Captivity Narratives
Controversies over animal captivity have recently roiled venerable amusement enterprises like SeaWorld and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Yet many people are unaware of the deeper history of capturing and displaying large mammals, such as the beluga whales at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum in the 1860s. Amanda Bosworth reveals the context to these controversies: our changing relationship with captive animals.
Staff
Featured Articles
Crossing the Florida Straits
On April 1, 1980, Hector Sanyustiz and four others, seeking political asylum, slammed a bus into the gates of the…
Research Clutter
What is the opposite of entropy, a trend toward disorder and chaos? Tropy, as Stephen Robertson, a cultural and social…
Advocacy Briefs: AHA Condemns Polish Law Criminalizing Public Discussion of Polish Complicity in Nazi War Crimes
On February 9, 2018, the American Historical Association issued the following statement condemning a Polish law that criminalizes references to…
Townhouse Notes: Confident Writing and Expertise
The education of historians rewards the internalization of uncertainty. The dead tell tales, but not in full. Archives teem with…
Why Are You a Historian?
Lately I’ve been thinking about the shape and future of the historical profession, especially in light of the current challenges…
Marvin L. Edwards (1915–2016)
Marvin L. Edwards, professor emeritus at Clarkson University, passed away on January 31, 2016, at the age of 101. Edwards…
“We Came Here to Take the Bastille”
A tense atmosphere is building in Washington, DC: an unpopular president in office, an election marked by criminal tampering, and…
Experiments in Writing History
Laura Kamoie still receives periodic royalty statements for a book she published over a decade ago—an economic history of the…
AHA Member Spotlight: Judy Connolly
Judy Connolly is an online history instructor for Jacksonville University, where she delivers a unique, interactive Modern World History course…
Reimagining the History Survey Course
Nothing concentrates the mind, Samuel Johnson quipped in 1777, more than the prospect of a hanging. And nothing focuses the…
History Is Relevant Everywhere
On the one day between the first European winter storm of the year and a North American snow blizzard, I…
AHA Member Spotlight: Jonathan Hancock
Jonathan Hancock is an assistant professor of history at Hendrix College. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has been…
The Gallery and the Gridiron
How did a doctoral student in history find himself working at an NFL club? Over the last several years, the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) history department—under the direction of professors John Herron and Chris Cantwell—has built a robust and innovative internship program that complements our classroom work with professional experience.
Can We Right the Past?
Last night, the National Geographic Channel aired the first episode of Katie Couric’s new six-part documentary series, America Inside Out.…
AHA Member Spotlight: Paula C. Austin
Paula Austin is assistant professor at California State University, Sacramento. She lives in Sacramento, California, and has been a member…
Spring Cleaning Tip #1
It’s early April, and many of us history grads are learning the outcomes of jobs, fellowships, and various other academic…
Collaborative Historical Research
Editor’s Note: This piece is second in a series of two posts on collaborative historical research. The first post can…
AHA Member Spotlight: Joshua Wright
Joshua Wright is an associate professor of history and coordinator for the Social Studies Teacher Education Program at the University…
Exploring Career Possibilities with ImaginePhD
I arrived at my first AHA annual meeting layered in clothing and emotions. The expected trepidation (is there anything more…
AHA Announces New Bespoke Credit Card for Members
April 1, 2018 Washington, DC—In an ambitious move, the American Historical Association has inaugurated AHAdvantageExpress, a bespoke credit card offer…