Memory

How the attempt to claim Beethoven as Black actually recycles racist tropes.

They have shaped America, but how old were they on Independence Day?

As the 150th of the Battle of Gettysburg approaches, it's time to question the popular account of a war that tore apart the nation.

In 1923, the U.S. Senate approved a new monument in D.C. "in memory of the faithful slave mammies of the South."

On America's iconic monuments and the idea of national remembrance.

Historians often treat Miller as a foil, but the Father of American Intellectual history retains untapped potential to inspire new modes of inquiry.

A series of objects of both Native and non-Native origin that tell a story of extraordinary culture disruption.

The story of a group of people who get together each year to reenact the notorious 1946 Moore’s Ford lynching in Georgia.

How Buffalo Bill’s Wild West brought scenes from the American West to audiences around the globe.

Why Marvin Greer spends his weekends playing the part of a slave at Civil War reenactments.

History books are rewritten to focus on the underdog. Surely that is a victory for the common people...or is it?

Debunking myths about the Pony Express.

It's worth remembering that the now-controversial holiday started as a way to empower immigrants and celebrate American diversity.

As Americans enjoy the holiday weekend, does anyone know how Memorial Day originated?

Reflections on the various legends surrounding the world's most famous ship.

How a re-creation of its most famous battle helped erase the meaning of the Civil War.

Does recognizing the importance of conservatism in the twentieth century make us see the arc of American history in a new way?

The Indians who greeted Columbus were believed to have died out. But a search for their descendants yielded surprising results.

Edward Rielly tells of the tragic massacre which underpinned the life of resistance fighter Geronimo.

“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

Neo-Nazis aren't the only ones collecting Nazi memorabilia.

Because of you, my Civil War lecture is always packed with students raised on your romantic, deeply misleading portrait of the conflict.

The story of Vinegar Hill, a historically African American neighborhood in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Why did Carter G. Woodson choose February, and what was his vision for the annual commemoration?

Jane Addams was controversial and independent-minded.

George Washington scales new heights.

All good storytellers tell a big story within a little story, and so do all good historians.

Did the 2010 Tea Party Movement really have anything in common with 1773? What did the history of populism suggest about the Tea Party's future?

Had Bob Dylan not written a song about it, the 1963 killing of a black servant by a white socialite’s cane might have been long forgotten.

A look back at the historian's work suggests that contemporary radicals may be all too invested in the myth of American consensus.