Newsroom

Two centuries ago, when the richest man in America ran for higher public office, he prioritized the public good above personal gain, and he cultivated American science and technology as key potential contributors to general prosperity. Stephen Van Rensselaer’s...

In June 1812, just after Jane Austen had completed her inaugural novel, Sense and Sensibility, the US Congress astonished Britons by declaring war on their nation. Through the War of 1812, Austen would continue to publish, producing some of her best-known...

That we have come to associate the emergence of Regency style in North America with Jane Austen is, of course, a tribute to the strength and power of her writing. The first of Austen’s novels to be published in America was Emma, appearing in 1816, within a...

Racial tension is alive and well in America. Think Ferguson, Missouri; politicians vying for the African American vote; disputes over statues of Confederate soldiers and the Confederate flag; the Supreme Court’s rejection of two newly-drawn electoral districts...

As scholars of American history meeting in New Orleans, we certainly do not need to be reminded of this city’s dynamic history. Nor do we need to be reminded of the complex history of America’s urbanization and the growth of its cities. Yet historians of...

On the Centennial of United States Entry Into World War I, the Proposal for a Pending National Memorial in Washington, D. C. Falls Short The Korean conflict of the 1950s is often referred to as the nation’s “forgotten war,” yet how many Americans recall the...

Octavius McFarland was one of the millions of nameless, faceless slaves who toiled in Southern fields during antebellum times. His ceaseless labors made life comfortable for his white masters and fueled the booming Southern agrarian economy. His legal status...

by Seth A. Johnston At his first press conference following the election, the president reiterated statements made on the campaign trail that NATO – the Western alliance defending Europe and North America for decades – was “obsolete.” The year was 1966, and...

I wanted to highlight the century-long struggle of African Americans to obtain the right to vote. The civil rights movement, sometimes referred to as the black freedom struggle, is one of the most compelling episodes of the American experience. After slavery...

We hear a lot about fake news but what about fake history? How do we know that everything in history books is based on fact? We don’t. That is why history is always open to revision, and doing it requires a critical mind and the skills of a detective. I am a...