Thrilled to join Rachel Cockerell at the Miami Book Fair this fall. Her book Melting Point uncovers the lost story of a plan to create a Jewish homeland—in Texas. Yes, Texas. Come for the history, stay for the surprises. 🗃️  Find out more here: http://miamibookfair.com/

What does resistance look like when you’re holding a paintbrush instead of a rifle?  In my latest Q&A, Christopher Gorham talks about Matisse at War—a story of art, family, and defiance in Nazi-occupied France. Read here: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/ 🗃️

Three sisters. Three voices. One remarkable story. On the blog today, I talk with Andrea Friederici Ross about Sisters of Influence, her new biography of Zina, Amy, and Rose Fay—women who pushed past the confines of the Victorian era to shape the Progressive Era. Read here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

Exciting news: I’ll be at Miami Book Fair this November, sharing The Dragon From Chicago on a panel with some truly talented peers. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there! Details: miamibookfair.com

Ghost towns have been a recurring theme on our Great River Road travels. Nininger, MN was something different—a planned boomtown that fizzled in the Panic of 1857. Today, it’s mostly a story in the prairie grass. History, as always, has a sense of humor. Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

Wearing a cotton glove to protect a wound on my hand. Am sad to report that my life does not pass the white glove test

I generally write & schedule my blog series a ways in advance, & am often inspired by a historic anniversary that's not in any specific way related to current events (even if I could predict what those events will be by the time the series airs). But sometimes, like this week, the timing still hits.

Writers like to imagine themselves as Hemingway with wine in a Paris café. The truth? More like lukewarm coffee, half-finished notes, and a cat who insists on being part of the process. 🐾✍️ 👉 The glamorous life of a historian, revealed.

Did you see the talk with  Peter Slen on C-SPAN’s Q&A about Sigrid Schultz?  Her story in The Dragon From Chicago feels urgently relevant today . So I wanted to share it with you again. 🗃️ Watch here: https://www.c-span.org/program/qa/pamela-toler/650456

At Fort Snelling, I stumbled across a story I hadn’t expected: Japanese American women and men, trained as linguists, who helped end the Pacific War faster—and saved lives on both sides. New on the blog: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/ 🗃️

Historians love archives and footnotes—but some stories won’t let go. For me, that was Sigrid Schultz. On Sept. 25, I’ll share her story at the National WWII Museum. Free, in person or online. 🗃️ Register: https://tinyurl.com/3bs4n7m5

Same guy who lied that immigrants were eating pets. Actual statistics show he's lying here, too.

Always so good stuff in #ScholarSunday. Enough to keep me reading for the coming week!

Word of the Day is ‘snerdle’ (19th century): to stay warm and still beneath the covers for as long as humanly possible.

This made my day!

In the 1930s, Chicago reporter Sigrid Schultz stood in Berlin, warning America about Hitler. On Sept. 25, I’ll share her story at the National WWII Museum. Free, in person or online. 🗃️ Register here: https://tinyurl.com/3bs4n7m5

What does it mean to live—and write—fearlessly? Cathy Curtis’s new biography Fearless brings Irish novelist Edna O’Brien vividly to life. I’m delighted to share our Q&A on History in the Margins.🗃️ Read here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

Big news: on Sept. 25, I’ll be at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans to talk about The Dragon from Chicago and trailblazing reporter Sigrid Schultz. Free + open to the public, in person or online. 🗃️ Register: https://tinyurl.com/3bs4n7m5

New life goal.

Head's up!

Ms Whiskey is all cuddle and purr this morning. The piece of writing I should be doing is not.

In 1897, twenty Buffalo Soldiers pedaled 1,900 miles from Montana to St. Louis—snow, mud, rivers, heat. The “Iron Riders” proved grit on two wheels. 🗃️ Read more on History in the Margins: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/

The Dragon from Chicago is now in paperback!  The story of journalist Sigrid Schultz, who reported the rise of the Nazis with courage and clarity, is as urgent today as it was then.🗃️ https://www.pameladtoler.com/books/

Just caught a snippet of video of a person running a (dog?) agility course with a dog tucked up under one arm and how is this alone not already a sport?

A moment of light in the darkness

Happy book birthday!

Meet Zoe Anderson Norris, the Queen of Bohemia—a Gilded Age journalist who used her pen to fight poverty, corruption, and bigotry. Eve Kahn tells her story in a new book, and I had the chance to ask her about it.🗃️ https://www.historyinthemargins.com

My holiday weekend started off well! On Saturday a friend spotted the paperback of The Dragon From Chicago on the Notable Nonfiction table at a Barnes & Noble store in Chicago yesterday. (Looks like I'm in mighty fine company,too.)

Farmers' market treasures for the long weekend!

Flour mills, mill girls & the birth of Betty Crocker. We meant to spend 2 hours at the Mill City Museum. We stayed 5. Minneapolis history never smelled so good (well, except the Water Lab).🗃️ Read the whole story here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

I confess: I love a long sentence. Parentheses, semicolons, the whole jungle. Some say “omit needless words,” but sometimes only a long, complex sentence will do. Read more here.  https://mailchi.mp/e121ec523345/the-guilty-pleasure-of-complex-sentences?e=04d5b9366d 🗃️

Fort Snelling wasn’t just soldiers and stone walls—it was Dakota sacred land, a stage for the Dred Scott case, and home to women whose stories rarely made the record. Many voices, many stories, one place. 🗃️ New on the blog: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

On Women’s Equality Day,  Sigrid Schultz, one of the few women reporters in Hitler’s Berlin, refused to be sidelined. Her story reminds us that women’s voices matter—and equality is never granted, only fought for. It is fitting that The Dragon from Chicago is out in paperback today.

Today’s the day—The Dragon from Chicago is out in paperback!  Fun fact: I’ve written enough blog posts to equal eight books. And today in my History In The Margins blog, I get to tell you about my paperback release!  (and wander off topic a little bit) #HistoryThreads https://tinyurl.com/2s35uarm

✨ It’s here! ✨ The Dragon from Chicago is now out in paperback. At its heart is Sigrid Schultz—Chicago native, Berlin bureau chief, and one of the first American journalists to raise the alarm about Hitler. She had guts, smarts, and a front-row seat to history. Now you can meet Sigrid in paperback

“Things historians Google at 2am? 📜 What did Berlin newspapers look like in 1930? 👠 Best shoes for reporters in 1940s Europe? 🍲 Did Viking warriors actually eat stew before battle? Research rabbit holes: enter at your own risk. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever Googled?” 🗃️

Paperbacks are underrated. They fit in your bag, don’t dent your floor when dropped, and they smell just as good as a hardcover. The Dragon from Chicago is coming in paperback on Aug 26th. Preorders are open now—(order from your fav online store)  if you’d like one waiting on your nightstand. 🗃️

I'm looking for someone based in Boston to spend a day copying some manuscripts for me at the Boston Athenaeum. I can pay well. Bonus points if you've researched at the BA before, and you are neat and detail oriented. Thanks! 🗃️

COMING IN PAPERBACK: Schultz’s story shows the courage it takes to speak truth to power—then & now. Pre-order:

“They called Sigrid Schultz ‘the dragon from Chicago.’ She called it doing her job. I spent years digging into her story—an American reporter who told the truth about Nazi Germany long before anyone wanted to hear it.  Now, The Dragon from Chicago comes out in paperback Aug 26th. www.PamelaToler.com

Tonight’s the night! I’ll be in Wheaton, IL, for Cantigny Park’s Date with History series—sharing Sigrid Schultz’s remarkable story in The Dragon from Chicago. Talk starts at 6pm, Visitors Center Theater. Come say hello!

JOB: History of South Asia at Baruch College ("priority will go to scholars specializing in the premodern to early modern periods")🗃️

In the world we’re living in now, every definition of gender-based violence has to be inclusive of trans people, non-binary people, and men. @megstoneimpact.bsky.social

We thought the Great River Road trip would take 3 weeks. Fifteen weeks later (spread over years!), we finally finished. One of the most memorable stops? The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum—full of history, beauty, and surprises.🗃️ Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9

When this Discourse comes up, I think of the 16-yr-old girl who made an X-wing pilot costume from scratch for Halloween 1977, watching Star Wars in the cinema several times & taking notes by torchlight. cosplayinamerica.com/t-j-burnside...

Procrastinating.

History detour: Lady Duff-Gordon invented lingerie to match her scandalous gowns. No corsets allowed. Curious?  Read all about it here:  https://www.historyinthemargins.com/ 🗃️

Counting down to Aug. 21! I’ll be in Wheaton, IL, for Cantigny Park’s Date with History, sharing the story of Sigrid Schultz—fearless reporter & Nazi nemesis—in The Dragon from Chicago. 📍 Visitors Center Theater, 6pm, free with paid parking

“Women always fought. I mean, we were there.” On the Shield Maidens podcast, I talk about the overlooked history of women in combat—and why we need to tell these stories. Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2DryTFgLjc