Blog | J.T. Carroll, Historian freelancehistorian.com

Communing With the Dead: Are Historians Resurrection Specialists?

A paranormal research team is doing a better job of digitizing information and preserving old media formats than most historians. Preserv...

A United States 'Under God:' Eisenhower, Cold War Christianity, and the threat of Godless Communism

Since World War II, the influence of evangelical Protestantism upon American politics has grown exponentially. In recent decades,...

An Enigma We Should Solve: The Struggle to Memorialize Alan Turing Decades After His Death

Usually the month of June is full of vibrancy with weekends marking PRIDE celebrations across the nation in recognition of the Stonewall...

A Shameful Brand of Democracy: Race and Crowd Control in the Trump Era

During the Cold War, America's racial sins were ripe political propaganda for the Soviets, but police brutality and racism remain issues in

Divergent Politics and the Symbolism of Peace in a Nuclear World: Eastern Cranes and Western Doves

In the aftermath of WWII, two divergent symbols of peace appeared. The Eastern world adopted the crane while the West chose Picasso's dove.

Decoration Day--If You Can Reach the Cemeteries

This post marks the Memorial Day holiday by exploring its contested origins as well as the lengths to which a KY preservationist soc...

The Ballet 'Parade,' Slumming, and the Marking of the American Century

This post celebrates the 103rd anniversary of the modernist ballet Parade by looking at the fusion between high modernism and popular cul...

'A Witness to History': The Butler as a Civil Rights Movement Survey

Long-serving White House Butler W.R. Jerman died yesterday from COVID-19. This post recalls his service and discusses the usefulness of...

Recording the “Everyday:” From Mass Observation to Social Media

Histories of the everyday are a new trend in the field, but this British organization has been asking people to preserve their thoughts...

Making History, Marking History: Tokyo 2020 Becomes The First Games Postponed for Health Reasons

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been postponed in a rare move by the IOC. This post pairs this decision to the damage done by the mutual boy...

History as Participatory: History Starts Now. Engage the Present. Preserve the Past.

Victor Hugo wanted us to invest in our future by taking action today. This post introduces the History Starts Now movement. Engage the Pr...

At the Margins of Digital and Public History: Preserve, Share, and Engage

This post is inspired by the digital and public history project, Not Even Past. In it I stress the importance of engaging the present and...