Ending the Forgotten War: The Korean War Armistice at Seventy

  On July 27th, 1953, the Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State established an uneasy ceasefire, ending a war that the U.S. had fought, but never formally declared. Sometimes overshadowed in U.S. twentieth-century historiography by the...

“Free Our Siblings, Free Ourselves:” Historicizing Trans Activism in the U.S., 1952–1992

This article originally appeared in the May 2019 issue of The American Historian. Recent years have seen a surge in attention to transgender politics. Famously—and controversially—dubbed a “transgender tipping point” by Time magazine, trans justice is now...

The Centennial Fire

by Chris Wimmer The first World’s Fair on American soil ran from May 10 to November 10, 1876. Millions of visitors flocked to Philadelphia to see the show. But two months before it ended, it nearly went up in smoke.… Read the article The post The Centennial Fire...

How the Old Can Learn from the Young

This post originally appeared in the May 2016 issue of The American Historian. How can the historical study of aging benefit from what historians have learned by studying youth? As someone who has spent more than forty years learning about young people, I think...

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Heard Round the World: A War Begins

by Jack Kelly April 19th is Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts. It marks the anniversary of the battles at Lexington and Concord, which touched off the Revolutionary War. It’s also the day of the Boston Marathon, which itself commemorates a Greek … Read the article The...

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Caresse

by Anne de Courcy Every now and then, when writing a biography or social history, a character crops up who is so intriguing that one longs to know their back story. When I was researching Nancy Cunard’s life in Paris … Read the article The post Caresse appeared first...

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Saturday and Sunday Highlights at OAH 2023

Saturday was another full day of events at the OAH’s meeting in Los Angeles. Tours were sold out again on Saturday, as attendees took advantage of the rich history of Los Angeles and its surroundings. A tour to many of LA’s beaches, for example, explored their...

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To Hell and Back

by Tom Clavin Below is an excerpt from my new book, Follow Me to Hell. It is November 1875 and Captain Leander McNelly and his company of Texas Rangers have rather rashly invaded Mexico to recover stolen cattle. Faced … Read the article The post To Hell and Back...

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Friday Highlights at OAH 2023

Friday’s meeting began with a morning mixer, where scholars connected and prepared for the full slate of panels. Many attendees arrived Thursday or early Friday morning, so panels were well attended as historians took full advantage of the wide variety of panel...

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Thursday Highlights at OAH 2023

Thursday marked the opening of the 2023 Annual Meeting for the Organization of American Historians. Held downtown at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in Los Angeles, just footsteps from historic landmarks such as the Los Angeles Central Library, the conference...

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The Marine Corps’ Deadliest Sniper

by Jim Lindsay Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney is a United States Marine who holds the Corps’ record for the most confirmed sniper kills (and the second most of any US service member in history), having recorded 103 confirmed kills in 16 … Read the article The post The...

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Life Goes to Vietnam

Perhaps more than any other publication, the Life magazine that went to war in the 1940s helped mold Americans’ opinions of a global conflict that ultimately would propel the United States to superpower status during the Cold War years that followed. A pioneer in...

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