Ben Wright
@benjamingwright
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Historian @UT_Dallas | author Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited Am Abolitionism (2020) | editor American Yawp | Cheesehead | Spring-Nut
Dallas, TX
Joined August 2009
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Pinned Tweet
It's book release day!
Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired & Limited Am Abolitionism is officially out!
Drawing winners for a book & donation:
@ChanceBonar
,
@AmazingSymetri
,
@KeriLeighMerrit
,
@BaltimireNoMore
, &
@cmMcConnaughy
Congrats, and thanks for the support!
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This is so true. On my list of things that all historians know that would surprise many non-historians, the fact that originalism is intellectually untenable is second to only the fact that all history is revisionist history.
(Seriously, originalism is anti-history)
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Given this new wave of
@KevinMKruse
-referred followers, maybe it's time for me to change my Twitter strategy. Is this how you do it?
How Gouverneur Morris's peg-leg explains why Dinesh D'souza is a moron... 1/342
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Refugees detained at DFW airport. Resistance is here. After 8 hours, two elderly women released.
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I've learned a lot from
@CivilWarMonitor
, but it's disappointing that the five (all men) historians named 14 male authors and no women in their best of 2019 review.
So, here's a (too) short thread of some of my favorite Civil War histories by women. Add to this
#twitterstorians
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Fun with grading: I just learned about the Sugar Daddy Act of 1764
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I and 20 others were arrested at UT-Dallas on Wed. I wrote a short reflection w student and colleague input tentatively titled, "What my students and I learned in jail." In past experience, submitting to op-ed portals is a black hole. If any editors want a look, pls reach out
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Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism is out in 15 weeks!
Starting tomorrow, every Wed I'm tweeting an excerpt. RTs earn entries to win one of 5 free books and a $50 donation to a racial justice org of your choice.
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Just so we are all clear, today Texas Gov Abbot announced a mass human sacrifice to boost his shot for the GOP nomination. The GOP has become a death cult.
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Teaching United States History is excited to announce "Teach My Book." Distinguished authors will discuss how instructors might teach their work. Stay tuned for insights from Richard Blackett,
@Historiann
,
@marthasjones_
,
@DiehardRebels
,
@econroykrutz
,
@AndrewFLang
, & more
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What my students and I learned in jail
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quickly: to any non-historians to whom this is surprising or controversial. I’m not trying to slam or shame anyone. There has been a decades-long dangerous disinformation campaign by bad-faith actors that has, regrettably, ensnared more than a few good-faith folx. Let’s fix it
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The description I give my students of office hours: "It's 3 hrs every week where I stare at my open door hoping desperately that someone wants to talk to me about class or history more broadly, so I don't feel bad for not writing. Please, please come see me."
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I'm a historian who edits an American history textbook (American Yawp). I closely monitor syllabi from other historians to see what gets assigned. I've never once seen Zinn used as a textbook. This claim is a lie.
I've heard many students say Howard Zinn's People's History is the central/sole textbook in their history course. That's a very bad practice.
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Big mail day! A must read for historians of slavery, legal history, or New Orleans
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Dallas doesn't always feel like Texas, but today a student could not complete their reading because they were "charged by a bull in the family pasture" (they will make a full recovery)
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We historians are so lucky to have the fantastic resource . It's the first place I go to find panelists, contributing authors, or send targeted job invitations.
#aha20
#nomoremanels
@womnknowhistory
#womenalsoknowhistory
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My colleague tries to answer the question that has plagued me all summer: How do I teach at a university that wants me in jail?
Read and share her powerful words about the fallout from our arrest:
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Beyond humbling to have my book out in the world. And even more so to have scholars who I really admire say such kind things! Many thanks!
Excellent approach to “Why did US Christians fail to fight vs slavery?”—Close attention to theology—Conversion & idea of imminent Second Coming—Consensus broke in 1830s, then denominational splits—Gives so much for understanding Christian controversies about racial justice today
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This fall I am experimenting with assigning ChatGPT in my 240-student U.S. History survey class. Here's how it's going:
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I aggregated my favorite Teaching United States History posts about online teaching:
Also threaded individually below. Smart ideas from
#twitterstorians
@TheTattooedProf
,
@cassiel_clark
,
@katisjewell
,
@AndersonHagler
,
@cerenz
,
@erin_bartram
& more.
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Tenure file submitted. Results April 1. What's the record for the world's longest panic attack?
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It’s a truth universally acknowledged by all
#twitterstorians
that
@NoraSlonimsky
is wildly generous and lovely. I was the beneficiary today. You might be tomorrow. Thanks so much Nora.
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New Yawp dropped
Our 2021-2022 edition is now live! Read details about our exciting updates here:
But here's a brief thread outlining the improvements
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I think I just typed the most American question into Google: “Can you buy liquor at Wal-Mart in Missouri?” I feel very patriotic.
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The best Civil War book I read in 2019 was
@amurrelltaylor
's Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps. If you don't believe me, it won damn near every prize possible:
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Teaching United States History returns next week with a wonderful new slate of contributors. Here's a look at our new voices. Follow these smart
#twitterstorians
as we discuss what we teach, how we do it, and why.
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Honored to have Bonds of Salvation included in the
@ASChurchHistory
"Books of the Month" list. I just ordered a half dozen others from this great roster. .
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This is exceptional scholarship
I've come across A LOT of good 17th- and 18th-century Quaker names over the past 3.5 years, as I've worked on my thesis. Now that my thesis is done and submission is near, it's time to share the more than 90 wildest early Quaker names I've found (in alphabetical order):
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My colleague
@annegrayfischer
's important new book connects the most important themes in 20th century US history: racism, sexism, segregation, the police state, gentrification. It's a game-changer and very deserving of this great review in the Atlantic:
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All history is revisionist history.
What‘s something that seems obvious within your profession, but the general public seems to misunderstand?
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I can't imagine being a historian and believing in the possibility of apoliticism.
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This is a deeply absurd and dangerous idea--that the history of slavery can be divorced from the history of racism. You will never understand slavery--its origins, evils, and afterlives--without critical race theory. Another myth to foreground and expose with our students.
That’s all I’m saying. We need more teaching about slavery and less critical race theory. You can have one without the other.
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My new favorite synthesis of the war is Elizabeth Varon's Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War. A masterful blending of narrative verve and insightful analysis:
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Tell me you don’t know many 18-22 yos without telling me you don’t know many 18-22yos
I feel like history departments would attract more students to their classes if they taught more “old fashioned” military and political history like you hear on podcasts or see among popular press books.
Maybe nobody cares but…
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Big mail day!
@whitney_nell
's research has transformed how I teach the history of slavery. It's the best way to get students to understand and remember the balance of oppression and agency--see esp chap 2's material culture analysis of a walking stick and cowrie shells
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Ben before every flight: Ah, I'll download these articles, catch up on reading, and save money by avoiding Wi-Fi
Ben on every flight: has drinks, gets misty listening to sad songs, buys Wi-Fi to read your bad tweets.
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I had a great time putting together my video for
#historysummit2021
Check it out here
And then take a look at the outstanding lineup of other authors. This is such a fun way to get a sense of recent scholarship!
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When your friend is a lifelong-Texan but lands a job outside the republic, you can't let her leave without getting cowboy hats.... and when her job is this good, you make her pay for them. Congrats Emory on hiring a superstar.
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Stephanie McCurry's 2019's Women's War: Fighting and Surviving the American Civil War will be a pillar on readings lists for at least a generation: . And, of course, Confederate Reckoning is a must-read:
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@wcaleb
@tony_jack
At the end of every 1st class, I walk everyone to my office (so they know where it is--my university has an absurd, impossible to understand 1970s office numbering system). I collect their information/bio sheet and ask them to visit me again w/in the next month. I also give candy
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If you would like to support those arrested at UTD, please fill out this very brief form:
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Much of
@sejr_historian
's They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South takes place before the war, but the seventh chapter is so strong, this is worth buying for even the most narrowly focused Civil War specialists:
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.
@JGiesberg
's Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality has convinced me that the war was a turning point in the history of American sexuality:
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For anyone who is inclined to hand-wringing over historians alleged lack of public engagement, remember that we have to deal with these troglodytes who see public engagement as a distraction from “the real work”
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As an instructor who has never gotten through an entire semester of teaching without emotionally cracking at least once, I appreciate
@robgreeneII
's thoughts on emotion in the classroom:
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As historians of the early republic well know, revolutionary rhetoric can advance equality or inequality. Thomas Paine’s ideological inconsistencies offer enduring lessons as we think about our digital world... I had fun writing this one.
Ben Wright: Thomas Paine and the Conflicting Ideologies of the Digital Revolution
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Consider this my advance apology. Having a partner who is doing live online teaching means I will almost definitely "star" in a video like this very soon...
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It's been a busy summer at The American Yawp. Check out our 60 new sources from under-represented voices, suggested teaching materials, and downloadable PDFs.
And don't forget about low price print editions from
@stanfordpress
Read what's new at
2019-2020 updates are now live! We have added 60 new sources to our primary source reader, all from under-represented voices, posted a suite of teaching materials, and now have downloadable PDFs. Read more here:
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The tragedy of a historian: I’m having a lovely time with childhood friends but my 🔥 Elbridge Gerry jokes are going under-appreciated.
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Update: instead of inquiring about electronics or sharp objects, TSA asked if I had “sausage, cheese, or fudge” in my carry-on.
Green Bay has the world’s finest airport. Exhibit A: The cheese shop is given the same importance as the baggage claim.
#lovemyhometown
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I just absorbed New Orleans airport delivering three insults to its treasure of a city: Bad airport jambalaya, Air Force One landing, and the ubiquitous selling of David McCullough's shameful celebration of settler colonialism. Gonna need a drink on this flight.
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I'm particularly excited to share the new, discreet note-taking feature. Instructors can create groups for their classes to share notes, etc
The 2017-2018 edition is now live at . Thanks to the over 300 scholars who collaborated on this open text!
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Dear Blackboard: Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to move a class online is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
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This historian is generally opposed to discussions of what the "Founding Fathers" would think about contemporary life, but, I'm increasingly convinced that among their first thoughts would be an abhorrence about how our culture embraces public displays of militarism.
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Wow, this JER Critical Engagements "What's in a Name" feature is a must-read, not just for early Americanists but really for all historians. I'll be assigning the hell out of this.
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The new edition of the AHR includes the article I co-wrote with
@josephllocke
"History Can Be Open Source: Democratic Dreams and the Rise of Digital History." Thx to Alex Lichtenstein,
@lara_putnam
, and the 26 historians who wrote 110 comments on our open review.
The AHR’s December 2021 issue is now available! This issue takes readers from transnational Black agrarianism to sensory histories of wildlife conservation, and to the journal’s first experiment in open peer review.
#twitterstorians
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Saul Cornell's axiom: adherence to Constitutional originalism is inversely related to historical understanding
#usih2016
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I am a millennial. My brother, also a millennial, served two combat tours in Iraq, two more in Afghanistan. And I organized protests against both.
This last week opened and what will come after is not new for my generation. It's salt on still raw wounds.
So excited for millennials who didn't get to experience firsthand what 2002-2003 was like
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I’ve learned a lot from
@roopikarisam
and I have grad students who have built research agendas around her work. Anyone interested in postcoloniality and/or dh, needs to read her stuff. New Digital Worlds: Postcolonial Humanities in Theory, Praxis, and Pedagogy is essential.
I have never felt as badge-shamed for my non-elite affiliation before as at
#MLA20
and I totally thought I was being paranoid until a friend with a very elite affiliation remarked that it was completely weird and mindblowing to see it happen over and over. Don’t change, academia.
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And of course environmental histories of the war must connect environmental change with lived experience and no one does that better than
@megankatenelson
in Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War
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Next year's list must do better. I, for one, can't wait to read Thavolia Glymph's The Women's Fight, LeAnna Keith's When It Was Grand,
@HC_Richardson
's How the South Won the Civil War, and
@megankatenelson
The Three-Cornered War. 2020 will be a boon for CW scholarship.
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I'm really looking forward to discussing Bonds of Salvation tomorrow at noon ET. The great people
@RUSlaveryFree
have thrown open their doors. Sign up here and join the conversation on how Christianity inspired and limited the fight against slavery:
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We are excited to begin the year at Teaching United States History. Follow along at starting Monday for thoughtful reflections on college-level pedagogy in American history classrooms.
Meet our new contributors:
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Just had a challenging and invigorating call with
@lindstorian
about how
@AmericanYawp
can better integrate Native American history. Synthetic histories (including ours) have a real challenge in decolonizing our narratives. We're excited by the challenge. Stay tuned...
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I was interviewed for the "Channeling Hamilton" documentary about Alexander Hamilton that is now available on Amazon Prime. Watch
@noraslonimsky
steal the show with brilliant baseball and Star Wars analogies.
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Any
#twitterstorians
teaching history of early America, religion, or foreign relations will want to read
@econroykrutz
on how you might use her fantastic book _Christian Imperialism: Converting the World in the Early American Republic_ from
@cornellpress
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Green Bay has the world’s finest airport. Exhibit A: The cheese shop is given the same importance as the baggage claim.
#lovemyhometown
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Doin my creepy historian thing, reading dead people's mail. 19th-cent negative self-talk was next level.
“As you allow me the privilege of occasionally writing, I take my piteous thoughts with trembling and ask you to admit a few lines from one so worthless & useless"
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When giving feedback to graduate students, I find it helpful to remind them that their learned advisor is, in fact, a moronic child.
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Great opportunity for grad students!
@KeCarte
and I will hang with grad students and discuss religion in the early republic. Come join! (or join the other convos on Science and Medicine, Women and Gender, Transnational History, Slavery, and Indigenous History)
6th annual Graduate Student Research Workshops application deadline: June 1
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Today! 3pmE/2pmC on Facebook Live -
Join me and Rich Newman as we discuss my book Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism.
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2 problems with this Perspectives piece on jargon
1 He ignores how these conversations are entwined w race and gender as lived constructs and objects of inquiry. See
@LDBurnett
:
2. Dragging your own grad student is not a good look
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Impressive FREE Underground Railroad teaching tool from
@HenryLouisGates
and
@OUPAcademic
#twitterstorians
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Thanks to the AHR for interviewing Joe and I as we discussed
@AmericanYawp
. Worth a listen for
#twitterstorians
and others interested in American history,
#digitalhumanities
,
#oer
, and more.
New episode of AHR Interview now streaming: a conversation with
@benjamingwright
and
@josephllocke
about
@AmericanYawp
,
#openaccess
, and collaboration by historians.
@AHAhistorians
@ahr_editor
#dh
#dighist
#twitterstorians
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Them: Please consider joining this new university committee.
Me:
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Damn
@lmchervinsky
, newly of the
@TheITPS
, knows how to make a quote count! From the Times, “The White House is the people’s house... The fencing and barriers show that Trump is rejecting his predecessors’ example and instead concealing himself from the American people.”
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.
@TheTattooedProf
's excellent post on creating classroom discussions is now featured on
@facultyfocus
. Bookmark both sites for great pedagogy reflections.
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The academic job market is rough... This UChicago gig requires relocation to the SOUTH POLE, but at least it's only part time, so you'll have a lot of leisure time to enjoy frozen death. (that said, "Dark Sector Laboratory" would look pretty great on a business card)
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Does your pedagogy create highly empathetic bigots?
@jnthnwwlsn
offers sharp, dare I say empathetic, reflections on historical empathy and racism:
#twitterstorians
#teaching
#History
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I will be doing a book talk via Facebook Live next Tuesday afternoon, Dec 1, 3e/2c. Bring your questions and hear me and the inimitable Richard S. Newman talk about Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism.
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#twitterstorians
and
#historyteacher
can read how
@william_sturkey
recommends teaching Hattiesburg, his epic, biracial history of Jim Crow.
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I have to highlight two great studies of the Civil War and environmental history. Erin Stewart Mauldin's Unredeemed Land and Kathryn Shively Meier's Nature's Civil War Virginia
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Attn students: It can be tempting to use these kinds of services, especially when life is stressful. But this is cheating, your instructor will know, and the consequences really suck. Save your money, ask your prof for help. Or if you're using the American Yawp, ask me.
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@ML_Cooper
@AmericanYawp
Fyi, the American Yawp will be adding 60 new primary sources August 1, all from under-represented voices.
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I just discovered that Writers Tears whiskey exists... so begins the beginning of the end.
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Thanks for the invite!
Author's corner with Ben Wright: *The Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism*:
@lsupress
#twitterstorians
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The American Yawp won the 2014 DH Award for Public Engagement. Explore the other great nominees here-
http://t.co/5Da58U1P0I
#twitterstorians
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When Tim Weah scored in the World Cup, I lept in the air, spilled my drink, hugged a stranger. Then I texted
@Metzgurdlin
"Liberian history is American history," the argument of our
@madebyhistory
piece about soccer and the ties binding the US and Liberia:
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I have a smart graduate student who wrote a historiography of Civil War memory, and I think she was right to give primary emphasis in her essay to Caroline Janney's Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation.
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