Optimistic Vs. Pessimistic Views of History: Which Wins Out?

I learned that a former neighbor, Doris Flexner, wrote a strong-selling book, The Optimist's Guide to History, published in 1995. But typical of human nature, it wasn't as popular as her previous book, The Pessimist's Guide to History, a "Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem," published three years earlier. That one was a bestseller. …

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s New Memoir of the 1960s

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is on a media tour for her new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s. Her husband Richard was a speechwriter for the Kennedys, Lyndon Johnson and Al Gore. She was a presidential scholar who became a confidante of President Johnson. NPR interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIJ6PDUMX3k NYT: She wasn't …

TeachingAmericanHistory.Org Offers Free Online Professional Development

Teaching American History is a free resource that brings together primary documents, continuing education, and community for American history teachers. "We support teachers of American history, government, and civics, believing they do the most important work in America. We help them bring the documents and debates of America’s past into the present through free document-based …

Virginia Legislature Passes Resolution Honoring Historian and Journalist Charlie Clark

I've previously posted about my friend, journalist, and historian Charlie Clark, who died in the fall of 2023 of a rare illness. Click. To honor him, the Virginia "House of Delegates, and the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Charles Stuart Clark, a venerated journalist and cherished …

Local Historian-Journalist Charlie Clark Lives On in the Vast Archive He Created

My dear friend Charlie Clark, 70, a journalist and historian in Arlington, Virginia, just outside the nation's capital, died November 15, 2023, after a brief illness from an extremely rare disease. But he lives on in his huge archive of local history and leaves a deep legacy of connections in the DC metro area, as …

Every Ken Burns Documentary, Ranked

A writer, Abigail Covington, of Redbook reviewed 30 historical documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns and ranked them according to general interest and what she learned. She links to several articles and films by Burns, including America (seven episodes on YouTube.com, one of which was on Congress), the Civil War, Country Music, and The Central Park …

Optimistic, Pessimistic About 2024? Whatever Happens, It’s Not Inevitable

Happy New Year! I’ve spent a lot of time pondering whether 2024 will be an extraordinarily good year or an extraordinarily bad year. Whatever happens, I tend to believe it will be a historic turning point for the United States and possibly the world. “The future is never inevitable,” historian Heather Cox Richardson observed in an interview …

Does Western Civilization Actually Exist?

Skepticism grows among historians about whether the traditional frames of teaching world history -- Western Civilization and Eastern Civilization -- actually exist. I explore this trend on Substack: https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/does-western-civilization-actually

Has History Professor HCR Started A Social Movement?

Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson is phenomenal. Her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, has rocketed to bestseller lists. Her initial book tour included at least a dozen stops, and was absolutely packed with fans. Many events were recorded and posted on YouTube. They seem fresh and authentic, not …

Genealogical Research, Historic Preservation, Discovering Confederates in the Attic, and African American Ancestors

I call my almost 101-year-old mother-in-law an ancestor worshipper, someone who spends time in veneration of the dead. It's not necessarily pagan. Days of the Dead are observed in many religious traditions. Christians observe All Saints Day and All Souls Day, and this year I could overhear my mother-in-law humming the hymn "I Sing A …