This post accompanies “Virginia, 1619,” episode 250 of Ben Franklin’s World. In this week’s special episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Liz Covart talks with Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norfolk State University and an expert in African-American and American history, about the lasting impact of the events of… Read More »
This post accompanies “Celebrating the Fourth,” episode 245 of Ben Franklin’s World. At the bottom of the post you can find suggested readings on celebrating independence in the early United States and a special bonus clip from Shira Lurie. by Emily Sneff The Fourth of July is a noisy holiday. From morning parades featuring marching… Read More »
This post accompanies “Motherhood in Early America,” episode 237 of Ben Franklin’s World. It was originally posted at the Junto and has been lightly revised. by Lindsay M. Keiter Human reproduction is simultaneously unchanged and radically different over time and across cultures. This paradox has preoccupied me since 2017, when I carried and gave birth… Read More »
This post accompanies “Motherhood in Early America,” episode 237 of Ben Franklin’s World. by Emily West Mother’s Day offers opportunities to reflect upon motherhood in relation to ethnicity and class. Racial discrimination and poverty mean that a narrow conceptualization of biological motherhood associated with domestic care and nurture is not applicable to all in the… Read More »
Historians participate in a lot of conversations about public engagement. Discussions revolve around questions of what it means to engage “the public,” how we should define “the public,” whether authoring op-eds, blog posts, and Twitter threads count as a public history practice, and whether historians do enough to make their work accessible to non-specialists. These… Read More »
March 5th marked the 249th anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Over the past three weeks, Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast about Early American History has explored this event and its complicated history with scholars Eric Hinderaker, Patrick Griffin, and Mitch Kachun. In episode 228, “The Boston Massacre,” Eric Hinderaker, distinguished professor of History at the… Read More »
Emily Sneff is a graduate student in early American history at William & Mary and a Digital Apprentice at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. This post appeared originally on georgianpapersprogramme.com. There is an object in the British Museum that was bought from Benjamin Franklin. A small asbestos “purse.” With only these… Read More »