Had this in my head much of the day - thanks!
Historian of Civil War & Reconstruction. Bicyclist, baker, 3d favorite human of Banjo the dog. Views=mine, repost ≠endorsement
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Had this in my head much of the day - thanks!
I know I said Rockville the other day because it's true. But this is also true as my fav REM song.
imagine what it would be like if you were a drug cartel middle manager
My kids have developed the habit of pausing any movie or TV show involving a lawyer to ask me repeatedly if something is realistic (bc they know they’ll hear either way). Sometimes it takes my oldest and me WELL over an hour to watch a 45-min Better Call Saul episode.
Voice of Harold
Pete Hegseth’s move to reinstall a Confederate statue is, at worst, a move to show that “he and the Trump administration are making common cause with apologists who believe that the wrong side won the Civil War,” Mike Nelson argues.
There has to be at least one National Guardsman who believed one weekend a month dedicated to training was a pretty cool way of getting out of doing yard work. “When duty called, I did my part by cutting back some overgrown agapanthus. We lost some good men that day to blisters. War is hell.”
Thanks for that detail! And yes, I didn't think this was necessarily a Trump-era innovation. While I appreciate Kevin's position, the merch is still too Confederate-adjacent for my tastes.
MAHA banner at Health and Human Services
Remember, this is not a test for middle schoolers, but for people from NY and California who apply to become teachers in Oklahoma. As for what actually is taught to middle schoolers: below is the bare bones framework that Maryland (my home state) provides for middle school US history.
The image and alt-text in the original post say p. 7 of today's NYT
I know multiple choice questions are a blunt instrument, but still.... To ask this question without at least specifying a year just misses so much nuance and context about Lincoln's evolving ideas that it seems tendentious.
It didn't work, and nobody joined him, but he persevered!
Props to the kid who for the last 2 minutes I've heard on the Nats radio broadcast, chanting "Let's go Nats, let's go!"
Yeah, as I wrote elsewhere in this thread, yesterday was the first time I was in that gift shop for years. No reason to think this merch is a Trump-era innovation. But *somebody* ordered it, and I do have reservations about it.
Sorry, I wasn't clear - yes, I took those photos when I was there yesterday. What I meant was, I can't remember the last time I was in the gift shop before that. So for all I know, the "Rebel Archives" merch has been there for years.
I haven't been in that gift shop in years (maybe ever?), so I have no idea how long the merch has been there. And it's worth remembering that the Archives Museum was the focus of controversy last under Colleen Shogan, a Joe Biden appointee (whom Trump fired for his own reasons).
The Civil War Memory We Should All Wear 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Great post about the history of the archives, and why it moved you to buy some of this merch. I'm not so sanguine about its appeal to others who don't know that history. It seems like a way to get Confederate-adjacent merch into the gift shop without using the obvious names or symbols.
blog.dividedargument.com/p/complicati...
Historic preservation work in progress, or peek-a-boo with Albert Pike
Making money off the rebs at the National Archives Museum gift shop
No problem. I look forward to seeing what you write.
I was certainly surprised to see it! I haven't been in that gift shop in a long time, so I assume it's been there for a while.
Their records were dispersed and in disarray - that's what happens when your capital falls and you lose the war! The US War Department organized the disparate records into an archive, initially in hope of finding evidence to prosecute those guilty of the Lincoln assassination and other crimes.
The United States seized Confederate records in Richmond and elsewhere and brought them to Washington. Yael Sternhell wrote a great book about the Civil War records and their (partial) publication, including the Confederate materials yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
You can get all the normal tourist gift shop stuff - hats (3 different styles), hoodies, mugs, shot glasses, kitchen magnets, keychains, socks, etc - bearing a reproduction of the stamp used on documents: "Record Division Rebel Archives War Department"
Making money off the rebs at the National Archives Museum gift shop
I can
Takoma DC neighbors, there is an ICE checkpoint near the Whole Foods, approximately Elder street on Georgia. If you’re around go (a) warn our neighbors and (b) go shame these masked occupiers
On second thought, this doesn't sound so fine at all. fdanj.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/fdnj...
There's fine, and then there's FINE
Today in things I didn't know about 1920 Cincinnati--things I can fathom but that I didn't expect to be QUITE so "in your face." Ku Klux Klothes sold ordinary men's suits, overcoats, etc., but clearly only to a certain sort of customer. No Germans! stories.cincinnatipreservation.org/items/show/40
Helpful piece on Caldwell, who has definitely shaped the admin’s thinking on all things Second Reconstruction (he’s against it) www.vox.com/policy-and-p...
In Beckley's case, white Washingtonians denied him the basic courtesy of "mistering" him by going the opposite direction. They inflated his title and called him "General Beckley."
Something I discovered when researching Reconstruction-era congressman Jeremiah Haralson: When Haralson served in the Alabama Legislature, the white press referred to white lawmakers by their last names while calling Haralson “Jerry” and referring to other Black legislators by their first names.
Edgar R. Beckley was a Black member of the White House staff for 40 years. According to this 1904 account from John Mosby (yes, that John Mosby), Beckley said "he liked Mrs. Cleveland better than any lady who had been in the White House...because she is the only one who called him 'Mr. Beckly'."
![There is a nergo now at the White House in some [merinal] menial capacity appointed by General Grant. He told me that he liked Mrs. Cleveland better than any lady who had been in the White House since he has been there because she is](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cwubi5bzl5l7aipwkhiehozj/bafkreidqelsvad2ncxcfijjuznxoylkptxwq2hw2u7ci2up5g2exjjvavq@jpeg "Click to view full size")
Yup - he was working at DOJ at the time. The letter was part of a chain of correspondence trying to rally wealthy NYC Dems to support TR. Mosby wrote to convince Francis Pemberton, son of John C. (yes, that one), that TR's administration had been no friendlier to Black Americans than Cleveland's.
Beckley spent much of his time at the White House as a messenger. More here, from the White House Historical Association www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/fotow...
Edgar R. Beckley was a Black member of the White House staff for 40 years. According to this 1904 account from John Mosby (yes, that John Mosby), Beckley said "he liked Mrs. Cleveland better than any lady who had been in the White House...because she is the only one who called him 'Mr. Beckly'."
In 1876, white terrorists attacked Black members of a militia company at Hamburg, SC. They killed half a dozen Black men, executing several after their surrender. In 1916, the state erected a monument to the 1 terrorist killed in the assault, lauding his sacrifice for "Anglo-Saxon civilization."
The Trump Administration celebrates the long tradition of violent domestic insurrection against the United States. Next up, a massive statue of All-American Patriot Timothy McVeigh!
Eric Foner is one of my true living heroes
makes you think 🤔🤔🤔
Look no further than today's headlines for an example: The US Military Academy is reinstalling the portrait of the insurrectionist general - in his insurrectionist uniform - who led forces that killed more US soldiers than any enemy in history. How does the Trump administration defend it?
The memory of Civil War and Reconstruction really do provide a playbook here. Once the history gets falsified - in memorials, government pronouncements, popular culture, etc. - it's very hard to dislodge. And trying to do so gets you accused of "erasing history."
In 1876, white terrorists attacked Black members of a militia company at Hamburg, SC. They killed half a dozen Black men, executing several after their surrender. In 1916, the state erected a monument to the 1 terrorist killed in the assault, lauding his sacrifice for "Anglo-Saxon civilization."
By contrast - Robert E. Lee, 1868: "At present the negroes have neither the intelligence nor other qualifications which are necessary to make them safe depositories of political power.”
What is important to remember is that the initial installation of the Robert E. Lee portrait had little to do with history. It was installed in the 1950s. To understand why you need to appreciate the vagaries of historical memory. The relevant history or context is the 1950s and not the 1860s.
Pentagon Orders Portrait of Robert E. Lee to be Reinstalled at West Point 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Still my favorite local sign - and one I have always obeyed
"There was one thing that the white South feared more than negro dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, and that was negro honesty, knowledge, and efficiency." W. E. B. Du Bois, "Reconstruction and Its Benefits," 1910 www.jstor.org/stable/1836959
I continue to think that economists undersell the creation of citizenship involved in this. Human capital is more of a byproduct of a larger political agenda: www.nowpublishers.com/article/Deta...
"There was one thing that the white South feared more than negro dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, and that was negro honesty, knowledge, and efficiency." W. E. B. Du Bois, "Reconstruction and Its Benefits," 1910 www.jstor.org/stable/1836959
This is like if the Empire installed flashing red arrows along the pathway to the small exhaust port in the Death Star’s reactor.
Earlier this afternoon D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a press conference on the federal surge in the city. "We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city," she said, noting that crime is generally down. (Carjackings, she highlighted, are down 80%.)
I didn't originally catch this about the return of the Confederate Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery. It's going back in the same place as before. But instead of saying "the Confederate section," both Hegseth and ANC say it will be "near" or "at" the gravesite of sculptor Moses Ezekiel.
Arlington National Cemetery, in their announcement above, isn't (at least yet) playing along with the silliness of calling the Confederate Memorial the "Reconciliation Monument," so they just say "one of Moses Ezekiel's historic sculptures."
The name "Confederate Section" appears on official maps of Arlington National Cemetery going back to the 1910s.
The name "Reconciliation Memorial" is an invention of the last few years. Calling Section 16 the "Reconciliation Section" would be too dumb for words. And just referring to "Section 16" invites the question - wait, what section is that? So, "near Moses Ezekiel's gravesite" it is.
Correct. I was looking at some old ANC maps and - shocker! - haven't found a single one labeling it the "Reconciliation Memorial" or "Reconciliation Section."
I didn't originally catch this about the return of the Confederate Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery. It's going back in the same place as before. But instead of saying "the Confederate section," both Hegseth and ANC say it will be "near" or "at" the gravesite of sculptor Moses Ezekiel.
I have this trick when I get edited: I make a copy of the file, and then—without looking—I hit "accept all." Then I read it. I just read the thing I wrote, with "yes!" to all edits. Then I go back to the other file and look at the edits one-by-one. It's game-changing to see it without the red.
this is wrong
Walking around a mall for the first time in years and kind of astonished to see that Spencer's still exists
So to recap: AI consumes huge amounts of resources, distorts the economy, steals people's intellectual property - after all of which, it still can't deliver right answers much of the time.
"The wrong answers, particularly on up-to-date and specialized-source questions, reveal a truth about today’s AI tools: They’re not really information experts." A basic Google search and 1-2 clicks would have yielded an answer more often then any of the AIs, librarians said.
Some moved up, some moved down, but the best AI still barely earns a D www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Don’t threaten me with a good time
In the eyes of the jury, the sandwich was not a club.
Today in AI Is Not A Good Source For Learning About The World's Most Misunderstood Body Part, meet this ChatGPT gem. Funnily enough, we're actually going to talk about how most of this is kinda sorta right (for small values of right), as a cautionary tale about generative AI.
Good reporting here. But c'mon - "some question"!?
"We now await the tribute to William Archibald Dunning, and the exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, curated by Trump, on all the great things about slavery." - Robert Kuttner in @prospect.org
"the 1860s" would also have earned partial credit
"1863 or so" - a valiant effort at a blue book fudge
National Guard soldiers called into service for President Trump's law enforcement surge in D.C. have been assigned to spread mulch at federal monuments. Normally the Park Service does that, but the administration laid off the workers. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
"The fight for our museums and for our memory is a critical bulwark against the unraveling of American democracy. It is vital that we fight to protect our repositories before it’s too late." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Maybe it's time to bring back "Maryland, My Maryland" - Wes Moore, perhaps
So far, the main businesses that have been financially benefited from AI have been the producers of blue books www.wsj.com/business/cha...
The Education of a Historian In @thenation.com, Eric Foner reflects on his family, his career, and doing history in perilous times
Hoping my first teaching day of the semester goes better than Frederic Bancroft's 🤞🤞
A tough job to be saddled with
TIRED: The Radical Republicans were wrong to impeach Andrew Johnson WIRED: They should have impeached him for undermining Reconstruction, not for violating the unconstitutional Tenure of Office Act. INSPIRED: The TOA was constitutional & convicting him would have saved us a lot of trouble today
Listen to the full audio. Everything he says is 100% wrong, including “tariff was not a word until the 1870s.” This is bespoke historical fantasy, unsupported by anything any historian has ever written. The arrogance required to be this wrong is astounding. And he’s basing public policy on it.
I won't push you to buy it, but I can point you where to find it on the intertubes hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark...
"Push the sale of this book. It is good propaganda."
darn, Lincoln
Also a lot of those words describe real phenomena for which there isn't a great substitute. Asking us to forego the word is akin to asking us to overlook the phenomenon. Just a couple examples (1/x).
I spent years walking past the Library of Congress on a daily basis. Never saw any crime there. Not even an overdue book. This is absurd.
On one hand, this is pointless and theatrical. On the other, the president is stationing troops across the street from Congress and SCOTUS.
The Capitol and congressional office buildings, the Supreme Court, residential areas to the south and east.
JUST IN: On X, DHS says that Kilmar Abrego Garcia “will be processed for removal to Uganda.”
So much gratitude for the Mt Pleasant neighbors who were present on every corner and in every park on our walk to school this morning, protecting our community and welcoming the kids back to school. ❤️
If you've ever been around the Library, you know what a waste of resources this is. There are armed Capitol Police at every corner and every entrance of every building. Still, it's better than having them join the squads in DC neighborhoods, frightening parents & kids on the 1st day of school.
Remember that most of the people in the National Guard want nothing to do with this and are, in fact, probably pretty pissed off that their governor ripped them away from their normal lives to do security theater miles away from home.
This was definitely my impression. I thought about talking to them but didn't want to put them on the spot.
For the first time I've seen, National Guard outside the Library of Congress this morning. They are unarmed and look incredibly bored.
