William Wells Brown possessed immense and various talents. Born into slavery in Kentucky around 1814, Brown grew up in Missouri, fled enslavement in the early 1830s, and by the early 1840s had become a rising star of the antislavery movement.
February, 2015
The Snows of History
The greater Boston area has just experienced the snowiest February in its recorded history, and we are only a few inches shy of setting a record for the snowiest winter of all time.
Sticks, Stones, and American Exceptionalism
On February 18, 2015, in a fundraiser for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani joined the parade of accusers in American politics – accusing President Obama of not loving this country.
“Go Forward or Die”: The Harlem Hellfighters in World War I
The United States of American entered World War I with a lofty goal: to make the world “safe for democracy.” Millions of Americans answered their nation’s call to arms, including African Americans who did not enjoy the acceptance of their own countrymen.
What Can We Learn from American Sniper?
In just over a month after its release, the film American Sniper has made over $400 million and is now the highest-grossing American war movie of all time.
“A Man May Quibble for His Life:” William Hardy and the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Massachusetts
In 1806, William Hardy, a poor African American laborer living in Boston, was indicted for the murder of an infant.
Black History Month is American History Month
W.E.B. Du Bois’s magisterial book The Souls of Black Folk (1907) has left one particularly clear imprint on American conversations: its description of African Americans’ “double consciousness,” their sense of being both within and without American identity, insiders yet outsiders to this national community.
Exhuming President Taylor
President Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850, five days after becoming ill at a Fourth of July celebration. He apparently overindulged on raw cherries and iced milk; his doctors cited the cause of death as “acute gastroenteritis.”
The Dark Horse Danger: Democratic Lessons for Republicans in 2016
As a host of Republican Party big-wigs – from rapid-rise newcomers like Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, to familiar stalwarts like Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush – position themselves for the 2016 presidential nomination, we can look to history for insight as to the problems of a crowded field.
President Obama, the National Prayer Breakfast, and Slavery
The controversy over President Obama’s remarks at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast is a strange one.