robert E. Lee lost his lofty perch — but he’s trying to hold on to...
Here is the Associated Press: A towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, will be taken down on Wednesday as a symbol of racial injustice, more than 130 years after it was erected in tribute to...
Liberty is hosting a “drive-up convention” on May 8, 2021. Here is Patrick Wilson at the Richmond-Times Dispatch: After months of disagreement, the Virginia Republican Party’s governing body agreed Tuesday night on a method to nominate statewide candidates for the...
Over at Christianity Today, Dan Silliman reports on the excavation at First Baptist Church, an African-American church founded in 1776 by free and enslaved Blacks in Williamsburg, Virginia. Here is a taste: They dug up broken bits of lamp, the...
