Memory

A troubling TikTok conspiracy theory questions whether Keller was “real.”

The bizarre and complex history of Black America, a theatrical production which revealed the conflicting possibilities of self-expression in a racist society.

Their secondhand experience of past horrors can debilitate them.

As Presidents' Day approaches, historians look back at the most notable recent uses and misuses of "the Great Emancipator's" words.

Why I’ve made it my mission to teach others about Prince Hall.

The Federal Writers’ Project narratives provide an all-too-rare link to our past.

This collection of colorized portraits transforms ex-slave narratives into freedom narratives in order to better remember the individuals who survived slavery.

The Apsáalooke artist has created a major new installation for her solo show at the Joslyn Art Museum using photographs of the 500 delegates taken in 1898.

A Pulitzer Prize winner punches down.

We must remember the very real challenges to the preservation of our democracy.

How not to learn about the American past.

The 1776 Commission marks the depth of right-wing commitment to ideological pseudo-history that can be used to shut down meaningful conversation about racism.

A new biography of William Tecumseh Sherman questions his reputation as the brutal "prophet of total war."

Misunderstood historical imagery at the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Jonathan W. Wilson offers a constructively critical review of Wilfred McClay's American history textbook "Land of Hope."

We must be cautious of the inclination to find a “usable history” that proves those points we want to prove, that reinforces the lessons we want reinforced.

We don't know which images will become emblematic of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, but past movements have shown the dangers of a singular narrative.

Lepore’s framework insists that the “self-evident” truths of the nation’s founding were anything but.

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history.

The word “Plymouth” may conjure up visions of Pilgrims in search of religious freedom, but that vision does not reflect reality.

Sweeping the human story into a cosmic tale is a thrill but we should be wary about what is overlooked in the grandeur.

More than iron, stone, or oil, wood explains human history.

He devoted a lifetime to studying America’s foundation, witnessed its near-dissolution, and uncannily anticipated its evolution.

The West and the nation need worthier, more honest memorials.

Jack Kennedy, we hardly know ye—and to know ye is not to love ye.

Natural language processing reveals huge differences in how Texas history textbooks treat men, women, and people of color.

How the preeminent photographic record of the period excluded people of color from the nation’s self-image.

The chaotic quest to mythologize America’s past.

'Freedom!' tried to show the horrors of antebellum slavery and the courage of escaping slaves. But neither schools nor audiences were ready for it.

How does color influence our perception of time?