M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
@mjrp.bsky.social
a historian currently writing a book about how we do history now and another book about how visitors, newcomers, and outsiders came to dominate Washington, DC http://mjrymszapawlowska.com/
This is exactly the flag I would have expected them to come up with!
WBOC@wboctv.bsky.social · 21h agoA debate over Maryland's congressional districts took an unusual turn Monday night when an Eastern Shore lawmaker proposed asking local voters if the Shore should secede from the state.
the reason that anyone can go around calling themselves a "historian" has to do with the fact that our collective idea of what it means to "do history" has not changed over a hundred years, even as access to archives and platforms is no longer regulated by the guild www.rawstory.com/trump-david-...
‘Fake historian’ exposed as mastermind behind Trump’s Smithsonian obsession: report
President Donald Trump's moves to discredit the Smithsonian Museum of American History are being driven by a notorious Christian nationalist "fake historian," according to a new report. According to J...
rawstory.com
I would love to read some smart commentary on this...aesthetic. patriot slop? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/a...
After Claiming ‘Bias’ at Smithsonian, Trump Officials Stage Patriotic Exhibition
Trump officials have promised to “make visual arts great,” with a museum exhibition that includes artwork by several people with personal connections to the planners.
nytimes.com
Driving thru Vermont tomorrow and accidentally booked a night at the official hotel of Christian Girl Fall
I am genuinely crushed that I will not be able to enjoy taco bell during my upcoming road trip
guarantee you that most of this list was made by a chatbot trained on a lot of decommissioned norton anthologies from the 90s some anthropic intern bought at a board of ed auction in petaluma california
M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska@mjrp.bsky.social · 3w agowhen you fire all of your culture writers and let AI take over your cultural coverage you make embarrassing mistakes like this
when you fire all of your culture writers and let AI take over your cultural coverage you make embarrassing mistakes like this
I'm thinking, today, of all of the hardworking, brilliant people at NMAH. The nuanced, inclusive history that is under attack here--the result of scholarship, outreach, and curation at the highest levels--would not exist without these historians.
Annette Gordon-Reed@agordonreed.bsky.social · 4w agoHistorians Reject White House’s Criticism of Smithsonian Museum www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/a...
that AI companies are hiring analytic philosophers for moral cover is like the least surprising thing in the world www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/b...
The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors
nytimes.com
I find a way to get Mickey Mouse history onto almost every syllabus I teach. One of the best!
Julia Rose Kraut@juliarosekraut.bsky.social · last mo.Rest in Peace & Power, Mike Wallace. 🗃️ www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/b...
will also say that some of our most vital and best history comes from scholars w/o permanent institutional affiliations who rely on publication and publicity to self-fund research, get better contracts, or other opportunities. they deserve to be paid for their work, not just "acknowledged"
M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska@mjrp.bsky.social · last mo.it's time for *focused* advocacy from the profession and maybe more. In cases like this, well-documented and with direct material consequences for authors, perhaps legal counsel from one of our professional orgs @historians.org @oah.org could get involved? an injury to one is an injury to all 5/5
Last month, I drafted a short piece about Freedom250's AI-rendered plans for D.C. (fairslop?) the colonial history of international expositions, and how commemoration should work. It's out now in #TheBrooklynRail brooklynrail.org/2026/07/crit...
The Devil in the White City | The Brooklyn Rail
For the semiquincentennial, the National Mall will be transformed into a midway filled with amusements and concessions; around it, a gleaming new “White City.” Historians have long connected the Gilde...
brooklynrail.org
through my research on the exponential growth of popular history "content" in the last several years its become clear that the key reason is that content creators of all kinds see it as "free IP" and also don't differentiate whether it comes from wikipedia, history channel, a historian, whatever 1/5
Rachel Hope Cleves@rachelcleves.bsky.social · last mo.My response to D&Q's statement:
Today's excellent read is my AU colleague #NatalieHopkinson's conversation with @edgeofsports.bsky.social about his new book on Howard Zinn in the @wcp.bsky.social washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7881...
A Conversation With Dave Zirin
Natalie Hopkinson speaks with political sports writer Dave Zirin about protests, history, and his new book on Howard Zinn.
washingtoncitypaper.com
For fun today (research, I swear) I walked over to Politics and Prose intending to photograph every single “untold story” or “secret history” and had to stop because my phone got too hot
Last month, I drafted a short piece about Freedom250's AI-rendered plans for D.C. (fairslop?) the colonial history of international expositions, and how commemoration should work. It's out now in #TheBrooklynRail brooklynrail.org/2026/07/crit...
The Devil in the White City | The Brooklyn Rail
For the semiquincentennial, the National Mall will be transformed into a midway filled with amusements and concessions; around it, a gleaming new “White City.” Historians have long connected the Gilde...
brooklynrail.org
I'm honored to have served as series editor for this project. It's easy to feel discouraged about the state of things right now but reading how these public historians are working every day for more inclusive, nuanced, and accessible engagements with history makes me hopeful! Open access
National Council on Public History@ncph.bsky.social · last mo.A special virtual issue of The Public Historian is now available! Considering the Revolution gathers five years of conversations about the content and substance of commemoration in the lead-up to #America250. @ucpress.bsky.social https://loom.ly/dzk-tLE
re: attribution, historians also do this to each other all the time! we also regularly consent to "untold history" framings for our research, write articles for major outlets (ahem, one in particular) that synthesize our colleagues' work without credit and don't cite secondary sources past the intro
this is infuriating, and happens to historians way too often--our professional orgs and leading historians should be advocating for better understanding of what constitutes the work of history via citational practices. everything has a historian!
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
A sizable portion of the Great American State Fair is halfassed corporate trade displays
New from our special issue on the U.S. 250th! "A Commemoration in Washington or a Commemoration for Washington? The Federal Government and the DC Bicentennial Assembly" by @mjrp.bsky.social. It examines DC Bicentennial Assembly's planning in the early 1970s and the Nixon administration’s response
have some things to say about what the people want from history in this excellent piece by Laura Bliss for @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
A thing I have been thinking a lot about is that, because material investment in public-facing history is not happening anything close to '76 levels, we're sort of stalled out in this institutional world, while popular historymaking (for lack of a better word) has moved on and changed
M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska@mjrp.bsky.social · 2mo agowww.politifact.com/article/2026...
