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Comments on an essay by scholar Jonathan M. Wiener on the history of radical historians in the U.S. Corrections on the essay; View on Wiener's characterization in the essay.

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mr Chiang Kai-shek is a key historical figure of twentieth century China. The studies of his life and thought have attracted many scholars' attention during his lifetime as well as after his death in 1975. In recent years, along with the opening of the archives of Academia Historica, the Chronological Events (Shilue gaoben), and the Diary of Chiang Kai-shek, once again the topic of Chiang has become a focus among China scholars who study the Republican period. Besides numerous conferences and workshops recently held in Taipei, Beijing, Hangzhou, and other cities in both mainland China and Taiwan, academic circles in America, Europe, and Japan have also held some seminars regarding Chiang Kai-shek. The current overseas studies on Chiang Kai-shek can be divided into two groupings geographically: the Euro–American group and the Japanese group. These two groups, plus those from Taiwan and Mainland China, have formed the four most important academic traditions. In spite of their different views and ideologies, these four are able to influence each other and even to come to similar conclusions. These can be summarized as a more positive image of Chiang whose major achievements include fighting the Japanese in WWII and building a modern China in various ways. This paper, relying on overseas research results, will try to help researchers understand the current situation of studies on Chiang Kai-shek in the world so as to lay a better academic foundation for their own further studies. However, because of all kinds of limitations, this paper will rely mostly on the research achievements of English and Japanese works. Research works in other languages and from other regions will have to wait for later efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Charles Williams has always been one of the more overlooked members of the Inklings, and the continued neglect of his poetry and "supernatural thrillers" suggests that he is not likely to experience a dramatic increase in popularity anytime soon. Similarly, Russell Kirk is an American historian who will always be better known for writing The Conservative Mind in 1953 than for any of the dozens of short stories and novels he wrote, many of which deal with ghostly or supernatural themes. In fact, Kirk acknowledged Williams to be an important influence on his fiction; this influence is perhaps most evident in Kirk's final novel, 1979's Lord of the Hollow Dark. In this "Gothick romance," as Kirk described it, a group of pilgrims gathers at a dilapidated mansion in Scotland, at which various satanic rituals are performed in the week leading up to Ash Wednesday. The novel features ghostly apparitions, psychological and spiritual horror, and a mingling of the supernatural and material, all of which calls to mind Williams' first, unforgettable novel, War in Heaven. The neglect of both authors has led to a lack of interest in the obvious thematic links between these two books, which this paper is intended to address. Aside from these links, I shall also discuss how the authors' respective religious views contribute to their differing approaches to certain subjects, such as time and the nature of Hell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociology of the South, as a substantive area research interest, emerged during the 1800s as a means to rationalize and preserve the cultural norms of slavery era whites who would soon experience seismic social shocks including the Civil War and emancipation of enslaved blacks. The person singularly cited as the architect of this area of study is Howard W. Odum. Although Odum is identified as the person most responsible for the development of this field, archival data indicate that W. E. B. Du Bois and the men and women of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory were its first practitioners. In this paper evidence is offered to show that Du Bois's Atlanta University efforts predated Odum's North Carolina research program. Additionally, an explanation for Du Bois's marginalization in the existing sociology of the South literature is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews briefly the development of ethnohistory in the United States and discusses current involvement by American ethnohistorians in analysis and validity of oral tradition and documents in terms of cultural process. It relates theoretical postulates of cultural stress to historical reconstructions and it indicates the present world-wide interests of the American Society for Ethnohistory and its professional journal, Ethnohistory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses authenticity and how it is selectively used by Civil War reenactors to create credible reenactments. The Civil War provides a structured set of scenarios for reenactors to use as a backdrop for their participation. Some use this backdrop to bring objects to the forefront and others use this setting as a way to interact with an audience person to person. This research indicates that authenticity may come through on different levels for individuals participating in the same activity. An authentic experience or object is authentic because it has an important immediate meaning. The objects and narratives displayed by reenactors may be set in specific history but this does not mean that these same objects and narratives are part of that history. This paper contributes to the study of authenticity by examining groups of Civil War reenactors and where their focus of authenticity lies whether it is on authentic objects or interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a dataset that contains information on the sales and valuations of enslaved individuals in New York and New Jersey from 1672 to 1856. The dataset includes 2,362 entries and provides details on the prices and characteristics of 3,378 enslaved persons. It is the first dataset of its kind for the Northern states and offers insights into the history of slavery in the region, including the demand for enslaved labor, the shift from imported to domestic slaves, and the growth of the enslaved population in the Hudson Valley. The dataset is valuable for researchers studying slavery in the North and for comparing it to slavery in the South. It is also useful for historians, genealogists, and local history researchers. The sources for the dataset include archival collections, online search engines, newspapers, dissertations, and secondary source publications. The data was compiled for research purposes and will be used in a forthcoming book. The dataset can be accessed through the Harvard Dataverse and is represented on Enslaved.org. The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. [Extracted from the article]

The article titled "Manumissions of Enslaved Persons Recorded in Registers of Deeds in Montserrat National Trust Archives" explores the historical records of manumissions, or the freeing of enslaved individuals, in Montserrat. The author discusses the significance of the Registers of Deeds, which served as the official record of legal documents related to property, including enslaved people. The article highlights the rarity of manumissions in Montserrat and notes the presence of copies of manumissions executed in Dominica. The dataset, which covers the period from 1722 to 1834, provides valuable insights into this aspect of Montserrat's history. [Extracted from the article]

News briefs related to the history profession, especially Western U.S. history, are presented. A tribute to U.S. historian Edwin R. Bingham (1920-2009) is presented. Calendar events for 2010 are mentioned for the Western Social Science Association, the Berkshire Conference on Women's History, and other organizations. A section of job changes and awards is also presented.

THIS PAPER PRESENTS a reinterpretation of the causes for the US Patriot movement of 1837-38, which rose up in support of the Canadian rebellion in Upper Canada (UC) initiated by William Lyon Mackenzie (the companion rebellion in Lower Canada is not considered in this paper since its causation was arguably considerably different). Most traditional treatments of this event, by US historians in particular, are stuck in narrative mode and lack convincing interpretation and analysis. The US Patriot war is usually quickly dismissed as the work of a few Anglophobes and adventurers seeking land and coin. The hypothesis advanced here suggests that the US Patriot movement and its progenitor rebellion in UC may be seen as an expression of the social class tensions growing out of the transition from a subsistence-barter/household economy and culture to the more impersonal commodity market economy - a transition that was proceeding in an uneven and combined manner on both sides of the nominal Canada/US border. Mackenzie's UC rebellion was both motivated by and encouragement to radical Democratic anti-bank forces in the US. Historians are urged to consider the Patriot movement in the larger context of class conflict and accommodation then being played out on a shared Canadian/American stage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argues that although American professional historians had been writing modern French history, they have yet to produce a book that equaled those of the best French historians. Advantages of American historians over their French counterparts; Capacity for astonishment of American historians.

The article examines the loyalism of American historian Thomas Hutchinson, who was the last civilian governor of the Massachusetts colony. Topics include Hutchinson's role in the events leading to the Revolution in Boston, his accounts of Massachusetts' history, and exile during the final years of his life. Also discussed are Hutchinson's occupational achievements, reception of his histories, and concerns as a historian.

Focuses on the gap created by the information technology era on the United States historical records. Difference in the storage capabilities of information technology and paper-based systems; Significance of the information on how documents and decisions were developed for historians; Mean life of a web page.

The article profiles U.S. historian, scholar, and educator Angie Debo, particularly her significance in the use of ethnological sources in her study of the American Indian experience and her professional relationship with University of Oklahoma U.S. history professor Edward Everett Dale. It examines the academic divide between Debo and Dale, the Frontier thesis of U.S. historian Frederick Jackson Turner, and Debo's use of sources in her scholarship.

Babe Ruth is a mythic figure in American baseball history. His extraordinary skills and legendary exploits are central to the idea of baseball as America's national pastime and are woven into the fabric of American history and iconography. Much has been written about Ruth's life, his extraordinary physical powers, and the legends that grew up around him that made him a mythic figure. The story of Babe Ruth as it has been told, however, has not included its meaning from the perspective of the study of religion and sport. This paper explores the life and legends of Babe Ruth to illustrate the significance of Ruth's identity as a Catholic in early twentieth-century America and the fundamental connections between Ruth's story and the Christian myth and ritual that is foundational to American civil religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a tribute to American author and historian J. Mills Thornton III. Particular focus is given to Thornton's works on Alabama's history and politics, including his books "Politics and Power in a Slave Society" and "Dividing Lines." Thornton's scholarship on the 20th century civil rights movement in Alabama, including in regard the African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, is discussed.

The article announces that seven students won research paper awards at the American Journalism Historians Association's annual Southeast Symposium that was held on January 31, 2015 in Panama City Beach, Florida. An obituary for legal scholar and media historian Dwight L. Teeter, Jr. is also presented.

News briefs related to the study of Pacific history are presented. A tribute to U.S. historian Sharon L. Sievers (1938-2010) is presented. Activities of history associations such as the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, the Western Association of Women Historians, and others are discussed.

Abstract: By contrast with the U.S., where oral history is valued by corporate bodies and where oral historians actively engage with business history, British oral historians continue to regard elite oral history with deep suspicion. And for their part, U.K. business historians and archivists remain skeptical about the value of oral testimony. Few British oral historians venture beyond a well-worn focus on working-class experience, the marginalized and the voiceless. While advocacy-led oral history should remain a key focus for oral historians, so must we also use our methodology to document our society more widely and to step outside our comfort zones and engage with interview subjects which challenge our radical credentials. This paper explores reasons for the marked contrast of attitude to elite oral history between Britain and the U.S., arguing that it is rooted in the rather different origins of oral history in the two countries. It draws on corporate oral history project work at the British Library—such as oral histories of the British publishing industry, the Tesco supermarket chain, Royal Mail, branding consultancy Wolff Olins, and the financial center of the City of London including Barings Bank—to argue the case for oral history's contribution to the public understanding of business history and corporate culture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Holton's maintains that in explaining the origins of the U.S. Constitution historians have emphasized the concerns expressed by elites while overlooking the issues that most troubled large numbers of "ordinary" Americans. The strength of the argument is that Holton gives voice to the protests and grievances of small farmers and debtors, who believed that the state governments were imposing oppressive and unjust taxes during the 1780s. Yet his argument has several weaknesses. First, he overlooks regional differences within the country in the way that state legislatures responded to the taxation issues of the 1780s. Southern states, in which slave labor was most important, addressed the complaints quickly and minimized conflict among whites. Second, Holton overlooks the work of the historian Jackson Turner Main, which suggests that there was no definite connection between indebtedness and opposition to the U.S. Constitution. Finally, Holton's narrow focus on economic issues obscures the broader motives that led to writing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the uncertainty in the definition of immigration history and the professional identities of immigration historians in the United States (US). How historians perceived their vocation and employment; Training of historians; Discussions on immigration laws in the US.

Herbert Gutman often prefaced his arguments by pointing out that "little is known" about the particular subject at hand. This certainly was true of women's history during his lifetime. Gutman's work and his presence in the historical profession contributed enormously to altering that fact. Gutman's approach to history did more than any particular study or article to inform and invigorate the field of women's history. The questions he posed, how he posed them, and the way he used sources opened new areas to historical study and freed us to consider the history of those who left no state papers, no archives, and no published documents. With a basically humanistic approach; Gutman considered history part science and part literature. He combined numbers from the census with poems written by slaves and workers. The implications of Gutman's approach proved critical for women's history. By probing sources in a new way, he opened the possibility of new questions as well. Arenas of life previously considered impossible to scrutinize from an historical perspective suddenly became important arenas of investigation. Gutman included women in his vision, not as appendages but on the stage of American life.

The article discusses how historians study the presidential campaigns in the U.S. It cites the changes in historians' approaches to their research on presidential campaigns since the first half of the 20th century. It also explores the use of written histories of parties, party rivalries, individual campaigns, and personal papers of presidents as methodological instruction in history. It further states that some academic historians rejected the narrative for political history.

Reports on the development in historians in the United States. Includes Gerald D. Nash'a award as Student History Journal Prize Winners; World War II Symposium; Meeting of the National Association of African-American Studies.

Examines the ethnohistory of Indians of the Ohio River Valley from a historian's perspective. Role and effect of Indians on frontier with respect to international struggles and diplomacy; Captivity narrative.

The article presents announcements on history professors, noting that Kate Burlingham is assistant professor at California State University, Fullerton, Amy Randall is associate professor at Santa Clara University, and David Tanenhaus is history department chair at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While recent historical studies have uncovered the intercontinental reputations of New England alchemists, much still remains to be known about actual attitudes concerning alchemy in the early colonies. Focusing on a corpus of roughly a dozen untranslated, and all but entirely unexamined Latin orations (ca. 200 pages) composed by Harvard College's presidents and students in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, I argue that these new sources reveal the ambivalent, occasionally antagonistic attitude that educated New England men held towards the art of alchemy. Appreciating what they regarded as, in some cases, selfless, Christian efforts to cure diseases, these Harvard elite speakers still worried that alongside pious investigators had cropped up some self-serving charlatans, those who cared not for the communal promises of the art, but only the base financial reward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of quantitative methods in leading historical journals increased dramatically in the 1960s and declined sharply after the mid-1980s. The JIH is an invaluable source for analysis of the boom and bust in the use of quantitative methods in history; the journal remained under the same editors for almost fifty years and made no attempt to change editorial policies during that period. Shifting patterns of content and authorship in the JIH from the 1980s to the early 2000s reveal how the journal responded to a dramatic decline in quantitative submissions by U.S.-based historians. Recent years have seen a revival of quantification both in the JIH and in mainstream historical journals, especially among historians located at institutions outside the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which discusses significant contributions of historian David F. Schmitz to the analysis of U.S. foreign relations historiography. It explored his criticisms on U.S. foreign policy implementation by then U.S. President Richard Nixon, his publication of books about the Vietnam War such as "Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War: The End of the American Century" and "The Tet Offensive: Politics, War, and Public Opinion," and his outlook on the outcome of the Vietnam War.

An essay is presented which discusses scholarship and legacy of historian David F. Schmitz particularly his significant contributions to U.S. foreign relations historiography. Topics explored include his publication of books on historical subjects such as World War II and the Vietnam War, the accomplishments he earned as a history teacher and author, and his criticisms of American foreign policy development and implementation.

An essay is presented which discusses accomplishments and legacy of historian David F. Schmitz particularly his significant contributions to U.S. foreign relations historiography. Topics explored include his education at Rutgers University in New Jersey and teaching career at Whitman College in Washington, the awards he earned such as the Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award, and his influence on his students and colleagues in the historical profession.

Though focused on Austrian Studies, the essay illuminates a broader question: how Austria fared as a topic of study in the American academy until today. It follows the stages of scholarly analysis since the 1960s that have been set by the disciplines of History and German, thus predetermining what has been called a two-pronged approach: Austrian Studies in the fields of history and political science (with the reference to Central Europe at the center), and Austrian Studies as exploration of the cultural, literary and linguistic features of the country (with constant negotiations of Austrian independence from German culture). American historians were leading in the revision of the self-created concept of a past without Nazism. Austrian-Jewish refugee Germanists knew much about the Nazi past but applied their energies to de-provincializing American Germanistik and reforming the canon with authors like Kafka, Musil, Kraus, and Broch, As the "Waldheim Affair" in 1986/7 overshadowed the happy indulgence with Vienna 1900, American scholars have developed a critical appreciation, in which Habsburg's multiculturalism attracts new attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians of America's post-war social movements have said little about the financial underpinnings of activism, and this article aims to address this oversight. It focuses on the Black Panther Party, which was formed in Oakland, California, in 1966, and was soon one of America's most visible, and controversial, black power organizations. The article sketches the array of funding sources from which the party drew, and reconstructs the apparatus it fashioned to steward those resources. It condenses the discussion to one of the organization's most lucrative streams, that of book publishing, and relates this to the period's literary culture, which, in the US, witnessed a 'black revolution in books'. Between 1968 and 1975, members of the party published some ten books, which together raised $250,000 in advances, and additional sums through their sale, serialization, and translation. The production of these works relied on the assistance of several freelance writers, and was guided by the party's commercial agency, Stronghold Consolidated Productions. By recovering the role of these groups and the infrastructure they fashioned, the article shows how publishing was connected to the wider financial structure of the organization, and prompts us to see that the Panthers' books were not just accounts of their activism, but examples of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of the life and work of Gerald N. Grob. As part of a generation of scholars intent on overturning the old "Whig history" of medicine, Grob pioneered the use of institutional history as an analytical tool. His work on American psychiatry combined a formidable command of archival sources with a strong commitment to putting medical practice in social context. Grob's personal and political views put him at odds with other scholars of the asylum; he conducted some very public feuds with David Rothman and Andrew Scull. At the same time, he showed a more benevolent side to younger historians interested in psychiatry; he took particular pains to encourage women (including the authors of this introduction) to enter a historical specialty then dominated by men. To honor Grob's legacy as a scholar and a person, this special issue features articles written by several generations of scholars influenced and inspired by his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the importance of studying television news history by journalism historians in their research on American journalism. Topics include example of news coverage of assassination of former president John Kennedy and response received, author's experience of studying journalism history, study of periodical "Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly" from 1990 to 1999.

The article presents a reprint of the article "Past Is Prologue" by Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson, which appeared in the "Atlantic" magazine. It discusses the importance of establishing a White House Council of Historical Advisers to incorporate applied history in the Executive Office of the president and in American universities in an effort to illuminate current challenges in the country.

The author expresses her appreciation to historian and biographer Garland Allen, who is widely known for his work in the history of genetics. Topics include Allen's focus on Marxism and his confrontation of eugenics in his work in genetics history, career as Alston-Burr Senior Tutor at Harvard University, and appointment as trustee of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1987 in recognition of his influence and contributions.

Historical representations of the National Society for the Study of Education's Committee on Curriculum-Making typically recount that the purpose of the committee was to assemble representatives from competing curriculum camps to achieve consensus on curriculum principles, depict the committee's work as important, cast doubt on the consensus the committee achieved, overlook the principles proposed by the committee and ignore its call for deliberation. A historical reconstruction of the committee's work in the USA during the 1920s reveals that the purpose of the committee changed from reviewing research to prescribing techniques and finally to proposing general curriculum principles, with the aim of fostering deliberation among curriculum workers. A review of the US curriculum literature reveals that, after some initial attention, the Twenty-Sixth Yearbook fell into relative obscurity, but was rediscovered in the 1960s. A new analysis of the committee members' supplementary statements argues that the committee indeed achieved consensus on foundational curriculum principles. As a historical document, the yearbook represents the coalescence of curriculum development as a professional field in the USA during in the 1920s. As a repository of professional knowledge, the General Statement remains pertinent to curriculum reform in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been moments in American history when government surveillance of everyday citizens has aroused public concerns, most recently Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations concerning widespread, warrantless surveillance of Americans and foreigners alike. What does not arouse public concern are longstanding governmental practices that involve surveillance of poor people who receive certain types of public benefits. This article traces the political history of U.S. poverty-relief programs, considers the perspective of welfare beneficiaries themselves, analyzes American cultural beliefs about the poor in order to offer some thoughts on why those surveillance practices garner little public concern, and argues that those who are concerned about warrantless surveillance of ordinary citizens should do more to protect ordinary poor citizens from surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses themes of antisemitism in the academic career of American historian Carl Bridenbaugh, focusing on his 1962 speech “The Great Mutation,” given to the American Historical Association about young, lower-middle class historians. Other topics include biographical information about Bridenbaugh, the study of American colonial history, and Bridenbaugh's verbal attacks on other historians including Sir Lewis Namier and Lee Benson.

Finley's life during and just after World War II, although neglected by biographers and others interested in his career, was a formative period for him. A successful activist for Soviet-solidarity organizations, he learned lessons in public outreach that would affect his teaching and later public activity, and absorbed experiences that found their way into his first well-known book, The World of Odysseus. During this period he changed his name from Finkelstein to Finley, a shift emblematic of his adjustment to a postwar situation that would prove professionally difficult for him, yet intellectually fruitful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article responds to issue articles on historian Moses Israel Finley (born as Moses Israel Finkelstein) by historians F. S. Naiden, Jonathan S. Perry, and Daniel P. Tompkins. Topics include Finley's communist political involvement in New York City, his relation to historiographical trends of the 20th century, and his book "The World of Odysseus."

Copyright of Studia Historica. Historia Contemporánea is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article offers Southwestern U.S. news briefs as of January 2014. Historian Lawrence Goodwyn has died. The Texas Archeological Society (TAS) will hold two Archeology Academy sessions in 2014. The state historian of Texas, Bill O'Neal was awarded an honorary doctorate from Texas A&M University. The article also lists members of the Texas State Historical Association who joined in 2013.

The article focuses on American historian Charles Beard and the international interpretation of the American founding. It states that the economic interpretation of Beard of the founding is a century old, wherein he presented the Constitution as the result of class conflict based on economic interests. It notes that the internationalist interpretation of the founding is contributing to a change of focus.