Historians and citizens who say they are concerned about the Trump administration's pressure on the Smithsonian are working to document exhibits, as they exist today, throughout the museum network.

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 🗃️

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...

Teaching request: I'm having students listen to and annotate oral histories from the Vietnam War. I need some kind of form that they can complete as part of their active listening and that can let them document their key takeaways. Does anyone have a form you'd be willing to share? 🗃️

Justice Clarence Thomas writes constantly that the Constitution is "colorblind." Yet, as @pemalevy.bsky.social writes, Thomas was silent this week as the high court voted to allow the Trump admin to detain immigrants based in part on the color of their skin or whether they spoke with an accent.

Not good www.cnn.com/2025/09/09/e...

Our book is out!! Happy publication day to our fantastic team of editors and authors.

This event is happening on Wednesday! I think there's still time to book a place for either in person or to attend online and watch some very smart people (and me) talk about history and fantasy in games and media! 🗃️

Today in #AHAPerspectives, a real treat for me! I got to sit down with my friend and colleague, Sarah Weicksel, to discuss her new role as @historians.org executive director. As a fellow first-gen college student (and grad student), a lot in her experiences resonates with my own. 🗃️

Job alert: Penn State's @richardscenter.bsky.social is hiring for a Civil War & Reconstruction postdoc... apply!! This postdoc worked miracles for me a few years back and there's no better environment to turn your dissertation into a book. I can't recommend the Richards Center enough! 🗃️

Don’t walk, run to the new @uncpress.bsky.social website for a 48-hour-flash sale! Any titles you've had your eye on (including Opium Slavery 🤷‍♂️) are 50% off plus free shipping on orders over $75 with code 01NEWSITE50 at checkout 🗃️ uncpress.org/978146968953...

Fantastic resource for historians: a spreadsheet of NARA's digitized microfilm, with links to the files in the Archives catalog. May it help you as much as it has helped me. www.archives.gov/files/colleg...

I'll admit, I was skeptical when they said Gemini was just like a bunch of PhDs. But I gotta admit they nailed it.

The AHA is compiling resources developed by historians in response to recent actions by the federal governments. We welcome submissions from our members about op-eds, media appearances, or other resources they've contributed offering historical context and insight to the public. 🗃️

This list is practically out of the 1800s. It’s unreal, but real. When I was a public high school teacher in TX, just a decade ago, the ideas codified in these laws were literally laughable. And now they are law. Heartbroken. www.wfaa.com/article/news...

new polling suggests that American support for Israel's genocide in Gaza is starting to mirror how Americans felt about the US's conduct in Vietnam after the Tet Offensive in 1968-69 (from the big picture, at least) 🗃️ www.cnn.com/2025/07/31/p...

Yes! So we did this exercise with chatbots purporting to stand in for Frederick Douglass in my Civil War and Reconstruction class at JMU. Biggest takeaway from students? LLMs do a god awful job of emulating Douglass AND he would've hated having his powerful, inimitable voice stolen by big tech 🗃️

Check out Uncensored, the archive created by ex-NPS historians that documentes which stories have been censored by the administration www.resistancerangers.org/rangers-unce...

Back 31 years ago, Disney's attempt to build a theme park next to the Manassas battlefields was decisively rebuffed. It's absolutely not clear to me that AI data centers are deserving of any better reception, or indeed, of any reception other than what Disney's America got back then.

Y'all we need join with @battlefields.org and say a hard no to data centers that would ruin Northern Virginia's battlefields! 🗃️ www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Do not lead the goats.

🗃️

History should make you uncomfortable. Watch seven historians describe how exploring America’s past honestly in the classroom benefits the nation’s students, and how the #FreedomToLearn also strengthens our shared democracy. 🗃️

Imagine proof reading this footnote 🫠 (from The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion Part 2 Volume 1)

76% of Americans think democracy is under serious threat, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Their faith in political leadership in the White House and Congress is low.

Proof of life! We have page proofs for Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, coming this October with @uncpress.bsky.social 🗃️

Andrew Roth survived the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald. Jack Moran helped liberate the camp while serving in the U.S. Army. Decades after liberation, the two met and shared their stories. https://n.pr/3ZUKlXC

If you are “neutral” about Nazis then your actions enable fascism. Especially galling behavior by an institution that censors “race” out of course titles… they are neutral on white supremacy but anti when it comes to racial equality. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/u...

And the data cited here that shows hallucinations are getting worse 😬

Today’s reminder that bad #histmed frequently leads to bad public policy. (With that said, it was a nice surprise to hear @melaniekiechle.bsky.social discussing miasma theory while I was running errands this morning!) #histSTM #histsci 🗃️

Please help me spread the word about this rally in support of the National Park Service, which will take place at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park on June 16 from 4-6:30PM. Thank you. #NationalParks #PublicHistory 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Blatantly illegal.

No, not doing this. Hard pass. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/s...

They're certainly absent from most portrayals of D-Day, but one of my favorite stories is the 320th Balloon Barrage Battalion, a Black U.S. Army unit that was among the first waves of troops to land at Omaha Beach and Utah Beach! airandspace.si.edu/stories/edit...

Thousands of Black men stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day / D-Day+1 to destroy nazism. Mostly segregated into "noncombat" roles, they bled and died the same as whites. But they were systematically written out of the story, and Trump wants to keep whitewashing the truth. Don't let them! 1/2 🗃️

Civil War-era historians, the Society of Civil War Historians 2026 conference call for proposals is live! Deadline is September 15, and SCWH now has an online panel builder. See y'all in Richmond! 🗃️ docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Trump’s disgusting military parade is bumping Vietnam vets from the National Mall, forcing them to hold a long running memorial in Virginia with a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall. And he’s making them foot the bill. And this from a draft evader. I can’t even. 🗃️ wtop.com/dc/2025/06/v...

WAS YOUR GRANT CANCELED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP? The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Democratic Staff, is surveying the impact of the Trump Administration’s cancellation of federal research awards. Fill out the form here: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Congratulations @suyh.bsky.social! Can’t wait to read this new article on the opium traffic 🗃️

In a fight between Harvard and the federal government, my money is on Harvard. Half the judiciary is stocked with Harvard law grads. That's not even to mention the blatant unconstitutionality on the government's part.

this looks incredible! 🗃️

Civil War history crowd, check out this useful tool by Library of Virginia that indexes all of the names of 11,000 Confederate veterans who published in Confederate Veteran magazine. Super handy. 🗃️ lva-virginia.libguides.com/confederate-...

"[C]onsequences could be deadly, experts said." We have Reagan-style gag order on our hands.

AI summaries of Bible verses are wild y’all

God I love Springsteen

y'all seeing this too right now? 🗃️

thank God for copy editors I tell you what

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies. 📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

this is a massive privacy lawsuit waiting to happen