Rough Drafts
Stet is a Latin verb—stand firm, remain, rest. As any editor worth their salt knows, in both Latin and English, it usually means “let it be.” Don’t make any changes. It is fine as it is. As graffiti on a concrete wall, it becomes more of a plea than a command: please, let it stay. Don’t erase, don’t overwrite. The artist does not want their work—and their name—to be seen as a first trial which can be discarded, but rather as a final product. It is a plea for permanence in an impermanent medium, for stability in a chaotic world. They want to be history, not its rough draft.
Photos: Mark Silberstein/Flickr/CC BY 2.0; James Street, XI/Flickr/CC BY 2.0 (images cropped)
Staff
Townhouse Notes
Journalists don’t often get the best press from historians, and not without reason. The study and practice of history is…
Journalists and Historians
Journalists write the first draft of history, or so the cliché goes, and I must admit to a long-standing addiction…
After Funding Wins for the Humanities in FY 23, What Comes Next?
The beginning of March saw the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) gearing up for the 2023 NHA Annual Meeting and Humanities…
On “Remembering Aidan”
To the Editor: I started writing this response with the pen I received from the funeral home where we held…
István Deák (1926–2023)
I thought my name was Stefano!” was one of the most ridiculous sentences István Deák ever threw at me. About…
George C. Herring (1936–2022)
George C. Herring, historian of the Vietnam War and US foreign relations, died on November 30, 2022, in Lexington, Kentucky.…
Herbert Sloan (1945–2022)
In 1975, Herbert Sloan had been well launched on a promising career: in law. Sloan was born in Baltimore on…
Vine Deloria Jr. (1933–2005)
Standing Rock Lakota citizen Vine Deloria Jr. was arguably the most intellectually gifted and articulate spokesperson for Indigenous nationhood in…
Lewis K. McMillan (1897–1974)
Lewis K. McMillan was the first full-time faculty member with an earned doctorate to teach at South Carolina State College…
AHA Member Spotlight: William S. Monroe
William S. Monroe is a senior academic engagement librarian at Brown University Library. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and…