In the news, a British request for oral history recordings, the last combat vetern of WWI has passed away, a new director is named at the Hoover Presidential Library, and the Library of Congress’s National Jukebox offers an online stream of music from 1901 to 1925. Also, William Deresiewicz considers the state of higher education in the United States, LA Weekly rounds up a list of historical documents worth checking out in California right now, and The Atlantic looks back at 30 years of nuclear testing.

News

• British Request for Oral History Records
  As mentioned here on AHA Today earlier in the week, a recent British request for oral history recordings housed at Boston College and focused on the Irish Republican Army raises complex and difficult questions.
• Last Combat Veteran of WWI Has Passed Away
  The New York Times reports that Claude Stanley Choules, the last combat veteran of WWI, died in Australia at the beginning of this month (Thursday, May 5, 2011). He started training with the British Royal Navy in 1915, when he was just 14 years old.
• Presidential Libraries
  The National Coalition for History reports that historian Thomas F. Schwartz has been named the new director for the Hoover Presidential Library and a new Watergate exhibit has opened at the Nixon Presidential Library.
• National Jukebox offers Over 10,000 Songs from 1901 to 1925
  The Chronicle reports on the National Jukebox, an online music repository of recordings from 1901 to 1925.

Insights

• Advising History Graduate Students
  Faulty Towers: The Crisis in Higher Education, a review essay by William Deresiewicz in the Nation of May 23, 2011, lucidly sets out the author’s considered views on the state of higher education in the United States, while also presenting brief, but useful critiques of a clutch of books on the topic.

Documents and Images

• Historical Documents in LA
  Find a reason to visit sunny California, by checking out this “A History Nerd’s Guide to LA: Nine Major Historical Documents in the City Right Now.”
• Images: 30 Years of Nuclear Testing
  The Atlantic’s In Focus blog looks back through images of 30 years of nuclear testing.

Contributors: Debbie Ann Doyle, Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, Kathleen Sheldon, Pillarisetti Sudhir, and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.