The American Historical Association held its annual conference in-person in Philadelphia, January 5-8, 2023. The conference made the front page of the Arts and Culture section in The New York Times on Monday after the weekend event. It did so because of a column in Perspectives on History posted by James H. Sweet, the AHA […]
State of New York State History
Advocacy in 2023 and Beyond: Are You Ready?
Governor Announces $25 Million Investment into State Historic Sites for the Semiquincentennial Funding Will Go Towards Revitalization of the State’s Revolutionary War Historic Sites in Anticipation of Nation’s Semiquincentennial Anniversary TITUSVILLE – Governor Phil Murphy today (11/29/22) announced a $25 million investment towards New Jersey’s Revolutionary War historic sites in preparation for the United States […]
The Battle of Saratoga and Local History: Lessons from Zelenskyy and Putin
Voldymor Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, two historical figures in the present, have given the United States history lessons about our own past. In one case the action was deliberate: Zelenskyy’s deliberate reference to the Battle of Saratoga. In the other case. It was through his actions and not a speech. Together they present the American […]
Land Acknowledgements and Disappearing Mascots
Recent years have seen the growth of two related and possibly contradictory developments in Indian-American relationships: land acknowledgments and mascot removal. Both have been in the academic news lately. In the November issue of Perspectives on History of the American Historical Association, there is an article “Land Acknowledgements: Helpful, Harmful, Hopeful,” by Elizabeth Ellis, the […]
Peoples of Agency or Victim-hood?: Africans and Indians
Are you captain of your fate, master of your destiny? Are you a victim of your hyphen? Way back in September, The New York Times had on the front page of its Arts section, an article entitled, “Book Aims to Recast the Native Narrative: A Finnish historian argues against the American trope of the ‘doomed […]
The Curse of Canaan: Slavery in Early African American Biblical Scholarship
The current issue of Biblical Interpretation includes the article “The Blessing of Ham: Genesis 9:1 in Early African American Biblical Scholarship” by Jeremy Schipper, University of Toronto. The use of the Bible on both sides of the slavery debate leading up to the Civil War is well known. Since this article appears in a biblical […]
Civil War Update: The Battle of Gettysburg 2022 Elections
In the battle between Donald Trump and the Constitution, the 2022 elections may be considered the Battle of Gettysburg. The current Civil War is being fought differently than the last one. That Civil War was fought at National Park Service sites. This one is being fought through the voting at all levels and the occasional […]
King Tut Centennial (November 4) and American Indians
On November 4, 1922, the world of Egyptology changed forever. On that date Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, the boy-king. Egyptology hasn’t been the same since. The discovery of an intact tomb from the 14tth century BCE has provided splendors which continue to dazzle the general public to this very day. Tours […]
The Five Levels of Columbus
Another Columbus Day has come and gone. This latest one was quieter than some previous ones. It is as if each side in the culture wars has staked out its turf and for the moment is content to let things ride. Columbus may be considered a five-stratum tel. Tell is an archaeological term. It refers […]
Immigrant Achievements
On October 10, 2022, the Lower Manhattan Historical Association (LMHA) resumed its annual in-person “Alexander Hamilton Immigrant Achievement Awards Ceremony” after the COVID hiatus. The ceremony was held at Trinity Commons, the new facility of Trinity Church in Manhattan located on a bridge walkway from Church. It provides a spectacular view the Trinity Church and […]