Category: History

Adam D. Shprintzen: Are You Ready for Some Vegetarian Football?

The Vegetarian Magazine, the monthly publication of the Vegetarian Society of America, welcomed the development, explaining that a halfback was made “strong and elastic” from “oatmeal porridge and cranberry sauce.” In contrast, meat-eating opponents were characterized as “rude and coarse.” Continue Reading Adam D. Shprintzen: Are You Ready for Some Vegetarian Football?

Jonathan Scott Holloway: Whose Dream? Whose History?

Even though the museum recognizes Smith’s protest, if only barely, her protest tells us something valuable about the production of history and the sanctification of certain experiences over others. Here, a single person with a particular set of memories and a determination to remember a figure of such importance as King in a specific way finds herself facing an institution with a public commitment to remembrance that has become her own horror. Continue Reading Jonathan Scott Holloway: Whose Dream? Whose History?

Michael H. Hunt: Obama’s Cairo, Then and Now

The Cold War, far from an aberration, built on a pattern that had become well established earlier in the century. Elected governments, Washington feared, might be swayed by popular passions or betrayed by their own immaturity. Coups whether in Iran in 1953 or in Egypt in 2013 paved the way for strongmen promising stability and accommodating U.S. interests. Continue Reading Michael H. Hunt: Obama’s Cairo, Then and Now

Sarah Caroline Thuesen: Jim Crow’s Roots, Jim Crow’s Remedies

A historical examination of segregated schooling in North Carolina warns against a hasty retreat from efforts to create diverse classrooms and equitable opportunity. Continue Reading Sarah Caroline Thuesen: Jim Crow’s Roots, Jim Crow’s Remedies

Glenn David Brasher on Preserving the Battleground at Williamsburg

When rumors of “development” encroach upon areas with rich historical backgrounds, they most likely will find a wall of resistance waiting. This is the current situation in the Virginia Peninsula, where the site of the Battle of Williamsburg is now vulnerable to such an unfortunate fate. Continue Reading Glenn David Brasher on Preserving the Battleground at Williamsburg

Tracy E. K’Meyer: Busing and the Desegregation of Louisville Schools

For historians of school desegregation, Louisville’s story challenges a narrative that has been dominated by resistance, disillusion, and failure. For citizens, these stories remind us how our predecessors struggled for equality in education and inspire us to keep up a fight that is far from over. Continue Reading Tracy E. K’Meyer: Busing and the Desegregation of Louisville Schools

Rebecca Sharpless on Paula Deen, Dora Charles, and the History of Southern Kitchens

Of course, white employers typically believed that their cooks loved them and cooked for them out of that love. When Ms. Deen claimed that she and Ms. Charles were “soul sisters,” she fell squarely into the tradition of declaring an employee to be just like a member of the family. Continue Reading Rebecca Sharpless on Paula Deen, Dora Charles, and the History of Southern Kitchens

Tiffany A. Sippial: The 26th of July Movement: Remembering Failure, Celebrating Victory

Not only were the rebels young (“just like us” my students find themselves saying), but they actually failed. Government snipers shot many of the young rebels on sight, and those who survived were charged with treason and imprisoned on the Isle of Pines. In a surprising plot twist, however, the audacious Cuban rebels recast their military failure as a propaganda victory by claiming the date of the attack as the name of their movement—the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7). Continue Reading Tiffany A. Sippial: The 26th of July Movement: Remembering Failure, Celebrating Victory

Video: Bland Simpson on NC Bookwatch

In Two Captains from Carolina, Bland Simpson twines together the lives of two accomplished nineteenth-century mariners from North Carolina–one African American, one Irish American. Though Moses Grandy (ca. 1791- ca. 1850) and John Newland Maffitt Jr. (1819-1886) never met, their stories bring to vivid life the saga of race and maritime culture in the antebellum and Civil War-era South. With his lyrical prose and inimitable voice, Bland Simpson offers readers a grand tale of the striving human spirit and the great divide that nearly sundered the nation.

In this interview on NC Bookwatch, Simpson speaks with host D.G. Martin about Two Captains from Carolina and the fascinating lives led by Grandy, former slave turned Boston abolitionist, and Maffit, a midshipman in the U.S. Navy at age thirteen turned legendary blockade runner. Simpson also explains his reasons for contrasting these two men with each other in this “nonfiction novel.” Continue Reading Video: Bland Simpson on NC Bookwatch

Video: David Cecelski on NC Bookwatch

In an interview with North Carolina Bookwatch host D. G. Martin, Cecelski describes the many threads he followed to unlock the mystery of Abraham Galloway, now proudly identifying him as a part of the pantheon of North Caorlina’s greatest heroes. Cecelski delves into the leadership Galloway exerted before, during, and after the Civil War. Continue Reading Video: David Cecelski on NC Bookwatch

North Carolina Icons: Wright Brothers and Jockey’s Ridge

Our State explains the best way to appreciate the pioneer’s of aviation: “Stand at the base of the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, right where it all began.” Then, just a few miles to the south you can visit Jockey’s Ridge State Park, home to the East Coast’s tallest active sand dune, where Our State recommends, “Want to be a daredevil? Try hang-gliding. Rather keep your feet in the sand? Fly a kite. Continue Reading North Carolina Icons: Wright Brothers and Jockey’s Ridge

Two New Ebook Shorts: Excerpts from The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond

Both of the new UNC Press Civil War Shorts originally appeared in The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond, edited by Gary W. Gallagher, a collection that combines fresh evidence with the reinterpretation of standard sources to testify to the enduring impact of the Civil War on our national consciousness and refocus our view of the third day at Gettysburg. Continue Reading Two New Ebook Shorts: Excerpts from The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond

Preview: C-SPAN’s coverage of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary

July 1st marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, and to kick of the celebration C-SPAN’s American History TV will be live all day long from the battlefield on June 30th. The weekly program “American Artifacts” has produced a 30-minute special, “The Monuments at Gettysburg,” where Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler take viewers around Gettysburg and showcase nine of their favorite monuments. Continue Reading Preview: C-SPAN’s coverage of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary

UNC Press books in Chicano/a Studies offer timely insights

In reality, scholarship in the fields of Chicana/o and Latina/o studies defies such easy simplifications, revealing that the struggle for citizenship, inclusion, and social justice in this country has historic, deep roots, and that forces for change do not always begin and end in Washington. Continue Reading UNC Press books in Chicano/a Studies offer timely insights

Michael H. Hunt: Obama and Syria: Trapped in a Web of Words

Language is in its potency a trap—in this case an inducement to action even when careful consideration warns of potentially dire consequences. Put differently, the axioms handed down from earlier policy practice have demonstrated their capacity to overrule prudent calculation. That insight leaves us with a set of genuine questions. Continue Reading Michael H. Hunt: Obama and Syria: Trapped in a Web of Words

Excerpt: Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina, by Rebekah E. Pite

Therefore, even as Petrona included some explicitly nationalistic recipes, such as a cake with an Argentine national flag, along with some typical criollo cuisine, like empanadas, she presented French, Spanish, and Italian dishes as equally important for Argentine amas de casa to master. Continue Reading Excerpt: Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina, by Rebekah E. Pite

Excerpt: Recognition, Sovereignty Struggles, and Indigenous Rights in the United States

As Sherman points out, whether gaming can be a viable means of asserting and defending tribal sovereignty in the long term remains under debate. What does seem clear, however, is that Mashantucket Pequots’ recognition by the federal government produced new political, cultural, and economic dilemmas as well as important new possibilities for revitalizing and sustaining the tribal nation. Continue Reading Excerpt: Recognition, Sovereignty Struggles, and Indigenous Rights in the United States

Here Comes Hurricane Season 2013

The National Weather Service is in the middle of their National Hurricane Preparedness Week, running from May 26–June 1. The website provides a helpful Tropical Cyclone Preparedness Guide with meteorological information on hurricanes, the many hazards that occur both during and after the storm, and a checklist precautions to take to ensure your safety through the six-month hurricane season. Continue Reading Here Comes Hurricane Season 2013

Michael H. Hunt: Obama and the War on Terror: Toward Greater Realism

Reading the address delivered 23 May at the National Defense University surprised me not just because it went well beyond the drone issue to address the conduct of the war on terror. More than that, Obama took some significant steps toward dealing with the war in terms of classical realism. Continue Reading Michael H. Hunt: Obama and the War on Terror: Toward Greater Realism