History Twitter is Good IV

“These are bold words from people hiding behind a dead insurrectionist and a horse.”

I’m giving a virtual talk tonight at the Library of Alexandria for National Constitution Week. On October 7th, I’ll be in conversation with Dr. Keisha Blain, a New York Times bestselling author, about her new biography on Fannie Lou Hammer, Until I Am Free.

Alexis Coe @AlexisCoe

I took it to the streets

trying to do my research (for my dissertation) @varsha_venkat_

history in the streets, historiography between the sheets

Twitter is often a hellscape of pile-ons and bad opinions, but once you find your people, there’s nothing like it. Here are some of the most thoughtful, vexing, delightful tweets I’ve (recently) bookmarked.

“These are bold words from people hiding behind a dead insurrectionist and a horse.”

Alison Herring @HistoryHerring

Threats on Twitter are a first for me. I must be doing this right! These are bold words from people hiding behind a dead insurrectionist and horse. I blocked and reported both. I’m sharing in case these two threaten anyone else today.

L.D. Burnett @LDBurnett

ugh @chrislhayes just said, "the North - the Union - eventually won. the South - the confederacy - eventually lost." Nope. the United States eventually won and the Confederacy eventually lost. not all the South was Confederate, and the US never ceased being the US.

I didn’t ask for this shirt but I’m not mad at it.

Howard Dorre @plodwithme

Well it’s here, the shirt you’ve all been asking for.

Matthew VanDyke @Matt_VanDyke

Historians will look back in astonishment as to why it took so long to tear down a statue celebrating a traitor who fought for the enslavement of human beings. #Virginia #RobertELee

apnews.comGen. Lee statue comes down in former Confederate capitalRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that towered over Richmond for generations was taken down, cut into pieces and hauled away Wednesday, as the former capital of the Confederacy erased the last of the Civil War figures that once defined its most prominent thoroughfare.

b-boy bouiebaisse @jbouie

exactly. and once you understand lee as an utterly typical man of his class it is even easier to see how the mythology around him is total bullshit. there’s nothing exceptional about the guy!

Bokhara Burnes @zoffany90

@jbouie That Lee was typical of his class is a great point. Thus the discourse of the saintly slave owner. But it also highlights the complete threat to the entire Souths social, political and economic order anti-slavery was. And why fighting was to his mind the only logical choice.

Dr. Chelsea Gibson @gibsoche

FWIW it's incredible to me how many bad faith arguments good historians have made against the 1619 project. Like the piece never said slavery was the only contributing factor to the AR, but an important one. What honest historian can deny that?

Christopher J. Slaby @CJSlaby

"Slavery is confined to the South after the Revolution." —G. Wood Two points. 1. No. But also 2. This is part of why we need to make sure that any conversation about "slavery" is a conversation about anti-Black racism.

Rachel Hope Cleves @RachelCleves

If Pliny the Younger invited me to dinner, I would _not_ stand him up. All those fine foods, and dancers from Cadiz to entertain me, too? No wonder Pliny stuck him with a no-show invoice. #histfood

Jennifer Schuessler @jennyschuessler

tfw when you profile America's oldest park ranger (100 years old tomorrow!) and there's so much going on you have to leave out all the stuff about her involvement in... Oakland's hip-hop scene??

nytimes.com‘America’s Oldest Park Ranger’ Is Only Her Latest ChapterBetty Reid Soskin has fought to ensure that American history includes the stories that get overlooked. As she turns 100, few stories have been more remarkable than hers.

MW. @OliveTheLights_

CHECK ME OUT IN THE NEW YORK TIMES 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Nick Kapur @nick_kapur

Historian Scott Nelson on how an authoritarian system designed to perpetuate segregation is forcing Georgia universities to become petri dishes for COVID

ajc.comHistorian: From segregation to COVID, Regents served governors, not studentsIn trying to make sense of the intransigence of the Georgia Board of Regents on COVID precautions, University of Georgia history professor Scott Nelson looks back on the appointed body’s practices and policies.

T.J. Stiles @TJStiles_Author

I admire the work of @jimdowns1 not just because it's innovative and rigorous scholarship, but he's willing to go to uncomfortable places where our neat little categories of "good" and "bad" painfully overlap. Honesty is good for intellectual understanding & even morality itself.

Dr. Jim Downs @jimdowns1

My article on how our efforts to control #covid19 can surprisingly be traced to the transatlantic slave trade. #epitwitter #medtwitter #medhist https://t.co/mf6i0Fw9Bi

Jessica Grose @JessGrose

My mom just told me that my Austrian grandmother used to always say, "ich bin gebrochen," which translates to, "I'm broken." That's basically German for dead inside and so I'm very impressed at how strong our genes are.

mary dudziak @marydudziak

No, I cannot speak at your conference. WHAT CENTURY ARE WE IN??

Benjamin Park @BenjaminEPark

It's been an odd week, y'all. Thanks to everyone who has reached out--though I'm sorry to say that that means y'all are in the same heretical boat.

Jana Riess @janariess

Last week, historian @BenjaminEPark was removed from the website of @BYUMaxwell, where he'd been a 2018 fellow. He doesn't know why, or whether someone at BYU made the decision or was acting on instructions from the @LDSchurch. https://t.co/0nNeWHHJL0 @RNS @TheGrandScoobah

Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. @WEMilteer

Look at what I received today! BEYOND SLAVERY'S SHADOW: FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE SOUTH is now in print. Many thanks to all the people who made it possible. To get your copy, check out the @UNC_Press website at uncpress.org/.../97814696..…. Use the code 01DAH40 to receive 40% off.

Isabel Wilkerson @Isabelwilkerson

Oh my goodness, this means the world to me. Thank you so much, and my absolute best wishes to your father.

deray @deray

the radicalization of my father over the past few years is one of the most magical things in my life. he has made me a believer in the power of political education -- the books, podcasts, etc all really matter. thank you @Isabelwilkerson, you've changed my dad's life.

Dr. Jacqueline E. Whitt @notabattlechick

Calling women colleagues “belligerent” is a winning move for senior military historians, apparently.

Annette Gordon-Reed @agordonreed

@NicholasGuyatt Couldn’t Churchill be a racist AND play a “key role in defeating the Nazi regime”? Both propositions are true. I’m glad he opposed Hitler—an understatement. That doesn’t mean I ignore his racial attitudes.

Thanks for reading! You can find me on Twitter and Instagram and my books, as well as others mentioned on SMK, on Bookshop and Amazon. If you have a question or comment, I want to hear it! studymarrykill@gmail.com.