challenge for chicago architecture bsky that i've come up completely blank one: who was the lighting designer/illumination engineer for the merchandise mart? the illumination scheme is so key to the building's appearance, but as far as i can tell, the lighting designer is unknown

“This all had me wondering: what’s Indian food without the heat? The historian in me has an answer: spiciness is historically contingent.”

I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.

The losses to my field have been tremendous. Every brilliant scholar-teacher I know who didn’t get a chance to grow our knowledge about the past and help young people learn historical thinking skills is a loss. But it should never be “me instead of you,” but always “both of us, together.”

"I had not touched a cat in 15 years when an orange kitten wandered over to sit with me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me that I am alive."

My premature son was brought to the NICU. I cannot convey the depths of my despair when they told me wouldn’t be allowed to see him for at least 24 hrs because I was still on an IV. The hospital could have had a setup to enable me and other patients with IVs to visit the NICU, but chose not to.

This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong. I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.

Last week the @historians.org Council decided to deny its members the opportunity to vote on two resolutions—one in solidarity with Gaza and one condemning the sustained assault on “core principles of education” in the US and abroad—at the organization’s conference next month. 1/ 🗃️

My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.

The deadline to submit session proposals for next year's conference is at the end of this week. Share your knowledge with the field at the first-ever joint conference with the National Council on Public History. Learn more and submit a proposal at tinyurl.com/AASLH2026.

The vast body of research that Ken Burns relied upon to make his new documentary on the American Revolution would be practically impossible to be produced today, what with the defunding of humanistic scholarship, the collapse of stable academic jobs, the attack on public history & academic freedom.🗃️

Doggo on the Loose! Ate all the Pecan Pie!

Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics" guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation

Today is the 9th anniversary of the day Maggie stole an entire pecan pie and got drunk from all the sugar. Happy Purloined Pecan Pie Day from our family to yours!

Aurora borealis in….. Florida! Can’t believe you can see the northern lights this far south.

It’s visible even in Tallahassee, Florida!

Applications for these TT history positions in US post 1865 and sub-Saharan Africa are due today!

Paxlovid from Pfizer costs $15 to make and now retails for $1500. Insane

I am interested in starting to hear from care workers on SNAP about your concerns. I'm @motherjones.com's disability reporter. Please be in touch. My email is [email protected] and my Signal is juliametraux.49. Reposts are appreciated.

Do you have a great public history or historic preservation project that you wish more people knew about? Are you looking to find more clients and professional connections? The NCPH Consultants' Committee is sponsoring a session at the 2026 @ncph.bsky.social conference

In Florida, the Northwest Regional Library System, which covers libraries in Bay, Gulf and Liberty counties, has ended its interlibrary loan program because of a loss of federal funding. ***There's no more interlibrary loans in these counties, y'all.*** www.newsherald.com/story/news/l...

We're hiring 2 tenure-track positions this year at FSU's History dept, one in US post 1865 and the other in sub-Saharan Africa -- just CV, letter, and online app to apply by Nov 3. I'm not on either search committee (I'm on research leave in the spring) but am happy to answer any questions!

We're hiring 2 tenure-track positions this year at FSU's History dept, one in US post 1865 and the other in sub-Saharan Africa -- just CV, letter, and online app to apply by Nov 3. I'm not on either search committee (I'm on research leave in the spring) but am happy to answer any questions!

I just deleted my academia.edu account because their new terms force you to agree to let them use "your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest in any manner."

“... the school security industry is now worth as much as $4 billion, and it's projected to keep growing.” Hardening schools won’t stop gun violence—it just turns classrooms into fortresses. Real safety comes from common-sense gun laws that prevent violence before it enters our schools.

We have forgotten all the ways people used to get toxins out of their food before federal regulation. It's not that food and water used to be cleaner -- it's that domestic work used to include detoxing everything we put in our mouths!

Here we go. <Elimination> of all IFLE funding. No FLAS fellowships or NRC area studies centers nationwide. Might be nice of even a single university president was willing to speak up about this disaster for R1 universities & their students. democrats-appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

Another Public History Grumpy Hour is coming! Join the National Council on Public History and the Consultants Committee for a virtual night of connection and support. Register: community.ncph.org/event/Spooky... @ncph.bsky.social

Do you work in historic preservation? Sign up to chat with one of my students on zoom for an hour in September-- we pair them with people in their prospective career field so they can ask questions and learn more all the great paths and opportunities working in HP: forms.gle/fT5tPhzxAaaJ...

I'm honored to share that I received a statewide teaching award! Last week, I received the Roy E. Graham Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation Education at the Secretary of State awards dinner on Amelia Island. artsandsciences.fsu.edu/article/fsu-...

Do you have a passion for historic buildings, preservation, and telling the stories behind our built environment? The NDN Companies is hiring an architectural historian to be based in their Jacksonville, FL office.

NCPH is hosting "This is a Place We Made: Centering Place in Disability History" on July 24, 1pm ET on zoom, register here: community.ncph.org/event/Disabi... This is a wonderful program, and hope to see you there! @ncph.bsky.social

Pro tip: say no to at least 50% of requests and, whenever you decline, provide the names of two male colleagues who are shirking their share of service. (Gold star for BCCing the dean when you do so.)

Just heard a high-ranking administrator refer to our university as a "business." 🫠 🗃️

Graduation is always meaningful, but especially so this year after the recent tragedy at FSU. I am so glad we got to come together to celebrate these newly-minted MA graduates, and I cannot wait to see what these historians and historic preservationists will do next! @renfro.bsky.social

Big thanks to Huey and Gumbo for making our return to campus a little bit easier.

Read this again. FSU had to cancel our memorial event for a previous shooting due the mass shooting on campus yesterday. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

It’s horrific that there are students who lived through Parkland and are now going through a second school shooting at FSU. The government has failed our children. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Some of our students survived Parkland only to be in another active shooting at college. It does not have to be this way.

Active shooter at FSU. Please take cover immediately

Are you a student or emerging professional interested in public history and looking to share your work/research? The @ncph.bsky.social New Professional and Student Committee would love to support you! Share your work, projects, and anything else : ncph.org/ncph-student...

If you’re incredibly shocked about the president invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act— well, just wait until you find out that lawyers are still citing cases involving enslaved African Americans as precedent in CONTEMPORARY legal cases. Enjoy: www.citingslavery.org

Today is the Great Give for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center at Florida State University, and we're raising money to bring Indigenous artists to FSU! Donate: bit.ly/NAISGreatGiv...

As someone who built their career on digital programming to expand DEAI access to cultural heritage, the last 6 weeks have been brutal. I’m not just a practitioner, I’m also a researcher who craves quantitative data of what all we’re losing! Add programs you’ve seen disappear to this Google Sheet.

Just found out about the Sustainability Academic Network (SUSAN), a platform to connect sustainability academics worldwide -- what a great resource!! susanhub.com

504 plans are how kids can carry EpiPens or make sure their classroom is peanut free. It’s how kids with diabetes can use insulin. It’s how kids with mobility issues can have more passing time or use an elevator. An attack on 504 is an attack on everyone. Listen to @lollardfish.bsky.social.

Public historians and preservationists--who is joining us at @ncph.bsky.social 's conference in Montreal in March? NCPH is my favorite conference for so many reasons, but it is a truly supportive community of scholars and practitioners and activists. ncph.org/conference/2...

cats and quilts <3