Commonplace: the journal of early American life
@commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Commonplace: the journal of early American life since 2000. Published by a partnership of the OIEAHC and AAS. Commonplace.online
Dive into the complex lives of "the other" Elizabeth and Mary. This piece by Kelly Watson explores the intersections of race, status, and womanhood in early America through the lens of two figures often overshadowed by their famous namesakes: vastearly.am/4xdDnLD #VastEarlyAmerica
James Blake examines John F. Watson's scrapbook, revealing how collectors constructed Lenape history through imagery and poetry. Explore this interplay of memory and colonial anxiety here: vastearly.am/4ehKpbs #History #Antiquarianism #Lenape
In "Whose 250th?", Lindsay DiCuirci and Duncan Faherty look closely at two examples – one from public history and one from public education – of this administration’s revanchist executive orders in action as well as efforts to blunt their force. Read here: vastearly.am/4fcTqSv #America250
Whose 250th? - Commonplace
As students of early American life preparing to commemorate America’s 250th year of independence, what should we know and what might we do?
commonplace.online
As America 250 approaches, historians’ debates over the American Revolution remind us to examine British policy, economic conflict, and ideals of liberty with nuance and rigor: vastearly.am/3SGQHJr #America250 #AmRev #History #IndependenceDay
What Caused the American Revolution? Historians’ Views From the Sesquicentennial Era - Commonplace
Historians today may have varying interpretations of what caused the Revolution, just as their predecessors did a century ago.
commonplace.online
Today, we celebrate the 207th anniversary of Walt Whitman's birth, a momentous occasion that invites us to reflect on his profound impact on American literature and culture. Here’s to Whitman’s enduring legacy, calling us to celebrate the beauty of life in all its forms: vist.ly/5648w
"Garments," "Glances," "Limbs," and "Rivulets" - Commonplace
Written to mark the bicentennial of Whitman’s birth, my poems operate within that lacuna, occupying the dissonant threshold between Whitman’s optimistic vision for America, “out of hopeful green stuff woven,” and my own personal history.
commonplace.online
On this day in 1787, 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to shape the future of a nascent nation. As we reflect on the Constitutional Convention, we invite you to explore the complexities and nuances of this pivotal event: vist.ly/55ez6 #America250 #ConstitutionalConvention
Historian Karin Wulf just read 𝑇ℎ𝑦 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐵𝑒 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑒: 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝐿𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 by John Garrison Marks and thinks you should, too. Learn why: vist.ly/4zqfs #BookReview
Read More Books: John Garrison Marks, Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory (UNC Press, 2026) - Commonplace
If there are two rules about early American history, one is that, no matter how vast, George Washington will always be instructive.
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: Beth van Duzer shares the methods she used to locate the historic African American burial sites of Concord, MA. Learn more about van Duzer's efforts in and beyond the archive when the documentary paper trail seemed to go cold. Now live! commonplace.online/article/the-...
The NorthEast Corner: Rediscovering the Final Resting Place of Concord's Black Community - Commonplace
Ultimately, the search for Concord’s lost graves is not solely about stones and names; it is about restoring individuals to history, one clue at a time.
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: In a new essay, Paul Lindholdt sifts through the facts and folklore of one of the most iconic seafaring figures from the late nineteenth-century Pacific Northwest, smuggler Lawrence Kelly. commonplace.online/article/smug...
Smuggler Lawrence Kelly on the Salish Sea - Commonplace
Separating fact from folklore in Kelly’s life is no easy task. Secondhand reminiscences and nautical gossip layer much of the available information.
commonplace.online
ICYMI: Cotton Mather's birthday is the perfect occasion to review our latest essay @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social!
Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · 6mo agoNEW on Commonplace: You may be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but have you heard of Dr. William Griggs? Benjamin Ray examines Griggs's medical context and the role the physician played in setting off the famous witch panic. commonplace.online/article/the-...
New article for #MenstruationMonday out of @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social! commonplace.online/article/padd...
Padding Out History: Menstrual Management in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century United States - Commonplace
Innovations in menstrual technology that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century allow us to infer what techniques women used to manage their periods in earlier decades by analyzing...
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: You may be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but have you heard of Dr. William Griggs? Benjamin Ray examines Griggs's medical context and the role the physician played in setting off the famous witch panic. commonplace.online/article/the-...
The Medical Doctor Who Triggered the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 - Commonplace
There is little historical information about Dr. Griggs, but what little there is, is significant. Also important are historians’ assessments of his medical competence and moral character.
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: A historical novel imagines the world of self-taught composer, leather tanner, and Boston Whig, William Billings. In his essay for Commonplace, David Stowe explores the life and works of the man who inspired his most recent writing ventures. commonplace.online/article/writ...
Writing William Billings - Commonplace
When historical details are nonexistent, make them up. Not usually considered sound advice to historians, granted, but possibly warranted under these circumstances.
commonplace.online
BOOK REVIEW: In a new book review for Commonplace, Yita Khanin reviews the latest monograph from religious scholar Matthew Tuininga, "The Wars of the Lord," revisiting the historiography of Puritan wars against Indigenous people in New England. commonplace.online/article/atte...
Attempting to Merge Narratives: An Alternative History of Puritan-Native Relations - Commonplace
Review Puritans Native Americans Praying Towns
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: In her latest essay, Caroline Greer writes on the history of menstrual care in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century United States with a particular consideration of the collections at the Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia. commonplace.online/article/padd...
Padding Out History: Menstrual Management in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century United States - Commonplace
Innovations in menstrual technology that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century allow us to infer what techniques women used to manage their periods in earlier decades by analyzing...
commonplace.online
We have a NEW essay over @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social all about Halloween tourism and where witches are (and are not) in modern-day Salem. Courtesy of Carla Pestana!
Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · 9mo agoNEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
NEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
Salem's Absent Witches - Commonplace
Such modest allusions to the colonial past were in the decided minority, however, swamped by the more generic Halloween ambience of the event.
commonplace.online
Poet, editor, and author of all things terrifying and macabre, Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps the perfect author to revisit in the lead up to Halloween. So on this All Hallow's Eve Eve, we present Edgar Allan Poe...the mollusk specialist? From James D. Lilley in 2022: commonplace.online/article/edga...
Edgar Allan Poe: Pioneering Mollusk Scientist - Commonplace
Poe’s work reminds us that the separation of “Arts” and “Sciences” into discrete discourses of knowledge is itself a quite recent invention.
commonplace.online
NEW on Commonplace: Think you know the full story of Eli Whitney's role in the road leading to the Civil War? Think again. Get the full story in Ariel Ron's latest essay for Commonplace: commonplace.online/article/how-...
How Eli Whitney Single-handedly Started the Civil War . . . and Why That’s Not True - Commonplace
The real Whitney story is less grand than the legend, but more interesting and, ultimately, more edifying.
commonplace.online
Need some teaching inspiration for this Constitution Day? Check out Katlyn Marie Carter's 2024 essay on teaching the Constitutional Convention through the strategic silences and gaps in the historic record: commonplace.online/article/gaps...
Gaps in the Record: Teaching with the Constitutional Convention - Commonplace
Too often, historians turn to records of constituent or legislative deliberations from the eighteenth century as a source to draw quotations from early American political figures, without questioning ...
commonplace.online
We have a brand new essay @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social today! Jordan Smith writes on his forthcoming history of rum and responds to the question "where all the pirates???"
Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · 11mo agoNEW on Commonplace: Jordan Smith asks and answers "where've all the pirates gone?" Check out the latest from Commonplace to learn more about the reasons for this piratical absence in Smith's forthcoming book "The Invention of Rum." commonplace.online/article/wher...
NEW on Commonplace: Jordan Smith asks and answers "where've all the pirates gone?" Check out the latest from Commonplace to learn more about the reasons for this piratical absence in Smith's forthcoming book "The Invention of Rum." commonplace.online/article/wher...
Where’s the Pirate? Or, why I wrote a history of rum with only a few pirates in it - Commonplace
Over time, the history of what was consumed in those taverns became more interesting to me than a rather limited subset of drinkers.
commonplace.online
Tis the season to make plans to reclaim and cherish your book-life balance! See my 10-step handout “How to Read a Book” @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social #skystorians #gradstudents #howtoreadabook #bibliophiles #selfcare commonplace.online/article/how-...
How to Read a Book: The X-Ray Method for Achieving a Sustainable “Book-Life Balance” - Commonplace
This is why you need a plan: to read attentively but efficiently, and sustainably, without surrendering your book-life balance.
commonplace.online
I see more Bluesky discussion, so here is some @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social data (I am the editor). In the past month Bluesky ranked third on how people came to Commonplace.online (twitter was not in top ten). Same month two years ago, Twitter ranked third, but with fewer than half the referrals.
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Headed to #SHEAR2025? Let's connect!
Joshua R Greenberg@joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · last yr.Are you heading to Providence for #SHEAR2025? Are you interesting in pitching a piece to Commonplace (@commonplacejrnl.bsky.social) or learning about submitting? Please reach out to me and let's try to chat at the conference. More info in our house style sheet:🗃️ commonplace.online/article/comm...
NEW on Commonplace: A reflection on the work of family history and the stakes involved in facing your family's past. Lisa Roney shares an essay and original poems excavating her family's Confederate forbearer and the corrective potential of genealogical work. commonplace.online/article/hot-...
Hot Tennessee Sun - Commonplace
Silence is never something I manage very well.
commonplace.online
What’s the most asked question about the Declaration of Independence? Emily Sneff has heard them all—and answers some of yours in our latest episode. 📜 Myths, manuscripts, missing minutes—it’s all here. #USHistory #History #America250 #Rev250 #July4th 🎧 www.benfranklinsworld.com/415
Looking to read some history this fourth of July? Commonplace has you covered. We start with a 2016 piece from Jessica Lepler, all about Exeter's annual American Independence Festival...celebrated on July 16! commonplace.online/article/vol-...
Exeter’s Declaration of Independence: A Festival, a Broadside, and a Lesson in Public History - Commonplace
It turns out that, in legal terms, the mystery of who found the broadside matters a lot less than who lost it.
commonplace.online
I'll be adding to this thread throughout the day, but here's just a smidgen of Revolutionary content from the @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social archives. If you don't know what to do today--if you don't know what to do WITH today--here's some history to keep you company.
Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · last yr.Looking to read some history this fourth of July? Commonplace has you covered. We start with a 2016 piece from Jessica Lepler, all about Exeter's annual American Independence Festival...celebrated on July 16! commonplace.online/article/vol-...