A Reminder for President Trump: Removing Statues Won't Erase Your History 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

The statue of Trump & Epstein (left) lasted 1 day on the National Mall, despite a permit that ran through Sunday. It was the 3d of 3 such temporary installations (apparently by the same anonymous artist). The White House criticized the 1st two, but they remained for the duration of their permits.

"These are the facts of American history. They are not distortions, nor is displaying this information at national parks ideologically motivated. These and similar facts explain much about our nation." slate.com/news-and-pol...

Someone needs to tell Trump that ordering the removal of a monument doesn't erase history. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The movie Glory has introduced millions to the 54th MA, but few know John W. M. Appleton. Today, I chat with James Jewell and Eugene Van Sickle about Appleton and their book _Waging War for Freedom_ @utpress.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/2fNo... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

This ad was published in a Charleston, SC newspaper in 1857. (Transcription in Alt text.) #slaveryarchive 🗃

So, Robert Reich has a sixth sense that the nation has turned a corner over the past week. Have we learned absolutely nothing over the past eight years?

This day in 1990, Ken Burns's The Civil War aired on PBS. I am going to hop on a live chat at 8PM EST to talk about the series on this anniversary. open.substack.com/live-stream/...

This is the look that Otis gives when he doesn't want to take a walk.

With just a few days to go before I send the final manuscript to the publisher, I managed to find a high-res copy of this image of Robert Gould Shaw for my book. It was taken in the late 1850s.

With malice toward my opponents, with charity for my minions, with firmness in the grift as God gives us to see the grift, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to pour salt on the nation's wounds, to pardon him who shall have done my bidding, & to do all which may line my family's pockets.

I find this so hard to believe. 😂😆 "But there has been tension between Abergel and some of the commission members, who believe he overstepped his bounds and was working to make the celebration about Trump, according to people familiar with the commission." www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

On the National Mall this morning, a new satirical statue is up celebrating Jeffrey Epstein and Trump's "friendship" in honor of National Friendship Month.

The city of San Antonio has donated the controversial Confederate memorial statue to SS American Memorial Foundation, based in Seguin. Read More👉 www.tpr.org/government-poli...

"On birthright citizenship, we can thus follow Lincoln, or we can follow Trump. But we cannot follow both, because Trump is trying to undo precisely what Lincoln and his allies did, beginning eight score and three years ago." time.com/7319247/eman...

"I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs."--Donald Trump

"I'm a historian of China, and so I'm really used to when governments are stepping in trying to whitewash history and censor history like that. And it really upset me to see this being threatened in the United States as well." www.npr.org/2025/09/22/n...

This is the last full week of work on my Robert Gould Shaw biography before sending off the final manuscript to the publisher. I feel like I am preparing to assault Fort Wagner myself. Here's hoping for a better result.

It's really hard to top Frederick Douglass's commentary on the Preliminary Emancipation, issued #otd in 1862.

Imagine this, but as a recruitment ad for teachers.

Today is the anniversary of the announcement of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Captain Robert Gould Shaw had many thoughts about it. 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

The life and death of Charlie Kirk and the response to it is the fastest case study of the difference between history and memory that I have ever seen develop.

There was a post circulating a few days back on bluesky about an AI-generated history book cover... does anyone have the link to that post? Giving a talk on AI and history to some students tomorrow, and the cover would be a great convo starter 🗃️

Republicans legislatures across the South have passed laws preventing communities from legally removing statues. Now they are passing laws ordering that new statues be raised. It was never about protecting history. 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Really looking forward to this book. 🗃️

"I Don't See the Immediate Benefit Of It": Robert Gould Shaw and Emancipation 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Republicans legislatures across the South have passed laws preventing communities from legally removing statues. Now they are passing laws ordering that new statues be raised. It was never about protecting history. 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Robert E. Lee and the Return of the "Loyal Slave" to West Point open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Robert E. Lee and the Return of the "Loyal Slave" to West Point open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

At a time when the Trump administration is actively suppressing the work of public historians and the history of American slavery, the decision to highlight one of the most harmful historical myths in American history should be roundly condemned by all of us. 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

At a time when the Trump administration is actively suppressing the work of public historians and the history of American slavery, the decision to highlight one of the most harmful historical myths in American history should be roundly condemned by all of us. 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Great to see.

It has been reported that the portrait of Robert E. Lee has been returned to the library at West Point, but it is clearly not in the same location. Anyone have any idea where in the library it is now located?

Anything by Jon Grinspan.

Consider joining us at the Central Pennsylvania Civil War Round Table featuring Ryan Quintana's talk "Westward How?! The Politics and Practice of Trans-Continental Travel in the Civil War Era".

Take a few minutes to listen to the Charlie Haden Quartet West with Melody Gardot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQTk...

The Trump Administration's Assault on Public History is Part of a Broader Attempt to Undercut and Weaken our Democracy #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

The Trump Administration's Assault on Public History is Part of a Broader Attempt to Undercut and Weaken our Democracy #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Found time today to figure this out on bass. It's tricky. You really need a fretless to nail down Sting's tone. And Copeland is a beast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlu7...

Today, we wrap up our summer #AHAPerspectives miniseries on historians' work with the National Park Service! We're finishing with an article by @hngreen.bsky.social, who shares her experiences writing an NPS historic resource study and how politics today will constrain future such work. 🗃️

Despite recent reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the status of interpretive materials concerning slavery in the National Park Service. #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

I didn't know that a new biography of Moses Ezekiel has just been published by @psupress.bsky.social. Looks fascinating. www.psupress.org/books/titles...

Confusion and Questions Inside the National Park Service #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Confusion and Questions Inside the National Park Service #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

I've always thought that if Americans could endure the brutality of slavery, the rest of us can endure whatever discomfort accompanies learning about and remembering them.

Despite the reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times, we really don't have any idea what is going on right now in the The National Park Service, including its employees. Based on everything I am hearing from my contacts, all is confusion. #NationalParks

"If you can erase 'The Scourged Back,' if you can erase Peter, or Gordon, or any one of the millions of enslaved people who suffered similar torments or worse, then you can erase anything, and nothing will trouble the American conscience ever again." www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

That’s one hell of a selective memory on display right there.

The order for the NPS to remove the image of "Peter," reminds me of Col. Orlando Brown's response in 1866 to a question posed to him by a congressman re: any lingering ill-will toward the freedmen in Richmond. He replied that white people were not inclined "to forgive the negro for being free."

"The park service released pictures of a man accused of etching his initials on the 44th New York Infantry Monument on Sunday between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Little Round Top." #NationalParks www.wgal.com/article/nati...