"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.

New little side project: Westward, an endless scroll of 1,000+ public-domain photographs of the American West from the Library of Congress, the Portal to Texas History, and SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

Michael Hattem considers American history and the Revolution the nation’s new origin myth and created a new civic identity. Read our entire Q&A celebrating #America250 here:

America at 250: Revolutionary Questions for a Revolutionary Country - Yale University Press

A Q&A with Yale University Press authors about the foundings of America, offering historical insights into people, ideas, and events

yalebooks.yale.edu

Folks: Tomorrow night (7/23) at 7 pm ET, I'll be talking with historians Christopher J. Leahy and Sharon Williams Leahy about their new book, "Presidentess: The Life of First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler" for @inpursuitusa.bsky.social I learned a lot and you will too! www.youtube.com/live/wtfTfzh...

Presidentess: First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler with Christopher & Sharon Leahy

YouTube video by In Pursuit USA

youtube.com

It would be neat if the people who have oversight of museums actually went to them.

If there were Historian trading cards, I bet the Blight Rookie card would be a keeper

An excellent and powerful opening statement that does not pull punches. Also, historians rock. Protect the work of the Smithsonian.

Jim Ambuske@jimambuske.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Ours is a beautiful, ancient craft essential for any society's needs for self-understanding. We are equipped with a host of modern methods, but guided ethically by very old rules that no authoritarian political project ought to be allowed to profane." www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbz2...

"Ours is a beautiful, ancient craft essential for any society's needs for self-understanding. We are equipped with a host of modern methods, but guided ethically by very old rules that no authoritarian political project ought to be allowed to profane." www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbz2...

WATCH: David Blight makes opening statement in hearing on how Smithsonian presents history

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour

youtube.com

. #SHEAR2026 may be over, but the 40% discount code still lives . . . until August 15! Good to see you @stevesarson.bsky.social, @adamxmcneil.bsky.social@frankcogliano.bsky.social, @matthewmason.bsky.social, Christopher Pearl, Susan Stearns (And many more)! www.upress.virginia.edu/exhibits/she...

A rare social media appearance (with her blessing) of my nonpareil editor, Nadine Zimmerli, and the book we did together for @uvapress.bsky.social (with 24 amazing colleagues). Taken at #SHEAR2026

We are here at #SHEAR2026! Stop by the booth, chat with an editor, browse our books, and take advantage of the conference discount! Or, if you're not in Philadelphia, visit our virtual exhibit and use promo code <10SHEAR26> valid until August 15! www.upress.virginia.edu/exhibits/she...

Alright, let’s see if Lord Bute will negotiate a treaty that will satisfy Pitt this time. #sevenyearswarjokes #worldcup

Possible Spain-England final. El Draque awakens.

Team: This Friday at SHEAR join me, @kathleenduval.bsky.social, Jennifer Tucker, and Daniel Preston for Historians on Camera. We'll talk about making documentary films, interpreting history on camera, and the mediation of memory. Can't join in person? Watch here: tinyurl.com/histdocfilms

As a historian, I’m aware that societal norms of morality change over time. I feel like we should all be able to agree that murdering a father in front of his pajama-clad 3yo is morally repugnant yesterday, today, and forever.

I’m a historian who stands with Lonnie Bunch. Let’s hear from more of us!

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 4w ago

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III issued a defense of the National Museum of American History to staffers, in response to a caustic White House report accusing the museum of pushing “extreme political activism.”

It took Odysseus ten years to get home and Moses forty years to cross Sinai. That is what happens when dudes refuse to stop and ask directions.

England hasn't done this well in America since Bladensburg.

Replay now available: vastearly.am/4eUuSPf Valérie Capdeville presents The Digital Encyclopedia of British Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century, an open-access project for 18th-century studies and the digital humanities. @univrennes2.bsky.social

A new White House report accuses the Smithsonian of distorting American history. In an @npr.org interview, AHA Exec. Dir. Sarah Weicksel explains why the AHA disagrees, arguing that the report misunderstands historical interpretation and mischaracterizes the Smithsonian's work. Listen at link.

Trump administration accuses Smithsonian museum of 'extreme political activism'

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with American Historical Association's Sarah Weicksel about the Trump administration's report accusing a Smithsonian museum of "extreme political activism."

npr.org

Over at @inpursuitusa.bsky.social, we’ve partnered with a few Gen Z storytellers to help illuminate the lives of people like Louisa Catherine Adams for younger generations. Check out Lauren Cella’s take on LCA’s powerful influence on “nepo baby” John Quincy Adams www.instagram.com/reel/DajFbrN...

Lauren Cella on Instagram: "Louisa and John Quincy Adams were quite the pair. In a new essay series from @inpursuitusa there is one line that describes their relationship perfectly; “They were an odd...

458 likes, 21 comments - laurencella on July 8, 2026: "Louisa and John Quincy Adams were quite the pair. In a new essay series from @inpursuitusa there is one line that describes their relationship p...

instagram.com

Team: Check out this special episode of Nichole Hill's "Our Ancestors were Messy: A Black History Comedy Podcast" about the Black Loyalists who went to Nova Scotia in the wake of the Revolutionary War. Honored to play a role behind the scenes on this one! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

The Revolutionary Black Loyalists! Live with Tressie McMillan Cottom

Podcast Episode · Our Ancestors Were Messy · S1 Bonus · 1h 39m

podcasts.apple.com

ME: and make mine a double WAITER: your...your tater tots? ME: you heard me

Belgium has closed the Gulf of America.

What a game to witness. Good God (save the king).

I am delighted to help kick off the Everything is a Primary Source Podcast's America at 250 series by talking about the Declaration of Independence! Have a listen and follow Eric's road trip across America. www.everything-history.com/america250

What is a monument to British liberty doing in the Charleston County Judicial Center? I wrote about a relic of the American Revolution now hiding in plain sight and why a statue honoring William Pitt and the Stamp Act's repeal ended up in Charleston. jimambuske.substack.com/p/revolution...

Revolutionary Relic

William Pitt's South Carolina Sojourn

jimambuske.substack.com

Anyone who is mad about the appropriation of @rachelcleves.bsky.social 's research should go buy her book and encourage others to do the same: bookshop.org/p/books/char...

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

bookshop.org

As we go into the 250th weekend, if you are wondering why the colonies felt they had no other choice but to leave the British Empire, might I suggest _Tyrants and Rogues_ as a great guide to the imperial crisis and the Declaration. Short chapters! Human stories! wwnorton.com/books/978132...

Tyrants and Rogues

'A timely and highly useful book in this semiquincentennial year&#8212;and far beyond.' &#8212;<em>Kirkus Reviews</em>, starred review<br /><br />From an acclaimed historian, a revelatory account of t...

wwnorton.com

Im so exhausted by this pattern. Historians spend years in the archives to write detailed accounts of the past. Only for journalists, doctors, podcasters, and now cartoonists, to swoop in and get paid a lot of money to trot out the same work, "uncovering hidden histories" that are not at all hidden.

Rachel Hope Cleves@rachelcleves.bsky.social · last mo.

An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride