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Edited weekly by Bonnie K. Goodman

Ms. Goodman is the Features Editor at HNN. She has a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University, and has done graduate work in history at Concordia University. Her blog is History Musings

Click here to send Bonnie a news tip.

June 29, 2009: Historian's Remember Michael Jackson's Historical Impact

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Rock, Pop Historian John Covach Assesses Michael Jackson's Impact: "Michael Jackson is arguably the most important figure in 1980s popular music.... Younger fans of pop music may have to be reminded how incredibly powerful Michael Jackson's music was in the 1980s. More than that, Jackson defined "cool" during those years. The single glove, his patented moonwalk step, that slightly rebellious yet gentle demeanor—all this youthful charm slipped away over time, as it does for all of us. But at the height of his powers, Michael Jackson was one of the world's great entertainers and a pivotal figure in the history of American music. That's how he should be remembered." - Rochester University, 6-25-09

  • John Covach "Outpouring over Michael Jackson unlike anything since Princess Di": "One reason Michael Jackson's death is having such a wide impact is because his music had such a wide, and even sustained impact," says John Covach, a music historian at the University of Rochester. "Few artists have so completely saturated the market as Jackson did during the 1980s. It's comparable to the Beatles in the 60s or Elvis in the 50s. When an artist or performer is so well known and loved, the reaction to his or her passing is bound to be strong and widespread." "One important difference between Jackson's career and those of many others is that he was a child star who became an adult star – a very difficult transition to pull off," says Professor Covach. "Even those who were too young to be fans of Jackson when he was a child have seen the clips of him performing with a mastery far beyond his years. The adult Michael Jackson that fans loved in the 1980s thus already had a bit of history – people felt like they knew him already." - CS Monitor, 6-29-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

  • Niall Ferguson: Economic historian partnering on sequel to best selling strategy game 'Making History' - Gamezone.com (6-25-09)

  • Ed Ayers teaching high school teachers about the South: While summer is often believed to be a time of rest and relaxation for K-12 teachers, more than two dozen high school teachers from 20 states will spend next week as students of "The South in American History," a course taught by University of Richmond president Edward L. Ayers. The course is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.... - Press Release--University of Richmond (6-26-09)

  • American Historical Association: AHA protests Russian attempt to suppress history - AHA website, (6-17-09)

  • National Coalition for History: "Ask Congress to Increase Funding for the Office of Museum Services" Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH) (6-24-09)

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

  • Sean Wilentz takes on the new Lincoln establishment: Sean Wilentz in a long article reviewing books about Lincoln - The New Republic, 7-15-09

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Gavin Weightman: The Modernizers THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONARIES The Making of the Modern World 1776-1914 - NYT, 6-28-09

  • Gavin Weightman: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONARIES The Making of the Modern World 1776-1914, Ecerpt- NYT, 6-28-09

  • Christopher Bigsby: Liked but Not Well Liked ARTHUR MILLER 1915-1962 - NYT, 6-28-09

  • Christopher Bigsby: ARTHUR MILLER 1915-1962, First Chapter - NYT, 6-28-09

  • Stephan Talty: HISTORY A Silent Killer THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army - WaPo, 6-28-09

  • Jackson Lears: Bursting into the Modern Age REBIRTH OF A NATION The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 WaPo, 6-28-09

  • Nelson Lichtenstein: New Book by UCSB History Scholar Examines Wal-Mart as a Business Model The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business (Metropolitan Books) - News announcement at the website of USC (6-24-09)

QUOTES:

  • Jeremi Suri "UW-Madison Makes An Unlikely Ally: The Military": "It really is a group effort to reach out to the military in a way we never have before, at least not in the last 20 to 30 years," UW-Madison history professor Jeremi Suri said. "We've actually in the last few months, out of circumstance, made enormous headway. ... We're getting beyond this really silly notion people have that we're antimilitary." - AP, 6-28-09

  • David Eisenbach and David J. Garrow "Why the Gay Rights Movement Has No National Leader": "The issues of gay rights are mainly state issues, so the focus for activism is going to be on the local level," said David Eisenbach, a lecturer in history at Columbia University and the author of "Gay Power: An American Revolution."
    "They see dispersal as a great thing, that it's better not to have a concentration or too much attention overinvested in one individual," said David J. Garrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who has written about the civil rights and women’s rights movements. "The speed and breadth of change has been just breathtaking," he added. "But it's happened without a Martin Luther King." - NYT, 6-21-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Kira Gale: Lewis and Clark in murder mystery 200 years after their final expedition: Meriwether Lewis, one half of the Lewis and Clark explorer duo who first reached the Pacific by land, may have been murdered, say descendants who want his body exhumed.
    Historian Kira Gale, co-author of a new book The Death of Meriwether Lewis, with Professor James Starrs, a forensic pathologist at George Washington University, said: "It's a tangled web of politics, conspiracies and expansionism." - Telegraph, UK, 6-29-09

  • Historians' Advice for Dick Cheney on Writing His Memoirs: Former Vice President Dick Cheney has just signed a deal for his memoirs, reportedly worth around $2 million. President Bush, Laura Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice and Henry Paulson are also busy writing their takes on their roles in history. The political memoir, either as a summation of the author’s importance or payback to antagonists, has long been seen as a transition back to private life. - NYT (6-27-09)

  • Meet Britain's young new historians: ...They have been an actor, an artist and a TV presenter, are aged between 25 and 35 and they all have book contracts. One wrote his account of the year 1381 in a corner of the trendy London members' club, Soho House, during leave from his day job at a men's magazine. And rather than being looked down upon by the old guard, they are highly regarded by the academic establishment: David Starkey is considered a mentor by two of them; Simon Sebag Montefiore by others.... - Oliver Marre in the Guardian (6-28-09)

INTERVIEWS:

  • Wright's Legacy at Dartmouth College: "No one in my family had gone to college," Wright said. "And I had never taken it seriously... going into the Marines after high school was one way of delaying going into the mines or working for John Deere or the Kraft cheese plant."... "I'm a student of history... American history," Wright said. "I think I've had a fascination with history even when I was in elementary school. I recall loving history and reading history texts and there was a story which I found fascinating and enjoyable and I just liked to read history."... - WCAX, 6-29-09

  • Simon Schama: My Secret Life: Simon Schama, historian, 64 Interview in the Independent (UK) (6-27-09)

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • W.Va. Civil War group debuts at Harpers Ferry Sesquicentennial of John Brown's Raid kicks off - Journal News, 6-26-09

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • Niall Ferguson: The Ascent of Money Brings The Economic Crisis Down to Earth on PBS each Wednesday in July - About.com, 6-29-09

  • 'History Detectives' focus on Oak Ridge: Oak Ridge and Knoxville will be in the television spotlight over the next two weeks as PBS' "History Detectives" investigate the historical significance of two mysterious letters contributed by area residents. Cast members of the television show, "History Detectives," delve into the "Manhattan Project Patent." - Oak Ridger, 6-29-09

  • BBC to launch new series on history of Christianity - Religious Intelligence, 6-19-09

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS History Detectives: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Secrets of the Founding Fathers" - Monday, June 29, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "How Bruce Lee Changed the World" - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked " - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People" Marathon - Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 8-10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Band Of Brothers" Marathon - Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 3-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ben Franklin" - Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Stealing Lincoln's Body" - Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy" - Friday, July 3, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Lincoln Assassination" - Friday, July 3, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Secrets of the Founding Fathers" - Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Secret Societies" - Friday, July 3, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Seven Signs of the Apocalypse" - Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 12pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents" Marathon - Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 8-12pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Revolution" Marathon - Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 8am-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Mysteries of the Freemasons" - Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents" Marathon - Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 8-12pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem" - Monday, July 6, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • Michael McMenamin: Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor, July 1, 2009

  • Elinor Burkett: Golda (Reprint), July 1, 2009

  • Mike Evans (Editor): Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World, July 7, 2009

  • Roger S. Bagnall: Oxford Handbook of Papyrology, July 14, 2009

  • David Maraniss: Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics That Stirred the World (Reprint), July 14, 2009

  • Buzz Aldrin: Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, July 23, 2009

  • Alice Morse Earle: Child Life in Colonial Times (Paperback), July 23, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Paperback), September 8, 2009

  • Jon Krakauer: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, September 15, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 2:29 AM | Top

June 22, 2009: The State Department Improves the Office of the Historian

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

  • Thomas Sugrue: Responds to criticism of his book, citing the myth of the white backlash Sweet Land of Liberty - Democracy (6-15-09)

  • John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr respond to their critics: While we were writing Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, based on Alexander Vassiliev's notebooks, we anticipated a hostile reaction from battered but still rancorous remnants of the pro-Communist left in the academic world and partisan pundits. Together they have denied for more than fifty years that Soviet espionage in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s had much significance, denounced claims linking the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) with Soviet espionage, and proclaimed the innocence of many of those identified as Soviet agents.... - Washington Decoded (6-10-09)

  • Martin Kramer: Khalidi's impact on Obama - Sandbox (6-13-09)

  • Deborah Lipstadt was at Holocaust Museum when shooting took place: I write this from my office in the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum where I have been privileged to have had a fellowship for the past semester. Up until Wednesday at 12:50 p.m., it had been a perfect visit. Everything a scholar could hope for: exceptional scholarly resources and a magnificent museum staff.... - Deborah Lipstadt in a commentary at CNN.com (6-12-09)

  • Garry Wills has nice things to say about Bill Buckley - Atlantic (7-1-09)

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Gillian Gill: Married With Children WE TWO Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals - NYT, 6-21-09

  • Gillian Gill: WE TWO Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals, Excerpt - NYT, 6-21-09

  • Donald McRae: Darrow for the Defense THE LAST TRIALS OF CLARENCE DARROW - WaPo, 6-21-09

  • Clay Risen: HISTORY A Country Shaken A NATION ON FIRE America in the Wake of the King Assassination WaPo, 6-21-09

  • Karen Greenberg: Before Guantanamo Was Above the Law THE LEAST WORST PLACE Guantanamo's First 100 Days WaPo, 6-21-09

  • Frank Gannon on Kevin Mattson: Days of 'Malaise' Ah, the Jimmy Carter era: presidential scolding, gas lines, Studio 54 and the 'killer rabbit' WSJ, 6-20-09

  • David Beito, Linda Royster Beito: Say bias has excluded civil rights leader T.R.M. Howard from pantheon Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard’s Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power - Harper's (6-11-09)

QUOTES:

  • Allan Brandt talks about the decline of big tobacco: "My own view is that in many ways, the tobacco industry invented the kind of special-interest lobbying that has become so characteristic of the late 20th- and earlier 21st-century American politics," said Allan Brandt, dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. "Today obviously, that lobby is much less powerful and successful than it was a generation ago," said Brandt, author of "The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America."... - CNN (6-19-09)

  • Jeffrey Wasserstrom "Debunking the Shanghai myth": Thus says noted historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom, who debunks the "East meets West" image of Shanghai. This label fails to capture the multitude of Western voices and Chinese viewpoints facing off and converging there, argues the author of Global Shanghai 1850-2010: A History In Fragments, published this year. "Global" Shanghai today is as much a hotpot for East-meets-East as West-meets-West. Yet, Professor Wasserstrom, who teaches history at the University of California, Irvine, himself was once victim to what he calls the "fairy tale versions of Shanghai". He confesses to having felt "let down" during his first two visits to Shanghai in the 1980s, when he was confronted with "the contrast between the drab city I found...and the exciting one I had conjured up in my imagination". Malaysian Insider, 6-21-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Bradley R. Simpson "Historian Claims West Backed Post-Coup Mass Killings in '65": Speaking on the opening day of an international conference in Singapore to discuss arguably the darkest chapter in Indonesia’s history, Bradley R. Simpson, an assistant professor at Princeton University and an expert on Indonesia, said that the US and British governments did everything in their power to ensure that the Indonesian army would carry out the mass killings.... - http://thejakartaglobe.com (6-17-09)

  • Kathryn Olmsted: UC Davis historian catalogs US secrets, lies and conspiracies Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11 - Press Release (6-17-09)

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Historian says Golden Horseshoe started path to success": Henry Louis Gates, Jr., began his ascent as a renowned historian by winning what he would later call the "the Nobel Prize of eighth graders in West Virginia," the Golden Horseshoe.... - Charleston Daily Mail, 6-19-09

  • Patricia McMahon Houser: An assistant professor of geography at Central Connecticut State University, is Putnam's new county historian.... - The Journal News, 6-4-09

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 2009: National Archives Continues Year-Long 75th Anniversary Celebration in June with H.W. Brands, Donald Ritchie, Robert Remini - Press Newswire, 5-28-09

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • BBC to launch new series on history of Christianity - Religious Intelligence, 6-19-09

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Violent Earth: Nature's Fury: New England's Killer Hurricane" - Monday, June 22, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Heavy Metal" - Monday, June 22, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Crumbling of America" - Monday, June 22, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "How Bruce Lee Changed the World" - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked " - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Next Nostradamus" - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Waters of Death" - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle" - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Rome: Engineering an Empire" - Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Hippies " - Friday, June 19, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's Tech" Marathon- Friday, June 19, 2009 at 4-8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battle 360" Marathon - Friday, June 26, 2009 at 3-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People" Marathon - Friday, June 26, 2009 at 8-11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Seven Signs of the Apocalypse" - Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 12pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People" Marathon- Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • Michael McMenamin: Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor, July 1, 2009

  • Elinor Burkett: Golda (Reprint), July 1, 2009

  • Mike Evans (Editor): Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World, July 7, 2009

  • Roger S. Bagnall: Oxford Handbook of Papyrology, July 14, 2009

  • David Maraniss: Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics That Stirred the World (Reprint), July 14, 2009

  • Buzz Aldrin: Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, July 23, 2009

  • Alice Morse Earle: Child Life in Colonial Times (Paperback), July 23, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Paperback), September 8, 2009

  • Jon Krakauer: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, September 15, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:38 AM | Top

June 15, 2009: The Future of Diplomatic History & The Holocaust Museum Shooting

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Avinoam Patt: University Of Hartford Professor Says Holocaust Museum Shooting Is Evidence Anti-Semitism Still Exists: "The museum is very threatening to deniers. It is not just a memorial but a museum that makes a statement to nearly 2 million visitors a year, educating people about the cancer of genocide," said Avinoam Patt, who teaches American and European Jewish history.... - Hartford Courant, 6-11-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

    This Week in History.... June , 2009

  • John Lewis Gaddis "June 1979, the Nine Days of John Paul II": Thirty years ago, the Bishop of Rome returned to Poland for the first time since his recent election to the papacy. America's premier Cold War historian, John Lewis Gaddis of Yale, is not ambiguous in his judgment of what happened next: "When John Paul II kissed the ground at the Warsaw airport on June 2, 1979, he began the process by which communism in Poland—and ultimately everywhere—would come to an end." Professor Gaddis is right: the Nine Days of John Paul II, June 2-10, 1979, were an epic moment on which the history of the 20th century pivoted, and in a more humane direction.... - Catholic Star Herald, 6-11-09

IN THE NEWS:

  • Great Caesar's Ghost! Are Traditional History Courses Vanishing?: To the pessimists evidence that the field of diplomatic history is on the decline is everywhere. Job openings on the nation’s college campuses are scarce, while bread-and-butter courses like the Origins of War and American Foreign Policy are dropping from history department postings. And now, in what seems an almost gratuitous insult, Diplomatic History, the sole journal devoted to the subject, has proposed changing its title.... - NYT, 6-10-09

  • Australian National University professor David Horner: Professor to write ASIO history: ASIO has commissioned an historian to write an unclassified history of the spy agency as its new headquarters take shape.... - The Age, Australia, 6-12-09

  • John Hope Franklin: Brooklyn College Celebrates Historian and Announces Award and Conference in His Name - Brooklyn College, 6-8-09

  • Randolph-Macon Woman's College Professor and Historian Margaret Pertzoff: Wintergreen Farm owner leaves $1.4M bequest to Randolph College - Nelson County Times, 6-

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

  • Paul Krugman vs. Neill Ferguson: Letting the Data Speak - NYT, 6-16-09

  • Derek J. Penslar: Contested Space Maps in Teaching About Israel - Shma, 6-12-09

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Michael Kazin on Simon Schama: What So Proudly He Hails THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - WaPo, 6-14-09

  • Simon Schama: THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History, Chapter One - WaPo, 6-14-09

  • Simon Schama: Despite the Crises, Seeing a Star-Spangled Destiny in the Mirror of Time THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - NYT, 6-9-09

  • Simon Schama: The American Future: A History Historian Simon Schama offers a portrait of America with its complexities and contradictions. - CS Monitor, 6-15-09

  • Vincent J. Cannato: American Passage: The History of Ellis Island 'American Passage': It's Ellis Island's history, and ours, too - USA Today, 6-15-09

  • BEVERLY GAGE on Jackson Lears: American Macho REBIRTH OF A NATION The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 - NYT, 6-14-09

  • Gillian Tett: Rewriting the Rules FOOL'S GOLD How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J. P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe - NYT, 6-14-09

  • Gillian Tett: FOOL'S GOLD How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J. P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe, First Chapter - NYT, 6-14-09

  • Chris Bray on Doug Stanton: The Stuff of Which Movies Are Made HORSE SOLDIERS The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan - WaPo, 6-14-09

  • Robert Fulford on D.D. Guttenplan, John Earl Haynes: Two views on I.F. Stone American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone, Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America - National Post, 6-14-09

QUOTES:

  • Bill Clinton: Historian John Hope Franklin was 'angry, happy man': The late historian John Hope Franklin was "an angry, happy man" whose work as the head of a commission on race helped pull the country together, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday. Clinton was one of a dozen speakers at a service at Duke Chapel to honor Franklin and his wife, Aurelia, who would have celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary Thursday....
    "Now, we're laughing," Clinton said. "But the man was 80 years old. He was perhaps the most distinguished living American historian. He did write this in a funny way. And he wrote it in a way that you knew he didn't think it was funny. He was a genius at being a passionate rationalist. An angry, happy man. A happy, angry man."...
    In 1997, Clinton appointed Franklin to lead his Initiative on Race. Because of that report and Franklin's work on it, "we are a different country," Clinton said. "For 10 years, we've been working to become a communitarian country. After being known as a country know by our divisions from 1968 to 2008, people know us as a country known by our unity. His life and work in no small measure helped to produce that." - AP

  • Michal Belknap "Get a Life? Not If You Want to Be One of the Nine The debate building up to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings suggests that real-world experiences are of suspect value in administering the law. Really?": Michal Belknap, a historian and law professor at California Western School of Law, is writing a biography of Justice Tom Clark, who was appointed to the court in 1949 after practicing oil and gas law. "As far as I'm aware," Belknap said, "nobody ever asked him whether his background as an oil and gas lawyer would influence his thinking in oil and gas cases. The reason they gave them to him was that he was the only person who could understand those cases."... - MillerMcCune.com

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Alex Roland: After four decades, is America over the moon?: Four decades after the first lunar landing, a series of new missions revives debate over their value - The Arizona Republic, 6-14-09

  • Christopher Howse "Why Queen Mary wanted to burn: Queen Mary's abbreviated reign can now be, if not forgiven, at least understood, says Howse.... - Telegraph, UK, 6-12-09

  • Divided We Stand: What would California look like broken in three? Or a Republic of New England? With the federal government reaching for ever more power, redrawing the map is enticing, says Paul Starobin... - WSJ, 6-13-09

  • Jean Libby: John Brown's legacy hasn't changed; America has - AP, 6-13-09

INTERVIEWS:

  • For Timothy Garton Ash, Europe Means Shared History: What does it mean to be European, and what is Europe's future? For answers, RFE/RL correspondent Ahto Lobjakas spoke to the British historian and essayist Timothy Garton Ash in the Estonian capital Tallinn after attending "Rethinking Enemies of Open Society," a forum organized by the Open Estonia Foundation.... - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, 6-7-09

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Dr. William Anthony Hay: Elected as a Fellow of Britain's Royal Historical Society after writing about a historical period that had yet to receive much scholarly attention, "The Whig Revival: 1808 - 1830".... - Starkville Daily News, 6-15-09

  • Historian Stephen B. Oates was honored recently with a lifetime achievement award from the Abraham Lincoln Group of New York: "I was ecstatic," Oates said. "It wasn't anything I expected." Oates who has received numerous awards including the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award said, "This probably tops them all." - MassLive.com, 6-14-09

  • Peter Bol, Vincent Brown, Ann Harrington: Six faculty named Walter Channing Cabot Fellows Chosen for accomplishments in literature, history, or art - Harvard University Gazette, 6-11-09

  • Susan Cahan: Art historian selected for newly created deanship: Yale College Dean Mary Miller announced Thursday the appointment of Susan Cahan, the associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the newly created position of associate dean for the arts in Yale College.... - Yale Daily News, 6-11-09

  • The historian and scholar and principal of Aberdeen University, Professor C Duncan Rice, receives a knighthood: Three university vice-chancellors and a head teacher have received knighthoods in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.... - BBC, 6-12-09

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

  • Harvey Kaye: UW-Green Bay professor discussed Thomas Paine on PBS program "Bill Moyers' Journal" - UW-Green Bay, 6-9-09

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 2009: National Archives Continues Year-Long 75th Anniversary Celebration in June with H.W. Brands, Donald Ritchie, Robert Remini - Press Newswire, 5-28-09

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Clash of the Cavemen" - Monday, June 15, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Universe: Beyond the Big Bang" - Monday, June 15, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People" - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: The Road to Nowhere" - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Real Tomb Hunters: Snakes, Curses, and Booby Traps" - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ancient Discoveries: Ancient New York" - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Rome: Engineering an Empire" - Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Hippies " - Friday, June 19, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's Tech" Marathon- Friday, June 19, 2009 at 4-8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 03 - Hunters Become The Hunted" - Friday, June 19, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "UFO Hunters" Marathon - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Band of Brothers" Marathon - Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 1:30-8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Secret Access: Air Force One " - Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents: 1885-1913" - Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Andrew Jackson" - Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 04 - African Monsoon" - Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • Michael McMenamin: Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor, July 1, 2009

  • Elinor Burkett: Golda (Reprint), July 1, 2009

  • Mike Evans (Editor): Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World, July 7, 2009

  • Roger S. Bagnall: Oxford Handbook of Papyrology, July 14, 2009

  • David Maraniss: Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics That Stirred the World (Reprint), July 14, 2009

  • Buzz Aldrin: Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, July 23, 2009

  • Alice Morse Earle: Child Life in Colonial Times (Paperback), July 23, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Paperback), September 8, 2009

  • Jon Krakauer: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, September 15, 2009

DEPARTED:

  • Philip D. Curtin: Longtime Johns Hopkins University professor reshaped the history of the African slave trade - WaPk, 6-14-09

  • Him Mark Lai: Dies at 83; scholar was called dean of Chinese American studies - LAT, 6-14-09

  • PATRICIA MARCIA CRAWFORD, HISTORIAN: Inquisitive woman for the ages - The Age, Australia, 6-12-09

  • Professor Perez Zagorin: Who has died on April 26 aged 88, was an American historian who specialised in the English Civil War but was shunned by the academic establishment in his own country during the McCarthy era... - Telegraph, UK, 6-9-09

Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 12:57 AM | Top

June 8, 2009: Remembering D-Day's 65th Anniversary

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Emmanuel Thiebot "D-Day+ 65 years: Obama set to make Normandy landing": Emmanuel Thiebot, historian at Memorial Center for History museum near Caen, says Allies did not expect the kind of resistance offered by the Germans. "The Allies weren't expecting such resistance. There was a large difference between the Allied plans and what happened," Mr. Thiebot says. "War crimes would mean a targeting of the city or civilians," says Thiebot. "The bombing was a side-effect of the war strategy, not a targeting." Nonetheless, he adds, "Asking new questions is always a good thing in history … for many years these were taboo subjects."... - CS Monitor, 6-6-09

  • Antony Beevor: 'History has not emphasised enough the suffering of French civilians during the War' - Independent UK, 6-6-09

  • Terry Copp "D-Day's bloody toll unclear 65 years later 5,000 Canadians died as Normandy campaign continued until August": "No one could possibly have kept track of who was killed or missing that day," says Wilfrid Laurier University historian Terry Copp. "Landing craft were emerging from the mist, these kids were scrambling across the beach under fire. All they could do was run, dodge bullets, pray and get to the beach wall." But with scholarly "world-class research," Canadians have tried to get the numbers right, says Copp, author of the 2003 book Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. "There's been no similar effort by the British or Americans. Various estimates have been put forward, but I've never seen a breakdown as thorough as that provided by Stacey."... - Toronto Star, 6-6-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

  • Col. Sergei Kovalyov "Russian military historian blames Poland for WWII": "Everyone who has studied the history of World War II without bias knows that the war began because of Poland's refusal to satisfy Germany's claims," he writes. Kovalyov called the demands "quite reasonable." He observed: "The overwhelming majority of residents of Danzig, cut off from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, were Germans who sincerely wished for reunification with their historical homeland."... - AP, 6-5-09

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • MAX BOOT on Andrew Roberts: Gang of Four MASTERS AND COMMANDERS How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945: A joint biography of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and their senior military advisers Alan Brooke and George C. Marshall.... - NYT, 6-7-09

  • Vincent J. Cannato: Weeding Out the Weak AMERICAN PASSAGE The History of Ellis Island - WaPo, 6-7-09

QUOTES:

  • Andrew Roberts "'World war three? That's already happened' Why don't our children know our history?": "It just takes your breath away," said acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm Of War, a new history of the second world war, which is published in August. "How can people not be interested in what their family did in the war? It seems to fly against human nature to not show at least some curiosity about something like that. "Families sharing stories is vital. It is not always objective when it comes to history, you'll find a lot of grandfathers saying they won the second world war single-handedly, but what it does is spark a general interest. A healthy interest in the greatest events of our times is an absolute prerequisite to make informed decisions today."... - Sunday Herald, 6-7-09

  • Judy Yung "Budget cuts threaten 'Ellis Island of the West'": "Can you imagine recommending Ellis Island be closed? That was our Plymouth rock, for our history as an ethnic American group," said historian Judy Yung. "It would mean a part of our past is being closed to us." Yung picnicked on Angel Island as a high school student, unaware her father had been detained there for a month in 1921. Like many others, after his release he never discussed Angel Island, said Yung.... - AP, 6-7-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Andrew S. Dolkart "A Starter Sanctuary": CHAPTER 1 Robert Henderson Robertson designed what is today St. John the Martyr Church, built in 1887. It was the first phase of a larger church never completed... - NYT, 6-7-09

  • Margaret A. Weitekamp: A Star Is Reborn: Smithsonian Gets Piece of Astroland History - WaPo, 6-5-09

  • Simon Rawidowicz: Historian is the subject of a book about Israel - Jerry Haber at The Magnes Zionist (blog) (6-2-09)

INTERVIEWS:

  • For Timothy Garton Ash, Europe Means Shared History: What does it mean to be European, and what is Europe's future? For answers, RFE/RL correspondent Ahto Lobjakas spoke to the British historian and essayist Timothy Garton Ash in the Estonian capital Tallinn after attending "Rethinking Enemies of Open Society," a forum organized by the Open Estonia Foundation.... - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, 6-7-09

  • Father Marvin O'Connell Looking to the past: Father Marvin O'Connell, professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame and a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, recently sat down with a Catholic Spirit reporter to discuss his new book, "Pilgrims to the Northland: The Archdiocese of St. Paul, 1840-1962." - Catholic Spirit, 6-4-09

  • Olivia Remie Constable: Interview with the Director of Notre Dame's Medieval Institute - http://medievalnews.blogspot.com (6-1-09)

  • Anthony Grafton: Deception as a Way of Knowing: A Conversation with Anthony Grafton - Cabinet (Spring) (5-1-09)

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Light T. Cummins: Austin College Professor Named Texas State Historian - KTEN News, 6-6-09

  • Jonathan Reed Winkler "Author to receive Roosevelt Naval History prize": The 2009 Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize will be awarded to Jonathan Reed Winkler for his book "Nexus: Strategic Communications and American Security in World War I" (Harvard University Press, 2008). - Poughkeepsie Journal, 6-5-09

  • Daniel W. Barefoot: Heritage Award Ceremony: On Sunday, June 14, 2009, at 3:00 pm in the Lincoln Cultural Center Timken Performance Hall, the Lincoln County Historical Association and Lincoln County Historic Properties Commission will honor Dan Barefoot with the 2009 Heritage Award. - Lincoln Tribune, 6-7-09

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 2009: National Archives Continues Year-Long 75th Anniversary Celebration in June with H.W. Brands, Donald Ritchie, Robert Remini - Press Newswire, 5-28-09

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Egypt: Engineering an Empire" - Monday, June 8, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Underground Apocalypse" - Monday, June 8, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: 10 - Beneath Vesuvius", "Cities Of The Underworld: Maya Underground" - Monday, June 8, 2009 at 5-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Hillbilly: The Real Story" - Monday, June 8, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 02 - First Victim" - Monday, June 8, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Dark Ages" - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Barbarians II: Saxons" - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Viking Underground" - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Seven Signs of the Apocalypse" - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Armed & Defenseless" - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Beltway Unbuckled" - Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The White House: Behind Closed Doors " - Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Making a Buck" - Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" - Friday, June 12, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Alcatraz Down Under" - Friday, June 12, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Patton 360: Siege Warfare" - Friday, June 12, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 02 - First Victim" - Friday, June 12, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "UFO Hunters" Marathon - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Walt Disney World." - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 03 - Hunters Become The Hunted" - Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Vincent J. Cannato: American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, June 9, 2009

  • Larry Tye: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, June 9, 2009

  • Matthew Aid: The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency, June 9, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, June 8, 2009 at 2:46 AM | Top

June 1, 2009: Annette Gordon-Reed wins the George Washington Book Prize

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Edmund S. Morgan: Celebrating Quiet Heroism AMERICAN HEROES Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America Herein a collection of 17 essays written over a span of some 70 years, three previously unpublished and 14 previously uncollected in book form, by one of the most distinguished and influential historians of Colonial America. It is the 18th book Edmund S. Morgan has published in his 93 years (he also has edited five others) and further evidence of the depth and breadth of his research, the nimbleness of his mind and his willingness to dissent from received wisdom.... - WaPo, 5-31-09

  • Jill Jonnes: Lightning Rods and Sideshows EIFFEL'S TOWER And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count - NYT, 5-31-09

  • Michael Shapiro: Squeeze Play BOTTOM OF THE NINTH Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball From Itself - NYT, 5-31-09

  • Simon Schama: Writer Simon Schama envisions The American Future' by studying the past THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 5-31-09

  • Iain Fenlon: History and function of Venice's great piazza excavated: be there or be square Piazza San Marco - Irish Times, 6-1-09

  • Michael Novak: George Washington Urged American Governors to Imitate Christ Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country - CNSnews.com (5-31-09)

  • Steven Hahn: A new book by historian takes up the hidden history of African American politics and the politics of writing history The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom - U. of Penn. website (Click here to watch video.), (5-1-09)

QUOTES:

  • Nelson Lichtenstein "GM boom years full of big-time success": Nelson Lichtenstein -- a labor history professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of "The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit," a 1995 biography of Reuther -- noted constant change is characteristic of the economy that produced GM. "Capitalism is an unstable system," he said. "Just ask the ox cart builders of England or the radio assemblers of Camden." But Lichtenstein added: "As one who has studied how the UAW battled GM for decades and decades, I never emotionally thought it would go into bankruptcy." - Detroit Free Press, 5-31-09

  • Robert E. Wright "Real Money Men": Prof. Robert E. Wright, a financial historian at New York University, suggested changing the definition to real, or inflation-adjusted, dollars. In that case, one can make an argument for John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), the fur trader and Manhattan real estate magnate. "Undoubtedly a New Yorker, Astor was worth about $20 million nominal upon his death," Professor Wright said in an e-mail message. Depending on the method of calculation used, that was the equivalent of $421 million to $119 billion today. The results vary widely depending on the goods and services one compares from different eras, but if one chooses the method that produces the highest figure, some 18th-century New Yorker might have hit one billion even earlier, Professor Wright said. - NYT, 5-29-09

  • Tom Segev "Israeli historian praises German democracy": "The most important reason for the success of democracy is that the majority of Germans – though not always voluntarily – took responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi regime, the war and in particular the Holocaust," Segev wrote in the left-leaning liberal newspaper Haaretz. "Most Germans have drawn the right lessons from their past, among them the defence of civil rights and the limits on the army." - www.thelocal.de, (5-24-09)

PROFILES & FEATURES:

    >Andrew Roberts, Richard Overy: How will history judge this decade? While journalists write about 'the moment,' historians,who write about longer trends, say it is too early to tellhow far-reaching the effects of the noughties may be... - Guardian UK, 5-29-09

  • LSU's T. Harry Williams Oral History Center: Center goes to the source to collect area histories - The Advocate, 5-31-09

  • Stan Sandler: "Stan the History Man" - Fay Observer, 5-30-09

  • Alan Houston: UCSD professor finds a collection of Franklin letters in the British Library - Del Mar Times, 5-29-09

  • Zachary Martin: Passsion for history and Kennedy intrigue leads to new book for Fairhaven native The Mindless Menace of Violence: Robert F. Kennedy's Vision and the Fierce Urgency of Now - South Coast Today, 5-28-09

  • New York State's hidden treasure- town historians - www.examiner.com, (5-24-09)

INTERVIEWS:

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul Interview The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - WaPo (5-29-09)

  • Niall Ferguson "Ireland set to go bust": "The idea that countries don't go bust is a joke," said Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor and author of The Ascent of Money. "The debt trap may be about to spring" he said, "for countries that have created large stimulus packages in order to stimulate their economies." His chosen prime candidate to go bust is "Ireland, followed by Italy and Belgium, and UK is not too far behind".... - Belfast Telegraph, 5-29-09

  • Ric Burns: Interviewed about new PBS Indian history documentary - Mother Jones (5-29-09)

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: $50,000 George Washington Book Prize Awarded to Reed for The Hemingses of Monticello - Press Release--Washington College (5-29-09)

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - WaPo (5-29-09)

  • Ann Blair, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History: One of four faculty to join FAS's teaching elite - Named Harvard College Professors in five-year appointment - Harvard University, 5-28-09

  • Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley and Glen M. Leonard: A long-awaited book on the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre has received the Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association Massacre at Mountain Meadows - Mormon Times, (5-23-09)

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

  • Steven T. Usdin: The Rosenberg Archive, fascinating electronic archive of primary source documents about the Rosenberg case now online - Rosenberg Archive (Wilson Center) (5-28-09)

  • Mary Rubin "Historian says Virgin Mary made into 'normal mum' to widen Christianity's appeal": Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales, Mary Rubin, the author of Mother of God – A History of the Virgin Mary, said the transformation took place in the 11th and 12th century, with images of her knitting and cooking.... - Source: Telegraph (UK) (5-27-09)

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 2009: National Archives Continues Year-Long 75th Anniversary Celebration in June with H.W. Brands, Donald Ritchie, Robert Remini - Press Newswire, 5-28-09

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "The Universe: Beyond the Big Bang" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 01 - Lost in Africa" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Alaska: Dangerous Territory" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "How the Earth Was Made" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Sin City Meltdown" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ancient Aliens" - Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "A Global Warning?" - Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "American Eats: History on a Bun" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Patton 360: On Hitler's Doorstep" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 01 - Lost in Africa" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "10 Days to D-Day " - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 1pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Einstein" - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "D-Day: The Lost Evidence" - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 02 - First Victim " - Sunday, June 7, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Robert Jacobs: Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, June 1, 2009

  • Vincent J. Cannato: American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, June 9, 2009

  • Larry Tye: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, June 9, 2009

  • Matthew Aid: The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency, June 9, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, June 1, 2009 at 3:52 AM | Top

May 25, 2009

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Caroline E. Janney: Historian remembers Memorial Day holiday's beginnings: "Credit really goes to thousands of Southern white women who were honoring Confederate soldiers a year after the Civil War ended," says Caroline E. Janney, an assistant professor of history. "The women led these celebrations because if Confederate men would have organized memorials in 1866, just after the war ended, their actions would have been considered treason." "Instead, women planned each event, and the men were figuratively hiding behind the skirts of these women. What many people didn't realize is that these women, who are often portrayed as politically indifferent, were keeping politics in mind while planning these events." - KPCnews.com, 5-21-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

  • Antony Beevor: Historian has been accused of trying to get publicity for his new book, D-Day: The Battle for Normandy Allies bombing on D-Day 'close to war crime', claims historian The Allied bombing of the French city of Caen on D-Day was "close to a war crime", according to leading historian Antony Beevor - Telegraph UK, 5-24-09

  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: Creates History Commission - WSJ, 5-21-09

  • Professor Marco Maiorino, a Vatican historian of papal diplomacy: Vatican discloses Henry VIII's annulment appeal "The schism came later," he said. "They were loyal to the sovereign, but at this point the spiritual supremacy of Rome was not in question." - Times UK Online, 5-22-09

  • Oklahoma History Center to close two days of week - Source: http://www.newsok.com (5-21-09)

  • National Security Archive Testifies to House Oversight Committee About Challenges Facing National Archives: At a hearing today focusing on the National Archives and Records Administration and the selection of a new Archivist, National Security Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs said: "[The new Archivist] should have a vision for an Archives 2.0."... - Source: Press Release (5-21-09)

  • James Lowen, James McPherson: Scholars Ask Obama Not to Send a Wreath to Confederate Memorial - Source: Press Release by James Loewen (5-19-09)

  • Frederick Clarkson: Will Obama Honor the Confederacy This Year?: Presidents since Woodrow Wilson have annually sent a commemorative wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Up until the presidency of George H.W. Bush, the wreath was sent on or near the birthday of Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Since then, the wreath has been sent on Memorial Day. One might think that this is a practice birthed in a generosity of spirit and healing of the war that had so deeply divided the nation. Unfortunately the truth is that the monument commemorates not the dead so much as the cause of the confederacy, and stands to this day as a rallying point for white supremacy. This is why scholars Edward Sebestaco-editor of "Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction," University of Texas Press, and James Loewen, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Vermont, joined by some 65 others (including me) sent a letter to president Obama asking him to end the practice.... - Daily Kos, 5-22-09

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

  • Daniel Pipes: A History of Muslim Terrorism against Jews in the United States: The arrest yesterday of four would-be jihadis before they could attack two synagogues in New York City brings to mind a long list of terrorist assaults in the United States by Muslims on Jews. These began in 1977 and have continued regularly since, as suggested by the following list of major incidents (ignoring lesser ones that did damage only to property, such a series of attacks on Chicago-area synagogues)... - Source: Daniel Pipes website (5-21-09)

  • Julian E. Zelizer: Democrats play defense on security - Source: CNN (5-20-09)

  • John Steele Gordon: Why Government Can't Run a Business - Source: WSJ (5-20-09)

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Simon Schama: Mirror on America THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - NYT, 5-22-09

  • Simon Schama: THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History, First Chapter - NYT, 5-22-09

  • Simon Schama: Looking to America's past to find a path for the future THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - Boston Globe, 5-24-09

  • Simon Schama: Schama Looks At History For 'American Future' THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - NPR, 5-20-09

  • Benny Morris: No Common Ground ONE STATE, TWO STATES Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict - NYT, 5-24-09

  • Benny Morris: ONE STATE, TWO STATES Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict, First Chapter - NYT, 5-24-09

  • T.J. Stiles: The Man Who Owned America THE FIRST TYCOON The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt - WaPo, 5-24-09

  • T.J. Stiles: THE FIRST TYCOON The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Excerpt - WaPo, 5-24-09

  • Edith B. Gelles: Abigail & John Portrait of a Marriage: Gelles' "Abigail & John" does something different, bringing the two strands together in a dual biography that shows how their lives connected, diverged and reconnected over time.... - San Francisco Chronicle, 5-24-09

  • Dr. Richard Hull: Historian Publishes latest book on Jews in African history Jews and Judaism in African History - Straus News, 5-22-09

  • Paramour of Kennedy Is Writing a Book - Mimi Beardsley Alford, a retired New York church administrator who had an affair with John F. Kennedy while she was an intern in the White House, is breaking a silence of more than 40 years to tell her story in a memoir to be published by Random House. NYT, 5-22-09

  • Eugene D. Genovese: In a new book, Genovese describes a devoted and intellectually stimulating partnership with his late wife, also a historian of note Miss Betsey: A Memoir of Marriage - Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed (5-22-09)

  • Ronald C. White Jr.: BOOKS: A. Lincoln - Valdosta Daily Times, 5-18-09

  • Elliott West: 'As big as the land' UA professor writes book on Nez Perce war of 1877 The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story - Northwest Arkansas Times, 5-10-09

QUOTES:

  • John Allswang "California voters exercise their power -- and that's the problem Residents relish their role in the lawmaking process, but they share the blame for the state's severe dysfunction": Together, voters' piecemeal decisions since the 1970s have effectively "emasculated the Legislature," said John Allswang, a retired Cal State L.A. history professor. "They're looking for cheap answers -- throw the guys out of power and put somebody else in, or just blame the politicians and pretend you don't have to raise taxes when you need money," he said. "This is what the public wants, and they deceive themselves constantly. They're not realistic."... - LAT, 5-22-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Rodney Davis: In Civil War, Woman Fought Like A Man For Freedom - NPR, 5-23-09

  • Mary Witkowski: In the Region, Connecticut A Crumbling Piece of History: Historians are concerned about the fate of structures on Main Street in Bridgeport that are said to be the only remnants of an antebellum community of free blacks and runaway slaves. - NYT, 5-24-09

  • Max Boot, Paul Collier, Simon Schama: Civil Wars: The Fights That Do Not Want to End - NYT, 5-24-09

  • Annette Gordon-Reed for the US Supreme Court?: Is New York Law School's Annette Gordon-Reed, the Pulitzer Prize-winning law professor/historian, on President Obama's Supreme Court "short list"?... Probably not. But they appear on the short lists of more than a dozen constitutional law and Supreme Court scholars asked by The National Law Journal to step into Obama's shoes to pick a nominee to succeed retiring Justice David Souter.... Source: National Law Journal (5-18-09)

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Historian Jack Greene Honored by National Humanities Center: Jack P. Greene, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus in the Humanities in the Department of History at Johns Hopkins, has been selected as one of 33 fellows at the National Humanities Center for the 2009-2010 academic year. - The JHU Gazette, 5-18-09

SPOTTED:

  • The Mormon History Association's annual conference: MHA opening session: A religious backdrop to the Civil War - Mormon Times, 5-22-09

  • Ken Burns tells Boston College grads to revisit history: "History is not a fixed thing, a collection of precise dates, facts, and events that add up to a quantifiable, certain, confidently known truth," Burns said. "It is an inscrutable and mysterious and malleable thing. Each generation rediscovers and reexamines that part of its past that gives its present - and, most important, its future - new meaning and new possibilities."... - Source: Boston Globe (5-19-09)

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

  • August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest" Marathon - Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 8-11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest" Marathon - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 2-8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy" - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Link" - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People" Marathon - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Angels & Demons Decoded" - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Bound and Buried" - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest" Marathon - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Beyond The Da Vinci Code" - Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Angels & Demons Decoded" - Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Behind The Da Vinci Code" - Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battles BC" Marathon - Friday, May 22, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Link " - Friday, May 29, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ice Road Truckers" Marathon - Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 12-11pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Richard Ben-Veniste: Emperor's New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate To 9/11, May 26, 2009

  • Robert Jacobs: Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, June 1, 2009

  • Vincent J. Cannato: American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, June 9, 2009

  • Larry Tye: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, June 9, 2009

  • Matthew Aid: The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency, June 9, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

  • Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009

  • William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009

  • Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

DEPARTED:

  • David Herbert Donald: Famed Lincoln Scholar David Herbert Donald Dies: "He was not only one of the best historians of our era but he was also one of the classiest and most generous scholars I have ever met," said Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals, a best-selling Lincoln biography. - NPR, 5-19-09

  • David Herbert Donald: Writer on Lincoln, Dies at 88 - NYT, 5-19-09

Posted on Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 1:19 AM | Top

May 18, 2009: Phillip Zelikow Testifies on Torture

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Richard J. Evans: 'We Are All Guilty' THE THIRD REICH AT WAR - Source: NYT, 5-17-09

  • Bruce Kuklick: America's First Legal Coup IMPEACHED The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy - Source: WaPo, 5-15-09

  • David C. Frederick: LAW SCOTUS Seizes Power THE GREAT DECISION Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court - Source: WaPo, 5-15-09

  • Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager: WORLD WAR II Targeting Hitler VALKYRIE Source: WaPo, 5-15-09

  • Ronald Hutton: Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain By Ronald Hutton: review As Ronald Hutton's Blood and Mistletoe makes clear, we like the idea of the Druids so much that we've made up almost everything we know about them, says Noel Malcolm - Source: Telegraph, UK, 5-14-09

QUOTES:

  • William R. Pinch "No Food for Thought: The Way of the Warrior": You have to marvel at how Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, a former Special Operations commander and the newly appointed leader of American forces in Afghanistan, does it....
    "The Christians grafted notions of piety and reverence onto asceticism, but the Greeks saw it as about power," said William R. Pinch, a history professor at Wesleyan University. "They believed you could create power by disciplining the body." - Source: NYT, 5-16-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "The Hitler Conspiracy " - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Nostradamus: 2012" - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: The Invaders" - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "God vs. Satan" - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History" - Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "he True Story of Charlie Wilson" - Friday, May 22, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Alcatraz Down Under" - Friday, May 22, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Band Of Brothers" Marathon - Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 12-11pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Richard Ben-Veniste: Emperor's New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate To 9/11, May 26, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

  • Professor Norman Gash: Gash, who died on May 1 aged 97, was one of the foremost scholars of 19th–century Britain and an acknowledged authority on Sir Robert Peel - Source: Telegraph, UK, 5-17-09

Posted on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 1:36 AM | Top

May 11, 2009: Professor Runs for President of Sudan & Obama's History Budget

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Jeff Guinn, Paul Schneider: Outlaws in Love GO DOWN TOGETHER The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, BONNIE AND CLYDE The Lives Behind the Legend - NYT, 5-10-09

  • Jeff Guinn: GO DOWN TOGETHER The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, First Chapter - NYT, 5-10-09

  • MICHAEL KAZIN on T. J. Stiles: Ruthless in Manhattan THE FIRST TYCOON The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt - NYT, 5-10-09

  • T. J. Stiles: THE FIRST TYCOON The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Excerpts - NYT, 4-29-09

  • Susan Jacoby: A Clash of Symbols ALGER HISS AND THE BATTLE FOR HISTORY - NYT, 5-10-09

  • Susan Jacoby: ALGER HISS AND THE BATTLE FOR HISTORY, First Chapter - NYT, 5-10-09

  • John Dittmer: Bancroft Prize Recipient Prof. Publishes The Good Doctors - DePauw University, 5-9-09

  • Juan Cole: Islamophobia ENGAGING THE MUSLIM WORLD - NYT, 5-7-09

  • Peter W. Rodman: The Deciders and How They Decided PRESIDENTIAL COMMAND Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy From Richard Nixon to George W. Bush - NYT, 5-8-09

  • Peter W. Rodman: PRESIDENTIAL COMMAND Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy From Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, First Chapter - NYT

  • Benjamin Carter Hett on Richard J. Evans: HISTORY Brutally Violent and Destined for Defeat THE THIRD REICH AT WAR - WaPo, 5-10-09

  • Leslie H. Gelb: A Wonky Witness to History POWER RULES How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy WaPo, 5-10-09

  • Diana Butler Bass: RELIGION Christian Conundrums A People's History of Christianity - WaPo, 5-10-09

  • Kathleen Burk: Professor looks at relationship between Britain and USA Swindon Advertiser, 5-6-09

  • Allan M. Winkler: History professor writes book on Pete Seeger To Everything There is a Season: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song - Source: Press Release--Miami University (Ohio) (4-30-09)

QUOTES:

  • Alan Sked "Inbreeding May Have Doomed Spain's Habsburg Dynasty" Enfeebled and sterile, Charles II's genes made him the last of his line, researchers say: The family faced a challenge because they needed to marry Catholic spouses of equal rank -- a rarity -- and because dynastic marriages were used to keep territories within the family's grasp, explained Alan Sked, a historian at the London School of Economics and Political Science. What would have happened if the Habsburgs hadn't married each other? Sked, the historian, said "there would have been changes in alliances, boundaries and policies. Most of all, the Habsburgs would have produced more capable and intelligent rulers." - Forbes, 5-8-09

  • William Loren Katz: Historian notes that Reagan wanted torturers put on trial - Source: William Loren Katz in an email circulating on the Internet (5-2-09)

PROFILES & FEATURES:

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Bruce Moran: Named Outstanding Researcher of the Year at the University of Nevada, Reno - UNR NevadaNews, 5-6-09

  • Ken Heineman: Ohio University Lancaster veteran leaving Lancaster to head up history department in Texas - Lancaster Eagle Gazette, 5-3-09

  • Ken Coates, Whitney Lackenbauer, William Morrison: Arctic Front sweeps the Donner Three historians and one political scientist share $35,000 prize for best book on Canadian public policy Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North - Globe and Mail, 4-30-09

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

ON TV:

  • PBS, Monday April 20, at 9pm: Seeing History Through Indians' Eyes: "We Shall Remain" NYT, 4-12-09 (pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain)

  • Donald Fixico: History professor advises new PBS documentary "We Shall Remain" - ASU Web Devil, 4-21-09

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Art of War" - Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Plague" - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Lost Pyramid" - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Patton 360" Marathon - Friday, May 15, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Templar Code" - Friday, May 15, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Last Stand of The 300" - Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Angels & Demons Decoded" - Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Beyond The Da Vinci Code" - Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Richard Ben-Veniste: Emperor's New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate To 9/11, May 26, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

Posted on Monday, May 11, 2009 at 2:02 AM | Top

May 4, 2009: Historian Michael Oren Named Israel Ambassador to US

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Michael Oren: Appointed to US envoy role from Israel - Jerusalem Post, 5-2-09

  • New book says FDR tried to save Jewish refugees: A new book disputes widely held assumptions that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was insensitive to the plight of European Jews under the Nazis, and instead concludes that he tried to arrange resettlement for thousands of refugees in the late 1930s, only to be thwarted by his own State Department. The book, "Refugees and Rescue," claims FDR developed plans in 1938 for the United States to fill its immigration quota with 27,000 Jews from Germany and Austria and to send others to British-held Palestine and friendly nations in Africa and Latin America.... - AP, 5-1-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Mark Rudd: Years of Rage UNDERGROUND My Life With SDS and the Weathermen - NYT, 5-3-09

  • Mark Rudd: UNDERGROUND My Life With SDS and the Weathermen, First Chapter - NYT, 5-3-09

  • Raymond Arsenault: Voice of America THE SOUND OF FREEDOM Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America - NYT, 5-3-09

  • Raymond Arsenault: THE SOUND OF FREEDOM Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America, From Chapter 5, "Sweet Land of Liberty" - NYT, 5-3-09

  • Thomas Parrish: Inside Lend-Lease TO KEEP THE BRITISH ISLES AFLOAT FDR's Men in Churchill's London, 1941 - NYT, 5-3-09

  • James Mann, William Kleinknecht: Books About Ronald Reagan The Great Enigma THE REBELLION OF RONALD REAGAN A History of the End of the Cold War, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America - NYT, 5-3-09

  • Ernest B. Furgurson on Winston Groom: HISTORY The Key in Lincoln's Pocket VICKSBURG, 1863 - WaPo, 5-3-09

  • Winston Groom: VICKSBURG, 1863, First Chapter - WaPo, 5-3-09

  • Alec Wilkinson, Allan M. Winkler: Two compelling new Pete Seeger books are timed to the folk singer reaching age 90 The Protest Singer, To Everything There is a Season - The Plain Dealer, 5-2-09

  • Richard Breitman, Barbara McDonald Stewart and Severin Hochberg: Roosevelt and the Jews: A Debate Rekindled Refugees and Rescue: The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1935-1945 "It is a book that will change the consensus about the role of President Roosevelt," said Deborah Lipstadt, a leading expert on the Holocaust, who has read some sections. It "compels historians — both those who have vilified F.D.R. and those who have sanctified him — to rethink their conclusions." - NYT, 4-30-09

  • Daniel James Brown: Desperate Journey THE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride - NYT, 5-1-09

  • Jon A. Shields: New study claims Christian right leaders teach careful moral reasoning and civics The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right - Source: NYT (4-24-09)

QUOTES:

  • David McCullough: Historian warns against 'instant history' of Obama's first 100 days during Drew U. speech: "I think we have an extraordinary president. He has the makings of one of the most remarkable presidents ever," said McCullough, 75, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his books on American history. "The man is amazing... He has the capability to move people with words." - Source: NJ Star-Ledger (4-29-09)

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Sheryl Cohn: UCF Professor: Revise Holocaust Education, Nazis' persecution of Jews should be taught as standalone course: "One of my messages is the Holocaust is a standalone event," she said. "It needs to be taught separately from World War II." - The Ledger, 5-3-09

  • Norton Mezvinsky: Professor called brilliant, inspiring, biased, dangerous: The controversial Central Connecticut State University icon, in his final lecture last week, found pathos in his life story and struck an American Gothic aura in his championing of radical causes. - Bristol Press, 5-2-09

  • James J. Lorence: Retired UWMC history professor a forever student, teacher - Wausau Daily Herald, 5-1-09

  • Museums: In Berlin, Teaching Germany's Jewish History - NYT, 5-2-09

  • Michael Burleigh: In his new book Burleigh's NOT writing about the Third Reich - Source: NYT (4-24-09)

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

ON TV:

  • PBS, Monday April 20, at 9pm: Seeing History Through Indians' Eyes: "We Shall Remain" NYT, 4-12-09 (pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain)

  • Donald Fixico: History professor advises new PBS documentary "We Shall Remain" - ASU Web Devil, 4-21-09

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Art of War" - Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "How the Earth Was Made" Marathon - Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The States" Marathon - Thursday, May 5, 2009 at 2-7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "USS Constellation: Battling for Freedom" - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Deep Sea Detectives: Slave Ship Uncovered!" - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Patton 360" Marathon - Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Art of War" - Sunday, May 9, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ancient Aliens " - Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Richard Ben-Veniste: Emperor's New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate To 9/11, May 26, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 4:36 PM | Top

April 27, 2009: Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

    This Week in History.... April 27- May 3, 2009

  • 500 years on, England reconsiders Henry VIII: proclaimed king in April 1509: England's King Henry VIII is known as a tyrant who killed two of his six wives, but a series of exhibitions marking 500 years since his coronation reveal he was also a romantic, a keen sportsman -- and the country's first eurosceptic. Henry, who was proclaimed king in April 1509, was "the most important king of England... we're still at the tailend of the ruling of Henry," explained David Starkey, a historian specialising in the Tudor period. Henry changed the course of history when he broke with Rome and founded the Church of England, following the refusal of pope Clement VII in 1530 to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could wed Anne Boleyn. In doing so, Henry (1491-1547) became "the first eurosceptic -- he is the inventor of England," Starkey told AFP. "When he came to the throne, Henry was the pious prince who ruled England at the heart of the Catholic Europe," the historian explained in publicity for one of the exhibitions. "When he died, he was the great schismatic, who had created a national church and an insular, xenophobic politics that shaped the development of England for the next 500 years."... - AFP, 4-26-09

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • James Mann: HISTORY Ronald Reagan, Revised THE REBELLION OF RONALD REAGAN A History of the End of the Cold War - WaPo, 4-26-09

  • Barbara Moran, Todd Tucker: HISTORY Secret Accidents and Lost Bombs THE DAY WE LOST THE H-BOMB Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History, ATOMIC AMERICA How a Deadly Explosion and a Feared Admiral Changed the Course of Nuclear History - WaPo, 4-26-09

  • Jay Taylor: The Final Triumph of Chiang Kai-shek THE GENERALISSIMO Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China - WaPo, 4-26-09

  • Wendy Doniger: Another Incarnation THE HINDUS An Alternative History - NYT, 4-24-09

  • Jennifer Scanlon: Miniskirt Lib BAD GIRLS GO EVERYWHERE The Life of Helen Gurley Brown - NYT, 4-24-09

  • Marcia Jo Zerivitz: Local historian's book details early history of Jews in Miami A local expert on Jewish history discusses her first book, 'Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami.' - Miami Herald, 4-26-09

  • Margaret Macmillan: New Book about the uses and abuses of history The Uses and Abuses of History - Source: John Gray in the Guardian (4-18-09)

QUOTES:

  • David Starkey: TV historian sparks fury of a nation with 'feeble little Scotland' jibe: A LEADING historian was under pressure to apologise yesterday after he described Scotland as a "feeble little nation". David Starkey also hit out at Robert Burns, describing him as a "boring provincial poet", and dismissed bagpipes as "awful" on BBC's Question Time. - Scotsman, 4-25-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

  • Amity Shlaes: Why GOP is devouring one book: Amity Shlaes' "The Forgotten Man" like soccer moms before book club night: Shlaes' 2007 take on the Great Depression questions the success of the New Deal and takes issue with the value of government intervention in a major economic crisis — red meat for a party hungry for empirical evidence that the Democrats' spending plans won’t end the current recession... - Politico, 4-21-09

  • David Starkey: Henry VIII — Mind of a Tyrant was a Hello! history - Times Online UK, 4-26-09

  • Charles B. Dew "Hunger for history as Civil War's 150th approaches": Charles B. Dew, professor of American history at Williams College in Massachusetts, said southerners have been unwilling to confront a prewar economy based on slavery while northerners have sought to blot out memories of their own "profoundly racist" society."Americans, like most people, want a usable past. They want it to make sense," Dew said. The conference, he said, is an opportunity "for shining some light in some of the darker corners in Virginia, and by extension, Southern history in a very critical moment." - AP, 4-24-09

  • Edward L. Ayers "Hunger for history as Civil War's 150th approaches": Edward L. Ayers, a pre-eminent Civil War historian who organized the inaugural conference, said the goal is "to put people in the moment" and set aside preconceived notions. He said voices overlooked in past war narratives are being welcomed and future conferences will probe the role of African-Americans, the home front and even a global view of the conflict. "We have the opportunity to look at this with a fresh eye," said Ayers, president of the University of Richmond. "Let's enter into a conversation with these people of the past and understand just what they were thinking. How was it they could end up killing people that were their neighbors?" AP, 4-24-09

  • "Hunger for history as Civil War's 150th approaches": AP, 4-24-09

  • Michael Oren: Speculation heats up as to who will fill US ambassador slot - Jerusalem Post, 4-23-09

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • And the Pulitzer Prizes go to ...: History - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed, Biography - American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham, General Nonfiction - Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon - Source: http://www.pulitzer.org (4-20-09)

SPOTTED:

  • Hannah Geffert: Blacks played a large part in John Brown's historic raid: Hannah Geffert, a history professor at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown presented "John Brown and His Secret Alliance" Sunday as part of the West Virginia Humanities Council's Little Lecture Series. - Sunday Gazette-Mail, 4-26-09

  • Dana Shoaf: Historian Articles should appeal to masses - Herald Mail, 4-20-09

  • Howard Zinn: "Americans Who Tell The Truth" Event Features Historian and Icon - Open Media Boston, 4-23-09

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • May 2, 2009 The War of 1812 Revisited at Conference: The Fort La Présentation Association of Ogdensburg, NY is sponsoring a War of 1812 War College Saturday, May 2, 2009 - Press Release, 4-1-09

  • June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)

ON TV:

  • PBS, Monday April 20, at 9pm: Seeing History Through Indians' Eyes: "We Shall Remain" NYT, 4-12-09 (pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain)

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Return of the Pirates", "Shadow Force: Pirate Strike" - Monday, April 27, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Black Blizzard" - Tuesday, April 29, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Under the Rock" - Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Life After People: Outbreak," "Life After People: The Bodies Left Behind" - Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Cults: Dangerous Devotion " - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Vincent Bzdek, Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled, April 27, 2009

  • Alex Storozynski, Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, April 28, 2009

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 9:10 PM | Top

April 20, 2009: Did Lincoln Have Cancer?

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • Test of Lincoln DNA sought to prove cancer theory: John Sotos has a theory about why Abraham Lincoln was so tall, why he appeared to have lumps on his lips and even why he had gastrointestinal problems. The 16th president, he contends, had a rare genetic disorder — one that would likely have left him dead of cancer within a year had he not been assassinated. And his bid to prove his theory has posed an ethical and scientific dilemma for a small Philadelphia museum in the year that marks the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. - AP, 4-17-09

  • OAH Roundup: Highlights from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians - HNN

  • Remembering the late Prof. John Hope Franklin - Chicago Defender, 4-15-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Steven P. Miller: God and Politics BILLY GRAHAM AND THE RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN SOUTH - NYT, 4-19-09

  • Alexis Dudden: Impact of apologies on world politics focus of historian's book Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the United States - UConn Advance, 4-17-09

  • Judith Schafer: Tulane historian delves into world of New Orleans' 19th-century sex trade Brothels, Depravity, and Abandoned Women: Illegal Sex in Antebellum New Orleans - The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com, 4-15-09

QUOTES:

  • Robert J. Allison "The Media Equation Cable Wars Are Killing Objectivity": "The original tea party was something of a media event," said Robert J. Allison, professor and chair of the history department at Suffolk University and author of "The Boston Tea Party." "The papers at the time were very politicized and did a lot of campaigning during the run-up to the event." He added: "When you think about it, they could have done worse than a bag of tea in terms of symbols. As a historian, I am charmed and fascinated that something that provoked the original revolution still has such resonance." - NYT, 4-20-09

  • Alan Brinkley "They Don't Make Populism in the U.S. Like They Used To": "Today, populism is a kind of sentiment that bursts into view in times like these, but there is no real movement behind it," said Columbia University historian Alan Brinkley. "The public just doesn't mobilize around issues in the way it once did." - WSJ, 4-19-09

  • Allan Meltzer: Federal Reserve Historian says Ben Bernanke will Bring us 1970s Inflation - Foxhound, 4-15-09

  • Nick Taylor "W.P.A. Projects Left Their Stamp on the Region": Bethpage State Park and the old Jersey City Medical Center were expanded with labor provided by the Works Progress Administration, one of the vaunted New Deal programs that put millions of people to work around the country during the Great Depression. They make up what the historian Nick Taylor called the "invisible legacy" of Depression-era public works projects in the New York region. "That legacy is all around us," said Mr. Taylor, author of "American-Made: The Enduring History of the W.P.A." "We just don't see it because we take it for granted." - NYT, 4-19-09

  • Natalie A. Naylor "W.P.A. Projects Left Their Stamp on the Region": "There's this stereotype that people who worked for the W.P.A. were all raking leaves," said Natalie A. Naylor, emeritus professor of history at Hofstra University and former director of the university's Long Island Studies Institute. "That's not really accurate at all. You had music programs and art programs in addition to construction projects." - NYT, 4-19-09

  • Stephen Leishman "Historians: Don't Forget Founding Fathers": "We know him as a quiet man, but a powerful advocate of liberty in his writings," said historian Stephen Leishman. Jefferson was not just a statesman, he was also a scientist, philosopher inventor and musician. "In today's history, we kind of push back the importance of our founding fathers," said Leishman. They say Obama could still learn a lot from Jefferson's presidency, especially when it comes to education. "Because of all of his work for our liberties, and his emphasis on education, we have free education for everybody in the U.S.," said Leishman. - News 8, 4-13-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • April 20, 2009: Clifford E. Trafzer, UC Riverside professor of history and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs, will discuss his research about the incident on Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m. at the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays St., Banning. - UC Riverside, 4-9-09

  • May 2, 2009 The War of 1812 Revisited at Conference: The Fort La Présentation Association of Ogdensburg, NY is sponsoring a War of 1812 War College Saturday, May 2, 2009 - Press Release, 4-1-09

ON TV:

  • PBS, Tuesday at 10 p.m: Television: HIGHLIGHT AMERICAN FUTURE: A HISTORY BY SIMON SCHAMA - Globe & Mail, 4-10-09

  • PBS, Monday April 20, at 9pm: Seeing History Through Indians' Eyes: "We Shall Remain" NYT, 4-12-09 (pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain)

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

  • PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm

  • History Channel: Weekly Schedule

  • History Channel: "Life After People: The Bodies Left Behind" - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 and Friday, April 24, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT and Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Return of the Pirates", "Shadow Force: Pirate Strike" - Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 8-11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Doomsday 2012: The End of Days" - Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: " Battles BC: Ramses: Raging Chariots " - Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Vincent Bzdek, Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled, April 27, 2009

  • Alex Storozynski, Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, April 28, 2009

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 12:45 AM | Top

April 13, 2009: "We Shall Remain" Premieres on PBS

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • OAH Roundup: Highlights from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians - HNN

  • David Levering Lewis: On John Hope Franklin's Moral and Intellectual Poise - The Chronicle of Higher Ed, 4-10-09

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • WALTER ISAACSON on Richard Beeman: A Delicate Balance PLAIN, HONEST MEN The Making of the American Constitution - NYT, 4-12-09

  • Mark L. Bradley: Reconstructing Reconstruction Historian meticulously documents civil-military relations in North Carolina Bluecoats & Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina - News & Observer, 4-12-09

  • James Carroll: The Believer PRACTICING CATHOLIC - NYT, 4-12-09

  • James Carroll: PRACTICING CATHOLIC, First Chapter - NYT, 4-12-09

  • Paul Buhle: The Mad Ones THE BEATS A Graphic History Text by Harvey Pekar and others, Art by Ed Piskor and others, Edited by Paul Buhle - NYT, 4-12-09

  • Simon Baatz on Jeff Guinn, Paul Schneider: TRUE CRIME Robbers of Romance: GO DOWN TOGETHER The True, Untold Story of Bonnie And Clyde, BONNIE AND CLYDE The Lives Behind the Legend - WaPo, 4-12-09

  • Jeff Guinn: Go Down Together The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, First Chapter - WaPo, 4-12-09

  • Mark Rudd: HISTORY Tales from the Cult: UNDERGROUND My Life with SDS and the Weathermen - WaPo, 4-12-09

  • Stefan Aust: TERRORISM At Least They Weren't Nazis: BAADER-MEINHOF The Inside Story of the R.A.F. - WaPo, 4-12-09

QUOTES:

  • Robert Weisbrot "What Obama's Great Society challenge is, says Great Society historian": Robert Weisbrot, co-author of "The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s," says the Great Society revolution was "tremendously liberating" for members of the most vulnerable groups in America.
    But historical circumstances won't permit Obama to push through his own Great Society, Weisbrot says. "Obama is living in a different age," Weisbrot said. "The circumstances won't permit him to be another Lyndon Johnson." - CNN, 4-7-09

  • Douglas Brinkley: Obama is America's first global president: Barack Obama "is our first global president," according to historian Douglas Brinkley. "Obama came of age, really, after the Cold War, with the Internet being the transformative engine of society, and he now takes his multicultural heritage and the geographical diversity of his upbringing" to the world, Brinkley said in an interview Tuesday as Obama wrapped up his first trip abroad. Brinkley, who has written about presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan, said Obama "is playing to the world right out of the gates, whereas most presidents have not." - USA Today, 4-7-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • April 14, 2009: Frostburg State University will host a panel discussion, "The Road to Obama: Celebrating African American Leadership," will on Tuesday, April 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Manicur Assembly Hall of the Lane University Center at Frostburg State University. - Appalachian Independent, 4-11-09

  • April 17-18, 2009: University faculty and leading scholars from across the nation will gather Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 at the Law School for "Slavery, Abolition and Human Rights: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Thirteenth Amendment" a conference on the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment. - The University of Chicago Chronicle, 4-2-09

  • April 20, 2009: Clifford E. Trafzer, UC Riverside professor of history and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs, will discuss his research about the incident on Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m. at the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays St., Banning. - UC Riverside, 4-9-09

  • May 2, 2009 The War of 1812 Revisited at Conference: The Fort La Présentation Association of Ogdensburg, NY is sponsoring a War of 1812 War College Saturday, May 2, 2009 - Press Release, 4-1-09

ON TV:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Stephanie Cooke, In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age, April 14, 2009

  • Vincent Bzdek, Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled, April 27, 2009

  • Alex Storozynski, Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, April 28, 2009

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 10:00 PM | Top

April 6, 2009: March 2009 in Review, Awards & the OAH

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

IN THE NEWS:

  • David McCullough: Opposes Tower Near Brooklyn Bridge - NYT, 4-1-09

  • Alan Brinkley: Fox News hounds Columbia University History Professor - Thinkprogress, 4-1-09

  • David Starkey: History has been 'feminised' says Starkey as he launches Henry VIII series - Telegraph (UK), 3-30-09

  • OAH: Finances Take a Slide and Convention Attracts Fewer Attendees - Rick Shenkman reporting for HNN, 3-30-09

  • John Ellis: Fewer history majors? Blame the ideology of the profs, says ... prof - Frontpagemag.com, 3-24-09

  • Stanislav Kulchytsky: The historian who refused to go along with USSR cover-up of Ukrainian famine - NYT, 3-15-09

  • Doctoral Candidates Anticipate Hard Times: A survey by the American Historical Association, for example, found that the number of history departments recruiting new professors this year is down 15 percent.... - NYT, 3-7-09

  • Norman Golb: Raphael Haim Golb, Son of Dead Sea Scrolls historian Norman Golb charged - Reuters, 3-6-09

  • Archive Collapse Disaster for Historians: The collapse of the Historical Archive of Cologne on Tuesday buried more than a millenium's worth of documents under tons of rubble. Archivists and historians hope something can be salvaged, but the future of the city's past is grim. - Spiegel Online, 3-4-09

  • Anthony Grafton: Graduate school in a New Ice Age Daily Princetonian. 3-2-09

  • Currie Ballard: Historian nets $60K from auction of vintage films: A historian has netted $60,000 from the auction of vintage films depicting the life of blacks in Oklahoma in the 1920s. - KSWO, 3-2-09

  • David Allen: Historians hunt for Civil War-era passage that could have run from Fort Totten to Bronx - NY Daily News, 2-28-09

  • Allen Weinstein: Joins the American Heritage Board of Directors - Press Release--American Heritage, 3-4-09

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Kat Long: The Past as Peep Show THE FORBIDDEN APPLE A Century of Sex and Sin in New York City - NYT, 4-5-09

  • Kat Long: THE FORBIDDEN APPLE A Century of Sex and Sin in New York City, First Chapter - NYT, 4-5-09

  • New Deal Revisionism: Theories Collide - NYT, 4-4-09

  • Brendan Simms: BOOKS: 'Three Victories and a Defeat' Rearranging sides one war after another THREE VICTORIES AND A DEFEAT: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FIRST BRITISH EMPIRE Washington Times, 4-4-09

  • Beryl Satter: Ploys in the Hood FAMILY PROPERTIES Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America - NYT, 3-19-09

  • Adeed Dawisha: Author of Iraq: A Political History explains why he wrote his book Middle East Strategy at Harvard (MESH blog), 3-20-09

  • Edwin Black: Author of 'IBM and the Holocaust,' ties together the threads of their traitorous collaboration - Richard Pachter in the Miami Herald, 3-9-09

  • Beverly Gage: History of the Wall Street bombing of 1920 getting lots of press "On the Road to 9/11, There Was 9/16 " The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror - NYT, 2-28-09

QUOTES:

  • Michael Kazin: In America, Labor Has an Unusually Long Fuse Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University, said that while demonstrations remain a vital outlet for the European left, for Americans "the Internet now somehow serves as the main outlet" with angry blogs and mass e-mailing. - NYT, 4-5-09

  • David Kennedy: In America, Labor Has an Unusually Long Fuse Professor Kennedy saw another reason that today’s young workers and young people were protesting less than in decades past. "This generation," he said, has "found more effective ways to change the world. It's signed up for political campaigns, and it's not waiting for things to get so desperate that they feel forced to take to the streets." - NYT, 4-5-09

  • Sean Wilentz "Drawing The Battle Lines Of Class Warfare Affluence Is Targeted By The Economically Distressed ... And The Politically Astute": "There was a great deal of cultural as well as political resentment at the rich, for having gotten away with murder in effect for too long," said Princeton historian Sean Wilentz. "One certainly saw that in the 1930s. You can't look at a popular movie from the early 1930s and feel that palpable sense that the rich, personified by a fat guy sitting on moneybags with a cigar clenched in his mouth ... that they are the enemy."... "It's not that the rich are rich," said historian Sean Wilentz. "Everyone wants to be rich in America; nothing wrong with it. But if you've gotten there by ill-gotten gains, if you've gotten there by screwing over the American public and the American taxpayer. ... well, that's another matter." - CBS News, 4-5-09

  • Jonathan Sarna "A Jewish Holiday, Once Every 28 Years": "Frequent rituals, like saying kaddish every day, are difficult to maintain, and without strenuous effort they cease to be meaningful," Mr. Sarna said. "Infrequent rituals — those performed annually or once in a life cycle, like a bar mitzvah, or in this case once in 28 years — are by definition more exotic and it is easy to draw meaning out of them," he said. "In all religions, the infrequent rituals are more widely observed and tend to be more beloved than the frequent ones." - NYT, 4-4-09

PROFILES & FEATURES:

INTERVIEWS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • John Hall: UW-Madison hires historian thanks to Ambrose gift - AP, 4-5-09

  • Pekka Hämäläinen: Associate professor of history at UC Santa Barbara, has won the coveted Bancroft Prize for his book "The Comanche Empire" (Yale University Press, 2008) - UC Santa Barbara, 4-1-09

  • Joyce Appleby, Susan Armeny, Stan Katz, and Brian Lamb: Win OAH Awards - HNN, 3-30-09

  • Joyce Appleby: Wins OAH award OAH Press Release, 3-26-09

  • William R. Lewis: Chair of British History at the University of Texas at Austin is the 2009 recipient of the Professor of the Year Award - National History Center, 3-18-09

  • Drew Gilpin Faust: Harvard president wins $50,000 book prize from N-Y Historical Society - AP, 3-10-09

  • Lawrence Freedman: British historian wins $15,000 Gelber prize for book on Middle East A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East - Canadian Press, 3-9-09

  • H.W. Brands, Jon Meacham, Drew Gilpin Faust: Finalists Named in Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history and biography - LAT, 3-2-09

SPOTTED:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • April 6, 2009: SUNY Cortland Professor of History Sanford Gutman will deliver the College's Phi Kappa Phi lecture on the subject of Jewish-Arab relations on Monday, April 6. Titled "Opposing Loyalties?: A Progressive, Jewish Historian Confronts the Arab-Israeli Conflict," the talk begins at 4:15 p.m. in Old Main on the third floor mezzanine. The lecture is free and open to the public. - ReadMedia (press release), 4-2-09

  • April 17-18, 2009: University faculty and leading scholars from across the nation will gather Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 at the Law School for "Slavery, Abolition and Human Rights: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Thirteenth Amendment" a conference on the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment. - The University of Chicago Chronicle, 4-2-09

  • May 2, 2009 The War of 1812 Revisited at Conference: The Fort La Présentation Association of Ogdensburg, NY is sponsoring a War of 1812 War College Saturday, May 2, 2009 - Press Release, 4-1-09

ON TV:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Mark Stein, How the States Got Their Shapes (Reprint), April 7, 2009

  • Stephanie Cooke, In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age, April 14, 2009

  • Vincent Bzdek, Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled, April 27, 2009

  • Alex Storozynski, Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, April 28, 2009

  • Thomas Childers: Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II, May 13, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009

  • Geoffrey Blainey, Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals in the South Pacific, May 25, 2009

  • Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 12:45 AM | Top

February 16, 2009

HISTORY BUZZ:

THIS
WEEK:

THIS WEEK ON THE BUZZ....
US
POL.:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
BIG.
NEWS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • C-SPAN: Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership - CSPAN, 2-16-09

  • Lincoln wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey: It's been 145 years since Abraham Lincoln appeared on a ballot, but admiration for the man who saved the union and sparked the end of slavery is as strong as ever, according to a new survey. Lincoln finished first in a ranking by historians of the 42 former White House occupants. The survey was released over Presidents Day weekend. - CNN, 2-16-09

  • Richard Norton Smith: "Presidential rankings: Leadership": "Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant aren't often mentioned in the same sentence - until now," Smith notes - with both boosted "significantly higher than in the original survey conducted in 2000. All of which goes to show two things: the fluidity with which presidential reputations are judged, and the difficulty of assessing any president who has only just recently left office." Swamp Politics, 2-17-09

  • Douglas Brinkley "Presidential rankings: Leadership": "As much as is possible, we created a poll that was non-partisan, judicious and fair minded, and it's fitting that for the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln that he remains at the top of these presidential rankings," Brinkley says. "How we rank our presidents is, to a large extent, influenced by our own times. Today's concerns shape our views of the past, be it in the area of foreign policy, managing the economy, or human rights." - Swamp Politics, 2-17-09

  • Edna Greene Medford "Presidential rankings: Leadership": "The survey results also reinforce the idea that history is less about agreed-upon facts than about perceptions of who we are as a nation and how our leaders have either enhanced or tarnished that image we have of ourselves," Medford adds. "Lincoln continues to rank at the top in all categories because he is perceived to embody the nation's avowed core values: integrity, moderation, persistence in the pursuit of honorable goals, respect for human rights, compassion; those who collect near the bottom are perceived as having failed to uphold those values." - Swamp Politics, 2-17-09

  • Quiz: How well do you know your presidents?: Professor Paul Harris has taught history at Minnesota State University Moorhead for 23 years, and during that time he's come to know that U.S. presidents aren't always students' specialty. - In-Forum, ND, 2-15-09

  • Ronald C. White Jr.: Why Lincoln still matters: CNN talked with White about Lincoln's impact on the country, President Obama's affinity for him and what lessons Lincoln has to offer Americans of today. - CNN, 2-12-09

  • James McPherson: 5 Questions About Lincoln: On the occasion of Lincoln’s 200th birthday, he kindly consented to the following interview, with questions posed by Britannica senior editor Jeff Wallenfeldt.... Britannica Blog, 2-11-09

  • Eric Foner interviewed by Bill Moyers: More books are coming during this bicentennial year. Here's my most recent favorite, "Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World." It's a collection of original essays by prize-winning historians, including the book's editor, Eric Foner.... - Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, 2-6-09

THIS
WEEK
IN
HIST.:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 16/02/1741 - Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine (2nd US Mag) begins publishing

  • 16/02/1760 - Native American hostages killed in Ft Prince George SC

  • 16/02/1864 - Battle of Mobile, AL - operations by Union Army

  • 16/02/1914 - 1st airplane flight (LA to SF)

  • 16/02/1917 - 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid

  • 16/02/1959 - Fidel Castro named himself Cuba's premier after overthrowing Batista

  • 17/02/1621 - Miles Standish appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony

  • 17/02/1801 - House breaks electoral college tie, chooses Jefferson pres over Burr

  • 17/02/1865 - -18] Battle of Charleston SC

  • 17/02/1865 - Columbia SC burns down during Civil War

  • 17/02/1870 - Mississippi becomes 9th state readmitted to US after Civil War

  • 17/02/1915 - Edward Stone, 1st US combatant to die in WW I, is mortally wounded

  • 17/02/1933 - US Senate accept Blaine Act: ending prohibition

  • 17/02/1933 - 1st issue of "Newsweek" magazine published

  • 17/02/1938 - 1st public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London)

  • 17/02/1943 - Dutch churches protest at Seyss-Inquart against persecution of Jews

  • 17/02/1949 - Chaim Weitzman elected 1st president of Israel

  • 17/02/1964 - US House of Reps accept Law on the civil rights

  • 17/02/1969 - Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister

  • 17/02/1972 - President Nixon leaves Washington DC for China

  • 18/02/1503 - Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)

  • 18/02/1688 - Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pa

  • 18/02/1861 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery Ala

  • 18/02/1865 - Union troops force Confederates to abandon Ft Anderson, NC

  • 18/02/1865 - Evacuation of Charleston, SC; Sherman's troops burn city

  • 18/02/1927 - US and Canada begin diplomatic relations

  • 18/02/1970 - US president Nixon launches "Nixon-doctrine"

  • 19/02/1807 - VP Aaron Burr arrested in Alabama for treason; later found innocent

  • 19/02/1878 - Thomas Alva Edison patents gramophone (phonograph)

  • 19/02/1881 - Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages

  • 19/02/1919 - Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris)

  • 19/02/1941 - Nazi raid Amsterdam and round up 429 young Jews for deportation

  • 19/02/1942 - FDR orders detention and internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans

  • 19/02/1945 - US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese

  • 19/02/1963 - USSR informs JFK it's withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba

  • 19/02/1986 - US Senate ratifies UN's anti-genocide convention 37 years later

  • 20/02/1547 - King Edward VI of England was enthroned following death of Henry VIII

  • 20/02/1809 - Supreme Court rules federal govt power greater than any state

  • 20/02/1839 - Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia

  • 20/02/1861 - Dept of Navy of Confederacy forms

  • 20/02/1869 - Tenn Gov W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis

  • 20/02/1933 - House of Reps completes congressional action to repeal Prohibition

  • 20/02/1941 - 1st transport of Jews to concentration camps leave Plotsk Poland

  • 20/02/1962 - John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7)

  • 21/02/1764 - John Wilkes thrown out of Engl House of Commons for "Essay on Women"

  • 21/02/1792 - Congress passes Pres Succession Act

  • 21/02/1804 - 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for 1st time, in Wales

  • 21/02/1857 - Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US

  • 21/02/1862 - Confederate Constitution and presidency are declared permanent

  • 21/02/1862 - Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Val Verde, NM

  • 21/02/1874 - Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English premier

  • 21/02/1885 - Washington Monument dedicated (Wash DC)

  • 21/02/1895 - NC Legislature, adjourns for day to mark death of Frederick Douglass

  • 21/02/1916 - Battle of Verdun in WW I begins (1 million casualties)

  • 21/02/1943 - Dutch RC bishops protest against persecution of Jews

  • 21/02/1965 – Black nationalist leader Malcolm X is assassinated.

  • 21/02/1972 - Richard Nixon becomes 1st US president to visit China

  • 22/02/1630 - Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving

  • 22/02/1819 - Spain renounces claims to Oregon Country, Florida (Adams-Onis Treaty)

  • 22/02/1821 - Spain sells (east) Florida to United States for $5 million

  • 22/02/1854 - 1st meeting of Republican Party (Michigan)

  • 22/02/1856 - 1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh)

  • 22/02/1861 - On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln's inauguration

  • 22/02/1864 - -27] Battle at Dalton Georgia

  • 22/02/1889 - Pres Cleveland signs bill to admit Dakotas, Montana and Washington state

  • 22/02/1900 - Hawaii became a US territory

  • 22/02/1924 - 1st presidential radio address (Calvin Coolidge)

  • 22/02/1967 - 25,000 US and S Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, offensive to smash Viet Cong stronghold near Cambodian border
IN
THE
NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:

  • Groundbreaking civil rights book republished: Amid the terror and oppression, civil rights pioneer W.E.B. DuBois published a groundbreaking book in 1924 that challenged the pervasive stereotypes of African Americans and documented their rarely recognized achievements. His book, "The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America," detailed the role of African Americans with the earliest explorers to inventions ranging from ice cream to player pianos.... - AP, 2-17-09

  • African-American studies expanding But some say wider focus, however, obscures original social justice aim : Programs have come and gone since then. Charles E. Jones, president of the National Council for Black Studies, says there are about 325 programs at universities across the United States, down from a high of 450 in the 1970s. - Houston Chronicle, 2-16-09

  • John Taylor Leaving as Nixon Foundation Executive Director: John H. Taylor, President Nixon's former chief of staff and executive director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation since 1990, is leaving his Foundation position on Feb. 15 to accept the call of the Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles, J. Jon Bruno, to serve full time as vicar, or priest in charge, of St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church and School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.... - www.nixonlibraryfoundation.org, 2-10-09

  • New Report: Fixing problems in the State Department Office of the Historian won't be easy: A management crisis in the State Department Office of the Historian threatens the future of the official "Foreign Relations of the United States" (FRUS) series that documents the history of U.S. foreign policy, according to a newly disclosed report on the situation.... - Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists, 2-12-09

OP-
EDs:

OP-EDs:

  • Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore explain the relationship between history and fiction in their latest project, Blindspot: What happens when historians write fiction? We decided to find out. Blindspot, our novel, is set in 1764, in Boston, a city reeling from the economic downturn following the French and Indian War, and beginning to simmer with the fires of liberty. The book tells the story of Stewart Jameson, a Scottish portrait painter fleeing debtor's prison, and Fanny Easton, the fallen daughter of one of Boston's richest merchants, who poses as a boy to gain a situation as Jameson's apprentice. Their lives take a turn when Samuel Bradstreet, Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly, is murdered the day Jameson and Easton are to paint him. - OAH Newsletter, 2-1-09

  • Allan J. Lichtman takes the presidential debates to Russia: Like E. H. Carr, I believe that history is as much about the future as about the past. This belief has guided my rather unorthodox forty-year career as a historian and led me to become an unofficial stand-in for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in mock presidential debates this past September in Russia. - OAH Newsletter, 2-1-09

REV-
IEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • Shelby Steele on Robert J. Norrell: Pride and Compromise: UP FROM HISTORY The Life of Booker T. Washington ...Robert J. Norrell, in his remarkable new biography, "Up From History," gets around this problem the old-fashioned way: by scrupulously excavating the facts of his subject's life and then carefully situating him in his own era. - NYT, 2-15-09

  • Mary Frances Berry: 50 Years of Struggle: AND JUSTICE FOR ALL The United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Continuing Struggle for Freedom in America Mary Frances Berry faces some substantial obstacles in trying to animate the comparatively more diffuse leadership and more amorphous saga of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, her subject in "And Justice for All." - NYT, 2-15-09

  • Eric J. Sundquist, Christine King Farris: A Dream Obscured Understanding Martin Luther King Jr. and his most famous speech: KING'S DREAM, THROUGH IT ALL Reflections on My Life, My Family, and My Faith ...Each chapter of Sundquist's intelligent and important book focuses on one of several themes in the speech, unpacking the sources of the words and placing them within a broader civil rights context.... - WaPo, 2-15-09

  • Matthew Dallek on Adam Cohen, Burt Solomon: Starting Out Strong How Roosevelt's first 100 days still set the agenda today: NOTHING TO FEAR FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America, FDR v. THE CONSTITUTION The Court-Packing Fight and the Triumph of Democracy Adam Cohen, an assistant editorial page editor of the New York Times, now weighs in with Nothing to Fear. It's a valuable addition, a deeply sympathetic and thoroughly convincing portrait of FDR and five of his senior advisers that unearths how the aides' interactions with Roosevelt helped to spawn the New Deal.... Still, FDR's court-packing plan didn't mortally threaten American democracy, as journalist Burt Solomon claims in FDR v. The Constitution.... - WaPo, 2-15-09

  • Liaquat Ahamed: Who Caused the Great Depression? Lessons from an era in which four men held sway over global finance: LORDS OF FINANCE The Bankers Who Broke the World It was a ruinous decision. as Liaquat Ahamed notes in Lords of Finance, all the gold mined in history up to 1914 "was barely enough to fill a modest two-story town house." There simply was not enough of it to fund a global conflict or to allow economic recovery afterward.... - WaPo, 2-15-09

  • David Kushner: What happened when a black family tried to live the suburban American dream: LEVITTOWN Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America's Legendary Suburb So the Levitts bought up 3,500 acres of potato farmland at Island Trees on Long Island and, according to David Kushner, "hatched their ambitious plan: to mass-produce the American dream for the common people, the veterans coming home from the war."... - WaPo, 2-15-09

  • Michael Burlingame: Bio of Lincoln drawing rave reviews: Burlingame will himself be judged for his new, nearly 2,000-page, cradle-to-grave biography. So far the reviews are glowing: The historian, say his peers, has written the most comprehensive of all accounts of the complex, idiosyncratic president by sifting through untold reams of material, some out-of-the-way and rarely, if ever, considered... - Chronicle of Higher Ed, 2-13-09

BLOGS:

BLOGS:

  • Gary Fouse: CampusWatch Complaint "UC Irvine's Anti-Israel, Anti-American Hate-Fest: On January 31, 2009, a conference took place at UC Irvine (UCI) titled, "Whither the Levant? The Crisis of the Nation State: Lebanon, Israel, Palestine." Organized by the Levantine Cultural Center of Los Angeles and the Middle East Studies Student Initiative, the conference featured two documentaries about the 2006 war in southern Lebanon, three panel discussions, and a number of Middle East studies academics. In spite of the neutral sounding title, the conference was a one-sided exercise in bashing Israel and America. - Frontpagemag.com, 2-16-09

  • Open letter from a group of Iraqi archaeologists concerned about premature opening of Iraq Museum: We are now facing another type of destruction, the destruction that can result from lack of knowledge. We have learned of the plans to open the Iraq Museum within two weeks. While we are not in principle opposed to the opening of the museums of Iraq, and feel that the cultural heritage of a nation ought to be open to the public, such an act must proceed according to international standards of museology and conservation.... - Letter dated Feb. 11-2009 (distributed through IraqiCrisis email), 2-11-09

QUO-
TES:

QUOTES:

  • Mark Miller "Chiefs: Presidents' Day commemorates leaders' lives": Mark Miller, assistant professor of history, said Lincoln and Washington in particular are celebrated because they are ranked in the top three in any polls of historians. "George Washington ranks for actions taken both before he was president and after he became our first chief executive," he said. "Lincoln's major importance lies in his leading the union during the Civil War, and by its ultimate victory, held the nation together." Miller said both men were of great character. "They had to make hard and unpopular decisions, but their decisions have been proven over time to be the right ones," he said. - SUU Journal Online, UT. 2-17-09

  • Earl Mulderink "Chiefs: Presidents' Day commemorates leaders' lives": Professor of History Earl Mulderink said both men served at critical times in the nation's history. "Washington and Lincoln left us with stirring words, and both seemed to have great personal integrity that places them above many of the lesser individuals who have served as President," he said. - SUU Journal Online, UT. 2-17-09

  • Tycho de Boer "Make room for Millard: Celebrating 'unknown' presidents" George Washington and Abraham Lincoln might get all the attention, but this Presidents Day, take a moment to remember the forgotten ones, said Saint Mary’s University assistant history professor Tycho de Boer. "I think we should know about all of them," de Boer said.... Our recent presidents are more likely to be remembered thanks to 24-hour news. "Because of the media coverage, we're just going to remember them more," de Boer said, "combined with the fact they have more power than ever." - La Crosse Tribune, WI, 2-15-09

  • "Make room for Millard: Celebrating 'unknown' presidents": It's hard to imagine rising to the highest rank in our country and being forgotten, but that's become the fate for many a former president, sometimes because of the circumstances that got them into office, said Winona State University history professor John Campbell. Some weren't elected, but inherited the job after the president died or was killed in office. "If they would've just remained as vice presidents, we really wouldn't have heard of them," Campbell said. Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885) was said to have "looked like a president," rising to the rank after James Garfield (1881) was assassinated. "Both of those guys were pretty second rate political figures," Campbell said. "Arthur was in the right place at the right time.".... "I think one of the reasons whey we hear about a handful of presidents is that they tended to be presidents during wartime," Campbell said. "Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, all are associated with warfare and successful wars." - La Crosse Tribune, WI, 2-15-09

  • Richard Burkhardt "At Darwin's 200th, what made him controversial has evolved": Burkhardt has a special soft spot for Alfred Russel Wallace, who independently came up with a theory of natural selection about the same time as Darwin did, and in fact sent the theory in a letter to Darwin, not knowing that the elder scientist had come up with a similar theory and was taking his good time to publish it. "A lesser man than Wallace might have found it funny" that Darwin only published after reading his work, Burkhardt says. A working-class scientist, unlike Darwin, an aristocrat who married into the Wedgwood china fortune, Wallace was generous in the credit he gave to his elder. "Wallace even titled one of his own books 'Darwinism,'" Burkhardt marvels. - Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette, IL, 2-15-09

PRO-
FILES:

PROFILES:

  • Charles W. Sanders Jr.: Professor uses army experience to interest students in classroom: Sanders, associate professor of history, incorporates his army experience in his teaching style and world outlook. He tells history as a series of stories about what he calls the "human dimension of things."... - Kansas State Collegian, KS, 2-16-09

  • Lonnie Bunch: Curator is overseeing his most important collection ever—the history and culture of a people: ...The official was Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian's planned National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), in Washington, D.C. n Bunch and his staff realized how having an African-American in the White House for the first time could energize the envisioned museum's startup efforts.... - Chicago Tribune, 2-8-09

  • Robert Caro spent decades living LBJ's life. His goal with the last volume is the same as it was with the first: to endure: What made Johnson run? That was the question that, for several months in the late 1970s, drove Robert Caro mad. Never mind that Caro was better equipped to answer it than perhaps any other man, living or dead. For years, he had been at work on a nonfiction chronicle of Lyndon Johnson's early life.... - Newsweek, 2-7-09

INTER-
VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

  • Richard Norton Smith ... A Historian's Take on Obama (interview): Last year's gripping campaign and the wave of popularity behind Barack Obama have focused tremendous attention on the White House and the presidency. As the country marks Presidents Day, TIME spoke with author and historian Richard Norton Smith about America's "schizoid" relationship with its President, the lofty expectations for Obama and the way history's verdicts can shift over time. - Time Magazine, 2-16-09

  • Phillip Payne "History Professor Uses Harding Legacy to Assess Bush": A presidential scholar who has studied Warren G. Harding's legacy is weighing in on how former president George W. Bush is likely to be remembered. There's been much debate in recent weeks about how history will treat George W. Bush. He left office with one of the worst approval ratings of any president. But historians say it will be years before the determination of where Bush stands among the nation's worst presidents. - WBFO, NY, 2-3-09

  • Historian for Hire: A conversation with Phil Cantelon: Scholar entrepreneur Phil Cantelon has discovered that it is possible to make research and writing pay. In 1980, he and three collegues hung a shingle for their services as historians, building a business whose clients would eventually range from the United States government to a Las Vegas museum devoted to organized crime. - Bruce Cole in Humanities, magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), 1-1-09

FEAT-
URES:

FEATURES:

  • Exhibition Review: A Lifetime's Collection of Texts in Hebrew, at Sotheby's: Is bibliophilia a religious impulse? You can’t walk into Sotheby's exhibition space in Manhattan right now and not sense the devotion or be swept up in its passions and particularities. The 2,400-square-foot opening gallery is lined with shelves — 10 high — reaching to the ceiling, not packed tight, but with occasional books open to view. Each shelf is labeled, not with a subject, but with a city or town of origin: Amsterdam, Paris, Leiden, Izmir, Bombay, Cochin, Cremona, Jerusalem, Ferrara, Calcutta, Mantua, Shanghai, Alexandria, Baghdad and on and on.... - NYT, 2-16-09 - Slide Show

HON-
ORS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • James McPherson, Craig L. Symonds share $50,000 Lincoln Prize: James McPherson, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War history, "The Battle Cry of Freedom," was cited for "Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief." The other winner was Craig L. Symonds for "Lincoln and His Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War." - Canadian Press, 2-11-09

  • Carole McAlpine Watson: Historian named temporary head of NEH: The Obama administration today named Carole McAlpine Watson as acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has filled that role since last month’s departure of Bruce Cole, who had led the endowment since 2001.... - Chronicle of Higher Ed, 2-10-09

SPOT-
TED:

SPOTTED:

  • Panelists examine history of black leadership: Four scholars and leaders discussed the evolution of black leadership from the early days of slavery to the election of Barack Obama at a forum entitled "Before there was Barack" at the Marvin Center Monday night... "It's not the Jesse Jacksons and Barack Obamas, but the people who supported them [who made changes]," James Jones added. "Supporters are the real leaders." - Daily Eastern News, IL, 2-17-09

  • Dave Roediger "History professor thinks racism is on its way out": Roediger, history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, talked about his book "How Race Survived U.S. History: From Settlement and Slavery to the Obama Phenomenon." - Den News, 2-4-09

  • Norman Naimark: History a 'creative process,' at the Award-Winning Teachers on Teaching series sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University: "History teaches about everyday men and women making decisions, society moving in one direction or another, good people and bad people," he said. History allows us to "recreate this moral universe." - Cynthia Haven at the website of the Stanford News Service, 1-30-09

EVENT
CAL.:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • February 18 & 19, 2009: Historians to hold court at IWU, ISU Founder's Days - Wednesday, Abraham Lincoln scholar and Pulitzer-Prize nominee James Horton headlines the Illinois Wesleyan University convocation, marking the campus’ 159th birthday. On Thursday, ISU celebrates its 152nd birthday. ISU is the oldest public university in the state. - Bloomington Pantagraph, 2-17-09

  • February 23, 2009: The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts symposium "Abraham Lincoln's Life and Legacy" has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 23. The symposium was originally scheduled for yesterday but the USI campus was closed due to the winter storm. - Henderson Gleaner, KY, 1-29-09

  • February 24, 2009: Michael Burlingame, Abe Lincoln scholar coming to town: Northwestern Oklahoma State University will participate in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, during an event on Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Herod Hall Auditorium. -

  • February 19 - May 30, 2009: UNL professor curates 'dreamy' exhibition at Folger Shakespeare Library: Carole Levin, Willa Cather professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has curated a new exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream" will run Feb. 19 through May 30. - Media Newswire (press release), NY, 2-17-09

  • March 2, 2009: Women's History Month Lecture Explores Rape and the Civil War: Dr. Crystal N. Feimster, an assistant professor of history at UNC Chapel Hill, will discuss rape in the Civil War South for a lecture marking Women’s History Month at 4 p.m. Monday, March 2. The event, free and open to the public, will be held in Moore HRA, Room 2211. - UNCG University News, NC, 2-17-09

  • April 3-4, 2009: The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • History Channel: "How the Earth Was Made: The Deepest Place on Earth," Tuesday, February 17, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "More American Eats," Wednesday, February 18, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: 09 - Freemason Underground ," Wednesday, February 18, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Cults: Dangerous Devotion," Thursday, February 19, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Investigating History: Lincoln: Man or Myth?," Thursday, February 12, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: 09 - Freemason Underground ," Thursday, February 19, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles," Friday, February 20, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Dogfights: Tuskegee Airmen," Friday, February 20, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "First to Fight: The Black Tankers of WWII: First to Fight: The Black Tankers of WWII," Friday, February 20, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Shootout: Iwo Jima: Fight to the Death," Friday, February 20, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Stealing Lincoln's Body," Friday, February 20, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Lincoln Assassination," Friday, February 20, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest," Marathon, Saturday, February 21, @ 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Stealing Lincoln's Body," Saturday, February 21, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Outlaw Josey Wales," Saturday, February 21, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV: History Saturday at 1:00 PM, and Sunday at 5:00 AM Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers Author: Richard Newman -

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV: Saturday at 3:00 PM, and Sunday at 1:00 AM 1960 LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies Author: David Pietrusza -

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV: Sunday at 3:45 AM The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation Author: Nancy Rubin Stuart -

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV: History Sunday at 11:15 AM, Sunday at 8:30 PM, and Monday at 2:30 AM Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan Author: Kim Phillips-Fein -

  • History Channel: "Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History," Monday, February 23, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem," Monday, February 23, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Godfathers," Monday, February 23, @ 10pm ET/PT
BEST
SEL-
LERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • Jon Meacham: AMERICAN LION #9 -- (13 weeks on list) - 2-22-09

  • Barack Obama: THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 2009 Obama’s Inaugural Address as well as two by Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address and an Emerson essay. #15 -- (1 week on list) - 2-22-09

  • Niall Ferguson: THE ASCENT OF MONEY #18 - 2-22-09

  • Ronald C. White Jr: A. LINCOLN #20 - 2-22-09

  • Gwen Ifill: THE BREAKTHROUGH #25 - 2-22-09

  • THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA, by the editors of Life magazine. #28 - 2-22-09

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO - #34 - 2-22-09

NEW
BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • The New York Times, Obama: The Historic Journey, February 16, 2009

  • Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, February 24, 2009

  • Paul D. Escott, What Shall We Do with the Negro?: Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War America, March 1, 2009

  • David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War, March 1, 2009

  • Joel C. Rosenberg, Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson and Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World, March 10, 2009

  • Neal Bascomb, Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased down the World's Most Notorious Nazi, March 11, 2009

  • Jeff Guinn, Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, March 10, 2009

  • Karen Greenberg, The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days, March 13, 2009

  • William Greider, Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (And Redeeming Promise) of Our Country, March 17, 2009

  • John Guy, Daughter's Love: Thomas More and His Dearest Meg, March 17, 2009

  • John Gill: 1809 Thunder on the Danube: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs, Vol. II: The Fall of Vienna and the Battle of Aspern, March 19, 2009

  • Alan Huffman, Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History, March 24. 2009

  • Amir Taheri, The Persian Night: Iran from Khomeini to Ahmadinejad, March 25, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009
OBITS:

DEPARTED:

  • Alfred A. Knopf Jr., Influential Publisher, Dies at 90: Alfred A. Knopf Jr., who left the noted publishing house run by his parents to become one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959, died on Saturday. He was 90, the last of the surviving founders, and lived in New York City. - NYT, 2-16-09

Posted on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 2:53 AM | Top

February 2 & 9, 2009

HISTORY BUZZ:

THIS
WEEK:

THIS WEEK ON THE BUZZ....
US
POL.:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
BIG.
NEWS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • The Lincoln Canon: There are too many Lincoln books. Which are indispensable? - WaPo, 2-8-09

  • David W. Blight on Ronald C. White Jr.: Abe the Intellectual A new biography highlights Lincoln's curious mind and constant jottings A. LINCOLN A Biography - WaPo, 2-8-09

  • Catherine Clinton: On Her Own Why hasn't Mary Todd Lincoln emerged from her husband's shadow? MRS. LINCOLN A Life - WaPo, 2-8-09

  • William Safire: Reviews of New Lincoln Books Lincoln Monuments - NYT, 2-8-09

  • Laying claim to Lincoln: States go all out for celebration of 16th president's bicentennial - Indianapolis Star, 2-8-09

  • Lots of Lincoln: 16th president everywhere as his 200th birthday approaches - Columbus Dispatch, 1-25-09

BIG.
NEWS:

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

  • AHR won't be considering article about Kutler's Watergate transcripts - Note to Peter Klingman from the staff of the American Historical Review in response to his submission, 2-6-09

  • Stanley Kutler: Attacked by historian Peter Klingman in frontpage NYT news story New York Times frontpage story, 1-31-09

  • Spencer Crew: Time to end Black History Month? "I don't see it going away," said Spencer Crew, a history professor at George Mason University, adding that a diverse year-round history curriculum can still be augmented in depth during Black History Month. "There's a Women's History Month," Crew said. "No one would argue that we don't need to be reminded of women who have done things that are important." - AP, 2-6-09

  • Wayne Glasker: Black History Month holds greater meaning this year: "It's important to remember what everyone has done," said Wayne Glasker, an associate professor of history and director of the African American Studies Program at Rutgers University-Camden. "I do think the election of a black president has an impact on young people. They see possibilities that older generations perhaps did not see. You lead by example and this is a wonderful example for the younger generation." - Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, 2-1-09

  • Black History at Lunchtime Series runs through February at Vanderbilt University: The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center will host a series of free, public lunchtime discussions led by academic leaders in celebration of Black History Month. The Black History at Lunchtime Series: "The Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas" will begin Wednesday, Feb. 11, at noon in the Black Cultural Center's auditorium. -

THIS
WEEK
IN
HIST.:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 08/02/1622 - King James I disbands the English parliament

  • 08/02/1690 - French and Indian troops set Schenectady settlement NY on fire

  • 08/02/1837 - 1st VP chosen by Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren admin)

  • 08/02/1861 - Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Ala

  • 08/02/1865 - 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany

  • 08/02/1887 - Dawes Act passed (indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship)

  • 08/02/1894 - Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks

  • 08/02/1904 - Russo-Japanese War begins

  • 08/02/1915 - "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in LA

  • 08/02/1940 - Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland

  • 08/02/1942 - Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort

  • 08/02/1944 - 1st black reporter accredited to White House, Harry McAlpin

  • 08/02/1969 - Last edition of Saturday Evening Post

  • 08/02/1971 - South Vietnamese troops invade Laos

  • 08/02/1973 - Senate names 7 members to investigate Watergate scandal

  • 09/02/1775 - English Parliament declares Mass colony is in rebellion

  • 09/02/1825 - House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams 6th US president

  • 09/02/1861 - Tennessee votes against secession

  • 09/02/1861 - Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens elected president and VP of CSA

  • 09/02/1942 - Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US

  • 09/02/1943 - FDR orders minimal 48 hour work week in war industry

  • 09/02/1950 - Sen Joseph McCarthy charges State Dept infested with 205 communists

  • 09/02/1964 - 1st appearance of Beatles on "Ed Sullivan Show" (73.7 million viewers)

  • 10/02/1676 - Wampanoag Indians under King Philip kill all men in Lancaster Mass

  • 10/02/1763 - Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrendering Canada to England

  • 10/02/1934 - 1st Jewish immigrant ship to break the English blockade in Palestine

  • 10/02/1954 - Eisenhower warns against US intervention in Vietnam

  • 10/02/1967 - 25th Amendment (Presidential Disability and Succession) in effect

  • 10/02/1989 - Ron Brown chosen 1st black chairman of a major US party (Democrats)

  • 11/02/1531 - Henry VIII recognized as supreme head of Church in England

  • 11/02/1768 - Samuel Adams letter, circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes

  • 11/02/1790 - Society of Friends petitions Congress for abolition of slavery

  • 11/02/1861 - US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state

  • 11/02/1861 - President-elect Lincoln takes train from Spingfield IL to Wash DC

  • 11/02/1945 - Yalta agreement signed by FDR, Churchill and Stalin

  • 11/02/1953 - Pres Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Rosenberg couple

  • 11/02/1531 - Henry VIII recognized as supreme head of Church in England

  • 11/02/1752 - Pennsylvania Hospital, the 1st hospital in the US, opened

  • 11/02/1768 - Samuel Adams letter, circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes

  • 11/02/1790 - Society of Friends petitions Congress for abolition of slavery

  • 11/02/1811 - Pres Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years

  • 11/02/1861 - US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state

  • 11/02/1861 - President-elect Lincoln takes train from Spingfield IL to Wash DC

  • 11/02/1945 - Yalta agreement signed by FDR, Churchill and Stalin

  • 11/02/1953 - Pres Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Rosenberg couple

  • 12/02/1733 - Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah

  • 12/02/1793 - 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves

  • 12/02/1825 - Creek Indian treaty signed. Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government and migrate west by Sept 1, 1826

  • 12/02/1865 - Henry Highland Garnet, is 1st black to speak in US House of Reps

  • 12/02/1873 - Congress abolishes bimetallism and authorizes $1 and $3 gold coins

  • 12/02/1909 - National Assn for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms

  • 12/02/1915 - Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Wash DC

  • 12/02/1924 - President Calvin Coolidge makes 1st presidential radio speech

  • 12/02/1950 - Sen Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist govt employees

  • 12/02/1962 - Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia

  • 13/02/1566 - St Augustine, Florida founded

  • 13/02/1635 - Oldest US public institution, Boston Latin School founded

  • 13/02/1861 - Abraham Lincoln declared president

  • 13/02/1864 - Miridian Campaign fighting at Chunky Creek and Wyatt, Mississippi

  • 13/02/1895 - Moving picture projector patented

  • 13/02/1907 - English suffragettes storm British Parliament and 60 women are arrested

  • 13/02/1957 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizes in New Orleans

  • 13/02/1968 - US sends 10,500 additional soldiers to Vietnam

  • 14/02/1130 - Jewish Cardinal Pietro Pierleone elected as anti-pope Anacletus II

  • 14/02/1689 - English parliament places Mary Stuart/Prince Willem III on the throne

  • 14/02/1848 - James K Polk became 1st pres photographed in office (Matthew Brady)

  • 14/02/1876 - A G Bell and Elisha Gray apply separately for telephone patents Supreme Court eventually rules Bell rightful inventor

  • 14/02/1896 - Theodor Herzl publishes "Der Judenstaat"

  • 14/02/1949 - 1st session of Knesset (Jerusalem Israel)

  • 14/02/1962 - 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV

  • 14/02/1971 - Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in White House

  • 15/02/1851 - Black abolitionists invade Boston courtroom rescueing a fugitive slave

  • 15/02/1861 - Ft Point completed and garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger)

  • 15/02/1862 - Grant's major assault on Ft Donelson, Tennessee

  • 15/02/1879 - Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before Supreme Ct

  • 15/02/1903 - 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris and Rose Michtom

  • 15/02/1918 - 1st WW I US army troop ship torpedoed and sunk by Germany, off Ireland

  • 15/02/1929 - St Valentine's Day massacre (Chicago)

  • 15/02/1933 - Pres-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt

  • 15/02/1965 - Canada replaces Union Jack flag with Maple Leaf
IN
THE
NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:
OP-
EDs:

OP-EDs:

  • Michael Kazin: A Liberal Revival of Americanism - WaPo, 2-8-09

  • Alan Brinkley: Railing Against the Rich ... A Great American Tradition - WSJ, 2-7-09

  • Niall Ferguson: Keynes can't help us now - LAT, 2-6-09

  • Tevi Troy: Trojan Horse Threats to American health care lurk within the stimulus package - Weekly Standard, 1-29-09

REV-
IEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • Patrick Tyler: Friends and Enemies, Enemies and Friends A WORLD OF TROUBLE The White House and the Middle East — From the Cold War to the War on Terror - NYT, 2-6-09

  • Barry Werth: Intellectual Selection: BANQUET AT DELMONICO'S Great Minds, the Gilded Age, and the Triumph of Evolution in America - NYT, 2-1-09

  • Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Adam Gopnik: Charles Darwin, Abolitionist: DARWIN'S SACRED CAUSE How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution, ANGELS AND AGES A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life NYT, 2-1-09

  • Adrian Desmond and James Moore: DARWIN'S SACRED CAUSE How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution, First Chapter - NYT, 2-1-09

  • Adam Gopnik: ANGELS AND AGES A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life, First Chapter - NYT, 2-1-09

  • Cari Beauchamp: Ready for His Close-Up JOSEPH P. KENNEDY PRESENTS His Hollywood Years NYT, 2-1-09

  • Peter Martin, Jeffrey Meyers: Lives of Johnson SAMUEL JOHNSON A Biography, SAMUEL JOHNSON The Struggle NYT, 2-1-09

  • Robin Wilson: How to Measure a Cheshire Grin?: LEWIS CARROLL IN NUMBERLAND His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life: An Agony in Eight Fits - NYT, 2-1-09

  • Jessica Helfand: Still Life, with Scissors and Glue SCRAPBOOKS An American History - WaPo, 2-1-09

  • Steven Johnson: Breath of Thought: THE INVENTION OF AIR A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America - NYT, 1-25-09

  • Adam Kirsch: Judaism's Redefiner BENJAMIN DISRAELI - NYT, 1-25-09

  • Claire Berlinski: Thatcher's Legacy "THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE" Why Margaret Thatcher Matters NYT, 1-18-09

  • Mark K. Updegrove: Crisis Management BAPTISM BY FIRE Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis - NYT, 1-18-09

  • Alan Brinkley: 'This Is Our Moment' - NYT, 1-18-09

  • Gwen Ifill: Demographics and Destiny THE BREAKTHROUGH Politics and Race in the Age of Obama NYT, 1-18-09

  • David Greenberg on Adam Cohen and Burt Solomon: Fearless Leader NOTHING TO FEAR FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America, FDR V. THE CONSTITUTION The Court-Packing Fight and the Triumph of Democracy - NYT, 1-18-09

  • Burt Solomon: FDR V. THE CONSTITUTION The Court-Packing Fight and the Triumph of Democracy , First Chapter - NYT, 1-18-09

  • Eric J. Sundquist: A New National Scripture KING'S DREAM - NYT, 1-18-09

  • Eric J. Sundquist: KING'S DREAM, First Chapter - NYT, 1-18-09

BEST
SEL-
LERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • Jon Meacham: AMERICAN LION #5 -- (11 weeks on list) - 2-8-09

  • THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA, by the editors of Life magazine. #7 -- (11 weeks on list) - 2-8-09

  • Niall Ferguson: THE ASCENT OF MONEY #12 -- (7 weeks on list) - 2-8-09

  • Gwen Ifill: THE BREAKTHROUGH #13 -- (1 week on list) - 2-8-09

  • Ronald C. White Jr: A. LINCOLN #13 - 2-8-09

  • Adam Cohen: NOTHING TO FEAR - #27 - 2-8-09

  • Liza Mundy: MICHELLE - #28 - 2-8-09

  • Evan Thomas: A LONG TIME COMING #30 - 2-8-09

BLOGS:

BLOGS:
QUO-
TES:

QUOTES:

  • Jennifer Bean Bower "Across Generations, Traces of a Poor Maid’s Murder": Jennifer Bean Bower, a Winston-Salem historian who has written about the case, cites the power of oral tradition, a power transcending the passage of 115 years. "There were a lot of people who remembered," she says. "People who were children who saw the hanging and told their descendants." - NYT, 2-2-09

  • Frank Snowden: Becoming the professor 'Associates in Teaching' program to offer doctoral students the opportunity to plan, teach Yale courses: "graduate students should benefit enormously from such an experience in terms of their career development... Additional opportunities of this type to gain valuable teaching experience should also be an asset in a job market that looks as though it will be tight, at least in the near future. Most of all, however, this program should provide a productive and exciting educational experience both for the graduate students and for the professors involved." - Yale Daily News, 1-28-09

PRO-
FILES:

PROFILES:
INTER-
VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:
FEAT-
URES:

FEATURES:
HON-
ORS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:
SPOT-
TED:

SPOTTED:

  • David Levering Lewis: Obama election won't resolve 'problems of race,' historian says - Baltimore Sun, 2-8-09

  • Benny Morris: Protestors oppose speech by Israeli historian, author - http://www.middletownpress.com, 2-2-09

  • Norman Naimark: Encourages young historians: 'They can do better than we can': Naimark gave his talk, "Passing the Torch: Thoughts about History, Teaching, and Mentorship," on Jan. 29 for the Award-Winning Teachers on Teaching series sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University - Stanford Report, 1-30-09

EVENT
CAL.:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • February 11-12, 2009: Scholars to hail Darwin at university The origin of a long debate - Online Athens, GA, 2-7-09

  • February 13, 2009: History forum highlights Dutch capitalism in America: A look at Dutch commercial capitalism in America is the focus of the next history forum presented by the California State University, Bakersfield history department. Oliver Rink will present Wampum, Furs and Builders: Dutch Commercial Capitalism Comes to America. The talk will provide a glimpse into the trading empire of the United Provinces of the Netherlands on Friday, Feb. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the Albertson Room. - Mas, CA, 2-5-09

  • February 23, 2009: The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts symposium "Abraham Lincoln's Life and Legacy" has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 23. The symposium was originally scheduled for yesterday but the USI campus was closed due to the winter storm. - Henderson Gleaner, KY, 1-29-09

  • February 24, 2009: Michael Burlingame, Abe Lincoln scholar coming to town: Northwestern Oklahoma State University will participate in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, during an event on Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Herod Hall Auditorium. -

  • April 3-4, 2009:The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN2: BOOK TV: Politics, "The Reagan I Knew" Author: William F. Buckley, Sunday at 7:00 PM, and Monday at 3:00 AM

  • PBS: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln at 8 p.m. Feb. 9. on the American Experience - PBS

  • History Channel: "The Samurai," Monday, February 9, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Alcatraz Down Under," Monday, February 9, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ancient Discoveries: Ancient New York ," Monday, February 9, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Nostradamus: 2012," Tuesday, February 10 16, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters: Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters," Wednesday, February 11, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battlefield Detectives: The Civil War: Gettysburg," Wednesday, February 11, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battlefield Detectives: The Civil War: Antietam," Wednesday, February 11, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Horrors at Andersonville Prison: The Trial of Henry Wirz," Wednesday, February 11, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Lincoln," Thursday, February 12, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Investigating History: Lincoln: Man or Myth?," Thursday, February 12, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Conspiracy?: Lincoln Assassination," Thursday, February 12, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "USS Constellation: Battling for Freedom," Friday, February 13, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Deep Sea Detectives: Slave Ship Uncovered!," Friday, February 13, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Wrath Of God: Snowbound: The Curse of the Sierra," Friday, February 13, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Wrath Of God: Buffalo Blizzard: Siege and Survival," Friday, February 13, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History's Mysteries: Ship of Gold," Friday, February 13, @ 7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld," Marathon, Saturday, February 14, @ 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The White House: Behind Closed Doors," Saturday, February 14, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre," Saturday, February 14, @ 10pm ET/PT
NEW
BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Daniel Mark Epstein: Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries, January 27, 2009

  • Susan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason (Reprint), February 10, 2009

  • Thomas E. Ricks, The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, February 10, 2009

  • David Elliot Cohen, Obama: The Historic Front Pages, February 11, 2009

  • The New York Times, Obama: The Historic Journey, February 16, 2009

  • Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, February 24, 2009

  • Paul D. Escott, What Shall We Do with the Negro?: Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War America, March 1, 2009

  • David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War, March 1, 2009

  • Joel C. Rosenberg, Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson and Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World, March 10, 2009

  • Neal Bascomb, Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased down the World's Most Notorious Nazi, March 11, 2009

  • Jeff Guinn, Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, March 10, 2009

  • Karen Greenberg, The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days, March 13, 2009

  • William Greider, Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (And Redeeming Promise) of Our Country, March 17, 2009

  • John Guy, Daughter's Love: Thomas More and His Dearest Meg, March 17, 2009

  • John Gill: 1809 Thunder on the Danube: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs, Vol. II: The Fall of Vienna and the Battle of Aspern, March 19, 2009

  • Alan Huffman, Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History, March 24. 2009

  • Amir Taheri, The Persian Night: Iran from Khomeini to Ahmadinejad, March 25, 2009

  • Simon Schama, American Future: A History, May 19, 2009
OBITS:

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 3:38 AM | Top

December 15, 2008

HISTORY BUZZ:

THIS
WEEK:

THIS WEEK ON THE BUZZ....
US
POL.:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
HNN
STATS:

HNN STATS THIS WEEK:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HIST.:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 15/12/1791 - Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval

  • 15/12/1791 - 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania

  • 15/12/1874 - 1st reigning king to visit US (of Hawaii) received by Pres Grant

  • 15/12/1877 - Thomas Edison patents phonograph

  • 15/12/1916 - French defeat Germans in WW I Battle of Verdun

  • 15/12/1938 - Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Wash DC

  • 15/12/1939 - "Gone With the Wind" premieres in Atlanta

  • 15/12/1948 - Former state dept official Alger Hiss indicted in NYC for perjury

  • 15/12/1964 - Canada adopts maple leaf flag

  • 16/12/1431 - King Henry VI of England crowned king of France

  • 16/12/1631 - Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages and kills 4,000

  • 16/12/1653 - Oliver Cromwell sworn in as English Lord Protector

  • 16/12/1689 - English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution

  • 16/12/1773 - Big tea party in Boston harbor-indians welcome (Boston Tea Party)

  • 16/12/1864 - Battle of Nashville ends after 4400 casualities

  • 16/12/1944 - Battle of Bulge begins in Belgium

  • 16/12/1950 - Truman proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"

  • 17/12/1728 - Congregation Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan, to build NY's 1st synagogue

  • 17/12/1777 - George Washingtons army returns to Valley Forge Pa, France recognizes independence of English colonies in America

  • 17/12/1792 - Opening of 1st legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec city

  • 17/12/1798 - 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins

  • 17/12/1862 - Gen US Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee

  • 17/12/1900 - New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million

  • 17/12/1944 - US Army announces end of excluding Jap-Americans from West Coast

  • 17/12/1975 - Lynette Fromme sentenced to life for attempt on Pres Ford's life

  • 17/12/1975 - John Paul Stevens appointed to Supreme Court

  • 18/12/1777 - 1st national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender

  • 18/12/1787 - New Jersey becomes 3rd state to ratify constitution

  • 18/12/1799 - George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon

  • 18/12/1813 - British take Ft Niagara in War of 1812

  • 18/12/1859 - South Carolina declared an "independent commonwealth"

  • 18/12/1862 - Battle at Lexington, Tennessee (Forrest's Second Raid)

  • 18/12/1865 - 13th Amendment ratified, slavery abolished

  • 18/12/1892 - "Nutcracker Suite," Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet, premieres

  • 18/12/1915 - Pres Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling Galt

  • 18/12/1966 - Dr Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" airs for 1st time on CBS

  • 19/12/1732 - Benjamin Franklin under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack"

  • 19/12/1776 - Thomas Paine published his 1st "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls"

  • 19/12/1777 - Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pa for winter

  • 19/12/1828 - South Carolina declares right of states to nullify federal laws

  • 19/12/1843 - Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol," in England

  • 19/12/1861 - Battle of Black Water

  • 19/12/1930 - James Weldon Johnson resigns as executive secretary of NAACP

  • 19/12/1946 - War breaks out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi

  • 20/12/1606 - Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown Va

  • 20/12/1669 - 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection and sentenced to flogging, branding and slavery

  • 20/12/1803 - Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27M

  • 20/12/1860 - SC votes 169-0 for Ordinace of Secession, 1st state to secede

  • 20/12/1862 - -Jan 3rd] Vicksburg campaign

  • 20/12/1864 - -Dec 27th] Battle of Ft Fisher, NC

  • 20/12/1893 - 1st state anti-lynching statue approved, in Georgia

  • 20/12/1919 - US House of Representatives restricts immigration

  • 20/12/1922 - 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)

  • 20/12/1956 - Montgomery, Ala, removed race-based seat assignments on its buses

  • 20/12/1989 - US troops invade Panama and oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him

  • 21/12/1620 - 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock [OS=Dec 11]

  • 21/12/1784 - John Jay becomes 1st US secretary of state (foreign affairs)

  • 21/12/1864 - Gen Sherman conquers Savannah

  • 21/12/1866 - Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre

  • 21/12/1919 - J Edgar Hoover deports anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia

  • 21/12/1946 - Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," premieres

  • 21/12/1954 - Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime)

  • 21/12/1962 - US and Cuba accord, releases bay of pigs captive
IN
THE
NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:
OP-
EDs:

OP-EDs:
REV-
IEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • Paul Mariani "A Modern Victorian": GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS A Life - NYT, 12-14-08

  • David Blight on Robert Goodwin: The Slave Who Found a New World Separating myth from fact about Esteban Dorantes is not easy. The Story of the First African-American Explorer of the American South - WaPo, 12-11-08

  • Robert Goodwin: The Story of the First African-American Explorer of the American South , First Chapter - WaPo, 12-11-08

  • Jane Fletcher Geniesse: A Sect of Celibates How to escape debt and gain absolute control over your followers. AMERICAN PRIESTESS The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem WaPo, 12-14-08

  • Edward Kritzler: On the High Seas JEWISH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - WaPo, 12-14-08

  • Max Page "Urban historian recounts 200 years' worth of fantasies, fears of NYC's demise": The City's End: Two Centuries of Fantasies, Fears, and Premonitions of New York's Destruction AP, Newsday, 12-12-08

  • Exhibition Review - 'One Life: The Mask of Lincoln' Reconsidering the Man From Illinois at the National Portrait Gallery - NYT, 12-12-08

BEST
SEL-
LERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • Jon Meacham: AMERICAN LION #3 -- (4 weeks on list) - 12-21-08

  • THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA, by the editors of Life magazine. #12 -- (5 weeks on list) - 12-21-08

  • Niall Ferguson: THE ASCENT OF MONEY #14 -- (2 weeks on list) - 12-21-08

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Complete Front Pages 1851-2008, Introduction by Bill Keller - #20 - 12-21-08

  • Pete Souza: THE RISE OF BARACK OBAMA #34 - 12-21-08

BLOGS:

BLOGS:
QUO-
TES:

QUOTES:

  • Kenneth T. Jackson: "Citi Doesn't Live Here Anymore as Name Comes Off NYC Skyscraper": "Buildings no longer have important historic status for companies, if they ever did," said Kenneth T. Jackson, a Columbia University history professor and editor of the "Encyclopedia of New York City." "As they get larger and larger, one building does not mean much." Bloomber, 12-12-08

PRO-
FILES:

PROFILES:
INTER-
VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

  • Jeffrey B. Perry: Eighty years ago, a prominent black intellectual disappeared from the historical record. Jeffrey B. Perry rescued him from oblivion. (Interview) Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918 - Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, 12-10-08

FEAT-
URES:

FEATURES:

  • Amy Dru Stanley: For history professor, finding home for photo collection was a walk in the park: The historic photographs of 20th-century photojournalist Wayne Miller have been given as a gift to the University's Department of History, following what Amy Dru Stanley calls "a typical Hyde Park story." University of Chicago Chronicle, 12-11-08

  • James Carroll: Disputes belief that Saint Augustine was bad for the Jews - David Van Biema in Time, 12-8-08

HON-
ORS:

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

  • Peter Brown: Irish historian wins $1 million prize: Historian Peter Brown (73), a professor of history at Princeton University, shared the 2008 Kluge Prize with Romila Thapar, from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. - Herald, 12-12-08

NEW
ON
THE
WEB:

New Web Sites:
EVENT
CAL.:

EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • April 3-4, 2009:The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Gladiators: Blood Sport," Monday, December 15, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Einstein," Tuesday, December 16, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "A Global Warning?," Wednesday, December 17, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Breaking Vegas," Thursday, December 18, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Gladiators: Blood Sport," Thursday, December 18, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Wake Island: The Alamo of the Pacific," Friday, December 19, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Bible Battles," Saturday, December 20, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Christmas Tech," Saturday, December 20, @ 7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Banned from The Bible," Saturday, December 20, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Beyond The Da Vinci Code," Saturday, December 20, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Walt Disney World," Sunday, December 21, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Ancient Discoveries: Lost Science of the Bible," Sunday, December 21, @ 10pm ET/PT
NEW
BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Time Magazine: Time President Obama: The Path to the White House, December 16, 2008

  • George S. McGovern: Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865, December 23, 2008

  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2008

  • Anthony S. Pitch: "They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance, December 30, 2008

  • William E. Leuchtenburg: Herbert Hoover: The 31st President, 1929-1933 (REV), January 6, 2009

  • Adam Cohen: Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America, January 9, 2008

  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe, January 13, 2009

  • Gwen Ifill: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, January 20, 2009

  • Daniel Mark Epstein: Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries, January 27, 2009

OBITS:

DEPARTED:

  • Angeliki E. Laiou: Byzantine Professor Dies of Cancer at 67 - Harvard Crimson, 12-15-08

  • William H. Pierson Jr., 97, Art Historian, Dies - NYT, 12-11-08

  • Dorothy Sterling, author of African American children's literature, dies at 95: Sterling, who was white, developed an interest in African American history after reading the works of such radical historians as Herbert Aptheker and W.E.B. Du Bois. She wrote more than 35 books, including 'Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman,' and brought attention to less-known figures. - LA Times, 12-14-08

  • Studs Terkel: Hard Times Without Studs - Tom Engelhardt at tomdispatch.com, 12-12-08

  • Studs Terkel: Tribute, Voice of the Underdog - NYT, 12-8-08

Posted on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 2:47 AM | Top

December 8, 2008

HISTORY BUZZ:

US POLITICS:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
BIGGEST STORIES:

BIGGEST STORIES: PEARL HARBOR

  • 'Like It Happened Yesterday' Pearl Harbor Attack Remembered During 67th Anniversary Ceremony - WaPo, 12-7-08

  • Pearl Harbor: Day of infamy: The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor altered America. But some scholars say 9/11 is even more memorable. - Memphis Commericial Appeal, 12-7-08

  • Stephen K. Stein "Pearl Harbor: Day of infamy": "My sense is that Pearl Harbor still resonates more with people," said Stephen K. Stein, an award-winning assistant professor of history at the University of Memphis. "It connects us with World War II. Pearl Harbor got us into the war. It was a 'good' war and Americans (at home and in the military) fought it with a sense of purpose ... and we won. "With 9/11 there is no closure and, for some people, it has not been fully explained. Most people don't understand what happened, how it happened and why it happened."
    Stein, who also teaches military strategy as an adjunct professor for the U.S. Naval War College, added that if al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had been captured, "maybe 9/11 would resonate more." Stein also cited differences in the speeches FDR and President George W. Bush delivered to a traumatized nation after the two events. "President Roosevelt's speech after Pearl Harbor in which he asked Congress to declare war on Japan continues to resonate with Americans today, particularly his phrase 'a date which will live in infamy.' It was a masterful speech by one of our most eloquent presidents that captured Americans' horror at the attack and determination to avenge it. "In contrast, President Bush's speech after the Sept. 11 attack remains unmemorable, despite being one of his best speeches." Memphis Commericial Appeal, 12-7-08

  • James McPherson "Pearl Harbor: Day of infamy": Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian James McPherson, in a telephone interview, echoed Stein's thoughts. "I was only 5 years old when Pearl Harbor occurred, but I do remember it always being on radio shows -- 'Remember Pearl Harbor.' The war that followed allowed us to remember that we triumphed. "We don't have that after 9/11. There is no feeling that we have triumphed." - Memphis Commericial Appeal, 12-7-08

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 08/12/1776 - George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ

  • 08/12/1863 - Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South and offers amnesty for confederate deserters

  • 08/12/1886 - American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president

  • 08/12/1987 - President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles

  • 10/12/1520 - Martin Luther publicly burned papal edict demands he recant

  • 10/12/1864 - General Shermans armies reach Savannah and 12 day siege begins

  • 10/12/1869 - Women suffrage (right to vote) granted in Wyoming Territory (US 1st)

  • 10/12/1898 - Spanish-American War ends; US acquires Philippines, PR and Guam

  • 10/12/1906 - Pres Theodore Roosevelt (1st American) awarded Nobel Peace Prize

  • 10/12/1915 - Pres Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Galt

  • 10/12/1919 - Nobel peace prize awarded to US president Wilson

  • 10/12/1931 - Jane Addams (1st US woman) named co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize

  • 10/12/1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat accept 1978 Nobel Peace Prize

  • 11/12/1620 - 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock (12/21 NS)

  • 11/12/1792 - France's King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason

  • 11/12/1906 - US president Roosevelt attacks abuses in the Congo

  • 11/12/1916 - David Lloyd George forms British war govt

  • 11/12/1917 - 13 black soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot

  • 11/12/1931 - Brit Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, NZ, South Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland

  • 11/12/1936 - King Edward VIII marries Mrs Wallis Simpson; abdicates throne Duke of York becomes King George VI

  • 11/12/1941 - Japanese attack Wake Island (only failed WW II-landing)

  • 11/12/1961 - JFK provides US miltary helicopters and crews to South Vietnam
  • 13/12/1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around world

  • 13/12/1774 - 1st incident of Revolution-400 attack Ft William and Mary, NH

  • 13/12/1843 - "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold

  • 13/12/1862 - Battle of Fredericksburg, VA (Marye's Heights)

  • 13/12/1903 - Wright Bros make 1st flight at Kittyhawk

  • 13/12/1918 - Wilson, becomes 1st to make a foreign visit as president (France)

  • 13/12/1920 - League of nations establishes Intl Court of Justice in The Hague

  • 13/12/1949 - Knesset votes to transfer Israel's capital to Jerusalem

  • 13/12/1966 - 1st US bombing of Hanoi
IN THE NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:

  • John McDonagh: Plymoth Plantation cuts veteran staff - http://www.wickedlocal.com, 12-6-08

  • Denise Spellberg: Historian taken to task for ridiculing novel Winfield Myers at Daniel Pipes's Campus Watch, 12-3-08

  • Robert Dallek: Fox's Chris Wallace objects when Bob Dallek equates Nixon and Bush - Jim Pinkerton at the Fox News blog, 12-2-08

  • American Historical Association: Results of 2008 AHA Election - AHA Blog, 12-1-08

  • Korea's history: What text should high-schoolers read? - Christian Science Monitor, 12-1-08

  • Conrad Bladey: Historian proposes toast for Linthicum: J. Charles Linthicum's family provided the name of the Anne Arundel County community, and he did his hometown proud, serving in Congress from 1911 until his death in 1932. The Democrat is best remembered for his role in the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. But he made a possibly more significant contribution to American history, according to a local historian: paving the way for the repeal of Prohibition. - - AP, 11-29-08

QUOTES:

QUOTES:

  • Phillip Kay "Historian says Romans faced credit crunch": "The essential similarity between what happened 21 centuries ago and what is happening in today's U.K. economy is that a massive increase in monetary liquidity culminated with problems in another country causing a credit crisis at home." - UPI, 11-28-08

OP-EDs:

OP-EDs:
REVIEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • WaPo lists top 10 history books of the year - WaPo, 12-7-08

  • Boston Globe: Getting the goods - nonfiction A guide to the most memorable titles of 2008, from entertaining to inspiring - Boston Globe, 12-7-08

  • Les Standiford Holiday Books Father Christmas: THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS How Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits - NYT, 12-7-08

  • Robert Roper: BIOGRAPHY America's Poet as Brother: Whitman cared for injured soldiers during the Civil War. NOW THE DRUM OF WAR Walt Whitman and His Brothers in the Civil War - WaPo, 12-7-08

  • Louisa Gilder: SCIENCE Very Small, Very Weird: The struggle to understand what goes on -- or doesn't -- inside the atom. THE AGE OF ENTANGLEMENT When Quantum Physics Was Reborn - WaPo, 12-7-08

  • Man of Fetters Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale: Peter Martin's "Samuel Johnson" and Jeffrey Meyers's "Samuel Johnson: The Struggle" - The New Yorker, 12-8-08

  • Niall Ferguson: It's Still Making the World Go 'Round: THE ASCENT OF MONEY A Financial History of the World - NYT, 12-2-08

  • Richard Turley Jr. "Mormon-owned press releasing Joseph Smith journals": "He's making this very deliberate effort to keep a record. At the same time, he has this self-consciousness," said Richard Turley Jr., assistant historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "So he writes it out, scratches it out, takes a deep breath, writes it again." - AP, 12-2-08

  • Philip Jenkins: Historian explores Christianity's lost age, land The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia - and How It Died Reuters, 12-1-08

BEST SELLERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • Jon Meacham: AMERICAN LION #2 -- (3 weeks on list) - 12-14-08

  • THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA, by the editors of Life magazine. #15 -- (4 weeks on list) - 12-14-08

  • Niall Ferguson: THE ASCENT OF MONEY #10 -- (1 weeks on list) - 12-14-08

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Complete Front Pages 1851-2008, Introduction by Bill Keller - #26 - 12-14-08

  • James M. McPherson: TRIED BY WAR #30 - 12-14-08

  • Doris Kearns Goodwin: TEAM OF RIVALS #34 - 12-14-08

  • Pete Souza: THE RISE OF BARACK OBAMA #35 - 12-14-08

BLOGS:

BLOGS:

  • H-SHEAR: Scholars' roundtable examines Daniel Walker Howe's What Hath God Wrought - Ralph Luker at HNN blog, Cliopatria, 12-3-08

  • Robert Dallek "At 'Frost/Nixon' Debut, It Became About Bush and Nixon": At the Frost/Nixon screening last night, Ron Howard and show writers compared GWB's abuses of power to Nixon's. Wallace disagreed..."It trivializes Nixon's crimes and completely misrepresents what George W. Bush did... I think to compare what Nixon did, and the abuses of power for pure political self-preservation, to George W. Bush trying to protect this country—even if you disagree with rendition or waterboarding—it seems to me is both a gross misreading of history both then and now." He also had a healthy debate with renowned historian Robert Dallek. - US News, Washington Whispers, 12-2-08

PROFILES:

PROFILES:
INTER VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

  • Annette Gordon-Reed: "Questions for Annette Gordon-Reed History Lesson": After a lifetime spent writing about Thomas Jefferson and the children he fathered with the slave Sally Hemings, you just won a National Book Award for your sprawling history of her family, “The Hemingses of Monticello.” It was great to win it on my birthday. - 12-7-08

FEATURES:

FEATURES:

  • "Gene Test Shows Spain's Jewish and Muslim Mix": The genetic signatures of people in Spain and Portugal provide new and explicit evidence of the mass conversions of Sephardic Jews and Muslims to Catholicism in the 15th and 16th centuries after Christian armies wrested Spain back from Muslim control, a team of geneticists reports. NYT, 12-4-08

  • Jane S. Gerber "Gene Test Shows Spain's Jewish and Muslim Mix": "One wing grossly underestimates the number of conversions," said Jane S. Gerber, an expert on Sephardic history at the City University of New York. - NYT, 12-4-08

  • Jonathan S. Ray "Gene Test Shows Spain's Jewish and Muslim Mix": The finding bears on two different views of Spanish history, said Jonathan S. Ray, a professor of Jewish studies at Georgetown University. One, proposed by the 20th-century historian Claudio Sánchez- Albornoz, holds that Spanish civilization is Catholic and other influences are foreign; the other sees Spain as having been enriched by drawing from all three of its historical cultures, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim. - NYT, 12-4-08

  • Douglas Brinkley "Slaves helped build White House, U.S. Capitol": "The apple cart has been turned over here when you have the Obamas -- the first African-American couple -- now actually management and you are having in some cases white Americans serving them," says presidential historian Doug Brinkley.... Though Michelle Obama's ancestors had to come through the ordeal of slavery, "Her children are sleeping in the room of presidents," said Brinkley. "It's a very great and hopeful sign." - CNN, 12-2-08

  • Douglas Brinkley "Slaves helped build White House, U.S. Capitol": It was the slaves that did a lot of the building the White House, they also worked there... did the service jobs - were the people that would tend the horses or clean the dishes, prepare the meals. I think Michelle should celebrate the fact that her ancestors came through the ordeal of slavery. Her children are sleeping in the room of presidents. And it's a very great and hopeful sign. - CNN, 12-2-08

  • Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. "Obama as Hoover: The Importance of Storytelling": As the Obama era takes shape, the roles of both Schlesinger and Michelson deserve attention. Particularly as Americans are seeing newsmagazines with cover stories comparing the President-elect who campaigned on a dour vision of scarcity with Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, a considerable leap to understate. - American Spectator,

  • The focus is on Samuel de Champlain - Burlington Free Press, 12-1-08

HONORS:

HONORS &APPOINTED:

  • Peter Brown: Historian selected to share $1 million Kluge Prize - http://www.princeton.edu, 12-3-08

  • Eugene Moehring "Professor wins award for research on Nevada:" Eugene Moehring is one of the nation's top urban historians UNLV’s resident expert on all things Nevada was presented with the 2008 Harry Reid Silver State Research Award Nov. 14, spotlighting UNLV’s history department and a professor who routinely shuns its glare. - The Rebell Yell, 11-24-08

SPOTTED:

SPOTTED:
NEW ON THE WEB:

New Web Sites:
EVENTS:

EVENTS:

  • April 3-4, 2009:The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • C-SPAN 2, BOOK TV: History "Samuel Adams: A Life" Author: Ira Stoll - Sunday at 11:00 PM, and Monday at 5:00 AM

  • C-SPAN 2, BOOK TV: History Jonathan Alter "The Defining Moment" - Monday at 4:00 AM

  • C-SPAN 2, BOOK TV: History "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" Author: Jon Meacham - Monday at 6:00 AM

  • C-SPAN 2, BOOK TV: History "Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution" Author: Tony Williams - Monday at 7:15 AM

  • History Channel: "01 - The Wehrmacht: 01 - Attack on Europe," Sunday, December 7, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "02 - The Wehrmacht: 02 - The Turning Point," Sunday, December 7, @ 3pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "03 - The Wehrmacht: 03 - The Crimes," Sunday, December 7, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "04 - The Wehrmacht: 04 - Resistance," Sunday, December 7, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "05 - The Wehrmacht: 05 - To the Bitter End," Sunday, December 7, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "70's Fever," Sunday, December 7, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History Rocks: The '70s, Part 1," Sunday, December 7, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Land of Manson," Monday, December 8, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Crude," Tuesday, December 9, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Street Gangs: A Secret History," Wednesday, December 10, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Kennedys: The Curse of Power," Thursday, December 11, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Lost Pyramid," Friday, December 12, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Egypt: Engineering an Empire," Friday, December 12, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Prophecies from Below," Friday, December 12, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "UFO Hunters," Marathon Saturday, December 13, @ 2-5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "FDR: A Presidency Revealed: Part 1.," Saturday, December 13, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "FDR: A Presidency Revealed: Part 2.," Saturday, December 13, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Crash: The Next Great Depression?," Saturday, December 13, @ 10pm ET/PT
COMING SOON BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Gary May: John Tyler: The American Presidents Series: The 10th President, 1841-1845, December 9, 2008

  • Jonathan Brent: Inside the Stalin Archives, December 9, 2008

  • Time Magazine: Time President Obama: The Path to the White House, December 16, 2008

  • George S. McGovern: Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865, December 23, 2008

  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2008

  • Anthony S. Pitch: "They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance, December 30, 2008

  • William E. Leuchtenburg: Herbert Hoover: The 31st President, 1929-1933 (REV), January 6, 2009

  • Adam Cohen: Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America, January 9, 2008

  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe, January 13, 2009

  • Gwen Ifill: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, January 20, 2009

  • Daniel Mark Epstein: Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries, January 27, 2009

DEPARTED:

DEPARTED:

  • William Spoelhof: Longtime Calvin College president William Spoelhof dead at age 98 - The Grand Rapids Press, 12-3-08

  • William McGrath: European Intellectual Historian Dies: William J. McGrath, professor emeritus of history at the University of Rochester who was revered for his pioneering histories of Vienna, Austria, and Sigmund Freud, died Nov. 30. He was 71. - Media Newswire, 12-2-08

Posted on Monday, December 8, 2008 at 12:23 AM | Top

November 24 - December 1, 2008

HISTORY BUZZ:

US POLITICS:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
BIGGEST STORIES:

BIGGEST STORIES: 45TH ANNIVERSARY KENNEDY ASSASSINATION:

  • Michael Smith "Can Obama eclipse Kennedy legacy? The anniversary of JFK assassination takes on fresh meaning as new era dawns": "This year is different, and seemingly for good,'' says Purdue University history professor Michael Smith. "America may have a truer successor to the Kennedy legacy, meaning that maybe we can once and for all give up some of our national obsession with who else besides Lee Harvey Oswald might have murdered president Kennedy and focus instead on the best, not the worst, of the early 1960s." "Our generation and our parents' generation remember that day so well because of the shock of total news coverage for four days in a row," he said. "We are, largely, the audience and market still reading and watching and listening for the echoes of that day, a strange nostalgia." - Toronto Star, 11-22-08

  • Douglas Brinkley: "Can Obama eclipse Kennedy legacy? The anniversary of JFK assassination takes on fresh meaning as new era dawns": "The Kennedys are in the air," says author and historian Douglas Brinkley. "Their mystique is still with us." "It remains the great American murder mystery," says Brinkley, whose forthcoming book "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and The Crusade For America," focuses on another American hero. "Nobody really knows what really happened beyond Lee Harvey Oswald. "A lot of history we can now shut down. We even know who Deep Throat is. "But this remains the great whodunit."

  • Michael G. Smith: "On 45th Anniversary of JFK Assassination, Lingering Conspiracies Tarnish History, Professor Says": "Historians have pretty much ignored the assassination as a historical event, and they need to weigh in against the excesses of conspiracy theory as false history," says Michael G. Smith, an associate professor of history who will teach a spring semester course on the Kennedy assassination. "We need to begin to respect the dead rather than distort their memory."
    "It might take a new generation of scholars, those born after the 'Baby Boom,' who did not live through the event and who do not have a personal or political stake in President Kennedy's loss, to come to grips with his assassination. We need to mark it as a simple crime, a murder solved and closed, as well as understand it as a complex event that has been manipulated and misread." "There are more than a thousand major books and articles devoted to the Kennedy assassination, but hardly any of them are by history professors," Smith says. "High school and college history textbooks, for many years, entertained some of the leading conspiracy theories, and still flirt with them today, oddly enough. My profession has forfeited its responsibility, but this is an opportunity to change that." - Newswire Ascribe, 11-19-08

BIGGEST STORIES:

BIGGEST STORIES:

  • U.S. Census Bureau issues Facts for Features in observance of Black (African-American) History Month: February 2009 To commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week. The first celebration occurred on Feb. 12, 1926. For many years, the second week of February was set aside for this celebration to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, as part of the nation's bicentennial, the week was expanded into Black History Month. Each year, U. S. presidents proclaim February as National African-American History Month. - IBI Times, 12-2-08

  • Frank de la Teja: A different take on the first Thanksgiving: Many Texans, however, prefer to claim that El Paso held the first Thanksgiving 23 years earlier. That's when Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate arrived with about 600 people at El Paso del Norte after a harrowing trek across the northern Mexican desert and a successful crossing of the Rio Grande. - Dallas News, 11-22-08

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 04/12/1619 - America's 1st Thanksgiving Day (Va)

  • 04/12/1816 - James Monroe (VA), elected 5th pres, defeating Federalist Rufus King

  • 04/12/1833 - American Anti-Slavery Society formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila

  • 04/12/1836 - Whig party holds its 1st national convention, Harrisburg, Pa

  • 04/12/1844 - James K Polk elected 11th president of US

  • 04/12/1851 - Pres Louis Napolean Boaparte forces crush a coup d'etat in France

  • 04/12/1918 - Pres Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, 1st chief executive to travel outside US while in office

  • 04/12/1943 - -Dec 6] 2nd conference of Cairo: FDR, Churchill and Turkish pres Inonu

  • 04/12/1981 - Pres Reagan allows CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence, Executive Order on Intelligence (No 12333)

  • 04/12/1985 - Pres Reagan appoints Vice Adm John Poindexter as security adviser

  • 05/12/1349 - 500 Jews of Nuremberg massacre during Black Death riots

  • 05/12/1792 - George Washington re-elected US pres

  • 05/12/1804 - Thomas Jefferson re-elected US pres/George Clinton vice-pres

  • 05/12/1831 - Former Pres John Q Adams takes his seat as member of House of Reps

  • 05/12/1832 - Andrew Jackson re-elected president of US

  • 05/12/1837 - Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada

  • 05/12/1955 - Historic bus boycott begins in Montgomery Alabama by Rosa Parks

  • 06/12/1820 - US president James Monroe re-elected

  • 06/12/1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland

  • 06/12/1862 - Pres Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux indians

  • 06/12/1865 - 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery

  • 06/12/1876 - US Electorial College picks Rep Hayes as pres (although Tilden won)

  • 06/12/1877 - Washington Post publishes 1st edition

  • 06/12/1904 - Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)

  • 06/12/1923 - 1st presidential address broadcast on radio (Pres Calvin Coolidge)

  • 06/12/1973 - Gerald Ford sworn-in as 1st unelected VP, succeeds Spiro T Agnew

  • 07/12/1808 - James Madison elected US pres/George Clinton vice-pres

  • 07/12/1836 - Martin Van Buren elected 8th president

  • 07/12/1917 - US becomes 13th country to declare war on Austria during World War I

  • 07/12/1941 - Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that will live in infamy)

  • 07/12/1987 - Gorbachev arrives in US for a summit meeting

  • 07/12/1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev cheered by Wall St crowds upon arrival in NYC, Gorbachev announces 10% unilateral Soviet troop reductions at UN
IN THE NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:

  • Conrad Bladey: Historian proposes toast for Linthicum: J. Charles Linthicum's family provided the name of the Anne Arundel County community, and he did his hometown proud, serving in Congress from 1911 until his death in 1932. The Democrat is best remembered for his role in the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. But he made a possibly more significant contribution to American history, according to a local historian: paving the way for the repeal of Prohibition. - - AP, 11-29-08

  • In American Heritage Magazine North and South Clash Again: James M. McPherson, a history professor at Princeton and author of "Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief," said that many saw the Confederate flag as an incendiary symbol of slavery and that he would have protested the ad had he been aware of it before publication.
    Eric Foner, a Columbia University professor and fellow essayist in the Lincoln issue, said he thought that the ad was more incongruous than illicit. "The Confederate flag is insulting to a great number of Americans, not just African-Americans, but it is legal," he said. - NYT, 11-30-08

  • Bernard Lugan: French historian, threatens to walk away from Rwandan court where he's an expert witness - http://allafrica.com, 11-27-08

  • Middle-East Scholars Hear of Academic Repression in Iraq and Iran - Chronicle of Higher Ed, 11-24-08

  • History Employment — Public and Private - Inside Higher Ed, 11-21-08

  • Conrad Black: Seeking clemency from President Bush - CBC News, 11-20-08

  • Richard L. McCormick: Rutgers' McCormick on the hot seat - Ralph Luker at HNN blog, Cliopatria, 11-20-08

  • Joel Beinin creates a skirmish over academic freedom - Willamette Week, 11-19-08

  • Muhammad Sven Kalisch: Professor Hired for Outreach to Muslims Delivers a Jolt - WSJ, 11-15-08

  • Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore: Historians turn to writing a novel Boston Globe, 11-16-08

QUOTES:

QUOTES:

  • Phillip Kay "Historian says Romans faced credit crunch": "The essential similarity between what happened 21 centuries ago and what is happening in today's U.K. economy is that a massive increase in monetary liquidity culminated with problems in another country causing a credit crisis at home." - UPI, 11-28-08

  • Jan Shipps: Renowned historian speaks about LDS Church PR problems ABC4 (SLC, Utah), 11-18-08
OP-EDs:

OP-EDs:
REVIEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • Gordon M. Goldstein: 'The Doves Were Right': LESSONS IN DISASTER McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam - NYT, 11-30-08

  • Susan Pinkard: The Sophisticated Table: A REVOLUTION IN TASTE The Rise of French Cuisine, 1650-1800 - N"YT, 11-30-08

  • Robert J. Samuelson: Cycles of Doom THE GREAT INFLATION AND ITS AFTERMATH The Past and Future of American Affluence - NYT, 11-30-08

  • Sarah Vowell: Mayflower Power THE WORDY SHIPMATES - NYT, 11-30-08

  • Philip Jenkins: Historian explores Christianity's lost age, land The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia - and How It Died Reuters, 12-1-08

  • Alan Wolfe on Thomas J. Sugrue: Uncommon Ground: SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Thomas J. Sugrue: SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, First Chapter - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Thomas J. Sugrue: The other battlefield The struggle for civil rights in the North, often overshadowed, gets a comprehensive review SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North - Boston Globe, 11-30-08

  • Gordon M. Goldstein: 'The Doves Were Right' - LESSONS IN DISASTER McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam - NYT, 11-28-08

  • WaPo, 11-26-08

  • James McPherson: Looking at Lincoln Through a Prism of War - NYT, 11-21-08

BEST SELLERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • Jon Meacham: AMERICAN LION #4 -- (2 weeks on list) - 12-7-08

  • THE AMERICAN JOURNEY OF BARACK OBAMA, by the editors of Life magazine. #13 -- (3 weeks on list) - 12-7-08

  • Niall Ferguson: THE ASCENT OF MONEY #19 12-7-08

  • Pete Souza: THE RISE OF BARACK OBAMA #27 12-7-08

  • James M. McPherson: TRIED BY WAR #29 12-7-08

  • Doris Kearns Goodwin: TEAM OF RIVALS #32 - 12-7-08

BLOGS:

BLOGS:
PROFILES:

PROFILES:
INTER VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

  • Yury Borisyonok "A Historian's Thankless Work": For the past twenty years, the staff of the Rodina Magazine, an illustrated history journal, has been dissecting archived historical materials for fragments of the truth to bring into the public domain. - Russia Profile, 11-30-08

  • Niall Ferguson's study of the financial history of the world made him prescient about today: "Many professional historians would say that I have no business talking about the present or even the recent past, much less the future. I don't really understand what the point of that self-denial ordinance is because if historians can't illuminate the future, I don't know who can. There's all sorts of bogus futurology out there, but in my experience most of what people say about the future is implicitly based on some understanding of the past. My caveat is simple: There is no such thing as the future, singular. There are futures, plural. And the historian is quite well-placed to offer plausible scenarios based on past analogies." - http://www.thestar.com, 11-23-08

FEATURES:

FEATURES:

  • Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. "Obama as Hoover: The Importance of Storytelling": As the Obama era takes shape, the roles of both Schlesinger and Michelson deserve attention. Particularly as Americans are seeing newsmagazines with cover stories comparing the President-elect who campaigned on a dour vision of scarcity with Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, a considerable leap to understate. - American Spectator, 12-2-08

  • The focus is on Samuel de Champlain - Burlington Free Press, 12-1-08

  • Gordon S. Wood "The Housing-Bubble and the American Revolution ": Gordon S. Wood, a professor at Brown University and perhaps the pre-eminent living historian on the subject, counters: "There was a great deal of instability, but that is hardly an explanation for the Revolution. I don't think you can make a strong argument for an economic interpretation of the Revolution." - NYT, 11-30-08

  • What if Hitler had a love child? Historian A.N. Wilson's "Winnie and Wolf" is a chilling fictional tale of a clandestine affair. - Salon, 11-26-08

HONORS:

HONORS &APPOINTED:
SPOTTED:

SPOTTED:
NEW ON THE WEB:

New Web Sites:
EVENTS:

EVENTS:

  • April 3-4, 2009:The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • Lincoln Symposium to air on C-SPAN: On Saturday, December 6th at 8 p.m., selections from "Lincoln in His Time and Ours," a symposium held on November 22nd at Columbia University, will air on C-SPAN. - Gilder Lehrman Institute, 12-4-08

  • History Channel: "Last Stand of The 300," Friday, December 5, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Barbarians: Goths," Friday, December 5, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Surviving History: 07 - Surviving History," Friday, December 5, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Weapons of Mass Destruction," Friday, December 5, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Shadow Force: Ghost Ship," Friday, December 5, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Next Nostradamus," Saturday, December 6, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid," Saturday, December 6, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "01 - The Wehrmacht: 01 - Attack on Europe," Sunday, December 7, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "02 - The Wehrmacht: 02 - The Turning Point," Sunday, December 7, @ 3pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "03 - The Wehrmacht: 03 - The Crimes," Sunday, December 7, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "04 - The Wehrmacht: 04 - Resistance," Sunday, December 7, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "05 - The Wehrmacht: 05 - To the Bitter End," Sunday, December 7, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "70's Fever," Sunday, December 7, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History Rocks: The '70s, Part 1," Sunday, December 7, @ 10pm ET/PT
COMING SOON BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Scout Tufankjian: Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History Making Presidential Campaign, December 1, 2008

  • Gary May: John Tyler: The American Presidents Series: The 10th President, 1841-1845, December 9, 2008

  • Jonathan Brent: Inside the Stalin Archives, December 9, 2008

  • Time Magazine: Time President Obama: The Path to the White House, December 16, 2008

  • George S. McGovern: Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865, December 23, 2008

  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2008

  • Anthony S. Pitch: "They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance, December 30, 2008

  • William E. Leuchtenburg: Herbert Hoover: The 31st President, 1929-1933 (REV), January 6, 2009

  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe, January 13, 2009

  • Gwen Ifill: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, January 20, 2009

  • Daniel Mark Epstein: Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries, January 27, 2009

DEPARTED:

DEPARTED:

Posted on Friday, December 5, 2008 at 1:01 AM | Top

November 10 & 17, 2008

HISTORY BUZZ:

US POLITICS:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 11-10-1954 - Iwo Jima Memorial (servicemen raising US flag) dedicated in Arlington

  • 11-10-1982 - Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened

  • 11-11-1620 - 41 pilgrims land in Mass, sign Mayflower Compact (just & equal laws)

  • 11-11-1918 - Armistice Day-WW I ends (at 11 AM on Western Front)

  • 11-11-1938 - Kristallnacht; Jews forced to wear Star of David

  • 11-12-1998 - Then Vice President of the United States Al Gore symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol.

  • 11-13-1789 - Ben Franklin writes "Nothing . . . certain but death and taxes"

  • 11-13-1956 - Supreme Court strikes down segregation of races on public buses

  • 11-13-1986 - US president Reagan confesses weapon sales to Iran

  • 11-14-1906 - Theodore Roosevelt becomes 1st US president to visit a foreign country (Panama)

  • 11-14-1968 - "National Turn in Your Draft Card Day" features draft card burning

  • 11-15-1763 - Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland

  • 11-15-1777 - Articles of Confederation adopted by Continental Congress

  • 11-15-1864 - Union Major General William T. Sherman burns Atlanta

  • 11-15-1969 - 250,000 peacefully demonstrate in Washington DC against the Vietnam War

  • 11-16-1973 - President Richard Nixon authorizes construction of Alaskan pipeline

  • 11-17-1800 - John Adams is the 1st president to move into the White House

  • 11-17-1800 - Congress held 1st session in Wash DC in incompleted Capitol building

  • 11-17-1973 - President Richard Nixon tells AP "...people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook"

  • 11-18-1805 - Lewis and Clark reach Pacific Ocean, 1st Americans to cross continent

  • 11-18-1961 - JFK sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam

  • 11-19-1861 - Julia Ward Howe committed "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to paper

  • 11-19-1863 - Lincoln delivers his address in Gettysburg; "4 score and 7 years..."

  • 11-19-1919 - US Senate rejects (55-39) Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations
IN THE NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:
QUOTES:

QUOTES:

  • Andrew Roberts: "Prince Charles turns 60 waiting for throne": "It can't be easy. Most of us can look forward to our new jobs, but the circumstances under which her reign comes to an end means that he can't, emotionally and psychologically.... AP, 11-13-08

  • Robert Lacey "Milestone for a prince whose life has been a waiting game": "I think he is finally coasting home, perhaps coming to the realisation that he will never be king or, if he does, he'll be like one of those elderly leaders at the end of the Soviet era - a sort of royal Andropov, with only a few years. His significance will lie in what he has accomplished as Prince and what he does to get the next king ready." - Guardian, UK, 11-13-08

  • Eric Hobsbawm: Global financial crisis is the "end of the era" for capitalism: "The present crisis is certainly the end of the era in the development of the global capitalist economy." - http://money.uk.msn.com, 11-3-08

OP-EDs:

OP-EDs:
REVIEWS:

REVIEWS:

  • Jack Fischel on Samuel S. Kassow: Forget us not: memorializing the Warsaw Ghetto: Who Will Write Our History? Who Will Write Our History? Emanuel Ringelblum, The Warsaw Ghetto and The Oyneg Shabes Archive - NJ Jewish News, 11-13-08

  • Jon Meacham: Elites and Rivals, Beware: He’s Tough as Old Hickory - AMERICAN LION Andrew Jackson in the White House NYT, 11-9-08

  • Thomas J. Sugrue: Uncommon Ground SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Thomas J. Sugrue: SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, First Chapter - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Peter Ackroyd: Troubled Water THAMES The Biography - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Carlo D'Este: An Officer and a Bulldog WARLORD A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945 - NYT, 11-9-08

  • Tricia Starks: University of Arkansas Historian Publishes Book on Soviet Health and Hygiene - University of Arkansas Daily Headlines, AR, 11-13-08

  • The new book, Wartime Courage, confirms that the British PM's dogged desire to keep his old craft skills as a historian alive - Independent (UK), 11-7-08

  • Douglas Brinkley on Jon Meacham, David S. Reynolds, Robert V. Remini: HISTORY The Warrior President Andrew Jackson fought the British, the Indians and the bankers. AMERICAN LION Andrew Jackson in the White House, WAKING GIANT America in the Age of Jackson, ANDREW JACKSON - WaPo, 11-2-08

  • H.W. Brands: HISTORY Overcoming Privilege Polio crippled FDR physically but strengthened him morally TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt WaPo, 11-2-08

  • Fred Kaplan: Jonathan Yardley on 'Lincoln' The Literary Preparation of a Great President LINCOLN The Biography of a Writer - WaPo, 11-2-08

  • James M. McPherson, Craig L. Symonds: HISTORY | BIOGRAPHY Commander-in-Chief How Lincoln learned the art of war. TRIED BY WAR Abraham Lincoln as Commander In Chief, LINCOLN AND HIS ADMIRALS Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War - WaPo, 11-2-08

  • Harold Holzer: The Travails of Lincoln's Transition LINCOLN PRESIDENT-ELECT Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 - WaPo, 11-2-08

BEST SELLERS:

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

  • James M. McPherson: TRIED BY WAR #15 -- (4 weeks on list) - 11-16-08

  • Andrew Bacevich: THE LIMITS OF POWER #23 - 11-16-08

BLOGS:

BLOGS:
INTER VIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

  • Interview: Elizabeth Perry of Harvard University is the outgoing president of the Association for Asian Studies China Beat, 11-11-08

  • Harold Holzer & James McPherson ask: WWLD? (What would Lincoln Do?) - Chicago Tribune, 11-9-08

  • Andrew Doyle: 2-minute Tuesday: Andrew Doyle, Associate professor of history at Winthrop University - Herald Online, 11-4-08

FEATURES:

FEATURES:

  • U.S. history a hot topic for publishers - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11-11-08

  • James Gregory "UW project sheds light on Klan history": "People in Washington state really have not known about the strength or impact of the KKK here during the 1920s. Historians focus on the Klan as a powerful force in places like Oregon, in Midwest states and of course in the South. But the Klan had tens of thousands of members right here in Washington." - Bellingham Herald, WA, 11-13-08

HONORS:

HONORS &APPOINTED:
SPOTTED:

SPOTTED:

  • W. Fitzhugh Brundage: UNC professor speaks on South's differing racial perceptions: "It seems especially relevant in the aftermath of the election...and the way in which many Southerners voted.... These struggles...draw our attention to the profound transformation at work in the contemporary South... Southerners can no longer assume that their version of the past will be promoted in public places.... We could turn to an era where the culture wars become extremely political." - Tennessee Journalist, TN, 11-12-08

EVENTS:

EVENTS:

  • November 15, 2008: FDR-Obama Comparison Is Theme of Columbia Conference "Restoring America Through a New New Deal: Policy Priorities for the First 100 Days" - Press Release, 11-11-08

  • November 18, 2008: HOWARD ZINN, At Back Pages Books - Back Pages Books, 289 Moody St., presents a post-election State of the Union discussion with acclaimed historian, professor, and activist Howard Zinn, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. Zinn is the author of "The People's History of the United States of America" and the recently published graphic work "The People's History of the American Empire." Cost is $12. - Daily News Tribune, 11-13-08

  • April 3-4, 2009:The Obama Phenomenon: Race and Political Discourse in the United States Today, University of Memphis

ON TV:

ON TV:

  • PBS, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Oswald's Ghost - Monday, November 17 at 9pm on PBS -- American Experience Mondays at 9pm on PBS (check local listings.)

  • History Channel: "The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth," Friday, November 14, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battlefield Detectives: The Civil War: Antietam," Friday, November 14, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Horrors at Andersonville Prison: The Trial of Henry Wirz," Friday, November 14, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Battlefield Detectives: The Civil War: Gettysburg," Friday, November 14, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Civil War Tech," Friday, November 14, @ 7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Antichrist," Saturday, November 15, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The World Trade Center: Rise and Fall of an American Icon," Saturday, November 15, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Quest for the Lost Ark," Sunday, November 16, @ 3pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Hell: The Devil's Domain," Monday, November 17, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History's Mysteries: Hell's Angels," Monday, November 17, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Einstein," Monday, November 17, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Violent Earth: Nature's Fury: New England's Killer Hurricane," Tuesday, November 18, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Wrath Of God: Buffalo Blizzard: Seige and Survival," Tuesday, November 18, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem," Wednesday, November 19, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Organized Crime: A World History: Colombia," Wednesday, November 19, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The True Story of Charlie Wilson," Thursday, November 20, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Stalking Jihad," Thursday, November 20, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History's Mysteries: Ship of Gold," Thursday, November 20, @ 7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Secret Sin City," Thursday, November 20, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Street Gangs: A Secret History," Saturday, November 22, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy," Saturday, November 22, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Kennedys: The Curse of Power," Saturday, November 22, @ 8pm ET/PT
COMING SOON BOOKS:

COMING SOON BOOKS:

  • Carlo D'Este: Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945, November 11, 2008

  • Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, November 11, 2008

  • Michael Burlingame: Abraham Lincoln: A Life, November 14, 2008

  • Peter W. Kunhardt: Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon, November 18, 2008

  • Scout Tufankjian: Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History Making Presidential Campaign, December 1, 2008

  • Gary May: John Tyler: The American Presidents Series: The 10th President, 1841-1845, December 9, 2008

  • Jonathan Brent: Inside the Stalin Archives, December 9, 2008

  • Time Magazine: Time President Obama: The Path to the White House, December 16, 2008

  • George S. McGovern: Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865, December 23, 2008

  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2008

  • Anthony S. Pitch: "They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance, December 30, 2008

  • William E. Leuchtenburg: Herbert Hoover: The 31st President, 1929-1933 (REV), January 6, 2009

  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe, January 13, 2009

  • Gwen Ifill: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, January 20, 2009

  • Daniel Mark Epstein: Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries, January 27, 2009

DEPARTED:

DEPARTED:

  • Studs Terkel's Legacy: A Vivid Window on the Great Depression - NYT, 11-8-08

Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 3:30 AM | Top

October 27, 2008

CAMPAIGN 2008:

CAMPAIGN 2008 WATCH:
BIGGEST STORIES:

BIGGEST STORIES: Halloween

  • John Demos: At Halloween: Every witch way to Salem - Boston Herald, 10-26-08

  • John Demos "Historian examines witch hunts past and present ": "Connecticut would have been the leader in witch hunting if it hadn't been for Salem," historian John Demos told a full house the Windsor Historical Society. - Windsor Journal, 10-23-08

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

    On This Day in History....

  • 25/10/1492 - Christopher Columbus and ship Santa Maria land in Dominican Republic

  • 25/10/1825 - Erie Canal opens, linking Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean

  • 25/10/1881 - Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Clanton engage in "Shootout at OK Corral"

  • 25/10/1923 - Senate committee publishes 1st report on Teapot Dome scandal

  • 25/10/1940 - US Army Gen Benjamin Davis becomes 1st black general

  • 25/10/1951 - Peace talks aimed at ending Korean War resumed in Panmunjom

  • 25/10/1963 - Anti-Kennedy "WANTED FOR TREASON" pamphlets scattered in Dallas

  • 25/10/1983 - US invades Grenada, a country 1/2,000 its population (US Wins)

  • 26/10/1682 - William Penn accepts area around Delaware River from Duke of York

  • 26/10/1749 - Georgia Colony reverses itself and rules slavery is legal

  • 26/10/1774 - 1st Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia

  • 26/10/1774 - Minute Men organized in colonies

  • 26/10/1787 - "Federalist Papers" published, calls for ratification of Constitution

  • 26/10/1795 - Pinckney's Treaty between Spain and US is signed, establishing southern boundary of US and giving Americans right to send goods down Mississippi

  • 26/10/1810 - US annexes western Florida

  • 26/10/1863 - Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva

  • 26/10/1881 - Gunfight at OK Corral, in Tombstone, Az

  • 26/10/1900 - After 4 years of work, 1st section of NY subway opens

  • 26/10/1916 - Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control)

  • 26/10/1919 - President Wilson's veto of Prohibition Enforcement Bill is overridden

  • 26/10/1950 - Mother Teresa found her Mission of Charity in Calcutta, India

  • 26/10/1955 - Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as pres

  • 26/10/1962 - Nikita Khrushchev sends note to JFK offering to withdraw his missiles from Cuba if US closed its bases in Turkey offer is rejected

  • 26/10/1962 - JFK warns Russia US will not allow Soviet missiles to remain in Cuba

  • 26/10/1972 - Henry Kissinger declares "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam

  • 26/10/1973 - President Nixon released 1st White House tapes on Watergate scandal

  • 26/10/1994 - Jordan and Israel sign peace accord

  • 27/10/1864 - Siege of Petersburg, VA

  • 27/10/1871 - Boss Tweed (William Macy Tweed), Democratic leader of Tammany Hall, arrested after NY Times exposed his corruption

  • 27/10/1913 - Pres Wilson says US will never attack another country

  • 27/10/1920 - League of Nations moves headquarters in Geneva

  • 27/10/1954 - Pres Eisenhower offers aid to S Vietnam pres Ngo Dinh Diem

  • 27/10/1962 - Black Saturday - Russian nuclear missile crisis in Cuba

  • 28/10/1636 - Harvard University (Cambridge Mass) founded

  • 28/10/1776 - Battle of White Plains; Washington retreats to NJ

  • 28/10/1793 - Eli Whitney applies for a patent on cotton gin

  • 28/10/1858 - Macy's Dept store opens in NYC

  • 28/10/1863 - Battle at Wauhatchie Georgia: 865 killed or injured

  • 28/10/1864 - Battle at Fair Oaks, Virginia, ends after 1554 casualties

  • 28/10/1867 - Maimonides College in Penns is 1st Jewish college in the US

  • 28/10/1886 - Statue of Liberty dedicated by Pres Grover Cleveland, it is celebrated by 1st confetti (ticker tape) parade in NYC

  • 28/10/1919 - Volstead Act passed by Congress, start prohibition over Wilson's veto

  • 28/10/1936 - FDR rededicates Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary

  • 28/10/1948 - Flag of Israel is adopted

  • 28/10/1949 - Eugenie Anderson is 1st woman US ambassador (to Denmark)

  • 28/10/1962 - Khrushchev orders withdrawal of missiles from Cuba, ending crisis

  • 29/10/1929 - "Black Tuesday," Stock Market crashes triggers "Great Depression"

  • 29/10/1956 - Israeli paratroopers drop into Sinai to open Straits of Tiran

  • 29/10/1966 - National Organization of Women founded

  • 29/10/1969 - Supreme Court orders end to all school desegregation "at once"

  • 29/10/1929 - "Black Tuesday," Stock Market crashes triggers "Great Depression"

  • 29/10/1956 - Israeli paratroopers drop into Sinai to open Straits of Tiran

  • 29/10/1966 - National Organization of Women founded

  • 29/10/1969 - Supreme Court orders end to all school desegregation "at once"

  • 30/10/1270 - 8th and last crusade is launched

  • 30/10/1697 - Germany signs French/English/Spanish/Neth/Brandenburgs peace treaty ending 9 year War

  • 30/10/1864 - The city of Helena, Montana, is founded after miners discover gold

  • 30/10/1893 - Senate approves repealing Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890

  • 30/10/1896 - Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes 1st female senator

  • 30/10/1905 - "October Manifesto" Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties

  • 30/10/1914 - Allied offensive at Ypres (Belgium) begins

  • 30/10/1941 - FDR approves Lend-Lease aid to the USSR

  • 30/10/1954 - US Armed Forces end segregation of races

  • 31/10/0834 - 1st All Hallows Eve (Halloween) observed to honor the saints

  • 31/10/1517 - Luther posts 95 theses on Wittenberg church-Protestant Reformation

  • 31/10/1541 - Michelangelo Buonarroti's paints "last judgement" in 16th Chapel

  • 31/10/1846 - Donner party, unable to cross the Donner Pass, construct a winter camp

  • 31/10/1918 - Spanish flu-virus kills 21,000 in US in 1 week

  • 31/10/1922 - Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) becomes premier of Italy

  • 31/10/1940 - Battle of Britain: Germany and Britain control of English Channel, ends

  • 31/10/1941 - Prior to US in WW II, Germany torpedoes US destroyer Reuben James

  • 31/10/1963 - Ed Sullivan witnesses Beatles and their fans at London Airport

  • 31/10/1968 - President Johnson orders a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam

  • 01/11/1512 - Michelangelo's paintings on ceiling of Sistine Chapel, 1st exhibited

  • 01/11/1765 - Stamp Act goes into effect in British colonies

  • 01/11/1783 - Continental Army dissolved; George Washington's "Farewell Address"

  • 01/11/1800 - 1st president to live in white house (John Adams)

  • 01/11/1861 - Gen George B McClellan made general in chief of Union armies

  • 01/11/1866 - 1st Civil Rights Bill passes

  • 01/11/1878 - Edward Scripps and John Sweeney found Penny Press (Cleveland Press)

  • 01/11/1917 - In WW I, the 1st US soldiers are killed in combat

  • 01/11/1954 - US Senate admonishes Joseph Mccarthy because of slander campaign

  • 01/11/1962 - Cuban missile crisis ends, JFK says USSR is dismantling missile bases

  • 01/11/1983 - Pres Reagan established Dr Martin Luther King Jr holiday

  • 02/11/1772 - Boston: anti-English Committee of Correspondence forms

  • 02/11/1811 - Battle of Tippecanoe: Gen Jackson vs indians

  • 02/11/1824 - Popular presidential vote 1st recorded; Jackson beats J Q Adams

  • 02/11/1852 - Franklin Pierce elected as president of US

  • 02/11/1917 - Balfour Declaration proclaims support for a Jewish state in Palestine

  • 02/11/1948 - Pres Truman re-elected in an upset over Republican Thomas Dewey

  • 02/11/1954 - JS Thurmond is 1st senator elected by write-in vote (SC)

  • 02/11/1962 - JFK announces Cuban missile bases were being dismantled
IN THE NEWS:

IN THE NEWS:
REVIEWED AND FIRST CHAPTERS:

REVIEWED AND FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • JAY WINIK on DAVID S. REYNOLDS: Young America's Wild Side Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson - NYT, 10-26-08

  • DAVID S. REYNOLDS: Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson, First Chapter - NYT, 10-26-08

  • John D. Gartner: Jonathan Yardley on 'In Search of Bill Clinton' Putting Bill Clinton on the couch IN SEARCH OF BILL CLINTON A Psychological Biography - WaPo, 10-23-08

  • Timothy W. Ryback: Michael Dirda on 'Hitler's Private Library' The Führer loved his library, but what good did it do? HITLER'S PRIVATE LIBRARY The Books That Shaped His Life - WaPo, 10-26-08

  • Treasure Trove of Newsreels Rediscovered by Film Historian - Press Release, 10-21-08

  • Annette Gordon-Reed's new book on the Hemingses called valuable but flawed - Eric Foner in the NYT Book Review, 10-3-08

  • Pierre Berton: Canadian historian Berton had his own secrets - Vancouver Sun, 10-13-08

OP-EDs:

OP-EDs & LETTERS:
BLOGS:

BLOGS:
PROFILED:

PROFILED:
INTERVIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:
FEATURES:

FEATURES:
QUOTED:

QUOTED:

  • Robert Caro "Former JFK, LBJ aide Nicholas Katzenbach remembers years in Washington": "He is a central figure in so many of the pivotal episodes of American history of the 1960s," says Robert Caro, who has interviewed Katzenbach for the fourth and final volume of his series of books on Lyndon Johnson. "And he has the ability, which not every participant has, to see the larger implications of their actions." - Canadian Press, 10-24-08

  • Sean Wilentz "Former JFK, LBJ aide Nicholas Katzenbach remembers years in Washington": "Nick has been a truly noble public servant," says historian Sean Wilentz, who praises Katzenbach as a model for a time when government officials were "honest pursuers of justice, without ideological axes to grind." - Canadian Press, 10-24-08

  • Alan Kraut says it's time to get the immigrant story right - Francis X. Clines in the NYT, 10-11-08

  • David Fowler: Historian says Beatles were just capitalists, and not youth heroes - Guardian (UK), 10-9-08

HONORED / AWARDED:

HONORED, AWARDED, APPOINTED:
SPOTTED:

SPOTTED:

  • John Demos "Historian examines witch hunts past and present ": "Connecticut would have been the leader in witch hunting if it hadn't been for Salem," historian John Demos told a full house the Windsor Historical Society. - Windsor Journal, 10-23-08

CALENDAR:

CALENDAR:

  • October 30, 2008: Columbia University Historian to Lecture on Illegal Immigration - Mae Ngai, the Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and professor of history at Columbia University will give the talk, "Illegal Immigration to the United States: Origins and Consequences," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 in the Wailes Lounge at the Elston Inn & Conference Center. - Sweet Briar College, 10-23-08

ON TV:

    ON TV: History Listings This Week

  • The Weather Channel's original program: "When Weather Changed History": Season 2 debuts October 5 with an episode dedicated to the Chicago Fire of 1871. Repeats of Season 1 are on Every Sunday at 9pmET with re-airings through out the week. - When Weather Changed History

  • Ken Burns: PBS to air his national parks series next year - AP, 7-13-08

  • PBS, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: LBJ, Part Two Monday, October 27 at 9pm on PBS -- As this year's political campaigns heat up, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE continues to showcase THE PRESIDENTS Mondays at 9pm on PBS (check local listings.)

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: City of Blood," Sunday, October 26, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Extreme Marksmen," Monday, October 27, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Halloween Tech," Monday, October 27, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Primal Fear," Monday, October 27, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree," Monday, October 27, @ 11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Nostradamus: 500 Years Later," Tuesday, October 28, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Lost Worlds: The Pagans," Tuesday, October 28, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy," Tuesday, October 28, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Chocolate," Tuesday, October 28, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Snackfood Tech," Tuesday, October 28, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: More Snackfood Tech," Tuesday, October 28, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "History's Mysteries: Amityville: Horror or Hoax? ," Tuesday, October 28, @ 11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Special: An Alien History of Planet Earth," Wednesday, October 29, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "UFO Files: The Day after Roswell," Wednesday, October 29, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest: Monster Spiders ," Wednesday, October 29, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed," Thursday, October 30, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Star Wars Tech," Thursday, October 30, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Lost Worlds: The Real Dracula," Thursday, October 30, @ 5pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Mega Movers: Strange Structures," Thursday, October 30, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons," Thursday, October 30, @ 7pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Candy," Thursday, October 30, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: City of Blood," Thursday, October 30, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: 11 - Dracula's Underground," Thursday, October 30, @ 11pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Exorcism: Driving Out the Devil," Friday, October 31, @ 2pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest: Vampire Beast," Friday, October 31, @ 4pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "MonsterQuest: Vampires in America," Friday, October 31, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Haunted History of Halloween," Friday, October 31, @ 6pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "Modern Marvels: Halloween Tech," Friday, October 31, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents: 1789-1825," Saturday, November 1, @ 8pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents: 1825-1849," Saturday, November 1, @ 9pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents: 1865-1885," Saturday, November 1, @ 10pm ET/PT

  • History Channel: "The Presidents: 1913-1945," Saturday, November 1, @ 11pm ET/PT
SELLING BIG (NYT):

SELLING BIG (NYT):

  • Sarah Vowell: THE WORDY SHIPMATES, #8 -- (2 weeks on list) - 11-2-08

  • Bob Woodward: THE WAR WITHIN #11 -- (6 weeks on list) - 11-2-08

  • Andrew Bacevich: THE LIMITS OF POWER #13 -- (10 weeks on list) - 11-2-08

  • James M. McPherson: TRIED BY WAR #15 -- (2 weeks on list) - 11-2-08

  • Jerome R. Corsi: THE OBAMA NATION #26 - 11-2-08

FUTURE RELEASES:

FUTURE RELEASES:

  • H. W. Brands: Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, November 4, 2008

  • Carlo D'Este: Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945, November 11, 2008

  • Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, November 11, 2008

  • Gary May: John Tyler: The American Presidents Series: The 10th President, 1841-1845, December 9, 2008

  • George S. McGovern: Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865, December 23, 2008
DEPARTED:

DEPARTED:

Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 2:54 AM | Top




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